The following morning, Kelly went to the bunkhouse to assign the ranch hands their duties. He even mentioned hearing about a boarded up hole in that area and for someone to check it out as well, because he hadn’t done it. He made the job sound very unpleasant, saying whoever volunteered had to fence off any dangerous areas. Then he walked out of the bunkhouse, leaving the details to Tony.
He and John went promptly to the hillside and tied the horses up and out of sight among some tall desert shrubs. Then they hiked toward the boarded area and hid behind some shrubbery near a bunch of boulders and waited.
After a while, John said, “I’ve been thinking…”
Kelly laughed. “That’s dangerous.”
John grinned. “I know.”
“So what were you thinking?”
“Why didn’t the guy just lay boards down on the ground instead of building this large box?”
Kelly shrugged. “Because they could slide away from the hole. This way, by having a boxed in area, it won’t move. Besides, it would be more difficult to discover what was inside without a hammer or something to pry it off with. Anyway, that’s what I think.”
John shook his head. “He sure went to a lot of effort.”
Kelly nodded.
After about a half hour, they saw a lone horse riding their way. As it approached, Kelly gasped when he saw who it was. No! It couldn’t be, he thought to himself. He felt a warm hand touch his shoulder. He turned and saw John’s sympathetic face.
“I’m sorry, Kelly.”
“No! Maybe… maybe no one volunteered.”
They stayed behind the shrubs as they watched Tony slide from his horse, walk to the boxed in area and inspect it. After pulling on some of the boards, he found the ones that Kelly had loosened. Kelly hadn’t taken the time to hammer them back because he didn’t think it was necessary.
Tony proceeded to pull the long boards from the top and drop them on the ground. Then they saw him peer down into the hole. He was beginning to climb over the edge when they heard the sound of horse’s hooves in the distance. They turned and saw another ranch hand approaching.
When Billy came to a halt and climbed off his horse, he asked, “What’d you find?”
“You wouldn’t believe it!” said Tony. “Come and have a look.”
When Tony began to climb over the boards once again, Billy pulled a gun on him and said, “Don’t move a muscle.”
When Tony turned around and saw the gun in his hand, he stared at Billy in disbelief. “What’s going on?”
“You don’t know? You discovered something you weren’t supposed to and now we’ve got to get rid of witnesses.”
“Witness to what? A stupid sinkhole?”
Billy laughed with disdain. “You’ll find out once you go down inside so I might as well tell you. We discovered gold down there. And not just a little. Millions upon millions of dollars worth of gold! And you’re not going to ruin it for me.”
Tony was in shock as it finally dawned on him. “You’re the one who put the burr under Mrs. Evan’s saddle?”
“Yes, but I didn’t want to hurt her. I like her. I was only trying to scare her so she’d leave. She was snooping around too much. And you just found the reason why. We’ll be rich when we buy this place. And Kelly has finally agreed to sell. And we’re going to make a bid for it, too. You can’t botch this up for us. We’ve got him right where we want him.”
“Who? You and your brother?”
The sound of a jeep came from a distance and everyone turned in its direction.
“What’s he doing here?” whispered John. “He’ll get hurt.”
“I don’t know. But maybe he’s an answer to a prayer because he’s the one person Billy completely respects. If anyone can talk any sense into him, it’s Hal.”
When the cook pulled to a stop and climbed out, Tony yelled, “Watch out, Hal. He’s got a gun. Get back in the jeep and get out of here.”
“What’s going on here?” Hal said firmly as he eyed the gun in Billy’s hand. “Is that really necessary?”
Billy didn’t answer but kept his eye on his victim.
“You know I don’t like guns,” said Hal. “They’re dangerous, boy. Now put that gun away and I mean it.”
“But…”
“I said to put it away, Billy. I think we can talk about this in a friendly manner.” He turned to Tony. “Don’t you?”
Tony nodded. “I’m willing but I don’t think Billy is.”
“Billy!” said Hal sternly. “Lower that gun.”
When he hesitated, Tony said, “You’re young, Billy. The courts will go easy on you and Terry. In fact, I know Kelly will help any way he can.” He turned to Hal. “Isn’t that right? Kelly’s a reasonable fellow. Terry’s only eighteen and…”
Billy laughed as he lowered the gun. “You’re so gullible. My brother knows nothing about this.”
“He doesn’t?”
“Do you want to tell him, Hal?” Billy said with a smirk. “Or should I?”
Tony’s eyes bugged out of his head. He couldn’t believe his ears. This couldn’t be. He turned to Hal and stared, waiting for him to deny the whole thing.
