24
saddlebag dispatches
every trick known and some that weren’t. Jezzie had become oddly silent. What had happened to the hound? A horse shuffled its feet. More whispers. “Show yourself,” he growled. At last, came a child’s voice. “Don’t shoot, mister.” “Come on in. Slow and easy.” He stayed hidden in case Jack Sneed had stooped to using a kid to lure him into the open. Nothing that outlaw did would surprise Bonner. Not one damn thing. A rustle of brush preceded the visitor. When the mule stepped into the circle of light with Jezzie plodding alongside, he stared in shock. The riders were kids—two of them—the oldest no more than nine or ten years old. •
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Colt still in his hand, Bonner rose and scanned the darkness. He waited for Jack Sneed to race toward him with gun blazing— or at the very least the parents of these children. “Tell anybody with you to come out, kid.” Now in the light, he noticed the oldest was a boy. Behind him, gripping the boy’s waist, was a little girl with long blonde hair. She gave a loud sniffle.
“Ain’t nobody with us,” said the boy. “Just me and my sister. We’re cold. Hungry.” Bonner slid his Colt into the holster. “What are you doing out here all by yourself ?” He helped the kids to the ground and moved them by the fire. The boy could barely walk for the heavy pistol stuck in the waist of his pants. Thank goodness both wore thick coats. The boy shot him a wary glance and held his hands to the flame. “Lookin’ for somebody, mister.” “Call me Bonner. Bonner Raine. Are you lost?” “Nope.” “Got a name, kid?” He was trying to make sense of this. If he was dreaming, he wished he’d wake up. Surely they were a figment of his imagination. He’d been dog tired down to his bones before, but never where he saw people who weren’t there. “Jonathan Timothy Andrew Cutler.” “I’m Addie,” the girl said shyly. Jezzie whimpered and licked her hand. “Well, Jonathan Timothy Andrew Cutler and Addie, if I knew who you were looking for I could help you find them.” He glanced at the mule and found bedrolls tied to the animal and a burlap sack filled with something hanging from the saddle horn. The kids had prepared for a trip, not just a spur of the moment ride.