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After a filling meal courtesy of Charlie Shimshock’s cooking talents, Jake slid into his bedroll. He should reach Helena before noon. He’d get a room at a hotel then start visiting the liveries to ask if a stranger had boarded two brown geldings in the past month. If none of them could provide any useful information, he’d visit the Lewis and Clark County sheriff’s office. But he suspected that if the liverymen hadn’t seen his father, then it was unlikely that the lawmen would.
He planned to stay in Helena for another day to let Mars and Vulcan recover even if he didn’t discover his father’s whereabouts. He smiled when he decided to take advantage of the bigger town’s offerings to buy a nice set of wedding bands. While he was reasonably sure that Sara would be just as happy with a simple steel ring or nothing at all, Jake wanted to surprise her. He wouldn’t go overboard, but he’d find something elegant. He reminded himself to send her a telegram to let her know that he’d reached Helena. He didn’t even think of sending one to Dave Forrest because he didn’t think Dave would really care if he didn’t know where he was.
It was a reasonably warm night, but Jake soon wished it was much colder when he was besieged by mosquitoes. He finally pulled his nearby blanket over his head for protection. It may have been stifling, but he was no longer suffering their tiny, irritating attacks and soon drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER 6
The mosquitoes were gone by the time Jake slipped out of his bedroll as the sky began to lighten. Within an hour, he was on the road again. Mars and Vulcan were still in good condition, which didn’t surprise him. Besides the strength and stamina that they’d inherited from their father, they were both still young. Jake acknowledged his own youth but hoped that he hadn’t inherited anything other than his surname from his own father.
He soon crossed over another pass and was surprised to see the narrow plain spread out before him in the distance. He could see the Missouri River to the southeast as well, which meant that he must have traveled even farther than he’d first estimated. As he descended to the flat ground, he adjusted his expected arrival time to the town of Silver City. He should see the town within two hours and decided that he’d just pass through rather than stop to ask anyone about his father. He’d still keep his eyes open for the two brown geldings, but he thought his day would be better spent by asking those questions in Helena.
Mars made short work of the long downslope and Jake was soon riding along the five-mile stretch of road that crossed the plain. He spotted a pair of freight wagons entering the other end of the plain and assumed that they’d departed from Helena about the same time he’d broken camp. Twenty minutes later, he waved to the freighters as he passed. He didn’t tell them about the deserters because they were no longer a threat and the men on the driver’s seats were well armed.
After crossing the same creek twice, the road curved to the southwest and began to climb again. Jake knew that the next pass would be his last and not nearly as high as the ones he’d just crossed.
He was growing anxious as Mars crossed the lower pass and after a downwardly sloping right curve, he spotted Silver City a few miles ahead. The town may not be important in the big scheme of things, but to Jake, it meant that he was nearing the end of his abbreviated search.
It was close to noon when he passed through Silver City. As he walked Mars along their main street, he kept his eyes busy as he scanned the buildings, pedestrians and horses. He wasn’t expecting to find anything to help him find his father and he didn’t.
He soon left the town behind and made a left turn when the road ended at an intersection. Within five minutes, Helena’s first buildings appeared on the horizon. As more of the city came into view, Jake was amazed by what he saw. He knew that the territorial capital was prosperous, but he soon realized that his expectations fell far short of what he found. The nearby gold fields had created what appeared to be a collection of mansions.
While he may have been impressed, it also led him to believe that his father wouldn’t have stayed in Helena even if he’d passed this way. But by the time he entered the town, he found that most of the city, while more affluent than most Western settlements, wasn’t that much different. He still didn’t believe that his father would have stayed here, but he could have transited Helena before heading to Wyoming or Idaho Territories. But he’d arrived even earlier than he’d hoped, so as he walked Mars down Clure Street, he decided to get his hotel room, then start visiting the liveries.
He soon turned left on Broadway, and the first thing he noticed was a tall church steeple a couple of blocks on his right. He passed another church before he spotted the Flanagan Arms Hotel. He soon dismounted, tied off Mars and entered the
