Chapter 20
It was later that Thursday.
Alicia and Angie drove to Papago Park. They wore blue jeans and western shirts, cowboy boots, and cowboy hats they bought from a western attire store along the way.
They drove down North Galvin Parkway. Off that street, they drove down a bunch of smaller streets until they came to a parking lot for the Hole In the Rock. They parked their car and got out. Alicia looked at her watch, and it was one forty-three p.m.
Alicia walked around and opened up her trunk. She removed her rifle case, bullets, and the small recorder. She unzipped at side pocket on the rifle case and shoved the box of bullets inside. She zipped up the case, then reached back in the truck and removed two handcuffs and six tie wraps. She shoved them into her back pockets. She closed the trunk of her car.
They walked to the Hole In The Rock and climbed up the rock to the hole.
Inside the hole they waited and looked down on the roads that lead to the parking lot.
Ten minutes later, they heard the faint sound of some Harleys. They looked out the hole and saw six Harleys raced down the road toward the parking lot.
"I'll hide over at that other hole and give you some cover," Alicia said then rushed over to a smaller hole to their right.
The Devil's Cowboys raced their Harleys down the road and arrived at the parking lot. They parked their Harleys and faced the Hole In The Rock.
Bart and Charlie got off the Harleys, and Bart looked up at the Hole In The Rock.
"Come out, you sweet looking thing!" Charlie yelled up at the rock.
Angie stepped out of the big hole so they could see her. "Is this what you're looking for?" she yelled down at Bart and Charlie and held up a plain paper bag.
Bart and Charlie smiled as they walked up slope of the rock to the hole.
Angie saw the Devil's Cowboys on their Harleys down at the parking lot.
"I brought my gang along in case you cheat me," Bart said and pointed back at the Devil's Cowboys.
Bart and Charlie cautiously walked up the slope then stopped. They whipped out their pistols and aimed them at Angie.
"Just lay that bag on the slope halfway between us," Bart ordered.
Angie walked away from the hole and cautiously down the slope.
She stopped halfway between Bart and her. She discreetly removed Alicia's recorder from her back pocket, and she pressed the record button.
"But first, there's this matter of you admitting John didn't kill that deputy," Angie said while she held up the bag. "Because I don't mind throwing these coins all over this place and having them fall into the cracks of these rocks," she threatened.
Bart thought about her question for a few seconds. He figured since that happened over one hundred years ago, he was really free and clear.
"Yeah, how about that. I killed Elmer, and I saw on TV that John got hung fer it. Ain't I smart!" Bart said with an evil smirk then laughed a smart-ass laugh.
Angie laid the bag down on the slope and rushed back up the slope to the hole.
Bart and Charlie walked up to the bag. Bart opened it, reached in, and pulled out a gold coin.
Charlie saw the coin, and immediately danced a dorky cowboy dance on the slope. "We're rich! We're rich!" he cried out while he danced.
Bart studied the coin and something about it stuck him as being odd. He bit into the coin, and it broke off, and he saw chocolate between shiny gold papers. Bart was furious!
Charlie saw the coin and stopped his dancing, and he looked confused. "The gold broke?" he asked Bart.
"We've been swindled. They're made of chocolate," Bart snarled.
Bart aimed his pistol at Angie and cocked it.
From the smaller hole, Alicia aimed her rifle at Bart, and she fired.
Alicia's bullet hit Bart's pistol, and it flew out of his hand. He grabbed his hand and thought he was shot. He looked his hand over, and it was untouched by the bullet.
Charlie aimed his pistol at Angie.
From the smaller hole, Alicia aimed her rifle at Charlie.
Alicia's bullet hit Charlie's pistol, and it flew out of his hand. He grabbed his hand and thought he was shot. He looked his hand over, and it was untouched by the bullet.
Alicia rushed over to the more massive hole in the rock and stood by Angie's side.
Bear revved up his Harley then inched it toward the Hole In The Rock.
Alicia aimed her rifle at Bear, and she fired.
Her bullet shattered his headlight of his Harley. Bear got scared and jumped off his bike, and it fell over to the ground.
Alicia aimed her rifle at Bear. "You should leave," she yelled at the Devil's Cowboys.
"Screw this old western outlaw crap!" Bear said. He got his Harley upright and got on it. "We're out of here," Bear yelled at the other Devil's Cowboys.
Bear raced his Harley off in the parking lot toward the road out of here. The rest of the Devil's Cowboys followed him down the road.
Bart and Charlie turned around and watched the Devil's Cowboys while they raced off down the road.
"Yellow bellies!" Bart yelled at them.
"Yeah, you're a bunch of gutless yellow bellies!" Charlie yelled at them.
They turned around and saw Alicia who inched her way down the slope with her rifle aimed at them.
