Chapter 11
Grizzly Hatch

Zack and I rode hard most of the way, at least where we could.

We went over the hill first, crossing the Allegheny road north of Miracle, then along the trail leading from French Corral to Soda Springs till we were across the South Fork of the Yuba. After that we headed south, up and across Chalk Bluff Ridge, down through Deadman’s Flat, then across the Bear.

I was proud of Zack. He knew the way exactly and didn’t need my help at all. Not that I’d have been much help. I’d only been this way once with Pa, and then not all the way to Dutch Flat. But I guess Zack had come two or three times with Uncle Nick.

We made good time. I think we were there in less than two hours. But even so, it was late and the sun was starting to think about bedding down for the night. Zack told me there’d be a half moon tonight, though, so if the clouds stayed away we’d be able to make it back home after dark if we wanted to.

There wasn’t much to Dutch Flat, that’s for sure. All it amounted to was a little valley between the Bear River and Canyon Creek where they’d discovered gold. There were claims here and there on the streams, and a shack or two, one of them a saloon. I don’t think there was one respectable family in the whole place.

We hadn’t really talked about what we would do when we actually got there, or how we thought we would find Pa. I’d been praying all the way that God would help us. I’d remembered a verse in the Bible that Mrs. Parrish had told me about God guiding someone’s footsteps if you give yourself to Him.

Now I remember—if you acknowledge Him was the word she used. If you acknowledge Him, He will lead you. I asked her what “acknowledge” meant.

“If you say that God is in charge of your life,” she answered, “if you agree to go along with His leading instead of you trying to lead yourself, then you’re recognizing that He is your Lord. That’s what acknowledge means—just saying that He is holding the reins of your life instead of you yourself. And when you do that, it’s like He tells the horse where to go and all you have to do is follow. If you acknowledge Him, He will direct your path. That’s what He tells us in Proverbs.”

Now her words came back to me, and I’d been praying that God would help us know where to go and what to do. But riding into that little place was a fearsome moment. All of a sudden we were there and we didn’t know what we were going to do. I think we figured we’d see Pa’s horse right off and there he’d be. But it didn’t turn out that easy!

There were some horses tied up in front of a rundown building, but none I recognized. Voices came from inside. Zack and I looked at each other, sort of half-shrugged, then as if by unspoken agreement went slowly toward it, dismounted, and walked timidly inside.

It wasn’t well-lit, but I could make out a table with men sitting around it. It looked like they were playing cards and a bottle of whiskey sat in the middle of the table. Most of them had glasses in front of them half filled with the amber liquid.

A couple of them glanced up when they saw us in the doorway, one leaned back in his chair and tilted his hat back on his head as if taking in the sight thoughtfully. One by one the rest of the card-playing company noticed us, and slowly the game came to a halt. There were some muttered comments and some snickering. “Well, what do we have here, boys?” said a voice, followed by a low laugh I didn’t like the sound of.

I stepped farther into the room. “We’re looking for our Pa,” I said. “We wondered if any of you could help us. His name’s Drum. Sometimes he goes by just that. Sometimes by Drum Hollister.”

“Ya don’t say? Yer Pa, eh?” mumbled another.

“You all the way out here alone, girl?” said another of the men, drawing out the word alone with a sinister tone.

“No, she ain’t alone,” piped up Zack, walking forward to join me. I know he was trying to sound brave, but it didn’t work.

“Well, if that don’t change everything now!” said one of the men. “You hear that, boys? She ain’t alone! She’s got this tough gunslinger here to protect her! Ha, ha, ha!”

“Please,” I said, starting to get a little scared, “have you seen him?”

“Nobody sees nuthin’ in these parts, girl! It ain’t healthy to be stickin’ yer nose into other folks’ business.”

“I ain’t seen yer pa, girl, but I can’t say I’d mind seein’ you a mite closer!” said the man with the low laugh, rising up out of his chair and moving slowly toward us.

“You leave my sister be,” said Zack, stepping forward and pulling me behind him. It was so brave of him. If we hadn’t been in such a fix I’d have hugged him right there! I didn’t know what he would do, because the man who was walking toward us was twice his size. But still Zack just stood there waiting for him, keeping me behind him.

I was about ready to bolt for the door and make a run for our horses when another voice interrupted the slowly approaching steps of the man’s boots on the wood floor.

“Now just hold on, Barton,” the new voice said. “Those kids don’t mean no harm. Leave ’em be.”

“You leave me be, Duke! Keep to yer own affairs an’ let me have a little fun!”

