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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 1839599" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter Thirty-six, “Mistaken Identity”, January 7th , 1882:Nanuet heads back to the other two since the steeper incline up to that higher cave was a few hundred feet back. When they get to that section of the trail Heath Barkely and Kate are waiting for them. Heath says "Adam moved back a bit and spotted some more guards at that cave higher up. We came up to warn you, now wanting you to get caught on this ledge in a crossfire." Jake replies "Thanks, but we already know them. In fact they're expecting Nanuet here walk right up to them all peaceful like. Why don't you head back down and bring the others up to this point, we'll keep Kate with us."Jake says, "So now what, Nanuet? Do we do the same thing up above and take Knowles out?" Jake says pointing up the hill. "I wonder how many there are up there? And don't those names sound familiar?"  Nanuet replies "The names do sound familiar don't they?"   Nanuet takes a deep breath and clinches his jaw.  "I will go to the upper caves and speak with Knowles. I will tell him that Geronimo has sent me to bring him back for a pow wow. I hope he will come, and when he does I will lead him here and we can subdue him, then get more information from him."   Before anyone can say anything to stop him, Nanuet turns and begins walking up to the upper caves.Jakes looks at Ruby & Katherine, then shrugs his shoulders. "I don't want him too far away where we can't help him. I'm for following at a distance and stopping at a good hiding spot." He looks questioningly around.  Ruby exclaims "Well I'm going with you." She gives Jake the you-can't stop-me look while she pushes her hair up into her hat.  Katherine states, "I don't like him going alone either, but if we move to a different hiding spot, won't he be just as surprised as Knowles when we come flying out? I don't think that's a particularly good thing." Unfortunatley for her by the time Katherine makes that comment Jake is already on his way after Nanuet with Ruby right behind him. Katherine shrugs and follows. When Nanuet glances back he sees the others climbing up the path as well. Kate met his eyes and shrugged again, indicating the others. "They wanted to find a better hiding place, a little closer in case you need some help." Jake continues to follow Nanuet at a distance, letting Ruby and Katherine catch up. "How in Hades are we going to subdue this guy? I'm thinking we just stick a couple of guns in his back and march him back to the folks down below. Any good ideas?"  And seeing the look on Katherine's face he adds, "and yes I did hear you before, and no I don't ignore all your ideas." He finishes apologetically.She looked down at the rocks at her feet. "I don't know anything about this sort of thing, anyway," she said quietly. Kate felt rather lost up here, picking her way up a mountain trail toward two dozen armed men. 'I must be insane,' she thought to herself.The four proceed upward for a few minutes longer. They then hear a voice from immediately ahead of them say “Hold on, you don’t want to step there.”  A man dressed in cowboy clothing steps out from a crevice in rock. The four notice that the crevice was not visible before this minute due to the way the sun happened to have been shining down, making it nearly invisible up to that point. He has a gun holstered in his belt but no other weapons out and is not acting in a threatening manner. He then reaches back into the crevice.The man pulls out an eight-foot long wooden plank in his hand, which he places on the rocky rail immediately before them. "Come on it's safe now" he says. Nanuet walks across the plank, which sags in the middle, a four-foot wide section of the ledge apparently being some type of magical illusion. The man tells the others “Come along, they’re expecting you.” "So much for us surprising them," Ruby whispers. "I guess we'd better go." She looks at Jake and Katherine and proceeds to lightly walk across the plank. "Damn", Is all Jake can muster. And he walks across.The four continue on, the man not following them. They soon arrive at the end of the trail, at a rough shelf approximately twenty feet wide and fifty-feet long. There are two caves near the back of each side of the shelf. They can see into the one closest to them, which looks to go around twenty feet deep before ending in a thirty-foot round chamber. The walls to the chamber look to be damp. Three rusty metal army-issue bunks are inside the chamber along with a few wooden trunks and a pile of empty bottles. There are currently two men on the shelf, one with a rifle near the far cave and the other in the center of this shelf. The closer man has a holstered gun on his belt. He approaches the four.  The man walks right up to Jake and extends him hand in greeting, a broad smile on his face and exclaims, “Glad you managed to find the place Deadeye, we weren’t expecting you for another day or two.” Ruby raises an eyebrow at Jake. "Friends of yours?" Jake shakes the man’s hand firmly, "Glad to get out of the sun. Quite a place you got here." He replies "It's gets pretty noisy down in the cave below, especially when we change the brands on the cattle."  He then takes a good long look at both Katherine then at Ruby and says “And I see you brought Curley Bill some presents.”  "Nothin's for free you know, we'll work out some deal he and I", Jake laughs and looks at Ruby and Katherine and gives them a wink.   