"You're under arrest, Bart, and Charlie. It's all over," she said.
They raised their hands up in the air admitting defeat.
With her rifle aimed, Alicia inched her way down the slope of the rock to Bart and Charlie.
"Lie on your stomachs and spread your hands and legs out," Alicia ordered.
That was a new one for Bart and Charlie, but since she was apparently a good shot, they obeyed.
Alicia handed Angie her rifle.
"If they move, shoot them in the back of their heads," Alicia instructed Angie.
Angie looked intimidated of the rife. If Bart and Charlie only knew that if they ran, Angie would probably drop the rifle, as she was scared to fire it.
Alicia removed some handcuffs from her back pocket.
She handcuffed Bart's hand behind his back.
She handcuffed Charlie's hands behind his back.
She removed Bart's cartridge belt and pistol, and she laid it on the ground, and she then removed Charlie's pistol from his cartridge belt set them on the ground.
"Get up!" she ordered them.
Bart and Charlie stood up.
Alicia took the rife from Angie.
"Grab their pistols. Use them if you have to," she told Angie.
Angie picked up Bart and Charlie's cartridge belts.
"Down the slope," she ordered, then pressed the barrel of her rifle into the middle of Bart's back.
Bart and Charlie walked down the slope with Alicia and Angie behind them.
Alicia walked them to her car. She removed two tie wraps from her other pack pocket.
Angie opened up the rear door.
Alicia then tie wrapped Bart's ankles together. She placed him in the rear seat then she flicked on the childproof lock.
She walked Charlie to the other rear door, and she opened it up. She tie wrapped his ankles together. She placed him in the back seat then she flicked on the childproof lock.
Alicia went to her trunk and opened it. She removed two blindfolds.
She walked over to Bart and Charlie.
She removed Bart's cartridge belt.
She removed Charlie's cartridge belt.
She dropped them in her truck.
She secured her rifle back in its case. She grabbed two blindfolds out of the trunk then slammed it shut.
She walked to Bart's door. She placed the blindfold around his head then she closed his door.
She walked around to Charlie's door. She placed the blindfold around his head then she closed his door.
Alicia and Angie, with Bart and Charlie's pistols, got inside the car. Alicia started it, and she drove out of the parking lot and down the road.
Bart and Charlie were quiet during the whole trip back to Rusty's Horse Ranch and Stable. Angie had the pistols aimed at Bart and Charlie.
Alicia parked her car next to Phillip's rusty Vega, where he waited inside.
Alicia and Angie, with Bart and Charlie's pistols, got out of her car. Alicia looked at the stable, then she remembered something. "Angie, I hope you know how to ride a horse," she asked.
"Oh yeah. My uncle owned a horse farm in Pennsylvania, and I would ride when I was young," Angie said.
"Good," Alicia replied.
Phillip got out of his Vega with a small bag in hand. He walked over to Alicia's car and saw Bart and Charlie sitting in the back.
"Who are they?" he asked Alicia.
"Bart Stone and Charlie Chandler," she replied.
Phillip looked at the two outlaws in the backseat. Then it dawned on him who they really were when he saw Bart's half of a right ear. "You mean the old west outlaws Bart Stone and Charlie Chandler?" Phillip asked.
"The one and only," Alicia replied.
Phillip looked in awe at the sight of two old western outlaws.
Alicia opened up Bart's door, reached inside, and yanked him out on his feet, then she closed the door.
She rushed around to the other side and opened up Charlie's door. She reached inside and yanked him out then she closed the door.
"Rusty," Alicia yelled out loud while she opened up her trunk and removed her rifle case, small recorder, Bart and Charlie's cartridge belts, then slammed her trunk closed. She unzipped another side pocked on the gun case and shoved the recorder inside then she zipped it back up.
She handed Angie Bart's cartridge belt. "Put his pistol in the holster and wear the belt," she said. Angie did what she said.
Alicia gave Phillip Charlie's cartridge belt.
"Give him the other pistol," she told Angie.
Angie handed Phillip the other pistol.
"Use it for protection if they try to escape," she told Phillip.
Phillip put the cartridge belt around his waist and shoved the pistol in the holster.
After a few seconds, Rusty stepped out of his stable. He saw Alicia and everybody. "Man, it's sure been busy around here recently," he said while he walked over to Alicia.
"Hey Alicia," Rusty said, then he saw handcuffed and blindfolded Bart and Charlie.
"What's going on?" he asked Alicia.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, but don't worry. It's nothing illegal in today's time. We're just taking a little trip into the Superstition Mountains," she said.
"That's clear as mud," he said. He looked at Bart and Charlie again then recognized them. "You guys were just here," he said. Then he realized that they must have done something really illegal and Alicia was doing the right thing. He knew Alicia and knew she could never do anything crooked.
