Chapter 9
It was back to Wednesday, August 30th, 2006.
The blue plasma blue light illuminated while John rushed his blindfolded house out of Crazy Hole.
He was sweaty and pale, and he quickly looked down at the hole in his front pocket.
He got scared, and he unbuckled his pants and lowered them to see how bad he was shot. He was relieved when he saw no bullet holes in the leg.
He reached in his pocket and removed his camera. The camera took the bullet and saved his leg. He got the dry heaves thinking he could have been killed.
He quickly ran to the huge rock. His pants dropped to his ankles, and he fell flat on his face. He got up and crawled to the rock and immediately barfed. He got up, wiped his mouth, and pulled up his pants and buckled his belt.
He got up and ran over to the part of the bush he cut away. He propped it up at the cave opening, so nobody will notice it was a cave.
He ran over to his horse and removed his shirt from the horses' head. He jumped on the horse and galloped off, leaving a dusty trail.
Ten minutes later in 2006, Bart and Charlie ran out of Crazy Hole in a panic, and they knocked over the bush blocking the cave entrance.
"That blue light really hurt, Bart," Charlie said scared of Crazy Hole and moved away from it.
"I know," Bart replied and checked his body out to make sure he wasn't bleeding. He looked back at Crazy Hole. "What the hell just happened?" Bart said.
"Maybe that's why the Injuns call that tunnel, Crazy Hole. Do you think we're crazy?" Charlie asked.
Charlie looked at the bush that covered half of the opening to Crazy Hole and the cut bush on the ground. "How did that bush grow here all of a sudden?" Charlie asked while touched the bush to make sure it was real.
Bart looked and realized it was there. "Can't figure that one out," he said while he glanced down and kicked the cut bush on the ground.
Bart sniffed the air. He walked over to the enormous rock and sniffed around it. He knelt down and poked his finger into John's barf and tasted it. He stood up and looked the area over. "It's still warm, so he's not too far away. Get the horses," he told Charlie.
Charlie looked around and saw their horses were not in sight.
"Stupid horses ran off," Bart said pissed.
An airplane flew overhead, and it caught the attention of Bart and Charlie. They looked around then look up at the sky. They saw a Piper Warrior flying one thousand feet above them.
Is that a bird?" Bart asked while they looked at the Warrior. "It sure is loud." "And look at them wings. Huge!"
"The Injuns said there would be strange creatures seen if you enter Crazy Hole. We just saw one," Charlie said while he looked a little scared of the Warrior. "I wonder if that bird will swoop down and attack us?" Charlie asked and got even more afraid.
Bart whipped out his pistol and aimed it at the Warrior. "Not if I can help it," he said then fired his pistol at the Warrior.
The Warrior flew away, untouched by the bullets.
Bart looked mystified at the strange large bird.
"You missed, and I hope you don't piss it off," Charlie said and looked scared while he crouched down with his pistol aimed up at the sky.
They waited to see if the Warrior would swoop down at them. The Warrior just flew away, unaware it was being shot. They both looked relieved the Warrior flew away.
Bart looked around and saw John's horse tracks in the dirt that lead to the south.
"Let's kill us a scoundrel," Bart said then followed the horse tracks. Charlie followed Bart.
Back in Phoenix, John rushed into his apartment still pale and shaken. He closed the door and leaned against it with his saddlebag in hand.
He ran over to the living room window and peeked out the curtains. He was relieved when things looked normal. No threats or police cars racing toward his apartment.
He reached in his pants pocket and removed his wounded camera. He looked upset since his camera was ruined and his proof for Angie was gone. "Angie won't believe me now," John said.
John got an idea then ran over to his computer desk and sat down. He turned on his Dell and waited impatiently while it booted up.
He ran over to his coffee table and opened his Outlaws and Lawmen of Arizona book. He flipped to the page where he previously read about Clint and Elmer. He looked at the short story on the page.
