Vengeance Creek: The Sons of Daniel Shaye

54

Cardwell caught Jacks looking off into the darkness as they sat around their campfire.

“Look,” he said, “if anyone’s trackin’ us, they’re movin’ slower than we are. We’ll get where we’re goin’ before they catch up to us.”

“That may be so,” Jacks said, “but there’s no reason we can’t stay alert.”

“Oh, I agree with that,” Cardwell said. “In fact, why don’t you stay alert first for about four hours, and then wake me.”

“Yeah, okay,” Jacks said, “I got first watch.”

Cardwell nodded, then rolled himself up in his blanket and turned his back to Jacks.

“If we ride through the night we’ll catch up to them,” James said to Cory and Colon.

The two older men exchanged a glance.

“If we ride at night,” Cory said, “it’s more than likely one of our horses will step in a chuck hole and bust a leg. Then where will we be, huh?”

James had to admit he was right.

“Do not worry, my young friend,” Colon said. “We will catch up to them.”

“I know we will,” James said. “I’m just worried about what’ll happen when we do. If there’s more than two of them…”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, Deputy,” Cory said. “Right now let’s decide on the order of the watch, with your brother not bein’ here.”

James thought a moment, then said, “Ralph, you go first, then Berto, then me.”

“Fine,” Cory said. “You guys sleep tight.”

James and Colon each went to their bedrolls and burrowed in. There was a chill in the air, but it wasn’t bad. In fact, Cory liked it. It would help him keep his eyes open.

The ex-bounty hunter admitted something to himself when he was left alone with his thoughts. He actually enjoyed being back on the hunt. It made him feel alive again, and being able to read sign had come back to him quickly. The enjoyment he’d been getting from it was becoming harder and harder to hide from the others. He knew the feeling might change once they caught up to their prey, but that was later. For now, being back in the saddle was better than being behind the counter of any store. That was something he never would have guessed when he agreed to go along. He’d thought it was going to be a hell of a chore, but it wasn’t. Not by a long sight.

Thomas considered riding through the night, but even though he might have caught up to his brother and the others that way, the risk to the horse wasn’t worth it. He just didn’t know the terrain well enough to take the chance. Instead, he made a cold camp so he could just up and leave at first light, making do with water and jerky.

He thought back to the few minutes he’d spent in the cell with Sean Davis. He wasn’t particularly proud of himself for what he’d done, scaring the man half to death like that.

Davis swore up and down that he was just guessing when he told Thomas where he figured Ben Cardwell was headed. However, he was basing his guesses on things he’d heard Cardwell say over the past few months. Thomas decided to let the man keep his tongue and accept his guesses.

Now he took out his knife and stared at it. Would he have cut Davis’s tongue out, as he had threatened? Probably not, but the mere fact that he’d used the threat didn’t make him feel very good. He wondered what his pa would have thought if he’d been there to see it.

He put the knife away and took a bite of beef jerky. Not knowing the terrain would keep him from finding a shortcut and getting ahead of the others. Maybe if he could catch up to them quickly enough, though, Cory or Colon might know a quick route. Then again, rushing ahead to a place given him by Davis was putting more than a little faith in the man’s guesses. If he was lying, or if he was wrong, they might lose track of the two men completely. Then he and James would have to go back to Vengeance Creek and admit their failure to their father.

Maybe he should just wait until he caught up to the others before making any more decisions.

Dan Shaye was unsure of himself.

He was camped, having built a fire so he could have some warm food and keep up his strength. But he was not sure he had done the right thing by leaving Vengeance Creek to go after his sons so long after they had left. What if they telegraphed, what if they needed him and he wasn’t there? Instead, he was out here, wandering about aimlessly.

On top of that, his wound had started bleeding and he’d had to rewrap it. The doctor had warned him about infection, but he saw—and smelled—no evidence of any when he washed it and rebandaged it.

Shaye didn’t like being unsure. He prided himself on remaining in control. But ever since the deaths of Mary and Matthew, he felt less and less in control.

As he saw it, he had two choices. He could either go back, or he could go forward, pushing himself at a faster pace. The trail was leading northeast, so what if he simply continued in that direction and didn’t worry about reading sign? He was bound to come to a town where someone—either the hunted or the hunters—had stopped. He could even telegraph Vengeance Creek himself and see if his sons had sent him any messages.

He finished his meal and had another cup of coffee before turning in. He’d break camp at first light and get back on the trail. He’d push hard and hope that his wound would not slow him down or worsen. Finding his sons alive and well was worth any risk.