"We need three horses," she told him.
"I can arrange that. Follow me," he said, then walked back to the stable.
Alicia grabbed Bart and Charlie by their arms and escorted them to the stables.
Phillip strutted like a cowboy after Alicia.
Rusty rounded up three horses with saddles.
Alicia cut the tie wraps from Bart and Charlie's ankles.
Rusty assisted the two outlaws up on the horses.
Alicia tie wrapped the Bart and Charlie's boots to their stirrups.
"You won't run away now," she told Bart and Charlie.
Bart and Charlie looked defeated while they sat on the saddles.
Rusty helped Alicia and Angie walk the horses out of his stable.
Rusty walked them to a gate that lead out to the desert then he opened it. He looked at Bart and Charlie on the horses and something felt familiar about them. He walked up to Alicia. "What's really going on? You can tell me," Rusty asked Alicia.
"We're trying to save someone's life, so I don't have time to explain. I'll fill you in when we get back," she replied back.
Rusty accepted her response but something about this whole situation intrigued him and as a former detective, he wanted answers. But he wasn't going to press Alicia for answers as he felt he still owed her for when they were on the force together. She saved his life by shooting a scumbag who had Rusty in his sights with a 9mm. It was Alicia's first kill, something that didn't make her proud.
Rusty walked back into the stable.
Alicia slung the rifle case strap around her shoulder. She got in the saddle of the horse and sat behind Bart.
Angie got in the saddle of her horse and sat behind Charlie.
Phillip got in the saddle of his horse all by himself.
"Follow me," Phillip said.
"Take us by way of Oak Creek first," Alicia said. "I want to see where it once existed."
They galloped their horses out of the gate and headed towards the Superstition Mountains where the sky still remained cloudless.
Rusty turned around as he heard Alicia's comment, and that made him extremely curious. He watched them ride off through the gate and headed to the Superstition Mountains.
He rushed off to his ranch house.
Inside his house, Rusty rushed to his den where he had a bookcase on western history. He searched the books then found his copy of the "Outlaws and Lawmen of Arizona" book. He removed it and opened it up then flipped through some pages and stopped at Bart Stone. He looked at the pictures, and his eyes widened in disbelief.
"So that was Bart Stone and Charlie Chandler I saw on TV the other day. Where is Alicia taking them?" he said while he looked at his book, and then it dawned on him. "So the legend of Crazy Hole is true," he said. He flipped through the pages to the Lawmen section. He read about the Marshal of Mountain Rock dying in his sleep. He had a grand idea.
He flipped through the pages and looked at the Outlaws.
He ran across the page for John Mathers, and he saw the article about John being hung.
He started scheming, and he decided to fulfill his curiosity and his obsession. He placed his book back in the bookcase.
He opened up a drawer and removed numerous old 1880 – 1882 coins and bills in packets. He opened them up and put the coins and bills in his pocket. He opened up another drawer and removed a small flashlight, and he shoved it in his back pocket.
He rushed over to his desk and opened up the middle drawer. He removed a final foreclosure letter about his ranch. He tore the letter up in numerous pieces and let it drop to the floor.
"They can have this ranch if they want it," Rusty said then rushed out of his den.
He ran to his bedroom where he rushed to his closet. He quickly dressed in some western attire and new cowboy boots. He reached up on the shelf of his closet and removed a cartridge belt and pistol in the holster. He placed the cartridge belt around his hips. He grabbed a sleeping bag out of his closet.
He rushed out of his bedroom.
Rusty ran into his kitchen. He grabbed a bag of trail mix. He grabbed a box of Cheez-It He looked at his sink and an evil smirk grew.
"If they want this house so bad, they might as well put some repair dollars into it," he said then rushed over to the sink. He plugged the drain then turn on the water faucet. The sink started to fill up with water.
He rushed out of his kitchen.
He rushed down the hallway to his bathroom.
He ran over to the bathtub and closed the drain.
He turned on the water.
He rushed over to the sink.
He closed off the sink drain and turned on the water. He rushed out of the bathroom. The sink started to fill up with water.
He rushed out of his house.
He rushed into his stable and to the nearest stall. He placed a saddle and saddlebags on a horse. He got a blanket that hung off the stall wall. He rolled it up along with his sleeping bag.
He secured them to the rear of his saddle.
He placed his snacks into one of the saddlebags.
He got the horse out of the stall.
He walked his horse out of the stable.
He got in the saddle of his horse and galloped off to the gate.
An hour later, Phillip rode everybody to the ruins of Oak Creek. Alicia stopped her horse, and everybody else stopped their horses.
"Oak Creek once lived on this spot," she told everybody.
