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“He’ll be all right, Anna,” the doctor surprised her by saying. “I’ve known Wade Haddock all of his life. Helped deliver both him and his siblings.”
Her eyes shifted to his face.
“I suppose that makes me quite an old man in your opinion.” He smiled but continued. “It also has brought many men of different backgrounds and characters through my medical office, but there hasn’t been any quite like your Wade.”
Anna blushed hotly. He certainly wasn’t her Wade and if he had overheard the doctor make such a ludicrous remark, he would be sure to send Anna on her way.
She eyed the doctor closely. “How many other people know about my identity?”
His brows arched, but he continued with his task. “Well, if I were to guess, I would probably say everyone. Word has certainly spread like wildfire in town.”
Anna felt her spirits plummet. She frowned at herself. It was contrary to what she should have been feeling. After all, it was all over. Thanks to Wade, the evil that had been dodging her for months was gone. There was no reason to continue to remain at the Circle H.
Chapter 20
It was mid-afternoon when Wade and his men reached the clearing north of the Durand Pass. He stopped Sty on the grass-covered rocky plateau high above the valley floor and looked north through the mountains. A lush forest of pine trees sat between their towering peaks. He dismounted and stared out over the scenery.
Joe had brought his horse up next to Sty and dismounted as well. “If he’s gone in there, hell, we ain’t ever going to find him.”
The same thought had crossed Wade’s mind. “We’ll split up.”
Joe gave a nod and turned back to the men and started shouting orders. Wade set his mouth in a firm line and cursed this latest development. They had reached Lantern earlier that morning and received word the constable had been spotted heading north toward the Durand Pass. He and his men had made good time, but the constable had at least a good day’s worth head start. They had come across a recent campfire that indicated they were on the right trail, but still no sign of the lawman.
Frustrated, he reached down and grabbed a large pebble and gave it a violent throw over the valley down to the forest below. At the last second, something on the ground caught his attention. He looked again and noticed the grass next to him looked flattened. Frowning, he bent down for a closer look.
“What is it?” Joe appeared back at his side.
He cocked his head toward his foreman and said, “When Anna tracked the coyote, she followed a trail of grass.”
“Yeah, so?”
“We do the same.”
“How the hell we do that?” Joe squinted in the sunlight at this boss.
“Same as you would any other method of tracking.” He stood up and looked further down the slope. “You look for the signs.”
Joe cursed behind him, but Wade wandered further ahead and stopped once again to drop down on his knees. “Grass that’s been walked on appears leveled, sometimes broken. The heavier the weight the more damage to the grass. If it’s not permanently spoiled, it will upright itself once again.”
The foreman frowned heavily but leaned in for a closer look. “This here grass looks damaged.”
“Which tells us a very heavy animal came through this way.” He pointed to another track slightly further up. “From the point of distance between each of these prints, it is also limping.”
“Could be an injured bear.”
“Or a horse.” Wade pointed to another patch of grass next to it. “This here is less flattened and has nearly recovered completely.”
“What are you thinking?”
“Man made.”
“The constable?”
“Looks like he got off and started walking.” Wade stood up and looked back over the valley once again. “I believe our man has a lame horse.”
“Hell,” Joe grinned, suddenly proud, as if he had figured the tracks out himself. “Piece of cake.”
Wade headed back to his horse while Joe went over to instruct the wranglers how to track using Anna’s methods. He felt a knot suddenly tighten in his gut simply from thinking her name.