"Elmer Filson died on September 17th, eighteen eighty-three while he attempted to arrest Bart Stone, Charlie Chandler, and John Mathers, alias the Kissing Bandit after they robbed the Oak Creek National bank. Bart, Charlie, and John slipped away never to be found or tried for murder," John read from the book.
John looked relieved while he felt he was safe and sound back in 2006. He finally admitted to himself that his outlaw ways were finally over. His cell phone on the coffee table rang, and it scared the crap out of him and jumped a mile. He opened it up and answered the call.
"Hello."
"We need to talk about this outlaw thing," Angie said from his cell phone.
The memory of Elmer's lifeless and head in the horse trough still filled John's mind. "I'm sick. Can we do this tomorrow?" John said, then disconnected his call.
John looked sick then got the dry heaves. His eyes widened and ran down the hallway with a hand over his mouth.
In Angie's apartment, she sat on her couch, pissed that John refused to talk.
Hours later back in the Superstition Mountains, the sun started to drop to the west while Bart and Charlie walked down Dutchman's Trail. They were exhausted from hours of hiking.
"Can we stop and spend the night? I can't walk another foot," Charlie sat down in the dirt.
Bart looked around the area. "Let's go over there," Bart said and pointed at a flat dirt area that seemed to be the most comfortable spot to lie down.
Charlie yawned and nodded in agreement.
"I sure am hungry," Charlie said and then his stomach growled.
Bart's stomach growled in agreement. "Get the fire going, and I'll round up some grub," Bart said.
Bart and Charlie walked off in separate directions.
A few minutes later, Charlie walked back with some tinder. He heard a gun shot nearby while he removed a bullet from his cartridge belt. Gunfire was heard.
A few minutes later, Bart came back with a dead rabbit in hand.
That night, John tossed and turned in bed with a nightmare. He dreamt that Elmer's ghost came back to haunt him in 2006.
"Why did you let them kill me," Elmer's ghost would suddenly appear in John's step-van while he delivered snacks. John freaked out and drove his van towards some parked cars. Then at the same time, the van smashed into a car, John jumped up on bed from his nightmare in a cold sweat.
He lay in bed, afraid to fall asleep as Elmer's death haunted him.
Thursday morning arrived, and John woke up. It was August 31st, 2006.
He got out of bed and took a shower.
He went into this kitchen and ate a bowl of Cocoa Krispies. He felt better when he determined that he didn't kill Elmer, Bart did.
Back in the Superstition Mountains, Bart and Charlie woke up. They dusted the dirt off their pants and headed in the directions of the tracks that John's horse left in the dirt.
They walked down Dutchman's Trail and eventually entered the dirt parking lot. Since it was early in the morning, the lot was empty.
Bart and Charlie followed the tracks from John's horse.
Then they walked upon the tire tracks from John's horse trailer and F150. They looked at them and removed their cowboy hats. They both scratched their heads while they tried to figure out the tire tracks.
Bart knelt down and touched the tracks. "What kind of animal tracks are these?" he asked while he continued to feel the tracks.
Charlie looked scared and whipped out his pistol ready to shoot. "Are their two gigantic snakes around here?" Charlie quickly turned around and expected to see two huge snakes behind him.
"Naw. Snakes don't travel in a straight line side by side. But I'm sure it leads to Mathers," Bart said while he stood up.
Bart followed John's tire tracks. Charlie walked behind him, nervous with his pistol aimed ready to shoot a huge snake.
Bart and Charlie followed John's tire tracks down the dirt road.
Bart and Charlie followed John's tire tracks to U.S. 60. They looked bewildered when they saw a paved road for the first time in their life.
"What is it, Bart?" Charlie asked while he tapped the road with the toe of his boot.
"I don't know. Must be some kind of fancy stagecoach trail," he said while he looked up and down the road.
Bart and Charlie got on their knees. They removed their hats, and they touched the road. They sniffed the road then they licked the road. They crawled to the right lane of the road with cowboy hats in hand and looked it over.
