Vengeance Creek: The Sons of Daniel Shaye

58

“Over the mountains?” Thomas asked. “That’s your big shortcut?”

“It’s the most direct route,” Cory said. “If the horses are up to it, it’ll get us there first.”

“And if they’re not?”

“One of us might end up stranded without a mount.”

They were standing with their reins in their hands, staring up at the mountains.

“Are you sure about this?”

“Hey,” Cory said, “you’re the one who asked for the shortcut.” He gestured to the mountain. “That’s it.”

“Maybe you should have told me this before we split from the others.”

“And you would have changed your mind?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, you can change it now, Thomas,” Cory said. “I’m sure we can catch up to James and Berto.”

Thomas thought a moment, then said, “No.”

“So we’ll go on?”

“Yeah, why not?” Thomas asked. “You’ve made this ride before, haven’t you?”

“Well…”

Thomas looked at him. “You have, haven’t you?”

“Well, I have….”

“You want to explain that?”

“A few years ago I made the ride with, uh, two other men, but…uh, they didn’t make it.”

“What’s so hard?” Thomas asked. “It’s a mountain.”

“It’s not a clear path,” Cory said. “And it’s cold at the top…snowy.”

“Are you tryin’ to talk me out of this, Ralph?”

“No, Thomas,” Cory said, “I’m just tellin’ you it’s not going to be easy.”

“Okay,” Thomas said. “I understand that. I’ve got it. Not gonna be easy. Right.”

“Let’s get mounted up, then,” Cory said. “We have to get to a certain point and camp, so that when we do make it to the top, it’s early in the day, not late.”

“And how many days will it take?”

“That depends on conditions,” Cory said. “We got an early start this morning, but by the time we get to the base of the mountain, it will be late. We’ll have to camp there, camp again halfway up—”

“Okay, never mind,” Thomas said. “Let’s just get started.”

It took them two days to get to the base of the mountain and camp.

“Why don’t we start up? We’ve got plenty of daylight ahead of us,” Thomas said.

“It’s too late in the day,” Cory told him. “We’ll camp here and start up at first light.”

Thomas looked up. From his vantage point, the mountain didn’t look that steep.

“Don’t let it fool you, Thomas,” Cory said. “It’s gonna look a lot steeper when you’re lookin’ down.”

Thomas had noticed a week ago that Cory’s speech pattern was changing. He no longer sounded like “Ralph Cory,” the owner of a store in Vengeance Creek. His speech had become more western, and he sounded more like himself and James now.

“What?” Cory asked as they unsaddled their horses.

“I—uh, you’re just, uh, talkin’ kinda different.”

“When you take on a different name, you also take on a different way of talkin’, and of livin’,” Cory said. “Out here, I’m not tryin’ to fool anybody anymore.”

“It must be hard,” Thomas said, “always tryin’ to remember to be someone else.”

“You get used to it, after a while,” Cory said, “but it’s hard in the beginning.”

“You can go back, you know,” Thomas said. “After this is all over. My pa and us, we’re not gonna tell anybody. Berto won’t say nothin’ either.”

“I know,” Cory said. “I know that. It’s just somethin’ I’m gonna have to decide.”

Thomas suddenly turned and faced Cory. “Ralph,” he said, “are you…likin’ this?”

Cory stopped what he was doing, hung his head for a moment, then looked at the younger man.

“Yeah, Thomas,” he said, “yeah, I’m pretty sure I am…but it ain’t gonna last.”

“Whataya mean?”

“Before we’re done,” Cory said, “I’m gonna have to kill somebody. You know it, and I know it.”

“And that was the part you were tryin’ to get away from.”

Cory nodded.

“Ralph—”

“Forget it, Thomas,” Cory said. “Just forget it. I get the feelin’ that by the time this is done, we’re all gonna have some thinkin’ to do.”