Chapter Fifteen

 

Charlie was in trouble now. His ankle was so swollen and painful he could hardly hobble on it. It had slowed him down tremendously and Charlie stopped to think for a minute.

He needed a stick or something he could use to help him walk. But sticks didn't come from nowhere, especially since there were few trees. He'd have to make due until he could find one.

He pulled his bandana off his neck and wrapped his ankle to see if that would help. It hurt so bad he wasn't sure. At least on a horse, he could save his ankle. He wished he'd have thought to get a horse, but they might have heard him if he went to the barn and rode out.

Still, the only way he was going to be safe was to reach Cord's place.

He had to stay on course and he had to keep moving.

Instinctively he knew that if he'd gone to town, he would have been there by now. But then his mother would be upset, and he'd be in trouble. He might never go fishing again.

How could he worry about fishing at a time like this? He should have gone to town.

By now his mother was probably frantic unable to find him. He wondered if Jason really did ask her if he could spend the night. It didn't seem likely that his mother would even agree to such a thing. They probably never asked. Why hadn't he gone with his instinct? Something told him his mother would never agree to him spending the night.

Too late to worry about that either.

He wondered if any of the Dubs brothers had awakened and discovered him gone yet.

At the rate he was going, it would be way after dawn before he reached Cord's place.

The bandana seemed to help the swelling a little and Charlie pushed on.

He glanced up at the moon again to get his bearings and hunted for the north star. At least he knew he was north, but how far?

Cord had taught him to hunt for the north star. He smiled to himself, Cord had taught him a lot of things, and he was grateful. The fact that he was like his father made Charlie proud. He might not look like him, but he sure thought like him.

Charlie's ankle hurt a lot, so he tried his best to think of pleasant things. One thing was how good it would be to be a family. How wonderful it would be to have his mother home with him. And to have a father after so long without one. How much he could learn from him and just that feeling of family. He looked forward to his mother's wedding.

At school he'd been one of two kids that didn't have a father. The other kid's father had died in an Indian skirmish a few years back. And the other kids razed him all the time about not having a father.

The sky lightened some now and Charlie was worried. They'd be waking up soon and be looking for him.

Several times he worried that he wasn't headed in the right direction. But he had to keep moving. The further away he got the better, he decided.

His ankle was pounding and he had to stop. It was warming some too and he was thirsty now.

He glanced about the area, then realized suddenly that he had no water with him. That was a big mistake out here on the prairie. He should have known better, but with the threat of the three of them waking up and finding him gone, he just didn't think about water at the time.

Hot, tired and hurting, he rested under a big rock. It provided a little shade and protection from the wind so he sat down and gathered his wits about him.

Charlie looked about for markers to recognize where he might be. He didn't see anything familiar. All he saw was rolling hills and prairie. Every now and then a jack rabbit would hop across the land.

Then he heard a horse. Scared beyond thinking he glanced about for a covey or something to take cover in.

There was a big rock not far, he ran to it and hid.

The horse and rider passed by him. It was Dan and he was looking for him. Charlie tried to be extra quiet. His ankle was throbbing, he was thirsty and the sun would be up soon. But if Dan found him, he'd take him back and there'd be a shootout for sure.

He waited with baited breath behind the rock that was just a tad bigger than him.

If he could find something to knock Dan out with, he might could steal his horse, but that was a mighty big if.

Not far from where he was there was a big rock. If he could pick it up, he might could hit Dan with it.

He ran to it, and was trying to lift it up off the ground where it had settled. It was heavily buried into the hard ground though.

But he finally dislodged it. He hollered as loud as he could. At first he wasn't sure Dan heard him, but finally he turned around and headed back.

Charlie struggled with the rock for a few seconds then managed to get a hold of it. He ran back to the bigger rock and waited for Dan to come looking.

It didn't take long. Quickly he mounted the big rock and as Dan rode by him, he threw it as hard as he could at Dan.

It hit him in the head. At first he staggered on his horse a bit, and it looked as though he hadn't hit him hard enough because Dan turned, looked and spotted Charlie.

Charlie started to run, but as soon as Dan got off his horse he staggered again and finally fell not ten feet from Charlie.

Charlie sighed. It had clipped him on the side of his head pretty good, there was blood oozing and some had splattered on the rock. Charlie didn't have the time to check to see if Dan was still breathing.

Charlie grabbed Dan's horse and after one last glance at Dan he headed toward Cord's place.

But it didn't take long to realize he was off course. He'd missed the ranch and was lost.

That's all he needed. He'd hurt Dan, stole his horse and was lost out in nowhere. Now what did he do?

Slowly he kept moving on. There was no sign of water, no sign of the ranch, and no sign of anyone catching him. He almost wished someone would catch him. He'd never been this dry before.

The sun was up now and Charlie worried about Dan. He hoped he wasn't hurt too bad. But on foot he wouldn't catch him out here.

Problem was, it didn't look like anyone would find him. He was smackdab in the middle of nowhere.

He tried to remember all the things Cord had taught him about survival. Cord had taken him hunting a time or two and fishing several times and during those times they talked a lot about how to survive out on the prairie.

Right now, Charlie was so thirsty his tongue nearly stuck to the roof of his mouth. He glanced at the horse. The horse looked parched too and had worked up a soapy sweat.

Now, what had Cord showed him about the cactus. There was water in them. The plumper the cactus, the more the water. He glanced around, it looked like there was some straight ahead. He rode toward it.

There he found what looked like a plump cactus. He remembered that Cord said you had to handle it with gloves or something to protect the hands and not to squeeze it tightly in the hand. He got off the horse and looked in the saddle bags for something, anything to help him handle it.

He found some old stained and mildewed gloves in the saddle bags down deep. He pulled them out and even though they reeked from being left in there during a rain probably, Charlie thought he could use them.

He put them on and then got closer to the cactus.

Gently he took his pocket knife out and began to cut on the cactus. The gloves were well worn and the cactus pierced through in several places. Charlie managed to get a piece cut off though and he sucked the side of the cactus to get the water from it.

It wasn't much, but it did refresh.

Seeing his horse needed some too, he went to cut another piece.

That's when his horse took off. "Dang it, I forgot to hobble him."

Charlie saw the horse run off and threw his hat down on the ground in a fit of temper. "Double Damn!" Charlie cursed.

Now how was he going to get back?

He took some more cactus and sucked it dry.

He checked his pockets and had a few peanuts he'd stuck inside from the saloon to take on his fishing trip.

His ankle was still swollen and began to feel numb. He needed a stick he could lean on with that foot.

Peanuts and cactus water! Some pioneer he'd make!

Charlie looked out at the prairie and nearly cried. He felt the lump of tears stuck in his throat and realized he was too dry to cry. He had no idea where the ranch was from here. He didn't even know where he was. He did know he was about as lost as anyone could get. He'd hurt Dan, maybe even killed him, and stole a horse. Just too many things clouded his mind. He was so tired. He sighed heavily. He sure hoped he hadn't killed Dan. Dan was alright compared to his brothers, especially when he wasn't around his brothers. Besides, they might hang him if he killed Dan. Charlie grabbed his throat at the thought.

He was so hot now since the sun announced itself. If he'd gone home he'd be eating bacon and eggs for breakfast and telling Mom what had happened. He wished he'd gone to town. He wished a lot of things. Could it get any worse?