A souped up 1969 Camaro raced down U.S. 60. The male driver, a thirty-year-old, listened to Foreigners' Urgent song the radio and didn't pay attention to the road.
He glanced at the windshield and saw Bart and Charlie on their hands and knees in the road. His eyes widened in panic, and he slammed on his brakes and blew his horn. His tires screeched and smoked.
Bart and Charlie jumped up in a panic, turned around and saw the Camaro while it screeched to a stop inches from their bodies.
The male driver rolled down his window and stuck his head out his window. "Get out of the road, dumbass!" the driver yelled at Bart and Charlie.
Bart got pissed, turned around and whipped out his pistol.
Inside the Camaro, the driver's eyes widened with fear when he saw Bart's pistol aimed at his head. He got scared and stomped on the gas pedal. His Camaro screeched, and he turned it into the left lane and missed Bart and Charlie by inches.
The Camaro raced down the road in the left lane.
Bart turned around and fired his pistol at the Camaro while it raced down the road.
The back window of the Camaro shattered. The male driver pissed his pants and prayed silently that he wouldn't be killed.
Bart and Charlie watched while the Camaro raced down the road becoming smaller and smaller.
"What was that thing?" Charlie asked.
"Some fancy stagecoach, I reckon?" Bart answered.
"With no horses? How can that be?" Charlie asked while he removed his hat and scratched his head confused.
Bart dropped his pistol back in its holster. "I don't know," he said.
"The Injuns would say, strange creatures," Charlie said while he looked around nervous of what might show up next.
"The way I figure, Mathers is down that way," Bart said and pointed in the direction of Phoenix.
They walked down the road in that direction.
Meanwhile back in 1883 Oak Creek, Clint rode his horse into town weary and tired.
He rode closer to the bank and saw all the town folk across from the bank, and he wondered what was wrong.
He rode closer, and everybody saw Clint, and he looked worried.
"Here's Marshal Bartley," Ernie said then the crowd opened up and Clint saw Elmer's dead body in the dirt.
He sped his horse up to the crowd and stopped. He jumped off his horse. He rushed up and knelt next to Elmer's wet dead body and felt for a pulse, and then his eyes welled up.
Clint looked at Chester's bloody, bandaged shoulder. He got furious. "Who did this, Chester?"
"Couldn't say since Bart Stone, Charlie Chandler and that kissing kid were all shootin. But I see the kissing kid aim and fire then I see Elmer drop dead. Maybe he shot Elmer. Then the kid ran off with the loot. Bart and Charlie chased him," Chester replied.
"Which way did they go?" Clint asked.
"They headed south," Winston replied.
"Somebody run and get Merijildo," Clint said determined to get Elmer's killers.
Zeke ran to a nearby horse. He untied the reins from the hitching post.
He got in the saddle of his horse and raced off down the street.
Clint lifted Elmer's body off the dirt.
He carried Elmer's body down the street. Everybody followed sadly over the loss of Elmer.
Clint walked Elmer's body to the Doctor's office.
Later that day, Clint was in his office where he stared at the wanted posters on a wall. He removed the wanted poster of John, Bart, and Charlie off the wall. He folded it and shoved it in his pocket.
The door opened and Merijildo, fifty-year-old Apache Indian stepped inside. Merijildo had long black hair with some streaks of gray starting to show.
"Who you want to track?" Merijildo asked Clint while he walked up to him.
Clint turned and saw Merijildo.
"Bart Stone, Charlie Chandler, and John Mathers. They killed Elmer and wounded Chester White".
Merijildo looked sad. "Me sorry about Elmer. He good man," Merijildo said then he had a confident look. "We find them. No problem."
"How's that new baby?" Clint asked.
"Little Victorio good boy. Will be great tracker one day. Like me," said Merijildo with a puffed-up chest.
"How's that young wife, Preeti? You old dog you," Clint said with a smile and a pat on the back proud that the old Indian still had it to snag a young woman.