Ruby whispers "Excuse me? Jake what is going on?" "Brandy," Jake says firmly, while looking at Ruby, "Keep Jenny quiet for a minute will you?" Jake hardly needed to suggest they keep quiet. Kate was too shocked to anything else. Obviously Jake knew these people. Had he known they were here, even as he suggested they rethink coming out here. She hated suspecting him of anything, she'd grown rather fond of Jake. And what was all this about "presents" for the boss? There was only so far she was willing to play along, and being a gift was very close to the line. She reached forward and took hold of Ruby's hand.   Katherine whispers to Ruby "I know that man from Tombstone. He occasionally made meat deliveries to the boarding house where I stayed. His name is Billy, I don't know his last name. He didn't seem to recognize me, but I am dressed rather differently."Turning back to the man who had he had been talking to Jake  says, "There's some I don't know here, who are they?"   The man doing the talking says "These guys all work for Curley Bill, most of them are local. Toby said you ain't never been to the Arizona or New Mexico Territories before Deadeye, so I'd be surprised if ya knew any of them. Don't worry none, they can all be trusted. Been working with most of them for years."Ruby takes a step in front of Kate. She has suddenly become suspicious of Jake and his involvement in this. She looks around and tries to figure the best way off the cliff.  Any possible exit back the way they came abruptly ends when the man who had assisted with the plank come up on the trail behind them. The man who Katherine recognized as Billy tells him “Dell, You stay guard out here with Jack, I’ll take Deadeye and his, err, friends to go meet the boss.” Kate took a deep breath. The shelf suddenly seemed a lot smaller.Jake turns towards Dell so he isn't facing the way that 'billy' wants to walk. Stalling. To Billy, "So is the other caves that saw coming up here yours too, the ones over there." He points. He gestures to the first cave with the three rusty bunks and says "What you see is all there is to that one, just for me, Dell and Jack sleep when we ain't on guard duty. The boss has the good cave" gesturing to the far one. Jake adds, "Oh, and this Injun has a message from Geronimo to Harvey Knowles is he with the boss and Toby?"   The man replies  “Knowles is in with the boss since he's the only one who speaks local Injun. Toby's down in the big cave below with the cows. He doesn't rate with the big guns like you do. Willing to be he's hopes you'll help get him elevated up here to the easier work." The man then says to Jake "Oh, sorry Deadeye. I should have introduced myself. I'm Billy Claibourne. You ready to come meet the boss?""Well I want to make sure the boss," Jake laughs, "likes what he sees. I want to get full value." With that Jake walks over to Ruby, fluffs up her hair, leans in close and whispers "We ARE in deep crap. When I say let's go, you get the drop on Dell" while he unbuttons a couple of buttons on her shirt. Then he spins her around "What do you think Dell?" “Crap is right,” Ruby thinks. “How the heck did we think we were going to do this? We are totally unprepared.” Ruby still wasn’t sure about Jake. Either he was involved in this or he was a great liar. Either way she realizes she shouldn’t have trusted him. Ruby is about to clock Jake in the head for unbuttoning her shirt when she realizes that this is the best plan, well the only plan they have. She decides to go with it, but Jake is going to get holy hell over this she thinks. There was something in his eyes as he unbuttoned her shirt that told her he was enjoying himself in this crazy situation. And something that gave her chills. It had been a long time since she had let a man unbutton her shirt. “Oh he’s a scoundrel all right, just the kind who always gets you in trouble. And you're already not paying attention you dumb girl.” He lets her go, as he turns he catches Nanuets eye and tries to indicate that he move towards Jack. He moves over to Katherine and puts his left arm around her waist "this one is mine" and nuzzles her neck and whispers "I'm trying to get us out alive. When I say Let's go, you pull your gun on the guy I've been talking to." He looks up at 'Billy' and smiles. "Alright, enough fun for now. Let's go."  Like lightening Jake draws his pistol, lets go of Katherine, his left hand cocking the colt as it comes up to chest level of Billy, and prays to Hermes that the women trust him more than he deserves and exclaims "Freeze."  Billy just laughs and says "Good one Deadeye. Like any of us would be fool enough to draw on Deadeye Douglas." The name Deadeye Douglas means nothing to Nanuet. Ruby has only has a vague recollection of having heard it before, believing him to be some type of outlaw. Jake and Katherine however both recognize it from several different newspaper stories that they’ve read in the last few years.  Deadeye Douglas was a member of the Douglas Gang, a group comprised of four brothers and a few other criminals. They were known for robbing banks and trains in California, Nevada and Utah. Unlike the Dalton or James Gangs, the Douglas Gang usually attempted to hit their targets when there would be a minimum of people around and they only used guns only as a last resort. Around a year earlier ago Federal Agents lured the Douglas Gang into a trap. A gunfight broke out and ‘Pig Eye’ Douglas was killed while his brothers, ‘Eagle Eye’ and ‘Bullseye” Douglas were captured along with gang member Jake Krain. Deadeye Douglas had managed to escape with two other gang members, a roughneck named Toby Harris and an attractive female safecracker from back east named Mae Clarke.   