17. Scouting Out

Ruby was correct in every aspect, except one.

A deep washout laid a mile out from the farmstead on the west side, disguised by long golden prairie grass and blended in so well with the otherwise flat ground that when Dodge was busy casting hand signals to Mateo, he had fallen face first into the sudden sandy dirt with a thump, almost choking on his tobacco chew in the process.

Mateo laughed so loudly from where he crept through the tall grass lowly for only a second before clasping both his hands over his lips to force the laughter back down, both for the fear of getting caught by whoever may be in the farmstead and also for the fear that Dodge might rip his head off to avoid self embarrassment. 

Coughing lowly to rid the sandy dust which now housed itself in Dodge&rsqu