Alicia looked at the bushes that hid the tombstones. She looked at Phillip.
"Phillip, I think there's something in those bushes you really need to see," she told him and pointed at them.
"Bushes? What could possibly be in there of interest?" Phillip asked.
"Just go look," Alicia insisted.
Phillip got out of the saddle of his horse and walked over to the bush.
"Yes, inside those bushes," Alicia called out.
Phillip pushed his way inside the bush. He saw Elmer's tombstone.
He looked to the left and saw another tombstone.
He looked at it, and his eyes welled up when he saw his father's tombstone. Phillip stepped out of the bushes.
He walked back to his horse and he was sad yet relieved that he knew his father died in the old west.
"Phillip, I figured you needed to know what happened to your father," Alicia said while Phillip stood by his horse and looked back at the bushes.
"My father was a good man. He didn't deserve to die in the old west," Phillip said.
Charlie heard the name and it sounded familiar. "So Bart, didn't you shoot a Peter Yoemans in the back? I remember that day. It was after we had an argument at the saloon here in Oak Creek," Charlie said.
Bart squirmed in his saddle, as he wanted to strangle Charlie's neck. "Shut your trap," Bart yelled out.
Phillip heard that and got pissed when he realized Bart killed his father. He rushed over to Bart's horse. He threw punches at Bart's face, but he was too high up. Alicia did nothing to stop Phillip as she felt he deserved this moment. Then Phillip gave Bart numerous kidney punches, and Bart doubled over in pain.
"Let's get to Crazy Hole," Phillip said while he got in the saddle of his horse.
They galloped off south in the direction of Miners Needle.
Twenty minutes later, Rusty galloped on his horse to the area where Oak Creek once stood. He looked around and saw the tracks for three horses. He galloped his horse in the direction of the horse tracks.
Phillip, Alicia and Angie rode their horses to Miners Needle.
Phillip took the lead and rode his horse to Crazy Hole. They all looked at it and saw the bush John cut in the dirt and the other bush that blocked part of the cave opening.
Phillip stopped twenty feet from it and got out of the saddle of his horse with his small bag in hand.
Alicia and Angie got out of the saddles of their horses.
Phillip opened up his bag and removed three pieces of cloth. "You'll need to cover your horse's eyes, or they'll freak out when you get them near the cave," he said, then handed Alicia and Angie each a cloth.
Alicia and Angie covered the eyes of their horses with those cloths.
Phillip removed a small flashlight from his bag, and he handed it to Alicia. "You'll also need this," he said.
Alicia took the flashlight. "Thank you for all your help, Phillip," she said.
"No, thank you for letting me find out what happened to my father," he said.
"Head down the cave, and you'll see a carving of a priest on the end of the cave wall. There's a tunnel to the right. Say what month, day, and year you want to time travel to, and you'll get there after entering that tunnel." Phillip said. "The same applies when you want to return back to today."
"Got it," said Alicia.
One hundred feet away, Rusty hid his horse behind another huge rock. He watched while Alicia and Angie walked their horses to Crazy Hole. Then he saw Phillip get back in the saddle of his horse.
Alicia turned on the flashlight then walked her horse to Crazy Hole.
Angie followed with her horse.
Alicia walked her horse into Crazy Hole and Bart slammed his forehead on the top of the opening. He drooped over passed out cold.
"Duck!" Alicia said with a smirk, as she knew he would hit his head but thought it would be a great payback.
Angie walked her horse through the opening. Charlie ducked as he heard Bart slam his head on the cave opening.
Outside Crazy Hole, Phillip galloped his horse off to the north.
From that other huge rock, Rusty watched while Phillip galloped off to the north.
He got in the saddle of his horse and rode down to Crazy Hole.
Inside Crazy Hole, Alicia walked her horse using the flashlight while they walked down the cave.
She soon saw the priest craving.
She saw the tunnel to the right. "Here's that tunnel," Alicia said. "Well, Bart, you'll be back home in no time," she added. But Bart was still passed out cold.
"We want to travel back to September twenty-second, eighteen eighty-three," said Alicia then motioned to Angie that should proceed.
Alicia walked her horse, with Bart, through the tunnel.
The blue plasma light illuminated the tunnel and stung the hell out of Alicia. The light also stung Bart and he woke up and realized what was going on.
Angie walked her horse, with Charlie, through the tunnel.
The blue plasma light illuminated the tunnel and stung the hell out of Angie and Charlie.
Rusty removed his shirt, and he used it and covered the eyes of his horse. He removed the small flashlight from his back pocket. He looked at Crazy Hole and wondered if he should pursue this adventure.
He figured he would stay for a couple of months or if he likes it maybe a career.
He walked his horse over and entered Crazy Hole.