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  Walter nodded, “Sure.”

  The final questions asked and answered, authorization forms signed, the detective looked directly at Caroline and said, “I want to reassure you we are going to do everything in our power to find out who did this to your daughter and find your horse. Like I said, I have my own 14-year-old daughter at home. I don’t know how I’d feel in your place, but have some idea. I’m leaving our business cards for you. If you, either of you, think of anything, any little detail no matter how insignificant, please call us. A lot of crimes are solved by putting together little details. And my family and I will pray for Becky’s recovery.”

  As they left the room, Walter and Caroline headed back to the ICU and Detective Nelson headed for the hospital entrance.

  When Brian Nelson got to the hospital lobby it was packed with people. Through the glass doors to the outside, he could see there were three network TV news vans parked with their antennas reaching skyward. Milling around were reporters with their cameramen, news photographers, newspaper reporters, the Mayor and City Council members, many people he didn’t recognize and assumed were friends or family of the Howards.

  Finally he saw Ron Bentley outside the entrance talking on his cell phone. He headed toward Ron but was stopped by Mayor Sterling. He’d noticed the badge Brian had clipped to the left breast pocket of his suit coat. After exchanging names, the Mayor asked, “Do you have an update for me? I’d like to schedule a news conference in about forty-five minutes.”

  “Let’s go outside. It’s too noisy in here,” Detective Nelson said. “My partner, Ron Bentley is on the phone with our Commander right now. Let’s see what he has.”

  The two men strolled outside the hospital lobby into the waning sunlight. Ron noticed them as he spoke on his cell phone and nodded in their direction, holding up his finger to signal he’d be with them in a minute. Brian checked his watch. It was only 4:45 p.m. So much had been done in a short time.

  “The Commander is notifying the FAA people now to get a watch set up at the airports. They made sure Border Patrol was watching the Canadian border as well as the Mexican border. The wire-tap is on its way to the Howard residence and they’re sending someone to pick up the picture of the horse and get it back to the station. They’ve assigned a team to stay at the residence and monitor the wire-tap. There are two units at the house already, keeping an eye on the place. The Sheriff is setting up for a news conference at the station in San Juan as soon as he can get there. He’s on his way with lights and siren. We might want to get the Mayor and some of these media people over there so they can get set up.”

  Mayor Sterling spoke up, “I’ll get my people right on that. I didn’t know the Sheriff’s Department was holding a news conference, so I was going to set one up. I’ll cancel mine and meet with Sheriff Nolan’s people and join theirs.” He hurried off.

  “Do you believe what a circus this place is?” Ron asked Brian. “There were already thousands of people in town for the Parade and Street Faire, and now we’ve got this going on too. I guess we’d better call home. Don’t think we’re going to get there for dinner tonight.”

  “Yeah, you’re right about that,” said Brian Nelson. “It’s got the makings of a long night,” shaking his head.

  About that time, people began streaming out of the hospital lobby heading for their cars. The news vans dropped their antennas; reporters jumped in with their cameramen and sped off toward the Sheriff’s sub-station in San Juan Capistrano.

  Brian and Ron stood on the curb watching the madness as everyone jockeyed their vehicles for position to leave the single exit to the parking lot, wishing they’d had a traffic control officer there for the moment. They waited for the crowd to thin out before heading to their own car for the drive back to the station.

  When Walter called, Esperanza answered the phone on the first ring. He used a phone at the nurses’ station in the Intensive Care Unit. “Espie, it’s me. Wanted to bring you up to date. Becky is in a coma, but she’s holding her own. There’s nothing we can do except wait. She has a concussion. She has a skull fracture and there is some bleeding in her brain. Her brain may be swelling. They are giving her medication to control that. They are feeding her with a tube. The doctors told us they will be keeping her in the Intensive Care Unit for the next 48 hours at least, so nobody but family can see her. They said the next 48 hours are critical, but she’s young and strong otherwise. We just have to wait and pray.”

  “Will my little one be okay, Señor Howard?” Esperanza asked, sniffing back her tears. She’d helped Caroline take care of Becky since she came home from the hospital two days after she was born. Esperanza loved Becky.

