Moose pointed at him. “I see what you’re thinking, and you’re wrong. I may be down on my luck but I ain’t never stole nothin’ and don’t aim to start now.”
“Of course not. I didn’t accuse you of anything .” He sure didn’t need a fight with this fellow.
“I have to tell you that you’re settin’ yourself up to be robbed, though. You look too well heeled not to tempt someone.”
That alarmed Bret. He couldn’t lose his money. “What do you recommend?”
“First off, you ought to leave that tent where it is and travel lighter. Some fellas take along an extra horse on a long trip but not packed with all this here stuff.”
Disappointment engulfed him. “You can tell I’m green then?”
Moose nodded. “You seem nice enough ’cause you invited me to share, but you sure look green and vulnerable.”
“I figured I’d need the tent if I got caught in bad weather. It wasn’t as easy to set up as the salesman told me. The downpour and wind caused it to collapse on me.”
“Where did you camp with that thing?”
Bret gestured east. “There was a real nice creek and trees and I set up under them. The soil was nice so I didn’t have any trouble driving in the stakes.”
Moose rubbed his jaw. “You musta been too close to the water. Even I know you need to drive the tent stakes deep into firm ground.”
Bret sensed himself blushing. “Now I know that but it seemed such a pretty place at the time. Believe it would have been all right if the wind and rain hadn’t come. I enjoyed it until the storm hit.”
“That was some gale all right. When I saw them clouds comin’ I holed up in a barn on someone’s farm. Guess they was gone or there would have been dogs to bark at me.”
Moose stood and came to the ring of stones where Bret was trying to start a fire. “Let me show you how to cook on an open fire. You bring the supper makings and I’ll cook.”
Bret brought out a ham, potatoes, coffee, an onion, cans of beans, and a can of peaches.
Moose looked as if he was going to cry. “I ain’t had real coffee or much else in several days. My breakfast was blackberries. Gatherin’ them I almost shook hands with a copperhead. Snakes like blackberries as much as I do.”
Something else to remember. “I’ll fill the coffeepot with water. Will you wait until I’m watching to do anything else?”
When he returned with water from the spring, Moose was squatting on his heels. “What you aim to do with all this stuff?” He pointed at the utensils Bret had laid on top of oiled-cloth.
“I brought what I thought I’d need to cook and included enough for guests or in case I lost some. There’s a paring knife, a meat knife—”
“Whoa.” Moose pulled a knife from his boot. “You have something like this?”
“Sure, but it’s in case I meet trouble.”
The other man shook his head slowly. “This is your cooking utensil.” He picked up a fork and spoon. “These are all the eating utensils you need.”
Brett observed and Moose was good about explaining each step. By the time their food had cooked and they’d eaten, Bret thought he could repeat the process. He stacked his cup on his plate and wished he’d brought a dishpan.
Moose grinned at him. “Now if we was where there wasn’t water, why you could take sand and clean everything. Since there’s that little spring, we can each take our plate and such and wash ’em off in the water.” He grabbed his dirty dishes and walked toward the spring.
Bret followed. “You saying a body can clean dishes with sand?”
“You bet you can. You don’t have water to waste, that’s what you do. If you’re heading to California you’ll have to cross the dessert.”
“I’ve read a lot about it. My favorites are stories about the Missouri Kid.”
Moose grimaced. “That figures. Listen, most of what you read is made up and not the way things happened. You can’t depend on what’s in those stories.”
“But… but the cover says ‘the true adventures of the Missouri Kid’. Why would they lie?”
“To sell them. Worked, didn’t it?”
“At least some of the stories have to be true.”
Moose’s mouth was a thin line for several seconds. “Well, let me put it this way. Now for instance, take that snake I like to have had contact with this morning. That really happened but what if I said the snake was striking when I grabbed that copperhead behind his head and snapped his neck? What if I said there was more than one? See, that’s the kind of thing that happens in those ‘true’ stories.”
Bret sensed Moose was telling the truth. “That’s disappointing.”
“I’m sorry to upset you.” He patted his abdomen. “Thanks to your sharing I’m full as a tick on a fat dog. Reckon I’ll turn in.” He unfurled a blanket that had been tied behind his saddle. He rolled up in it with his head resting on the saddle.
“Me, too. Didn’t get any sleep last night.” He spread his bedroll near the fire. After he’d fed a few sticks to the flames he climbed inside his bedroll.
Now he looked up at the stars and the moon. The scents of wood smoke and green grass drifted on the light breeze. Fireflies danced and crickets sang. His stomach was full and his bedroll soft and dry. He smiled because this was exactly what he’d had in mind for his adventure.
Chapter Three
The day after her husband’s funeral, Charlotte smiled at her children and went through the motions of her usual chores. Inside, though, she was overwhelmed and terrified. How
