Bodie 5 by Neil Hunter

Author:Neil Hunter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: cowboys, old west, outlaws, western fiction, frontier fiction, piccadilly publishing, neil hunter, bodie the stalker
Publisher: Piccadilly Publishing

Chapter Ten

The breathless heat of high summer hung over Bodie like a stifling blanket. The rising folds of the hills above him lay in a permanently shimmering haze. Even though he was riding through thickly wooded areas most of the time there was little escape from the heat. Reining in besides a swift flowing, narrow stream that tumbled and splashed in and out of the rocks and grass, Bodie eased out of the saddle and dropped to his knees. He took off his hat and thrust his head into the water, gasping and spluttering against its icy contact with his flesh. He straightened up, shaking water from his hair as a dog might shake its coat. Scooping up water in his palm he drank it down, feeling it tingle against his teeth. He climbed to his feet, sleeving water from his face. Far below him he could see the mirror gleam of water that was the Cascade Lake. He had ridden by there the day before. Now he was faced with the lofty peaks of the Cascade Hills. Amos Skellhorn had been right. It had been a hell of a climb to get this far, and the worst was yet to come.

He had ridden away from Skellhorn’s ranch and off Kittyhawk range, finding his Way across the endless spread of land that came under Howard Butler’s rule. Bodie had ridden until he’d spotted one of the well-defined trails that crisscrossed Butler range, and here he had turned loose the three horses and their grisly loads. Someone from the Butler ranch would spot them eventually and take them in. Once he’d disposed of the bodies he had drifted on across Butler land, keeping to ground with plenty of cover. The last thing he needed at that time was to get himself spotted. By the evening of that first day he had reached the comparative safety of the foothills, and with the gray light of the dawn he was out of his blanket, in the saddle, and already starting the long climb before the sun had risen.

Once or twice during his ride he had seen riders in the distance. But he had been expecting to see Butler men, so his mind was working in advance, again keeping him close to cover, maintaining a line of travel which kept him off any skyline ridges as far as was possible. And his preparedness paid off, always allowing him the time to gain cover before any distant rider could spot him.

Despite the fact that he was high up now, deep in rough, trailless country, Bodie didn’t allow himself to relax his vigilance. Foolhardiness was not one of his failings. Howard Butler would be the kind of man who would demand constant and thorough patrolling of his range, from border to border. His men could appear anywhere and at any time, and Bodie didn’t relish the idea of riding smack into a couple of ready guns simply because he let his guard down. The cemeteries were full of men who let go too soon, figuring they had all the angles worked out.

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