Part 4

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Hunter brought another tray of drinks to the table, lemonade, vodka and lime and beer - real cowboy fare

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Hunter brought another tray of drinks to the table, lemonade, vodka and lime and beer - real cowboy fare. The game was still going on and the collections of pairs were growing. It looked like their plan for Cadmus to lose was not going as planned. There was a sudden interruption as the friends of Crazygoose came through the doors, dragging a surly stannbear. They told Crazygoose they found him up by the mesa, his horse had thrown a shoe.

There was no sign of the woman, Steel Diamond and stannbear offered no help. As he stood there, he saw the one called Lean try to slip something from her pocket into the game and stannbear managed to get Cadmus Croc's attention. There was an immediate hubbub about the act and during the arguing and shouting, stannbear managed to shake free of his captors and get away once again on one of their horses.

3Gun became fed up with having his Fish game constantly interrupted and decided to take action. He stated that he was leaving the Gulch and going after the two fugitives, Steel and stannbear himself. It was apparent that the friends of Crazygoose were not dependable. He vowed to drag them back and have Lean and Hunter interrogate them. Their biggest problem still was Cadmus Croc, they were not sure exactly how to handle him and just how much power he had over the others. For that matter they wondered, did he have a bigger gang they did not even know about.

The ride into the hills was long and hard and 3Gun had difficulty following the tracks. Carob Bob and Doc Vale had come this way when they left the Gulch and he was concerned that he might be following them instead of stannbear and Steel. The area they called Destiny was filled with strange and dangerous goings on and he wanted to get his job finished and go back to the relative safety of the Gulch.

Finally, at dusk one day he saw the smoke from a campfire and after getting close enough, discovered it was the two escapees. He captured them both and tied them to their horses for the long trip back to Busted Gulch. Crazygoose was surprised and relieved, since it was his friends who allowed them to escape again. Lean was champing at the bit to get started with another interrogation and Hunter was pressed into service once more. Crazygoose had more information about the possibility of the gold, from the days when the Gulch was thriving, had been stashed aboard the train and hidden somewhere... still on the train, and that was what the robbery was all about.

Lean would be the one to find out.


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