After he’d paid for his supplies, Dave refused any help and lugged his two loaded panniers out to his horses. He wanted to limit his exposure but still planned to head south for a few miles.
There was still an hour of daylight remaining when he rode out of Fort Shaw. Before he made the turn, he looked at the town for any observers, noticed a man standing by a large barn, then headed south.
Amos watched him ride off then turned to his brother and said, “Now that’s queer. Those horses needed a rest and a lot more, but that feller is already leavin’.”
Fred stepped away from the barn doors and saw Dave fading away.
“That feller don’t deserve to be ridin’ a damned cow! If he wasn’t already gone, I’d stick a pitchfork up his butt and ask him how he liked it.”
Amos snickered then said, “If you did, at least he wouldn’t be sittin’ in a saddle for a while.”
Fred huffed before the brothers returned to the barn.
Dave only rode south until none of Fort Shaw’s buildings were visible. He turned off the road and let his horses drink at a small stream and then graze on some of the tall prairie grass while he enjoyed some smoked venison and two reasonably fresh biscuits.
Sunset was well underway when Dave mounted his gray gelding and walked him back to the road. He turned him north and by the time he spotted Fort Shaw, it was in shadows, and he knew that the residents would be having supper.
But just because it was after suppertime for most folks, Amos and Fred couldn’t be counted as members of the ‘most folks’ category. They had horses to feed and water but they didn’t consider it a job. The treated any critter left in their care more like children.
So, as Dave approached Fort Shaw, Amos was out in the corral talking to the horses that didn’t rate a stall. Dave wasn’t able to spot Amos in the waning light among the horses, but Amos noticed him as he passed heading north.
Amos was puzzled by the horse abuser’s change in direction, because there wasn’t any gold to be found up north. He left the corral to tell Fred.
_____
After dinner, Jake moved his father’s Winchester ‘76, the Sharps and a box of ammunition for each of them into the barn with his tack. He then met with the men and told them the news that Sheriff Zendt had delivered and his plan to join the sheriff in the morning. He also asked Bill Jackson to pick out a nice horse from the remuda and had to explain his reason for not taking Mars or a packhorse.
When he entered through the back door of the house, he found Sara sitting at the kitchen table. She had already filled a large paper sack with leftovers. She was smiling at him as he walked to the table and sat down beside her.
“All ready to go?” she asked quietly.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I noticed that you chose to take your father’s Winchester. Didn’t you tell me once that you preferred yours because it had a longer barrel?”
“I did, and I’m impressed that you remembered that. I guess it’s just symbolic.”
“What if he’s not hiding out in Woman’s Breast? Choteau County is more than three times the size of Rhode Island, and if he decides to hide in the wilderness, it could take a long time to find him.”
“I know. I may be pretty good at tracking, but I’m not going to spend more than a couple of days looking for him. I just don’t believe it will be necessary. Dave left Helena this morning and the road he used only has one intersection before it reaches Fort Shaw. If he isn’t there or in Woman’s Breast, then he’ll become Sheriff Jefferson’s problem again.”
Sara nodded then said, “I think we should go to bed early. You need to get plenty of sleep. You don’t want to be woolgathering when you ride to Fort Shaw.”
“With Arv Zendt with me, I won’t have to worry about drifting. But a good night’s sleep is a good idea.”
He then stood, took Sara’s hand and walked with her down the hallway. Last night, if she’d suggested that they should go to bed early to get some sleep, he would have come back with a lewd reply. But he could tell that Sara was worried, despite her calm exterior and it wasn’t the time for witty rejoinders. Twenty minutes later, they were under the quilts in their dark bedroom and Jake held Sara close. She hadn’t said anything since they left the kitchen and Jake could understand why she was so concerned.
This was a much different chase than when he’d set off to find his father. He may have believed that his father had murdered his mother, but even he couldn’t imagine his father shooting him. Sara probably didn’t even think that his father was guilty, especially after talking to Mrs. Kemper. But now he was going to find a man who’d murdered his parents and then killed two deputies. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that if he rode into Dave Forrest’s sights, Dave would pull the trigger.
When he’s first told her that if the law didn’t find Dave after a week, he’d conduct his own search, she hadn’t been troubled. He guessed that it was because it was only a possibility. Now it was not only imminent, but it was also almost guaranteed that he’d find Dave Forrest.
He was going to try to lighten the mood with an army story but decided that it probably wouldn’t work anyway.
So, he said, “I have