“I’ve seen what your kind of fun leads to, Jed,” said the other voice. “Especially when you’ve got whiskey in your belly. Now back off, I tell you, or you’ll have to go up against me. And you don’t want to do that. Just remember what happened last time you tried it!”

The man called Jed Barton stopped, threw several bitter curses over his shoulder toward the voice coming from the dark end of the room, then slunk back to his seat. I heard the sound of a man hoisting himself up from a table and walking toward us. Once I could see him halfway plain he didn’t look much better than Jed Barton, but everything I’d heard from him up till now told me this fellow called Duke was our friend.

“Your pa was here, kids,” he said. “Leastways I reckon it was your pa. Two, maybe three hours back. But not for long. He was trailing someone else—”

“Our Uncle Nick!” I said eagerly.

“Musta been. He just walked in, called out, ‘Name’s Drum. I’m lookin’ for Nick Matthews. Any of you seen ’im?’ and he was outta Dutch Flat in five minutes.”

“What did you tell him?” Zack asked.

“That some of the boys there were playing a friendly game of cards with Matthews when ol’ man Hatch wandered in and wanted to join in. Your uncle thought he saw an easy mark, and before it was over he near got his head blown clean off. That Hatch is a looney ol’ cuss, and he lit outta here after your uncle, sending every one of us for cover. I don’t know how your pa got wind of it so fast. I told him the last I seen of Matthews he was high-tailing it outta here in the direction of Blue Devil Diggings. Course, he mighta been heading for Gold Run. And Hatch was after him with pistol and rifle, both shooting at once!”

“So where do you think they are now?”

“Who can tell? But I know Hatch spends a lot of time in these here parts, and if he gets your uncle—or your Pa, for that matter—boxed into one of them canyons down that way, they’ll never be able to outfox him. If he chases Matthews into Squires Canyon, your uncle might already be dead.”

“Which way is it?” said Zack, already moving toward the door.

“Southeast of here, off the road to Gold Run,” he answered. “You kids be careful, you hear?”

“Don’t worry,” I said. It was a stupid thing to say, cause I was terrified myself from what the man said. But I wasn’t about to show it.

He followed us outside and watched us get back on Snowball and Blue Flame, still not believing, I think, that we were really going to chase off in the direction Pa and Uncle Nick had gone.

“Thanks, mister,” I called out as we galloped out of Dutch Flat, and as I glanced back he was still standing there staring after us, his hat in his hand, scratching his head.

We ran our horses for only about three or four minutes when Zack, who was up ahead, signaled me to stop. I came up even with him and could tell he was listening for something.

“What is it?” I whispered.

“I thought I heard shots.”

We listened again.

“There! Did you hear it?” he said. “There it is again!”

It sounded like a single shot from a rifle, followed by some yelling I couldn’t make out.

Slowly we started up again, then left the road off to the right and made our way up a grassy ridge, hoping we could get to a point where we could see further. Every once in a while we’d hear a voice call out and we moved toward the sounds. About a quarter mile off the road I spotted a horse up ahead of us, tied to a tree.

“Zack!” I said, speaking softly. “Look! Isn’t that Jester?” I hadn’t forgotten what that man Duke had said about Hatch killing Uncle Nick, and I was afraid if he found us sneaking up on him, he’d kill us too.

We got down off our horses and led them the rest of the way. It was Jester, so we knew Pa must be close by. We tied Snowball and Blue Flame, then kept going on foot. We were on the top of the ridge now, but still hadn’t seen anyone.

The next time a voice shouted out it was so close it made me jump nearly out of my skin. I didn’t know the voice, so it must have been the one Duke called Hatch.

“Ya might as well come on out, Matthews!” he shouted. “Ya got nowhere to hide!”

There was no reply.

“I know ya’s in there, Matthews, ya cheatin’ scum, an’ I mean to fill ya full o’ lead!”

I looked at Zack and he looked at me. Both pairs of our eyes were wide open, but we didn’t dare utter a sound!

We crept forward on tiptoes, inch by inch, trying not to let the dry leaves and twigs crack under our feet.

All of a sudden I tripped, but halfway through my fall I felt a huge pair of arms grab around me. I started to scream, but just as suddenly a great hand clamped itself over my mouth and held it fast.

My heart was beating like a frightened rabbit’s, but I looked up to see myself safe in the loveliest arms I could imagine.

“Pa!” I whispered as he released his hand, motioning for silence with his finger over his mouth.

He looked us over, from one to the other, bewildered, then whispered, “What in tarnation are the two of you doing here?”