  “We don’t know,” Dad replied softly. “All we can do is pray and hope she recovers. You know Becky is tough. She’ll fight to get back to us.”

  “Señor Howard, you know I’m already praying and my whole familia too.” Esperanza blew her nose. “What can I do?”

  “The Sheriff’s Detectives that just talked to us are thinking the guys who did this were really after Ali. They may have taken him for ransom. If that’s the case, they may call us for money in exchange for Ali. They are sending over some of their people to put a tap on our phone. They will record all our calls. When they get to the house, please let them in and show them whatever they need. Okay?” Dad explained.

  “Oh, Si, Señor Howard,” Esperanza replied, nodding her head.

  “Another Sheriff’s officer will be coming to the house looking for a good picture of Ali. Can you show him into Caroline’s office? Let him take any of the pictures he wants.”

  “No problemo,” Esperanza sniffed through her tears. “Is there anything else I can do?”

  “Please ask Luis to watch over the horses. Caroline and I will be here at the hospital. We need him to feed and bed them down for tonight and in the morning. I’ll talk to him sometime tomorrow. If you need us, call our cell phones. We’d appreciate it if you two would keep an eye on the house and grounds while we’re here. The Detective told me they are going to send over some Deputies to help watch over the place and they will be sending extra patrols in the neighborhood. If either of you see anything that looks suspicious, be sure to let them know, or call 911.” Dad instructed.

  “Will do, Señor Howard,” she replied. “Please give my little one a kiss for me. Tell her I love her too. And tell Caroline not to worry. Luis and me will take good care here.” She blew her nose again.

  Esperanza went directly to her room. She had a small altar along one wall with a statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe. She knelt in front of the statue, closed her eyes and bowed her head. She said her Rosary, fingering her beads as she prayed.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “How much farther are we goin’ anyway?” whined Danny. “We’ve been on this blasted dirt road forever already.”

  “Oh quit yer gripping”! Tweedy gave me directions. He told me this guy lives up in the mountains where that Station Fire burned everything up a coupla years ago. He must be sorta like a hermit. I’m looking for a signpost that points to Little Rock. We turn there and follow the road for another 10 miles or so.”

  Calvin was feeling the effects of the day. He was jumpy and jittery and his mind was going a thousand miles an hour. It was difficult for him to focus. He almost slammed them into a ditch and a hillside in separate near misses had Danny not yelled at him to watch where he was going.

  “We’ll be lucky if we get there before dark.”

  “Might be better if we don’t. If the cops are looking for us, they might miss us in the dark. I just don’t like the idea of driving this rig around these mountain roads at night. If we do get down to civilization ‘for the sun goes down, we should prob’ly look for someplace to hide out ‘til it does.”

  “You got us in a fix this time! Picked the wrong darned horse for sure!” Danny muttered under his breath. It was starting to get cold as they climbed in elevation. He rolled up his window and hugged himself to keep warm. “Should’a brought
jackets or somethin’.” Danny too was feeling the effects of the day. His mind was jumping around.

  “Like I said before, quit yer gripping. We just gotta get rid of this animal and skedaddle home.” Calvin snapped. He rolled up his window. They were starting to see a few patches of snow on the ground.

  Another 45 minutes passed as they bumped along the dirt track, twisting first one way then another. There were thousands of black twisted skeletons of trees and shrubs left on the sides of the hills from the forest fire a few years before. Some regrowth had started, but it would take decades to grow back.

  In the trailer, Ali kept his footing as best he could with the trailer rolling and swaying from side to side over the rough rocky ground. He was fully awake now and didn’t know where he was or how he’d gotten there. The last thing he remembered was his Becky being pushed and hitting her head into the building and falling. She didn’t move. “Becky, I miss you. I have to get home! I have to find you. I don’t know where I am, but I will get home somehow. I promise you, Becky!” He wasn’t sure what happened to her but he would recognize the man who hurt her. He hated that man! He saw that man push her and he saw his expression when he did that. He would never forget!

