Cast Down World (Book 1) by James Haddock

Author:James Haddock [Haddock, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-07-26T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

When I woke, the memory of my grandfather made me smile. I could almost hear him, "Get moving boy; we're burning daylight."

Our days got back to normal for trail days. We eased along the old Forty-Four Trail through Lawton and Chickasha, continued gathering and fattening cattle, and traded when we got the opportunity. The weather had taken it easy on us, nothing extreme. We did get rain, but it was slow, easy, and didn't last long. That helped the grass grow, which also helped our cattle.

We had finished dinner, Shep was singing the cattle down, and we were enjoying coffee.

"I finally got into the data-pad from the dead PK. I found some odd things," Coder piped up.

"What kind of odd things?"

"I was able to track its movement, but I don't know who had it during the middle part of the movement."

"Okay, what’s odd about that?"

"Someone went to City-Fort Orleans, but I can’t tell who. If it was the PK, he didn't check in. If it was, what was his name, Castor? That's kind of odd for a cowboy marauder."

I nodded, thinking. "What was the PK's name?"

"PK Jim Rojas."

"Anything about him?"

"Not really. This was his first trip out alone with no partner."

"How long did he stay in Orleans?"

"Six days, but he stayed within a half day's ride of it for another three days before heading back west."

"Sounds like he was meeting someone. Was it a PK just going to Orleans because he wanted to? Why wait three days outside the city? If it was Castor, was the marauder spending his spoils? That doesn't sound right. They usually spend their money at the first gaming house they come to."

"Orleans has plenty of those, so I hear," he said, smiling. Shep chuckled.

"Does that show an exact location?" Shep asked.

"Pretty close, fifty-meter grid," Coder answered.

"Can you show me?" Shep asked.

"Sure." Coder pulled up the map and handed the pad to Shep.

He looked, expanding it and zooming in. "That area is not where you would normally find someone like a marauder. That's where people with money go to play. Too rich for me."

"So, if they weren't playing, they were there meeting someone, someone with money," I said.

"Or power and influence," Shep added.

"Which makes this even more of a mystery."

"I wonder if Captain Vance knew Rojas. Send him an email with all the information we have about this. Perhaps he has some insights."

Coder put an email together and sent it. I retired to bed early.

***

I had kept Mandy’s signing book for a week. I didn't really need it, as I had it memorized the first day. I didn't want them to know how fast I could learn things, so I kept it longer. Mandy was waiting on their porch as I walked up. I set the book down and signed.

°Not a lot of words in the book, is there another one?°

Mandy’s face split into a smile. °Yes, there are other books. That was just the first one. Are you ready for the second?°

°Yes, I need more words, so I can understand and talk with you better.

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