Chapter 40

Ever since the gang had been taken away by Sam and Jimmy, Buck continued to feel that the searching for Kid was getting them nowhere and was doing nothing but wasting precious time. He kept having feelings they would find some sign to tell them where their friend was but each time they'd come up empty handed.

He ran his hand over the rock wall in front of him, hoping for anything to give them a direction to take. He had thought coming in the direction Katy was headed in had been a smart move but now he was starting to doubt his hunch and that was something Buck normally didn't do.

"It's over here!"

Buck looked behind him and saw Charlie waving him over.

"Why didn't I see it sooner?" Charlie reprimanded himself.

Buck saw what Charlie was talking about. Two sections of rock met in a ragged formation, slightly overlapping. But on closer inspection, it was really two sections of wall, one in front of the other, with a definite pathway leading between them.

Guns drawn, the two men cautiously entered the cave. There was enough light coming from the entrance for them to see that the cave was empty. Buck and Charlie quickly found themselves amongst a hastily strewn camp. Cooking items, blankets and clothing were in piles along the walls.

Buck headed toward what looked like a makeshift bed. He knelt down and started moving the bedding aside. He paused with a blanket in the air as he noticed a discarded pile of rags next to the stone wall. It wasn't the rags that caught his attention as much as it was what he saw on them. He dropped the blanket still in his hand then leaned forward and brought the pile to him for closer inspection.

He stared at them until his mind started wandering where he didn’t want it to go so he looked away. As soon as he did, he noticed something else along the wall just next to where the rags had been. He quickly picked it up.

Charlie had wandered to the other side of the cave and was kicking items lightly with the toe of his boot. Mostly all he saw was discarded cans. He then went to check out a pile of assorted clothing and was surprised when his foot came in contact with something hard. Bending down he moved the pile aside to reveal a metal object.

"Uh, Buck, didn't that old man we ran into say he does trappin' in this area?"

"Yeah, I think so," Buck said, distracted with what he was doing. "Why?"

"'Cause I think we just found where he set up camp." Charlie held up a couple traps as he rose to his feet.

Buck glanced at what Charlie was holding. "And I think we just found out who helped Kid with his disappearing act." To answer the blonde man's confused look, Buck rose to his feet, bringing with him a gun and holster. "These are Kid's," he explained.

"You sure?" Charlie asked as he stepped over the junk on the ground and went to Buck's side.

"Sure as I know my own. He was here and I'm starting to think it wasn't by choice. There is no way Kid would have willingly left without his gun," Buck told him. "And look at this." He knelt down and held up some rags. He shuffled the pile around until a bright red surface appeared. "He's hurt bad, too. He lost a lot of blood," he muttered, more to himself than to Charlie, fearful of what that could mean but not wanting to accept the possibility.

Charlie looked from the rags to the gun belt. It seemed pretty obvious to him what more than likely happened, why Kid didn't have his gun with him. He probably wouldn't be needing it anymore. Charlie watched Buck as he kept searching the blankets near him and took a deep breath as he prepared to say what Buck needed to face.

"Buck, I hate to say this but maybe we oughta be lookin' for a freshly dug grave instead of a man."

The words were barely out of Charlie's mouth before he felt himself forced backward, hands gripping his collar so tight he thought his breathing would be cut off.

"Don't you ever say something like that again," Buck hissed at him. "My friend is alive and somewhere in this valley and he is in desperate need of our help. And I am not about to let him down, do you understand?"

"Yeah, yeah, fine," Charlie mumbled as he tried to squirm his way out of the other man's tight grip. "Look, I was just tryin' to face all the possibilities, I didn't mean anything bad by it. I like the guy and I feel for his wife but this whole thing just isn't making any sense." He shrugged his shoulders as Buck released his hold and moved his jacket back into place.

Charlie watched in confusion as Buck suddenly started walking in a circle, staring at everything inside the cave.

Buck stopped and went over to the blonde young man, wagging his finger in his direction. "That's where you're wrong," he said with a smile on his face. "It makes perfect sense."