Merijildo looked proud. "She good woman. I have a fancy photograph," he said then removed a picture from a pants pocket. The picture showed Merijildo holding little Victorio, one-year-old, in his arms with his young bride, Preeti, in the desert.
Clint looked at the picture and smiled. "I had one of those fancy pictures taken of me two months ago," Clint said while he walked over to his desk. He opened the middle drawer and removed the picture of him outside his Marshal's office. He showed it to Merijildo, who smiled.
"Let's go catch some outlaws," Clint said while he placed the picture back in the desk drawer and closed it.
Merijildo shoved his picture back into his pants pocket, or he thought he shoved it in his pants pocket.
Merijildo and Clint rushed out the Marshal's office.
Outside the Marshal's office, Clint and Merijildo untied their horses from the hitching post. They got in the saddles of their horses and rode out of Oak Creek.
Oak Creek town folk saw Clint and Merijildo and smiled because they knew he was going after Elmer's killer.
Hours later, Clint rode his horse while Merijildo walked his horse and followed Bart, Charlie and John's horse tracks to Miners Needle.
Merijildo stopped walking and looked at the horse tracks.
Clint stopped his horse and looked at Merijildo.
Merijildo looked at Miners Needle and looked worried.
Clint got out of the saddle of his horse when he saw Merijildo's worried look. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Tracks lead to cave in Miner Needle," Merijildo replied and pointed to Crazy Hole.
"Let's get em," Clint said determined to arrest some outlaws.
He whipped out his pistol and walked to Crazy Hole. He got ten feet away and sensed Merijildo stayed behind. He turned around and saw Merijildo by the horses.
"You coming?" he asked.
Merijildo looked intimidated while he looked at Crazy Hole.
"Me no go into Crazy Hole and come out loco," Merijildo said and stepped back.
Clint looked at the cave. "So that's Crazy Hole?" he asked.
Merijildo nodded his head in agreement.
"Aw, hogwash! I'm not scared," Clint said then walked to Crazy Hole.
Clint stepped inside Crazy Hole and noticed it was dark inside.
"Come on out Bart, Charlie and Kissing Bandit," Clint yelled inside the cave, and his voice echoed. It was quiet inside the cave. Clint inched farther inside the cave. "You might as well give up," Clint yelled again, and it echoed. It was still quiet inside the cave. Clint cautiously walked deeper in Crazy Hole and felt the side of the cave to guide him.
Clint felt the opening of the tunnel. He entered the tunnel, and suddenly, blue plasma light-filled it. "Ahhhh!" Clint yelled out in pain as the blue light stung the hell out of him.
Clint rushed out of Crazy Hole in a panic. He looked back at the cave and wondered what just happened. He looked around and saw the cut bush and the other bush that covered part of the cave opening. He thought that was weird.
He saw that Merijildo and the horses were gone and got pissed.
"Don't tell me that crazy Indian left with my horse?" Clint said.
Clint looked around and sawhorse and boot tracks in the dirt.
He walked off and followed the tracks.
Back in John's apartment, he sat at his computer desk and typed at his Dell with a concerned look as he still had Elmer's murder on his mind.
He waited for the search results from Yahoo, and then they soon appeared. He looked, and there was nothing in the findings of John Mathers being arrested for the murder of Elmer Filson or for being an outlaw.
He jumped up off his chair and raised his arms in the air. "Yes! I'm free and clear!" he yelled out while he did a victory dance around his living room.
He stopped the second he remembered Angie. He looked at his cell phone on the coffee table. He walked over it and picked it up and took a deep breath and made a call.
"Hello," Angie answered from his cell phone.
"Angie. Are you ready for that talk?" John asked and hoped she would agree.
There was a long period of silence from his cell phone.
"Hello?" John asked.
John realized Angie disconnected his call and looked worried. He survived being arrested for being an outlaw, but now his relationship with Angie was in danger.
