from the
jeep before throwing them as far as he could.

"It's not here," Rick said positively.

Now all that remained was the town itself. They walked back to the town,
Rick carrying the water bag and Scotty the canteen. At least their water
hadn't been dumped.

Scotty paid careful attention to the vehicle tracks in the dust of the
road.

"It's pretty clear," he pointed out at last. "Here's where the sedan was
parked. And here's where the other vehicle parked. See how this area is
scuffed up? They made quite a few trips, carrying something from the
side of the vehicle to the rear of the sedan, probably stowing the stuff
in the luggage compartment. And, from the tire tracks, I'd say the
vehicle from the base was a light truck."

"Like Mac's truck?" Rick asked.

"Maybe. Anyway, whoever it was had to go through the guard gate, and the
run might even be chalked up on the board. Not to here, of course, but
maybe to Careless Mesa or Dry Spring."

"We can check when we get back," Rick said. "Come on. We'd better take
the town apart and see if the rotor and distributor cap are here."

It was midmorning before they gave up the search, and both of them were
exhausted.

"Now what?" Rick asked wearily. He had never in his life felt so badly
in need of sleep. Except for a few brief catnaps in the jeep, he had
been awake continuously for forty-eight tense hours.

Scotty scratched his head. "There are a few buildings we haven't
searched yet."

"No, but they wouldn't be in those. If the men were going to leave them
here, they'd drop them nearby and not hide them in one of the distant
buildings. But I suppose we'd better look, anyway."

"We'd better. I'm fresher than you are. Go stretch out in the hotel
lobby and I'll look."

Rick was too tired to argue. He walked into the comparative coolness of
the rickety old hotel and found a section of undamaged floor. He removed
his shoes, stretched out, and was asleep almost at once. In a short time
Scotty joined him after an unsuccessful search.

When Rick woke again it was dark and Scotty was stretched out beside
him, sound asleep. He turned over and went to sleep again.

Both boys woke up, stiff and bleary-eyed, as dawn light flooded the
hotel. They grinned at each other.

"I must have slept for two days," Rick said.

"Not quite. Just about sixteen hours. But you needed it, and there
wasn't anything to do."

"We're okay so long as the water lasts, but then what?" Rick k