“Oh, Pa,” I answered back, “it’s my fault. I had something to tell you that I didn’t think could wait even another day. But now with that man down there trying to shoot Uncle Nick, it doesn’t seem so important now!”

“Yeah, you’re right,” he replied softly, glancing around again down the hill. “That Grizzly Hatch is just crazy enough to kill us all! Now listen to me, the two of you. I want you to go back the way you came. I don’t know what horses you have or how you ever managed to find me out here in the middle of nowhere looking down on Squires Canyon. But I want you to go back and get on them horses and get out of here! If Hatch finds out there’s four of us, he’s likely to get crazier’n ever!”

“Maybe we could help, Pa,” suggested Zack.

“There’s nothing to do, boy! I been here two hours already myself. But he’s got Nick down there trapped in that little cave at the end of the canyon. He may be crazy, but he ain’t stupid. He’s got Nick’s horse, he’s got a full view of the mouth of the cave. Nick can’t make a move Hatch won’t see, but I can’t get a clean sight of Hatch. Now get outta here, I tell you!”

“But, Pa, maybe with four of us . . .” Zack said, letting his voice kinda trail off.

Pa turned toward him, slanting his eyebrows like he does when he’s thinking. Then a slow smile spread over his mouth.

“You may just have something there, Son,” he said after a minute. “You’re right—now there’s four of us! Only Hatch doesn’t know it! If we can make him think it’s still just me and Nick, we might be able to lure him away from that cave opening.”

He stopped, thinking some more, glancing down toward where Hatch was watching the mine, then along the canyon, then back up along the ridge where the three of us sat. “Yeah,” he muttered to himself, “it just might be crazy enough to work! Zack, my boy,” he said, turning to Zack, “we’ll try it! Now—do you think you can shoot my gun?”

“Yes, sir!” said Zack eagerly. “At Grizzly Hatch?”

“No, no! For heaven’s sake, we don’t want to kill anybody! We just want to give him something to think about. Okay, here’s what we’re going to do.”

Five minutes later, after Pa was done explaining his plan, he stood up. “Now you wait till you hear me throw a rock over in your direction. That’ll be the signal I’m in position up behind the cave. The minute you hear that rock, Zack, you start shooting. But aim right where I showed you! I don’t want you accidently hitting him. We just want him to think we’re firing at him! Then I’ll yell at Hatch and try to get him to leave his position and come after me. At first he won’t believe I’m Nick. But then you gotta call out something from up here. Doesn’t matter what, just make your voice sound low enough to be mine. Say something like, ‘Hey, Nick, how’d you get outta the cave?’ If Nick’ll just keep his fool trap shut till Hatch comes after me, this oughta work! Now, Corrie, when you see him climbing up the other side there—”

He pointed with his finger and I followed with my eyes.

“—when you see him coming after me, you know what to do.”

I nodded.

“But remember, he’s got to only think there’s me and Nick!”

We both nodded our heads, then Pa went back up toward the horses to start making his way around and down the other side of the ridge to the back side of the cave, while we sat and waited. He said it could take him more than half an hour to get in place.

Silently we crouched where we were and waited. It seemed forever, and we never saw or heard anything more from Pa. Hatch yelled and shot at the cave a couple of times, but that was all. Finally we heard a small stone land not far away from us.

I looked at Zack. He looked at me, then he fired Pa’s gun in the direction Pa told him to. Immediately when the echo had died away, we heard Pa’s voice shouting from across the canyon, off to the right and behind the cave.

“Hey, Hatch, ya ol’ buzzard!” he called out. “Thought you could keep me down, did ya? But ya didn’t know that cave had another way out! Nice shootin’ Drum! Give him another one so I can get outta here!”

Zack fired two more shots, then called out, trying to make his voice as deep as he could, “Come on, Nick, let’s get outta here!”

Then for the first time I saw the man Pa had called Grizzly Hatch. He stood up from behind the rock where he’d been crouched. He looked toward the cave, then up in our direction, then back toward where Pa’s voice was still badgering him.

I lay real low so he wouldn’t see me, but I could see him looking back and forth and could tell Pa’s plan had worked. He was getting confused and really thought Pa was Uncle Nick. He was stocky and squat, not particularly tall, though he looked strong. He wore a beard but not a long one like Alkali Jones’—it looked more like he just forgot to shave for a couple of weeks. His hair was dark black and so long it came down over his ears, and he wasn’t wearing a hat. I was too far away to make out much about his features. But even from where I was watching, I was glad I couldn’t see them. He looked mean.

