Hitch trudged through Shadow Gap, winding his way through the narrow canyon. He was tired and growing more anxious by the second. He’d tracked and captured every cattle rustler, poker cheat, bank robber, and desperado he’d ever gone after. Until now. The Camarillo Kid was making him look bad. Hitch was good at his job—the best—but tracking down the Camarillo Kid was turning out to be a lot more difficult than he’d expected. The boy always seemed to be one step ahead of him.
But there were innocent folks relying on him. If he didn’t get back the silver ore for the town of Silver Spur, they might never get their church. If the Kid got away with Gilroy’s gold nugget, the old prospector might have to spend the rest of his life digging in the mine. Hitch kept moving and hoped he’d catch a break.
Finally, after what felt like a lifetime of walking, he spotted the end of the slot canyon. Desperation Gulch was in sight. Things were starting to look up—
Until Hitch looked up.
A bright flash of light swept across the sky. Then a deep boom shook the ground and rattled Hitch’s teeth. Was it thunder and lightning? That didn’t seem likely. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
“Doggit!” Hitch realized what the light was, and it wasn’t good. He raced to the end of the gap and into a circular clearing ringed by massive rock formations. He found a giant patch of scorched earth, as if a huge fire had burned there. But there were no smoking embers or burned logs.
Hitch slowly turned in a circle, searching the rocks that surrounded the clearing.
“C’mon,” he said under his breath. “I know you’re here somewhere.”
He’d almost turned a complete 360, when he caught sight of what he was hoping to see.
It was the reflection of light off a silver surface.
“Patches,” he said with a relieved sigh.
Hitch ran to a line of boulders, peeked around one end, and broke out in a big smile.
“Well, hello, Patches.” Hitch had found his precious ride. He patted the saddle with affection. “I hope Leonard treated you right.”
He spoke to Patches as if it were a living being.
It wasn’t.
Patches wasn’t a horse, even though it had a typical Western saddle. The leather saddle sat atop a sleek silver vehicle that looked like a cross between a motorcycle and a small jet fighter. There were handlebars, a pointed nose, double fins to the rear, and no wheels. Painted in fancy golden script just below the saddle was patches. This was Hitch’s precious ride.
Hitch whirled around. The Kid was nowhere to be seen. Hitch pulled up his sleeve and entered a few commands into a wide silver band around his wrist. Then he climbed onto Patches’s saddle. A series of colorful buttons blinked on the control panel between Patches’s handlebars. Hitch pressed the green and blue buttons simultaneously. Patches’s engine whined to life. Hitch grasped the handlebars, twisted one, and the vehicle slowly lifted straight up into the air.
Hitch hovered two feet off the ground and maneuvered the flight cycle away from the rock. He turned its nose to the center of the clearing and looked to the sky.
Another streak of light flashed overhead. Only this one didn’t disappear. It became larger as it drew closer. Moments later, a silver disc-shaped ship settled to the ground on the burned area in the center of the clearing, kicking up a cloud of dust. Multicolored flashing lights ringed the edge of the flying ship. A large hatch opened. A ramp slid out and settled in the dirt. The moment it hit the ground, a young woman ran out of the craft.
“It’s about time!” she shouted as she raced toward Hitch. “I knew you’d get him!”
Dale Sweet wore faded jeans, boots, a bright red flannel shirt, and a black cowboy hat that she held on to for fear it would fly off as she ran.
“Where’s the little rat?” Her dark hair whipped around as she looked about expectantly.
“Gone,” Hitch said.
“Gone? What do you mean, gone?” Dale cried. “You sent me the signal.”
“I sent the signal for you to come and fetch me,” Hitch said. “I just missed him. He took off right before I got here.”
Dale’s brown eyes grew wide. “A ship just came up from the ground and flew by me like a scared jackrabbit. Nearly hit me, too! Do you think that was him?”
“Yep. He ain’t here,” Hitch said. “And Patches is. I’m guessing this is where he stashed his ship to make his getaway. The burn marks on the ground are proof.”
Hitch slowly floated on Patches toward the ramp of the silver craft as Dale walked alongside.
“I hate to say I told you so, but I was afraid something like this would happen.” Dale shook her head. “We never should have split up.”
“I needed you to search for Leonard from the air,” Hitch explained.
“Yeah, right,” Dale said, annoyed. “You wanted me out of the way. I know that. But if we’d stayed together, I could’ve kept watch and he’d never have stolen Patches and he’d probably be in Silver Spur wearing handcuffs right about now.”
“Maybe,” Hitch said. “Maybe not.”
“I think that’s exactly what would’ve happened,” Dale said, challenging him.
“What’s done is done,” Hitch said.
“Yeah, well, it ain’t all done,” Dale said. “There’s a storm brewing at the station. We’ve been called back. Now.”
“Now? The Kid hasn’t gotten far. If we don’t follow him, the trail might go cold!” Hitch cried.
“So, what do we do?” Dale asked. “It’s orders from the captain.”
Hitch scratched his chin, then sighed. “We go back and get it over with as quick as possible.”
“Whatever you do, don’t tell anyone that Leonard stole Patches,” Dale said. “We don’t want to get laughed at.”
“Yup, best we keep that between us,” Hitch agreed.
He gunned the engine and flew Patches into the open hatch of the circular ship. Dale hurried in behind him. The ramp retracted, and the hatch sealed shut. With a roar, the silver spaceship lifted off and shot into the sky.