Jack Kollath, one of The Oak Hill Boys, gets a message from Lydia Wright in Clearwater.
The boys finish up their drinks, saddle up and ride to Clearwater.
Upon arrival at the general store Lydia now runs, the widow tells Jack and the rest of the Oak Hill Boys that she’s worried. “Sunny” (AKA Sunders Copperstone) hasn’t come by for two weeks. Sunny is an old and friendly miner, working a claim all by himself, about a half day’s ride from town. He typically comes by every Monday for supplies before heading back to his claim.
She took her concern to Deputy Bosock. But he won’t do anything until Sunny misses a third week. And Lydia doesn’t want to wait. She’s worried that something has happened to her friend. So she asks the boys to investigate. And gives them directions on how to get to Sunny’s claim.
En route to the claim, the OHB see some strange tracks.
Something, indeed, has happened to Sunny. Upon approaching the small cabin, the boys see a donkey lazily grazing nearby. It feels eerily quiet.
Inside the shack is poor Sunny. He is dead, slumped over a table. The boys investigate, and find the man was slain by a single, weird, burned gunshot in the center of his forehead. This method feels familiar to the Oak Hill Boys. They saw the same manner of death with Harry Jenkins, the man they saw in the buckboard wagon outside Winslow (on the way to the Dog’s Head Mine).
Further investigation reveals the miner might have been working on something when he died. But what?
Seeing nothing else of interest or value, the men ride back to Clearwater. On the way to town they fight a large centipede-type critter that made those strange tracks.
Upon arrival, they immediately head to the store and break the news to the widow Lydia. Ezra also takes a closer look at the ledger that had been found close to Harry Jenkin’s body. He notices another name and location crossed off: “S. Copperstone, Clearwater, $750.”
One mystery solved. The only name not crossed off in the book is “C.D. Ward, Clearwater, $49” Asking around, the OHB learn there’s a Charley Ward who runs the H&S Saloon.
Charley is surprised to learn about the book. And while it’s not known why Charley was on the list, what is known is his life’s in danger. And the boys aim – pun intended – to do what they can to save him.
They take up positions both in the bar and in the rooms on the second floor. The second floor is simply laid out: a hallway and two bedrooms. A balcony lies just north of Charley’s bedroom.
The bar patrons eventually disperse. Charley, now three sheets to the wind, is escorted to a room, where he promptly passes out. Not in his bed, mind you, but in the bedroom just south of where he normally sleeps.
“I’ve always wanted to do this,” Jack says, as he takes two pillows and makes it look like Charley’s fast asleep in his original bed in the northern-most room.
The Oak Hill Boys wait in the darkness.
Louis eventually hears something. A soft footfall. He sees a figure outside the window on the balcony. Jack’s ears perk up, too. The lawyer turned railroad agent hears a creaking stairstep. Jack readies his double-barreled shotgun. Ezra and Royce, stationed in the hallway, see two Indians come in through a back window. They must have used a ladder.
From the shadows, ever so slowly and quietly, Louis extends his arm, pistol in hand. He watches as the darkened figure silently jimmies open the window and makes his way through it. The intruder takes out a knife and approaches the figure lying in the bed…
Gunshots and curses pierce the night as the Oak Hill Boys spring their trap. The Indians, however, didn’t go down easily. But Ezra’s own shotgun work and Royce’s quick tactical moves in the hallway help pave the Indians’ journeys to their ultimate hunting grounds.
Four Indians were killed that night, along with another man: a Mexican, dressed all in black and seeming to be the group’s leader. On his body was a letter. The missive was written to a Hector Reyes from a mysterious “AM,” telling Reyes to kill Sunny Copperstone, get his map, and bring it to the Four Aces Saloon in Hardy.
After reassuring Charley that he was now safe and explaining what had happened to Deputy Peyton Bosock, the Oak Hill Boys set off for Hardy…
Dry Gulch Bugle 