The only other details that Jake can recall now about the Douglas Gang are that ‘Bullseye’ Douglas was the Gang’s leader and that ‘Eagle Eye’ Douglas was only a half-brother, his mother having been an elvan Indian.It was almost as if an electric shock ran through Kate when Jake slipped his arm around her waist. Only one man had ever touched her in such an intimate way, and even though it had been months her body remembered. She was very aware of his breath on her neck as he whispered his instructions.  She may not have been sure who she could trust here, but she was absolutely sure "Billy" was someone she could not. Kate slipped her hand into her pocket while Jake's body shielded her movements.   Suddenly he moved and the cue came. The pistol slipped smoothly from her pocket and pointed at Billy, the butt cupped in her left hand and her right index finger on the trigger.After Jake says "let's go" and while Dell is still busy staring at what's underneath her now partially unbuttoned shirt Ruby quickly palms her pistol and points it right at his head. "How'd you like the view?" she asks with a slight smile.  Jake was right about one thing. There was just no way she could stay out of trouble.Billy Claibourne had found Jake's instant draw to be funny at first but when the two ladies had him and Dell in their gunsights just seconds later his mood ochanged. Billy then glanced over to his other backup, only to see that the Indian had used managed to disarm Jack.  Billy looks back to Jake and says in a more serious voice, "Okay Douglas, you've made your point. I jumped to the wrong conclusion regarding your women."  He then glances at Katherine and Ruby and says "My apologies ladies. I'll be sure to let the boss know that your are both members of Deadeye's new gang, with many hidden talents." He then takes a longer look at Katherine in her fancy riding clothes and smiles. "Jenny, huh? You must be that Mae Clarke that Toby talked so much about. Glad to have you on board."Kate nodded and held Tom's pistol steady. Oddly, she wasn't afraid. Now that something was actually happening she felt calm, as if she had somehow stepped out of the way. "I can handle it," she said casually.  "Let's stick with Jenny for now," she said to Billy. "Mae's rather well known, after all." The pistol was still pointing steadily at him, but she relaxed her hips, letting one jut forward in a cocky fashion as she grinned.When Katherine has her gun on Billy, Jake swivels his over to point at Jack and says, "Indian, you take care of this one." Pointing at the man Billy.   I need to have a serious conversation with your boss without his hired guns standing behind me. No offense gentlemen. And you know my reputation, no one NEEDS to get hurt if you just do as you are told."  "Tie and gag 'em." He says to his friends, and in a whisper to Katherine. "Keep pretending I'm the outlaw Deadeye, they'll be more afraid of him that Jake Cook. And you're some outlaw Jenny, so don't act afraid. Play along!"The three cattle rustlers are quickly tied, gagged and carried into the side cave and further tied to their rusty bunks. A quick search is made of the trunks in the small cave, with Jake and Ruby pocketing several knives, to ensure that nothing is left behind that the men could possibly use to cut themselves out.Jake gathers up their weapons and looks to see if there are any that may be helpful. He questions Billy about how to get to where the boss is located, any traps or precautions, and who is in there besides the boss and Knowles. Adding "He won't know you told me and you never know who you'll be working for next." Billy tells him "No traps, Curley Bill figures anyone who makes it this far will be stopped by the guards. Just stick to the main tunnel and go right when it curves. When you see the light from the chamber ahead there's a trick we have to announcing yourself, but if I tell you he'll know I told you. Just yell out who you are at that point since he's already expecting you." They head back to the main shelf with Jake talking quietly to Ruby, Katherine & Nanuet. "Let's keep up the charade that I'm Deadeye and you are my gang. Except for the message from Geronimo part Nanuet, so far that plays well. Let's see if we can capture this gang a few at a time." Jake stops and notices the way they are looking at him. "What?""You seem to have some experience with this kind of stuff Jake. Something you forgot to mention perhaps? I guess this isn't the time to discuss specifics but I hope you know what you're doing." Ruby pauses while she still ponders her trust in him.   "Let's go." She starts walking down the tunnel."Oh, thank you Jake, that was quick thinking" He says in a falsetto voice doing a poor imitation of Ruby, then follows her. "Hold up a second."   When they all catch up he starts again, "Maybe we can have some plan before we get to the Curly Bill? I don't know if he has ever met Deadeye or not, so if we use that ruse he may know it's a trick when he sees me. We could try the Geronimo message angle, or maybe even take the idea from Billy that Deadeye's brought him a gift, come out and see." He speaks quietly so that it won't carry in the cave. "We need to catch them off guard.""I think he'd be suspicious of the gift angle," Kate said thoughtfully. "I'd go with the message. It is true, after a fashion, and since we're already up here they shouldn't have reason to believe it's a ruse." Somewhere in the last few moments, Kate had decided to put her trust in Jake. This was the same young man who had been watching out for them, escorting them, and making sure no one gave them any trouble, after all. He'd had plenty of opportunity already to take advantage of them, and he had not. Her instincts said he was what he'd told them, even if he hadn't told them everything yet. She laid her hand briefly on his arm, looked him in the eye, and gave a slight nod before letting go.</blockquote>

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