When the sun was still half an hour above the horizon, Dan Rodelo took the trail.  He had always enjoyed walking, something rare among riding men, and he enjoyed it now.  After a year in prison it was a grand feeling to be out on the open road, swinging along at a good gait.  Above all, it gave him time to think, and to plan.

It was not yet dark when he heard the rattle of a light wagon behind him, and turned to see a four-horse team approaching, drawing a light wagon with a saddle horse tied behind.  In the wagon were two men and a woman.

When they came abreast of him, they drew up.  "You goin' some place, mister?"

"Gold City."

"If you're huntin' gold it's no place to go.  The only gold they ever found there was in the name."

"I might be lucky."

"Get in.  We're goin' thataway."  The big man spoke to the team, slapped them lightly with the reins, and the wagon rolled off with Rodelo in the back, sitting near a girl, and a damned attractive one, he decided.

"That's a ghost town now, mister.  You realize that?"

"It's not quite a ghost town.  Old Sam Burrows is still around.  He runs the store and saloon.  I left my horse with him some time back."

"Seems a far-off place to leave a horse," the big man commented.

"Does, doesn't it?"

Dan Rodelo looked at the girl, who regarded him coolly, showing no interest.  The two men exchanged comments from time to time, and Rodelo gathered their names were Clint and Jake.

The night was still, and when the horses slowed to walk up a long hill, there was no sound to be heard but that of their own passage.  Dan Rodelo stretched out his legs.  It felt good to be riding.  He eased his holster into a handy position and caught the girl's glance as she noticed it.

They were wondering about him, as he was about them.  Two men and a girl going to Gold City... for what?

Gold City was not only a ghost town, but it was the end of the trail.  Beyond lay the desert... a desert that was empty all the way to the border, and far beyond.  Dan Rodelo was not really a suspicious man, but at the moment he was wondering if somebody else had the same idea he had.  It would be wise to be careful, very careful.