A Bad Place To Be by John Hansen

Author:John Hansen [Hansen, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FICTION / Action & Adventure
Publisher: Outskirts Press, Inc.
Published: 2015-12-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

It was about midmorning when Josh started down the ridge above Lester’s cabin. It was sunny and the wind was dead calm. Here and there, yellow butterflies glided from plant to plant in search of nectar. The hobbled mules were downstream from the cabin a hundred or so yards, grazing on a small patch of bluegrass that they had somehow overlooked earlier in the summer. There was no one at the cabin, not even Rufus, but then that stood to reason as Lester never went anywhere without Rufus. Josh reined Thunder in near the cabin and got down. He was tired. The preceding twenty-four hours had been taxing. He didn’t like having to kill a man. It never set well with him, and the events would continually play over and over in his mind. It was like a tug-of-war with a demon that one minute talked rationally saying that he had no choice and that he was justified in killing the men that he had, but then it turned on him saying that he took satisfaction in killing. It was the second demon that Josh feared the most. He’d known men in the army that had lost to it, or at least he suspected they had, as they spent a good deal of their pay on whiskey.

There could be but one other logical place for Lester and Sarah to be, and that was the sluice box down in the creek. Josh had taken only a few steps in that direction when he was met by Rufus, who was beside himself with excitement to see Josh. “Oh, what a good dog you are, Rufus,” said Josh in a voice that one might use to praise a child. Rufus responded by jumping and rearing, placing his paws on Josh’s chest.

“Well, lookie what the cat drug in.” Josh looked up to see Lester approaching with Sarah close behind. “We’s beginnin’ to wunder ‘bout ya,” added Lester.

Trying his best to be nonchalant Josh replied: “I ran outa daylight ‘fore I could get off that Moonshine Creek trail, so I decided to throw my bedroll out rather than push Thunder through that rock pile in the moonlight.”

“That was probably a good call,” said Lester. “Bet you’re hungry.”

“I am,” replied Josh.

And then still not wanting to be the one to breech that awkward avoidance of what was on all their minds, Sarah interjected: “I could make you some hotcakes and eggs.”

The fate of Seth’s killer hung in the air before them like the stench of burning hair and hide of a calf being branded. It couldn’t be ignored, and so Josh said matter-of-factly: “I settled the score with Seth’s killer.” There, he’d put it out in the open. It was there for Lester or Sarah to do with as they pleased. For a long moment there was no response, and then Lester said: “Ya did what ya had to do, Josh.”

“I suppose,” replied Josh. “This guy didn’t give me much choice. He wasn’t having any part of being arrested.

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