Sheriff Sanders entered his office, followed closely by Deputy Steven. Steve carried a rifle and arm-and-leg shackles.
"I told you she would try to escape!" Steve said. "Let me lock her down, Pop!"
"NO!" the Sheriff shouted back. "Now, Lily, you have to understand... I allowed you to take the job at the saloon, dancing in all those skimpy skirts and costumes with no petticoats or stockings, flashing all God gave you for those drunkards, because it was what you wanted, to make your own way... but, that was that! I CAN NOT allow you to run wild in the streets and across the valley with the likes of Buddy Reno and those scoundrel mutts and savages he runs with...
Those men are criminals, they lie, cheat, steal and kill without regret, or remorse, to satisfy some sick and twisted desires in their black hearts! No daughter of mine will be lowered to their level! Not while I draw breath!"
"Yeah!" Steve agreed. "Let's lock her up, and lock her down... then let's see those vagrant vigilante scum try and come bust her out! Me and my boys will finish this real quick... let 'em come..."
Buddy was feverish and his body quaked as Catori passed into the cave, all but ignoring him. He knew he was doing the right thing by leaving her to go back to her tribe, when all he really wanted to do was take her in his arms and never let go again... but all he could think of now was getting rested, and getting warm.
He drifted off to uneasy sleep, his mind flashed with twisted dreams, nightmares of murderous gunfights and fire and death, the Blue Bandana Bandits converging on the cave blasting away as everyone, including Luis the look-out, slept. As the deputized blue bandana killer stepped to Catori, who snuggled next to Buddy, her face nuzzled warmly against his neck, he fired 2 quick fatal blasts from his sawed off shotgun. At such close range, both Buddy and Catori were pulverized from the blasts....
...in the instant of waking horror, Buddy watched as the deputy pulled the blue bandana from over his nose and mouth; it was BUDDY himself!! looking down at Catori's dead and bloody body, and smiling....
"CATORI! NOOO!!" Buddy screamed himself awake.
Luis was sitting at the mouth of the cave and nearly fired off a shot until he realized it was only Buddy. He said something in Spanish. It sounded angry.
Nat was also sitting at the mouth of the cave, strumming a soft tune.
As the moon set and the night faded into blackness, Luis switched places with Greg to get some sleep. Everyone was up by the crack of dawn. Nat was crouching over a pot of beans, some bacon, and a pitcher of coffee, serving himself breakfast.
Sheriff Sanders and Deputy Steve were regrouping the posse to go collect the rest of Reno's Renegades that morning, when Lily sneaked out of town ahead of them. Lily stayed close to the main road, but far enough away in the brush and forests to remain unseen, but she could see the sparse traffic that did pass on that road; and what she saw shocked her. 3 large caged-wagons, the kind of prisoner transfer carriages only seen in big cities like Abeline and Fort Worth and Dallas, passed by still early in the morning, heading into town. Each was escorted by at least a dozen horse-bound army troops, with rifles, sabres, and sidearms, and cargo and supply wagons bringing up the rear of the convoy.
Whatever was going on, it was big, and the Army was involved...
Buddy woke up coughing, gagging, still incredibly ill, and getting worse every minute. He had obviously spent too much time at the bottom of the crack in the earth, in the cold, dank, filthy, disease-infested marsh water. He needed medical attention soon... the room was shuddering, shaking and spinning before his eyes, the thundering of bison stampede still drumming in his ears... wait! the whole place WAS rumbling and quaking all around!! CAVE IN!! Buddy was too weak and out of it to warn the others, so just covered his head and cowered while the rubble began to tumble down around him...
Luis, Nat, and Greg were enjoying breakfast just out front, so they couldn't have noticed the sudden rumbling from overhead and all around Buddy. Only Catori was still inside the cave, exploring back as far as the cave extended, which wasn't too far, as the ceiling came crashing down, sealing Buddy and Catori inside, cutting them off from all light and fresh air from outside...
Catori turned around. She whispered in comanche and ran to the entrance. Seeing it was completely sealed of she sighed. She walked over to Buddy. She takes his temperature with the back of her hand. He was burning up! "Buddy?" she whispered. She shallowed her breathing taking in as little air as possible so Buddy could use it.
Buddy was awake now, but was near shock.
"What... what was that?" he moaned. "I thought I was dreaming... maybe I still am..." he smiled at Catori, happy she was still with him, if nobody else had survived the cave-in.
"Sorry I got you into all this, Flower..." he sighed. "I should have just kept riding, not stopped to collect that deer... I should have never offered to fix Chapa's shoes... shoulda never got so lost in your eyes..."
he was babbling now. "I love you, Sarah... you have such spirit... I should have never left you... -cof-cof- he squeezed Catori's hand and smiled at her thru his delirium. "Don't marry him, Sarah... please, stay with me... -cof-
his eyes slowly closed and his grip on Catori's hand loosened, but his muttering mumble and shallow breathing let the Indian girl know he was still alive, if not well there in the pitch black cave.
Tears stung Catori's eyes. Buddy was bad off and all he could think of was his white woman...Sarah. This pain cut Catori deeply. She blinked back the tears. Walking over to the entrance she began to pull back what rocks she could. Maybe Buddy was right. Maybe she should marry Miko. No! Miko didn't show her compassion as Buddy did.
Several hours passed. The day was swelteringly hot. The noon sun beat down on the men's sweaty necks. There was no breeze. Only thick, stagnant, dry air and dead heat.
Finally, Catori saw a thin beam of light shine through near the top of the cave-in. If just a few more rocks were moved, they would be able to slip out the hole...
Salvation came too late. Just as Luis, Nat, and Greg had widened the opening enough for a person to squeeze through, a good thirty or forty cavalry troops appeared on the ridge above them, rifles trained on the group.