Outside the cabin, Cattle Annie bounded onto her horse like a circus acrobat. She wheeled away at a lope as Tilghman came through the door. He jerked the reins loose on the other horse, vaulting into the saddle, and took off after her. A beaten path behind the cabin tunneled through the woods and emerged onto an open prairie. The girl whipped her horse into a headlong gallop.
Tilghman was perhaps ten yards behind when he cleared the treeline. The girl looked over her shoulder, her features contorted, screaming obscenities that were lost on the rush of wind. Then, as he booted his horse and closed the distance, her eyes went round with panic. She pulled her pistol, turning in the saddle, and fired three quick shots at Tilghman. The slugs whizzed past him with an angry snarl.
Hauling back on the reins, Tilghman brought his horse to a skidding halt. He grabbed the stock of a Winchester carbine, jerking it from the scabbard as he stepped out of the saddle. A quick glance confirmed that it was much like his own carbine and he levered a shell into the chamber. The butt snugged into his shoulder, he caught the sights and drew a bead on the girl’s horse. When he fired, the horse went down forelegs first, dead even as it struck the ground. The girl was hurled out of the saddle like a cannonball.
Tilghman led his mount to where Cattle Annie lay sprawled on the prairie. The jolt had rattled her senses and sapped her will to fight. He took her pistol, then unbuckled her pants belt and pulled it loose. She moaned, her eyes fluttering, as he cinched her wrists together with the belt. Before she could resist, he hefted her off the ground and dumped her over the saddle. She began cursing as he mounted behind her and rode back toward the creek.
Thomas was waiting outside the cabin. Little Breeches was seated on the ground, her wrists bound with rope and a bandanna stuffed in her mouth. Her eyes welled up with tears as Tilghman reined to a halt and dropped Cattle Annie at her feet. He stepped out of the saddle, eyeing the latticework of scratches across Thomas’s face. Tilghman’s mouth lifted in a crooked grin.
“Looks like you got the worst of it, Heck.”
“No laughin’ matter,” Thomas said sourly. “She’s mean as tiger spit and twice as deadly. I’ve fought men no tougher’n her.”
“You lousy bastards!” Cattle Annie shrieked. “Take that gag outta Jennie’s mouth. She’s just a kid!”
“Some kid,” Tilghman commented dryly. “Quit yellin’ or I’ll gag you. We’ve had enough nonsense for one day.”
She fell to her knees beside Little Breeches. Thomas studied them a moment, then looked at Tilghman. “What was all that shootin’?”
“Annie tried to stop my clock. I brought her horse down with a saddle gun.”
“Jesus Crucified Christ! We’re never gonna live this down.”
“Think not?”
“Know not,” Thomas grumped. “You tradin’ lead with a slip of a girl. And me cut up like I’d tangled with a grizzle bear.” He gingerly touched a bloody gash on his jaw. “Wish’t I’d never let you talk me into it.”
“Whoa now,” Tilghman said with a wry smile. “I seem to recollect it was your idea.”
“Whoever thought it up,” Thomas retorted indignantly, “it was a pea-brain notion. Here on out, I’m not chasin’ any more girls.”
“Way you look, I don’t blame you, Heck.”
“Don’t you start on me! I’m warnin’ you.”
A short time later they rode out of the clearing. The girls were mounted double on Little Breeches’s horse, hands now secured behind their backs. Tilghman took the lead and Thomas brought up the rear, nursing his wounds with a kerchief dipped in creek water. Little Breeches, whose gag had been removed, taunted him in a shrill voice.
“Hey, you big sissy! Hurt bad, are you?”
“Close your trap or I’ll close it for you.”
“Yeah!” Cattle Annie chimed in. “Way you jumped us, you’re nothin’ but cowards. Let’s try it fair and square.”
“Awww, for chrissakes,” Thomas moaned. “It’s never gonna end.”
The Guthrie Statesman ran a front-page story two days later. A banner headline confirmed Heck Thomas’s worst fears.
STALWART MARSHALS APPREHEND DESPERADOES
CATTLE ANNIE AND LITTLE BREECHES NABBED
CHAPTER 21
A fortnight later the girls were still in the news. After being lodged in the Guthrie jail, Cattle Annie and Little Breeches had escaped. There was lax security for women prisoners, and they had managed to outwit the night guard. The newspaper, with caustic humor, played it as farce.
Sheriff’s deputies recaptured the girls the following day. From that point, justice moved swiftly for the young runaways. They were brought to trial and rapidly convicted on testimony by the three horse thieves captured at Dunns’ ranch. The judge, though lenient, passed sentences the same day.
Annie McDougal and Jennie Midkiff, being underage, were not sentenced to prison. Instead, they were committed to a reform school in Massachusetts for two years. The girls, who considered themselves full-fledged outlaws, took it as a personal insult. A day later, on Tilghman’s recommendation, the horse thieves were sentenced to five years’ probation. They were admonished to follow the straight and narrow.
To Evett Nix’s dismay, he was again lambasted in the press. As U.S. marshal, according to the newspapers, he was hell on underage girls but no significant threat to the Wild Bunch. Doolin and his gang had vanished in yet another puff of smoke, leaving no trace as to their whereabouts. They were generally thought to be hiding out in the Nations, but no one had a clue. Once again, they’d gone to ground.
Tilghman returned home following the