  After a time, Ali locked his knees and dozed off, jerked awake only when a particularly hard bump jostled him. That started the replay in his mind again and he watched Becky sailing headfirst into the side of the building. It made him sick at heart.

  It was almost 4:30 p.m. before they found the turn off Ed Tweedy told Calvin about. Just as he made the turn, he slammed on the brakes and shouted, “Looky there! It’s a big black bear right up on that hillside,” pointing his finger towards it.

  “Oh, wow! Yer right! It is a bear. We’d better git outa here,” Danny said. “I hear bears can come right on in through the window if they want to. I don’t feel like tanglin’ with anything that big or that mean.”

  The she-bear had just wandered out of her winter den looking for water and something to eat. She only weighed 300 pounds, about 75 pounds less than she weighed when she went to sleep. She had two cubs waiting for her and her search for food hadn’t been successful. She climbed up the hill and slowly lumbered her way back to the den.

  The Hix brothers bounced, jounced, twisted and turned their way down the dirt road to the final turnoff. Once they made the turn, they could see the camp before them. It wasn’t much to look at. It consisted of a makeshift cabin built of whatever lumber the old guy could scrounge up. The roof was a patchwork of tin sheets in all sizes and really didn’t look very water tight. An ancient pick-up truck stood beside the cabin. It could be from the 1950’s by the style of the fenders. It was covered in more rust than paint. There was trash on the ground everywhere, old cans, bottles, cardboard food packaging, clothing, and stuff that defied identification. There was a corral built of whatever the old man could cobble together including tree limbs and rusty wire. It included a three sided shelter from the weather. The side walls had holes in them you could put your fist through. A lone chestnut horse stood in the corral and called out a welcome.

  Calvin leaned on the horn trying to raise the owner of this mess. As he looked around, he looked dejected. “We’re sure not going to get much for the horse from a place like this,” he said.

  Just then, the cabin door opened and an old man stepped out, clutching a shotgun in both hands. The man, of indeterminate age, had long matted gray hair with a matching beard down to his chest. He wore a stained thermal undershirt partially tucked into grimy jeans. His feet peeked out from under his pant legs in grubby socks.

  “What’s your business?” he said as he lifted the barrel of his shotgun slightly and aimed it at their truck.

  “You Nixon?” Calvin asked. “Ed Tweedy sent us. Said you was lookin’ for another horse for packin’.”

  “Oh, if Ed Tweedy sent you, come on in,” said the old man with a grin that showed missing front teeth. “I called him from down below when I lost that last danged horse.”

  Calvin turned off the engine. He and Danny climbed out of their truck and walked over to the cabin door. The old man waved them in. The inside of the cabin wasn’t in much better shape than the outside. It sure smelled worse.

  “Can I get you somethin’ to drink?” Nixon asked. “I got some coffee just made this morning’ …. Or was that yesterday morning? … or something stronger? Got some whiskey, but I don’t have ice and don’t have any clean glasses.”

  Calvin was tempted by the offer of whiskey, but after looking around the cabin decided to pass on it.

  “No thank ya, sir. But thanks for the offer. We’re needin’ to get our business done pretty quick so we can get back down out of these mountains before it gets too dark. I’m not familiar with these roads.” Calvin replied. “Why don’t you come on out to our truck and take a look at the horse we brought ya.”

  Carl Nixon followed Calvin and Danny back to the door and stashed his shotgun just inside it. They walked out behind the horse trailer and Calvin opened the door. Danny went to the front of the trailer and opened the feeder door so he could untie Ali. Calvin stepped inside the trailer, on the other side of the divider wall from Ali and snagged the lead-rope, then pulled Ali out of the trailer backwards.

  Ali was compliant. He came out of the trailer quickly. He stood quietly and looked around seeing not one familiar thing. Then Danny stepped around the side of the trailer to stand beside his brother. Ali screamed and lunged at him, kicking out with his front feet as he tried to take a bite out of the man who hurt his Becky. Danny scrambled backward, hit the trailer, slipped and fell flat on his butt. Calvin choked up on the lead rope and pulled Ali away from Danny.