Back on U.S. 60, Bart and Charlie walked down the road.
Charlie stopped and sat down on the edge of the road.
"I'm not used to all this walking. My feet are killing me, and I can't walk anymore," he said while he removed his right boot and rubbed his filthy dirty sock.
Bart looked around and saw the red ranch house with the red stable across the street. "Let's go get us a ride," he told Charlie then pointed at the red stable.
Charlie turned around and saw the ranch house and stable, and it appeared that nobody was home. He smiled while he stood up, as he knew he wouldn't have to walk anymore.
Bart and Charlie rushed across the street toward the ranch house.
They climbed the white fence and ran to the stable.
They stood near the stable door. Bart peeked inside the stable, and the coast we clear. He motioned for Charlie to follow him.
Bart cautiously stepped inside the stable, and Charlie followed.
They cautiously walked down the stable and saw two horses they wanted to ride. They went inside the horse stalls and quickly installed some saddles.
They walked the horsed out of the stalls.
They hopped in the saddles of their horses and rode out of the stable.
They exited the stable with the horses and galloped down the yard.
Inside the ranch house, Victor Lincoln, forty-year-old Apache Indian with long black hair in a ponytail watched TV. Then the sight of Bart and Charlie while they galloped his horses through the yard was visible from his living room window. He jumped up in a panic and ran to the front door.
Bart and Charlie galloped the horses down the yard and made the horses jump over the white fence.
Victor ran to the fenced yard. He quickly climbed the fence and then ran through the yard to the other section of the white fence that Bart and Charlie jumped.
"Bring my horses back!" Victor screamed at Bart and Charlie while he ran to the fence.
Victor stopped at the white fence and watched while Bart and Charlie galloped his horses away down U.S. 60 toward Apache Junction. He slammed his fist on the fence, pissed.
He ran back to his ranch house and called the police.
Back in the Superstition Mountains, Clint followed John's horse and Bart and Charlie's boot tracks down Dutchman's Trail.
He was about twenty feet from the dirt parking lot, which had one car parked. Clint didn't notice the car in the lot.
Then he heard footsteps behind him, and he got concerned. He turned around and at the same time, whipped out his pistol. He smiled when he saw Merijildo run up to him.
"I thought you left?" he told Merijildo.
Merijildo ran up to Clint. "You need help getting back from the land of strange people and things."
"Stop with that stupid Indian superstition!"
"We see," he said while he walked past Clint with a smirk.
Clint rolled his eyes over Merijildo's comment.
Merijildo sense something was wrong. He stopped and padded down his clothes, and then he looked sad. "I lost my fancy picture. Must have dropped it in Crazy Hole," he said.
Clint walked up to him. "You can have another one made," Clint said then patted his back. "Let's go catch some outlaws," Clint said and walked off.
Merijildo walked away with Clint.
They walked to the dirt parking lot when a Toyota 4Runner drove up and parked.
Clint saw the car and stopped, and his jaw dropped in amazement at the sight of the 4Runner. "What is that thing? Some creature?" he asked then whipped out his pistol to protect himself.
"Me tell you. Land of strange things," Merijildo said while he also stared at the 4Runner.
The doors opened, and a man and woman in their late thirties got out in hiking outfits. They looked at Clint and Merijildo who stared at them.
"Look at the dude dressed like an Indian," the man said to the woman. "How!" the man said to Merijildo while he held up his hand. The man and woman chuckled then they walked off towards the trails.
"How what?" Clint asked, confused with the man's comment. He leaned closer to Merijildo. "Did that creature spit out those folk?"
Merijildo looked at the 4Runner. "Me think it fancy stagecoach."
Clint looked at Merijildo and then looked back at the 4Runner. "Could be." "But without horses?" said Clint bewildered by the fancy machine.
"We go," Merijildo told Clint, and they walked away.
They walked down the dirt road, and Clint did an occasional glance back at the 4Runner to make sure that creature wasn't coming after them.