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“I’ll be damned.” Joe grumbled and lifted his rifle to take aim.
The boy moved so quickly that he caught everyone off guard. He lurched at the gun in Joe’s hands and sent it flying against a bed of rocks. Alerted, the coyote snatched up his kill and scattered away.
“Why the hell did you do that for?” Joe roared.
For response, the boy recoiled into himself and slid away from the three big men. Wade watched and took pity on him. “Get back to your horse Joe.”
“The kid is a nut case, I tell you.” Joe started ranting, but obeyed his orders and climbed back down the rocky slope and head off toward the horses.
“I thought that was very noble of you, Peter.” Prescott grinned and gave the boy a friendly pat on the shoulders. “Don’t you agree, Wade?”
He watched the boy closely, his head full of thoughts. Not the least being the boy was turning out to be one hell of an enigma. He had a feeling there was more to this boy than they had ever realized.
When the boy turned and looked into his eyes, Wade’s insides did an unexpected and gut-wrenching twist. He held the boy’s gaze for a full minute, before finally saying, “Sometimes, we can forget this land belongs to more than just us. We all need to survive and use whatever means there is to us.”
A look of relief showed in the boy’s eyes and Wade wondered if he was thinking about the stolen cows and realized his words held a double meaning.
They all turned and headed back toward their horses. By mid-morning they eventually came across the first herd of cattle and Wade cut the animals while his ranch hands began the process of herding them. Every now and then, Wade shot a glance in the boy’s direction, but always found him following at a safe distance.
The roundup continued much the same for the remainder of the day. As usual, it was long and hard work and by the time the sun dipped below the western horizon, the men were ready to break camp. For this three-day trip, Wade had decided Kim wasn’t needed to come along. Since one of those days would be spent in Lantern he figured the ranch hands could make do with minimum provisions. A mule, loaded with all the necessary requirements, replaced the chuck wagon usually accompanying them on long cattle drives.
Chuck Rhodes led the mule into camp and began unpacking it, but rushed over as Wade leaped from the back of Sty to retrieve the horse and untack him. Instinctively, Wade looked for the boy. He was tying his horse to a tree along with the other horses. Joe had already begun building a campfire and the ranch hands were selecting spots for their bedrolls. Wade found a decent spot himself and begun unraveling his gear. Movement beside him caught his attention.
The boy had laid out his own bedroll in the spot next to Wade. He worked quietly but quickly, which pretty much summed up the boy. He always appeared out of nowhere, right there next to Wade.
Joe was pretty good at setting up a cooking pit with whatever twigs and branches the surrounding area provided. He pulled off the black cast iron pot from the mule’s saddle along with some tin cans of food.
“‘Fraid it’s only beans tonight boys,” the lead ranch hand announced. “Even though we could’ve had coyote.”
Wade shot him a warning look while he removed his chaps.
“Hell, anything sounds good just about now.” Frank, one of the cowhands said.
Another agreed and the conversation became focused on their empty stomachs. The beans heated up quickly, which was a good thing seeing that the night had grown cold, and something warm in their bellies would go down just right. Each ranch hand had a t
in cup from their bedroll and helped themselves to the steaming food. Joe had also put on a kettle of hot water for coffee and in no time Wade had polished off the food and laid back on his bedroll to enjoy the hot brew.
The boy sat crossed legged on the bedroll next to him still eating the remainder of his beans. Joe had finished his meal and had laid down his hat shading his eyes from the bright glow of the fire. Across from him, Prescott was attempting, unsuccessfully, to make his bed more comfortable. The ranch hands were either stretched out on their own rolls or sitting having a game of cards. Looking around, he thought life couldn’t get any better. He was where he loved most, with the company of people he respected most, and doing the very thing he enjoyed most in life.
Adjacent to the camp, a lone figure stood in the shadows. Wade tilted his head to get a better look at Chuck Rhodes. Years of experience told him the man would not enter the camp perimeters. It wasn’t because he wasn’t welcome. Hell, on cold nights like this Wade would welcome a grizzly bear by the fire. No, it was simply the man himself that kept him apart from the group.
George, one of the older ranch hands broke out singing and drew Wade’s attention away from the old man. As voices went, Wade didn’t have a whole lot to compare, but he sure did enjoy the old cowboy’s baritone voice as he sounded out old campfire songs passed down from generations.
The boy next to him shuddered and tried to draw his blankets closer to warm himself. Wade put down his coffee mug and grabbed his slick to drape over the boy’s shoulders. He looked up in surprise and Wade gave him a friendly wink before getting himself comfortable on his bed once more. The night was exceptionally cold and he didn’t doubt sleeping would be rough, but he carried a lot more meat on his body than the boy.
* * *
Anna gave a violent shiver. She was utterly freezing. Her bedroll did little to protect her from the elements. She had slept beneath the stars many times before, but never in such cold weather. Drawing the slick around her shoulders, she glanced over at the man next to her. His back was to her and, by the sound of his breathing, was asleep. As was the rest of the men in the camp.
A twig snapped from somewhere near the horses and she glanced up to see Chuck Rhodes appear in the clearing. He stood for a moment surveying the group of sleeping cowboys. Anna held her breath and tried not to shiver. Hopefully, he didn’t realize she was the only one still awake. The below zero temperatures was making sleep impossible.
The old man shuffled toward them, moving stealth-like between each wrangler. Now and then he would stop and what Anna thought appeared to be smelling something. Perplexed, she continued to watch until with alarm she realized he was approaching the area in which she and Wade slept. Trembles threatened to erupt all over her body as she clenched her jaw tightly and willed its silence.
The crooked form of the old man now loomed over her and she definitely heard him sniffing. She wanted to reach out and touch Wade. Maybe if he was awake the old man would leave. But he only leaned over Anna and came even closer. Fear shot to the forefront. She wanted to move or push him aside, but prayed remaining motionless would send him away. However, he knelt down and lifted the blanket covering her and put it to his nose. He smelled it and Anna held her breath.
Her body was now exposed to the cold air and she couldn’t help but start to shake. Maybe if she reached out and touched his arm, Wade would awake. She waited to see if the old man would throw her blanket back down and move on.
He didn’t.