  Nixon laughed. “Looks like he doesn’t like your partner there.” he said. “But he’s sure a pretty one. Where’d you get a horse like this anyway?”

  “Danny, go sit in the truck. I’ll finish up here,” instructed Calvin.

  Danny happily scurried off and jumped in the truck, slamming the door.

  Calvin looked at Carl Nixon, “I don’t own horses. I just drive the truck. Couldn’t say where this horse came from.”

  Nixon walked over to Ali and stroked his neck, then scratched his withers. Ali turned his head and nickered at the old man the way he usually did when someone found his itchy place. The old man walked around the horse and looked him over carefully, checking his legs and feet. Then he stroked his face and pulled down his lower lip for a quick look at his teeth.

  “Young one isn’t he? ‘Bout five or six maybe?” he asked Calvin.

  “Looks like it to me, but I don’t know for sure. I just haul ‘em, don’t own ‘em,” Calvin answered. “You interested?” he asked.

  “I asked for a pack horse and you bring me a pretty boy. I don’t know.” The old man stroked his beard while he admired Ali. “What are you asking for him?”

  “Like to get four hundred fifty or five hundred for ‘im, but we can talk,” Calvin said.

  “The deal I had with Tweedy was for a pack horse for two hundred, not a pretty boy. I only have two hundred in cash on me right now.” Nixon answered.

  “Well, what else ya got?” asked Calvin, standing slump shouldered. This was not going well. They needed more cash.

  “All I have right now is maybe a few hundred in gold flakes. It hasn’t been assayed yet, but it’s pure. I’ve been panning it. I could add that to the two hundred in cash. Will that make you a deal?”

  “Oh, what the heck. Sure. Deal! Go get your cash and your gold and you got yourself a horse.” Calvin had no idea in the world what they were going to do with gold flakes. But it had to have some value, didn’t it?

  Carl Nixon went to the cabin and came back out with a stack of dog-eared bills and a tiny pouch tied up with a leather thong. He untied the thong and opened the pouch, pouring a bit of the contents into the palm of his hand. It glinted like gold in the waning sunlight. Calvin nodded his acceptance and Nixon poured it back inside the pouch, re-tied the leather thong and handed it to
him with the stack of bills. Calvin tucked the pouch into his jeans pocket and counted the bills. It was all there.

  “Guess you got yourself a horse.” He said and handed the lead rope to the old man. “Now can you tell me which way to get down this mountain? From the maps, I think we’re looking for Highway 138 so we can go east and pick up Interstate 15.”

  Nixon gave him directions and Calvin headed back to the truck. “Been nice doin’ business with ya,” he said to Nixon as he started up the truck and turned back toward the road hauling the now empty trailer behind.

  The old man watched the truck and trailer leave, heading down hill and turned back to the horse. “Don’t know what your name was before but you’re my Buddy now. Let’s get you into the corral and you can meet your new friend Max,” he said as he led Ali to the corral. He opened the improvised gate and led Ali in. He removed his halter and coiled the lead rope in his hand. “Now, you two get acquainted. I’ll get you both some hay and fresh water.” as he walked out and latched the gate. As promised, he returned with hay and filled up the water barrel with fresh spring water.

  Carl Nixon had been really fond of the last pack horse. She was a sweet tempered bay mare and was always easy to deal with and sure footed as a mountain goat until that last trip. They were on their way back from panning in his secret stream when she slipped on the trail and fell into a ravine. He’d climbed down to see if there was any way to get her out and found she’d broken her front right leg. And he’d forgotten to bring his gun on this trip. So he’d taken what he could carry from the pack and had to leave her there. She’d screamed when she fell and she’d screamed when he walked away. But there was nothing he could do but let nature take its course. He still felt bad about it. He’d never take a trip again without taking his gun.

  Ali was cold. He’d always lived inside a tight, warm barn and worn a winter blanket when the outside temperature got below 50 degrees. As the sun dropped below the horizon, the temperature at this elevation plummeted down near freezing. There was no bedding to lie in, no blanket to keep him warm and he missed his people terribly.