“I’ll join ye directly, Drum!” Pa was shouting. “Just as soon as I work my way ’round the mouth of this canyon. You just keep that ol’ coot Hatch where he is! The old weasel will never catch me!”

Zack fired again.

By this time Grizzly Hatch was downright in a boil, which is just how I figured Pa wanted him so he’d quit thinking about the cave. He didn’t seem too worried about Zack’s shooting in his direction—or maybe he was crazy like everyone said.

All at once he lit out from where he was, ran down the hill shouting out curses in the direction of the cave. It had been so quiet from inside it I began to wonder if something had gone wrong and Uncle Nick had disappeared somehow!

Zack fired again and shouted, “Hey, Hatch, come back here, ya varmint! Look out, Nick, he’s comin’ in your direction!”

Hatch was now scrambling up the other side of the canyon in Pa’s direction, shooting and yelling wildly.

I stood up. Now it was my turn.

“If he comes back, you yell out a warning,” I said to Zack. Then I began making my way down the hill toward the cave from the left, where Hatch couldn’t see me even if he looked back. When I got to the floor of the canyon I looked around. By now I couldn’t even hear anybody else, just an occasional shout in the distance. I ran across the flat ground and up the short incline to the cave on the other side.

“Uncle Nick . . . Uncle Nick!” I said into the black opening as loud as I dared. “You in there?”

All was quiet a moment. Then I heard, “Corrie . . . that you?”

“Yes! Come quick! Pa got the man away from the cave!”

I heard Uncle Nick’s shuffling steps from inside, then he stepped into the light, holding his hand up to his squinting eyes. The sun was just setting behind the ridge and shining right toward us.

“How’d he manage that?” he asked.

“Come on, come on!” I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him along. “I’ll tell you later. We gotta get outta here before he comes back!”

I ran back down the way I’d come, still trying to keep as quiet as I could, half pulling Uncle Nick behind me. Finally, he broke into a run himself and we made our way back up the hillside to where Zack still sat with Pa’s gun.

“Why, dad-blamed if that don’t beat all!” exclaimed Uncle Nick. “I been busted outta my prison by two kids! You know how to use that thing, Zack, my man?”

“Who do you think was doing all that shooting you heard a minute ago?” I said. “Zack used that gun just fine. But now we gotta get back to the horses to meet Pa!”

Zack and I quickly retraced our steps to where we’d left our horses with Jester. Still bewildered by the events of his sudden rescue, Nick shuffled along behind us, asking where Pa was. But we didn’t stop to answer. I was still afraid of Hatch sneaking up behind us!

In a couple of minutes we reached the horses. We stopped, breathing hard. My panting was only half from running down to the cave and back up the hill. The other half was from still being afraid for Pa. Now he was out there with Grizzly Hatch after him!

It was a terrible wait. Every so often we’d hear an explosion of gunfire or some shouts. Once or twice I heard Pa yell out something too. Then everything was dead quiet for about five minutes.

Suddenly through the brush came a trampling sound making right for us. Without thinking, I grabbed at Uncle Nick and jumped behind him. But almost the next second Pa broke through the trees running toward us as fast as he could.

“Mount up!” he yelled the instant he saw us. “Let’s get outta here!”

“But my horse, Drum! He ran my horse off!” said Uncle Nick, hesitating.

“Dad-blame ya, Nick! It’s your own durn fault! Now get up there on Snowball! Having your skin in one piece is better’n a horse!”

“But that was a new saddle, Drum!”

“Get up there, Nick! Hatch is right behind me! I don’t wanna tell ya again!”

“Snowball? Why, that’s just a kid’s horse!”

“After this little escapade, I ain’t so sure you can handle anything more!” said Pa, clearly irritated. “Zack, you take Blue Flame, Corrie, you get up on Jester with me, and Nick, you get on Snowball!”

We all mounted up, though I could feel Uncle Nick almost pouting as he did, hardly noticing that Pa’d just saved his life by risking his own. Pa jumped up on Jester’s back, then reached down and hauled me up in one quick motion. I held on to the saddle horn as tight as I could, Pa reached around me with his arms, took the reins in one hand and squeezed me tight with the other, dug his heels in, and off we went. Zack on Blue Flame was right behind us, followed by Snowball and Uncle Nick.

As we sped along the ridge, I thought I heard shouts behind us. A couple of gunshots rang out. Pa’d been right. Hatch was right behind us. But dusk was settling in and Hatch was nowhere near his horse. In another minute or two I knew we were safe.