cowboys were crossing the small canyon in the downpour. Their voices floated through the heavy rain.
“… saw ’em come this way, Cap. Four of ’em.”
“… keep followin’ this trail.”
The men moved on past the shack without seeing it under the overhang, and vanished around the next hill. Jupiter stood up.
“They won’t be back for a while,” he said. “We’ll get back to Condor Castle before they spot us. Come on.”
But this time Jupiter was wrong! The boys were still crossing the open canyon when voices shouted behind them!
“You four!”
No one had to tell the boys to run!
The boys charged out of the narrow, overgrown trail into the muddy dirt road, and stopped. Breathless, they looked right and left, not knowing which way to run!
“If we run down the road,” Pete said, “those cowboys might catch us before we got to the county road!”
“They’d see us if we tried to climb up on the ridge!” said Bob.
“And we can’t run up the road and cross the dam,” Diego added. “It’s all under water — we’d be swept right over!”
Paralysed by indecision, the boys stood on the road in the torrent of rain.
Behind them, the three pursuing cowboys crashed through the thick brush, swearing and raging as they got in each other’s way. The violent voice of the black-haired Cap could be heard urging the others on.
“Hurry!” Pete cried. “Let’s try the road!”
“No,” Jupiter ordered. “Down in the arroyo! Towards the end of it, near the dam! They’ll be sure we wouldn’t try to run that way — so we will!”
Wasting no more time, the four boys plunged down into the arroyo. They clung to the side, trying to keep above the water that almost filled the deep gully. Under the cover of the steep sides and thick brush, they started to work their way towards the dam.
Up on the road heavy boots sloshed in the mud. Their hearts pounding, the boys flattened themselves against the steep bank of the arroyo, silent and motionless in the cover of thick chaparral. Three harsh voices argued angrily almost directly above them!
“Where the devil did they run!”
“Slippery little punks!”
“You think they really got the keys?”
“Sure they did! They ran, didn’t they, and we couldn’t find no keys at that barn!”
“Cap? Maybe they ran to the dam, huh?”
“Don’t be dumber than you gotta be, Tulsa. Even kids’d know better’n to try crossin’ that dam now!”
“They ain’t over on that ridge, so they must’ve took the road. Come on!”
The three cowboys sloshed away towards the distant hacienda and the county road. In the arroyo, the boys waited quietly in the rain.
“They’re gone,” Bob finally said with relief.
“We’d better go, too,” Diego said. “We can’t hide here.”
“Only where do we go?” Pete asked. “They’ve got us blocked on the road, we can’t cross the dam, and they’ll come back this way sooner or later.”
“Perhaps,” Jupiter said, “there is somewhere close to the dam where we could hide until we’re sure they’ve gone for good. And if there isn’t, we’ll cross that low mound and use it as cover to get to the far side of the ridge. Then we can hide behind Condor Castle. We’re not safe in this arroyo. Those guys only have to look over the edge and they’ll see us.”
Staying close against the bank to remain hidden from the road above, the four boys made their way along the arroyo to its end. Now they could hear the water crashing over the dam on the other side of the low mound that separated the arroyo from the creek.
“Look for some space behind a rock, or a hole in the bank, or an overhang,” Jupiter said.
Clinging to the sides, the boys searched the end of the arroyo with their eyes.
“Gosh, Jupe, there’s no safe place to hide in this arroyo unless we get down under the water!” exclaimed Pete. “I don’t even see a gopher hole!”
“Maybe there are some rocks we could hide behind on the other side of the road,” said Diego, and he poked his head up out of the arroyo. “Fellows!” The slim boy leaped down against the arroyo bank. “I saw them! On the road! Those men are coming back!”
The boys all flattened themselves close to the bank of the deep arroyo. They spoke in hoarse whispers.
“Did they see us?” Bob asked.
“I don’t think so,” Diego said.
“Where were they on the road?” Jupiter wanted to know.
“Just about where that trail joins it,” Diego whispered. “Where we came down into the arroyo.”
“Maybe they’ll go back to the shack,” Pete said hopefully.
“No,” Jupiter said grimly, “they’ll come to check out the dam. We’re stuck here. Let’s just hope they don’t decide to look in the arroyo!”
The boys strained to hear the approaching cowboys over the sound of the waterfall at the dam. Finally voices floated towards them.
“… if we don’t see ’em by the dam, I say we come back here and beat the bushes in the ditch!”
“Uh-oh! That tears it!” whispered Jupe. “We’ll have to get out of here. Look, as soon as those guys get past us and out of sight beyond the mound, we’ll crawl up over the mound as fast as we can, and down the far side. Then we can get on to the ridge above the creek and take cover behind Condor Castle!”
“But, Jupe,” objected Pete, “we’ll be right out in the open when we’re on top of the mound!”
“I know, but just for a few seconds. If we’re lucky, the men won’t look back before they reach the dam. By that time, we can be safe behind rocks on the ridge.”
Pete shook his head at Jupe’s scheme, but there was no time to think of anything better. On the road, the three cowboys were now passing the hidden boys. Their voices were still raised in argument. Jupiter cautiously peeked over the rim of the arroyo. As the cowboys disappeared out of sight beyond the mound, Jupe said, “Now!”
On their hands and knees the boys crawled out of the arroyo and up the low mound. They sank into the rain-soaked earth and pulled up bushes by their roots as they went. They felt as if every eye in the world were on their exposed backs. But there was no shout behind them as they tumbled over the crest of the mound and slid down the far side to the edge of the swollen creek.
“We made it!” Pete exulted.
“To the ridge!” Jupiter urged. “Run as low as you can!”
Bent double, they ran like crabs along the soft, slippery mound. Twice Jupiter and Bob slipped and fell sprawling, and once Diego nearly plunged into the raging creek. Plastered with mud, they ran awkwardly on with surefooted Pete helping the others. At last the boys reached the steep, rockier slope of the high ridge.
They scrambled up towards the shelter of the great rock of Condor Castle, dislodging showers of stones from the muddy slope.
Behind them, shouts carried above the roar of the creek!
“Cap! Over there!”
“On the ridge!”
“It’s them! Get ’em!”
