robbersâ trail again.
âWeâre looking for tracks with shoes in among the cattle tracks,â Dodge said. âSo if anybody thinks they spotted somethinâ, sing out.â
They broke into their three groups. Heath rode with Sy Bryant and Manuel. Dodge told Bryant to keep a close watch on Heath, and at the first sign that he was trying to throw them off the trail, to arrest him and take him back to Tombstone.
Later in the day Manuel rode up on Dodge and told him Heath was trying to throw the trail.
Still later Bryant came by and told him the same thing.
âI think he was wiping out some tracks with his boots,â Bryant said.
âFirst time you can prove it, go ahead and make the arrest,â Dodge told him.
In the afternoon Clintâs group crossed Dodgeâs group, and Dodge told him about Heath. At that moment they noticed Manuelâs men collected in a group. Dodge pulled out his spyglass and watched as Bryant took John Heathâs guns from him. Moments later, two men left to take Heath back to Tombstone.
The groups got together, and Bryant told them what had happened.
âI watched him,â he said. âHeath got off his horse and started to deliberately obliterate tracks with his boot. I throwed down on him and arrested him.â
âSo did we find their trail again?â Dodge asked.
âYeah,â Bryant said. âManuel picked up a three of shod horse tracks.â
âThree men headinâ north,â Manuel said, pointing.
âThen lead the way,â Dodge said.
ELEVEN
They followed the three tracks until they crossed the tracks of two men heading south. Those two appeared to be headed for Sonora.
âSy, you take your men and half of Manuelâs and follow those two. Iâll keep goinâ north with Manuel, Clint, Bob and Charley Smith, and Bill Daniels,â Dodge said. âYou catch up to somebody, take them right to Tombstone. Weâll meet up there.â
âOkay,â Bryant said. âThe trail is clear enough for me to follow.â
Bryant took his men north. Clint, Dodge, Smith, Hatch, Manuel, and Daniels headed north, with Manuel following the trail.
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The next night Charley Smith became ill. It was an old wound he had collected in Texas. Heâd been shot in the right side of the chest, just below his nipple, and he took cold that night. By morning he was shivering and feverish.
âI have friends who live near here, señor,â Manuel said. âIf we bring him there they will care for him.â
âAll right,â Dodge said, âletâs do it.â
Once again Manuel led the way to a ranch house. It was well built and expensive. The people were obviously very well off. They were happy to see Manuel, and very willing to look after Charley, who spoke Spanish and was able to converse with them.
âIâm sorry, Fred,â Charley said, as the people took him inside.
âDonât worry about it, pard,â Dodge said. âYou just get well and meet us in Tombstone.â
âIâll do it.â
They got back on the trail and then camped for the night. They were now down to fiveâDodge, Daniels, Manuel, Hatch, and Clint.
They sat around the fire, shared bacon and coffee, rationing it out. Some of the supplies had gone south with Bryantâs group.
âOur numbers are dwindling,â Bill Daniels said.
âWeâve still got enough to do the job,â Dodge said.
âMaybe the others are getting some names from Heath,â Clint said, âback in Tombstone.â
âMaybe we shouldâve asked him before he left,â Daniels said.
âNames wouldnât help us track them,â Dodge said, although he realized it was a mistake not to have asked Heath the question before he was taken back.
âCanât argue with the decision now,â Clint said. âWe just have to live with it.â
âIâll take the first