"Hello there!" Came a shout from one of the riders.
Davy lowered the gun slightly. Peter's heart was still beating fast. One of the men jumped off the horse.
"We're in need of directions," The man said as he drew closer.
Davy lowered the gun when he noticed that the man was not making any moves to his two guns at his side.
"See, we're tryin' to get to San Francisco, but we got a little lost awhile back," The man said. He had short, curly black hair. His eyes were brown.
Peter and Davy still hadn't said anything.
"See, my name's Dean Martin, and me and my friends are visiting someone there and..." The man trailed off.
Another one of the riders jumped off his horse. He looked considerably younger despite being taller than Dean. He had longish brown hair and soft blue eyes. He had two handguns hanging from his belt, and he had his hands on the guns.
Davy put the rifle back in the wagon. "Sorry about that," He said walking back to Peter's side. "You can never be too careful in this part of the country."
Dean smiled. "You've got that right," He said. "So, how far are we from San Francisco?"
"Not that far, me and my friend can take you if you'd like," Davy said smiling.
The younger man was eyeing Peter and Davy like he didn't trust them.
"Quit givin' them such an ugly look Colorado," One of the men that was still on the horses said. He had a paint pony.
The younger man glanced back at the man that had spoke to him. The other man on the other horse was laughing. His horse was a chestnut. "How bad can they be?" He asked.
Colorado shrugged. He wasn't giving Peter and Davy dirty looks at the moment. Peter and Davy walked to the one horse left at the wagon.
"I'm gonna stay here with Aponi," Peter said. "I'll catch up later."
Davy nodded. Peter climbed into the wagon. Davy untied the horse and mounted and rode towards the four men.
"Well, come on, let's go," Davy said.
The four riders rode away with Davy. Peter looked at Aponi. Aponi watched the men that rode off.
"Who was that?" Aponi asked.
"Well, one man was named Dean Martin, then there was another guy called Colorado," Peter said.
"Colorado?" Aponi said.
"Yeah," Peter said. "Weird, huh?"
Aponi nodded.
•••
Davy rode in front of the other four riders. He stopped leading them at the saloon. "Well, if you want anyone, here's a good place to find them," He said.
Vincent came out of the saloon holding his gun up. "I think they found who they're looking for," He said threatening.
Colorado drew his gun quickly. Davy didn't even see the motion.
"So, little Ricky Nelson all grown up," Vincent said.
Colorado glared at him. "It's Rick," He said.
"Just because you're older doesn't mean you're gonna lose your nickname," Vincent said.
"I got a new nickname now," Colorado said. "I'm Colorado Nelson."
Vincent began to laugh and lowered his gun. "Where'd you get that name?" He asked.
Colorado lowered his gun and put it in his hollister. "That's a long story," He said.
"Well get down here! I wanna see if you've grown any!" Vincent insisted.
Colorado dismounted then walked towards Vincent. Vincent had to look up to look him in the eyes.
"I think I liked your old height better," Vincent commented.
The man on the chestnut pony hopped down. He walked towards Vincent. "I haven't changed much," He said.
Vincent began to laugh. "Nope, but you started out giant Johnny Meeks," He said.
Johnny smiled.
"And your friends?" Vincent asked.
"Dean Martin and Link Wray," Colorado said pointing to them.
Link nodded his head. His hair was very dark and so was his skin, like he had been out in the sun a lot. Dean dismounted and offered his hand to Vincent for a handshake. Vincent took it.
"It's nice ta meet ya," Vincent said.
"Colorado and Johnny were singing you praise the whole ride here," Dean said.
Vincent smiled. "I'm gonna have to buy you four a drink," He said. "I can't let my friends go dry."
Colorado, Dean, and Johnny tied the horses to the post. Link dismounted then tied his horse as well. Vincent looked up at Davy.
"Your friend Mike is in there drinking," Vincent said. "I ne'er saw a man drink so much in my life."
Davy frowned and walked into the saloon. He saw Mike sitting alone at a table drinking a shot of whiskey. He had a whole bottle of whiskey. He kept pouring himself shot after shot. Davy watched for about four shots before sitting down next to Mike.
"Why are you drinking so much?" Davy asked.
Mike looked up. He was very drunk. "Drinking so much?" Mike asked. "I only had a couple of drinks." His speech was slurred.
Davy looked at him in disgust. "And you said Aponi was a savage," Davy said taking the bottle away from Mike. Mike was too drunk to even realize what was going on. Davy handed the bottle to one of the dancing girls and helped Mike walk out of the saloon.
Davy helped Mike up onto his horse then walked to his own horse. Davy had to lead Mike and his horse back to the wagon. Peter was in the wagon with Aponi. Davy looked over at Peter.
Mike had fallen asleep during the ride. Davy shoved Mike into the wagon.
Peter watched quietly. Davy looked angry. Peter wanted to calm him down, but he didn't know what to say.
Suddenly there was a gun shot in the distance. Mike sat up, but he was too drunk to know what was going on. Peter and Davy both turned to face where the shot had come from. Aponi had dropped to the ground covering her head. Peter turned to see if she was alright. Once of her necklaces had broken in her hurry to reach the ground.
Beads were scattered everywhere.
Red... Blue... Black... White... Yellow... Green...
Beads scattered in every which way.
(So, this chapter sorta focused on Rick "Colorado" Nelson, Dean Martin, Johnny Meeks, and good ol' Gene Vincent. Link Wray might be getting a bigger role in this story, and if you read about the god-like guitarist you'll know why. This chapter was big time inspired by Rio Bravo, a western that starred John Wayne, Dean Martin, and Ricky Nelson. That's where I got the personality for Ricky and his nickname, Colorado, which was the name of his character in Rio Bravo. If you like Pat Boone or Nick Todd [Pat Boone's brother] a lot you might want to be a little weary. They're getting bad guy roles. Here's something I gotta admit after seeing Rio Bravo, Ricky Nelson had really pretty eyes.
Let's make some music, Colorado! ~ Adde Away!)