Hal smiled when he saw the confusion on Tony’s face. “When Billy first told me about the gold mine, I couldn’t believe my ears. So we checked it out and, sure enough, he was right. If I could get Kelly to sell, then I would be set for life and I could even start my own diner without having to save up any more money. All I needed to do was convince Kelly to sell. He was starting to give in until his nosey, stubborn sister came along. She started to ruin everything.”
As Kelly listened behind the bushes, his heart sank in disbelief. Hal was the last person he would have suspected. What were they to do?
Hal pulled a rope from his jeep, walked up to Tony, and proceeded to tie his hands behind his back. “When Billy told me about Kelly’s announcement this morning, I was shocked. I knew we had to do something quick. Billy didn’t expect you to come out here when he had volunteered.” He sighed. “Make you a deal, Tony. You don’t say a word and we’ll cut you in.”
“Cut me in?” Tony said with surprise.
After Hal secured the knot, he stood in front of him and said, “How about it? You’ll be richer than you ever thought possible.”
Kelly listened carefully. Would his friend go along with it? Two men had betrayed him. Would Tony?
When Hal saw the shock on Tony’s face, he folded his arms and said, “This is worth millions, Tony. Don’t be a fool and turn this offer down.” He smiled with confidence. “What do you say? All I need from you is to convince Kelly to sell immediately.”
Tony looked at Hal as if he didn’t know him. “I’d never go against Kelly. Never!”
“That’s all we wanted to know,” said Billy as he pointed the gun at his chest.
“Not here,” said Hal gruffly. “Everyone will hear the shot. We can take him somewhere else. He can have an accident. Then you come back here and nail those boards down.”
When John saw the frightened look on Tony’s face, he realized they had put him in extreme danger. Never had he figured that their plan would backfire like this. They didn’t even have a backup plan. Kelly said he knew these young men and it should be a cinch to grab whoever it was. Not so!
John turned to Kelly and whispered, “What shall we do? I didn’t bring anything. I didn’t expect someone to pull a gun.”
“Don’t worry. I brought reinforcements,” Kelly said as he pulled a slingshot from his backpack.
John stared at the small weapon. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Kelly quickly placed a large stone in the center of the leather pouch, pulled the sling back, took careful aim, and let it fly. The stone sped through the air with power and force. The sound it made was almost like a high-pitched hum. Billy instantly grunted and fell to the ground.
Tony’s eyes widened as he saw the young man lying before him with a blood spot on the back of his head. What the heck was going on? He heard another whizzing sound and before he could blink, Hal was lying at his feet, also.
He looked around but could see no one. He recognized that sound and he grinned. It had to be Kelly and his mighty slingshot.
Off in the distance came a galloping horse, but Kelly and John stayed hidden just in case there were more than two that had planned this heist. John blinked. What the heck was Julia doing here? Dust went flying through the air when she reined in and slid to a stop. When he saw her grab the rifle from its scabbard, John chuckled. What a woman!
Julia looked at the men lying on the ground and Tony standing before them. “I can’t believe it was you, Tony. You should be ashamed of yourself. Kelly was like a father to you and he would have given you the shirt off his back.”
“I know,” said Tony as he suppressed a grin.
“And how about Sharlene? This will break her heart. She’s in love with you. Did you know that?”
Tony nodded. “I sure do. And I feel the same way about her, also.”
“Why did you do it?”
“How did you guess it was me? I tied myself up real good so it would throw you off. I even placed that gun on the ground beside Billy but you just figured me out.”
Julia’s brow creased as she asked with puzzlement, “You what?”
He smiled, as he turned sideways to show Julia his hands. “Will you please untie me, Mrs. Evans?”
John burst into a fit of laughter as he rose from his hiding place. When she turned toward her husband, he said, “Julia Evans! What are you doing here? If you had arrived just two seconds earlier, you would have been hurt. You see that gun on the ground? Not only that, you would have ruined our plan.”
As John meandered toward her, she bit her lip. She had really done it now. She was so impetuous.
“Stop biting your lip, M’darlin’, and tell me why you’re here.”
“I was worried…”
“Yeah?”
“You didn’t take any weapons…”
“Okay?”
“So I brought your rifle, just in case.”
John grinned. “And you were curious, right?”
“Well, I couldn’t help it. I wanted to know what was going on.”
John stood beside her mare and said softly, “Woman! What am I going to do with you? You and your curiosity! One day you’re going to get yourself hurt.”
“But I don’t understand,” Julia said. “Since you didn’t have a gun, how did…”
John chuckled and glanced at Kelly. “Your brother brought reinforcements.”
Kelly held up his trusty slingshot and smiled, his eyes twinkling with pride. “Remember how I’d practice every day when we were kids? Well, it finally paid off.”