Now Playing:Ultimatum
Episode Sixteen concluded with:
Rance began to feel uneasy within a half
hour after the group had left Hardin. He shouted past the prisoner. “Take a
look back, Nate.”
Reverend Nate glanced backwards and smiled. “You’re plan is working, Rance.
We’re being followed.”
“We’re being followed. I’m not so sure the plan is working.”
“What do you mean?”
“There are eleven Indians. The dust cloud behind us is much too small for
eleven braves.”
This time, the two lawmen joined Reverend Nate in glancing backwards. “You’re
right,” Bret Carson said. “And I don’t see any other dust clouds. Where do you
suppose Akando’s other men are, Rance?”
“I don’t know,” Rance Dehner said. “I don’t know.”
Episode Seventeen
The
group rode up the back of the horseshoe shaped hill that surrounded the Macklin
place and then rode single file down a narrow trail toward the cabin. “As soon
as we get to the bottom, Tully will go into the cabin. One of our men is posted
there.”
Dehner wasn’t surprised by his
friend’s statement. Bret Carson was a fine lawman who saw it as part of his
duty to keep a prisoner safe.
Thick lines of trees stood behind
the cabin. A rustling sound came from those trees, as if a breeze were knifing
through them. But there wasn’t even a hint of a breeze in the air.
As the riders neared the flat
ground, Dehner spotted a figure staggering from out of the pines. The man
stopped and pressed both hands against his head as if he were holding it
together. He then began to move toward the riders, fighting each step to
maintain balance and stay on his feet. As the figure passed the cabin, Dehner could
see that he was seriously wounded. He was also waving his arms back and forth
in a frantic gesture.
“That’s Paul Edwards,” the marshal
said. “He’s one of the men I have stationed out here.”
Edwards dropped his arms. He seemed
to be dizzy and confused. He stumbled sideways and collapsed, several yards in
front of the cabin.
Bret Carson, Deputy Gowdy, and Rance
dismounted immediately and ran toward the wounded man. Reverend Nate slid off
his horse and waited for Tully Jones to do the same. He walked beside Jones as
they joined their companions, who were huddled around the wounded man.
“Paul, Paul,” the marshal was
crouched over his friend who was bleeding in several places. Carson’s first
instinct had been to lift Paul Edwards into a sitting position but the man
appeared far too seriously wounded for that.
“Can you hear me, Paul? It’s Bret.”
Paul Edwards’ eyes had been open,
but he suddenly appeared to be seeing the people around him for the first time,
as if returning to consciousness. “Bret. It’s a trap. We were ambushed. The
rest…dead. They thought I was…I held on, wanted to warn…” Paul Edwards closed
his eyes. He wouldn’t open them again.
Running footsteps sounded before
Paul Edwards died. Dehner turned around in time to see Rip Gowdy running into
the cabin. A shot fired from the cabin window, missing Dehner by inches. The
detective returned fire. A loud screech of pain followed.
War
cries came from the surrounding hills, followed by gunshots and a fast stream
of flying arrows. Dehner and his three
companions hit the ground. Bret drew his six gun and fired at the attackers on
the hill. “Paul was right,” he shouted. “We’ve got the Macklins behind us and
the renegades on the hill. We’ve ridden into an ambush.”
Monday: Episode Eighteen of Ultimatum
