Buffalo Bill Wanted! Read Free

should be getting a look.”
    Wiggins could barely contain his excitement as Buffalo Bill gave him and his friends a tour. They strolled among the bustling performers, then along twisting paths weaving among a confusing array of tents. Colonel Cody pointed to a man carefully checking the saddle on his horse. “That’s Marve Beardsley. He shows how the Pony Express riders used to change horses and switch mailbags on the run, just as he did back when.” Cody glanced over at Wiggins. “That was one of my first jobs. I wasn’t much older than you.”
    â€œI wish I could have adventures like that.” Wiggins sighed.
    â€œYou do!” Owens said. He turned to Buffalo Bill. “Wiggins works for Sherlock Holmes.”
    Cody looked surprised. “The famous detective?”
    â€œIn fact, we all do—sometimes,” Jennie said.
    â€œYeah, the four of us helped him with a big case.” Dooley nearly stumbled over a tent rope, he was so distracted talking to Buffalo Bill.
    The tour ended at a large white canvas tent near one end of the grandstand. “This one’s mine,” Cody said.
    A canvas partition created two rooms. The main area contained some folding chairs, a desk filled with papers, and kerosene lamps with frosted glass globes. Dark green fabric above them kept things cool and shady, and animal hides lay spread across the ground as rugs.
    Wiggins got a glimpse of a washstand, a clothing rack filled with costumes, and the corner of a cot in the other room.
    He turned to see Owens poke a careful toe at the clawed paw still attached to a grizzly bear hide. Jennie stared at the animal’s head and teeth.
    â€œNow,” Cody said as he motioned his guests to sit down. “I have to go on in a few minutes, so why don’t you all make yourselves comfortable while I get ready?” He went into the second room. Wiggins heard water pouring into a basin.
    â€œHow come you’re being so nice to us?” Dooley asked.
    Cody came back out, mopping his face with a towel. “I had a son of my own.” He glanced at Dooley. “He was a bit younger than you—” He suddenly broke off.
    â€œOh,” Jennie said in a small voice.
    â€œI was away doing a show when he got sick.” Cody’s eyes became haunted. “By the time I got home, he was almost gone. I held him all night, but I couldn’t keep him with us.”
    Dooley ran to Colonel Cody and took his hand. “I lost someone too. It was bad—very bad.”
    â€œYour mother?” Cody asked gently.
    â€œThat was when I was real young. But we lost my brother, Tim, a couple of months ago. He and Wiggins both worked for Mr. Holmes. They followed some suspicious folks and got trapped in an opium den. Tim—didn’t make it out.”
    Cody glanced at Wiggins with new respect. “Did Mr. Holmes catch the killer?”
    We did,” Dooley replied proudly. “We worked with Mr. Holmes.”
    Cody’s eyes were still on Wiggins, who bit his lip. “It doesn’t change things,” he said in a low voice. “Tim’s still . . .”
    Cody stepped over to put a hand on Wiggins’s shoulder. “Son, you didn’t set out to put him in harm’s way.”
    â€œNo, but he wouldn’t have been there if it weren’t for me,” Wiggins told the frontiersman.
    â€œSo you blame yourself.” Cody nodded. “Does Dooley blame you?”
    â€œI did at first,” Dooley admitted. “That was before we all joined together in the Raven League, caught the killer, and rescued Mr. Holmes. We even—”
    â€œDooley!” Owens said sharply. “You know better.”
    Cody glanced at the foursome. “Something wrong?”
    â€œWe’re not supposed to talk about it,” Wiggins explained. “Sorry.”
    â€œLet’s just say,” Jennie offered, “that Mr. Holmes was able to catch the criminals he