Dead Man's Canyon by Terrell Bowers

Author:Terrell Bowers [Bowers, Terrell L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Robert Hale
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Josh and Gato asked around at the town of Rimrock and found a storekeeper who had seen a lone woman come through town driving a buggy. They described her and he agreed it must have been Darlene.

‘Funny thing,’ the man said. ‘The lady stopped at the watering trough and let her horse drink. Meanwhile, she climbed down from the carriage and came up to the water pump. She moved like she was heavy with child, though she wore loose clothing so it was hard to tell from a distance.

‘The reason I remember her is that she worked the pump handle and drank right from the spigot. Most womenfolk would have stepped inside the café or asked at the store for the loan of a tin cup, but she used her cupped hands instead.’

‘Is that all?’ Josh asked.

‘I heard her ask a guy on the street for directions to Lost Bow.’

Josh thanked the man and sent a wire to Hancock’s trading post. He left word for his brothers that they were on Darlene’s trail. Then they put their horses up at the livery where they could get plenty of food and water. Regardless of his desire to catch up with the woman, Josh knew their horses were beat.

‘We’ll have something to eat and maybe try and catch a couple hours of sleep. The horses should be ready to go in four or five hours.’

‘Darlene will have reached Lost Bow by now, unless she had the baby along the trail,’ Gato told him. ‘Maybe we should wait for Frank and the others?’

‘That would take a couple of days. We can’t let her get too well hidden. No telling what she has in mind.’

‘You got any idea why she headed for Lost Bow?’

‘Got me stumped. I never heard Darlene or Lex speak of knowing anyone over this way. But I never talked much to Lex about his pals or kinfolk.’

‘Yes, all I ever heard him talk about was gambling.’

‘You know anything about Lost Bow?’ Josh asked.

‘I went through there a few years back. It’s not much of a town. I would guess there’s no more than fifty people living in or around there. The main trail runs from here to Laramie. Those going through Lost Bow are mostly travelers and pilgrims from the Oregon Trail. It used to be a wild town, back when Fort Caspar was in operation, but after the army abandoned the fort, it about died out. A few of the original business owners are still around and there is a handful of farmers and ranchers up that way.’

‘No sheriff or lawman in town?’

‘Not enough people or money for that. I think the store and the saloon are the two major buildings, and there was a livery-blacksmith operation at one end of town. That’s about all I remember.’

‘Won’t be any place for her to hide if she’s there.’

‘I know of a cut-off that runs through the hills.’ Gato remembered the terrain. ‘I recollect it saves several miles over taking the main road.

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