Devil Wire by Cameron Judd

Author:Cameron Judd
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

CHAPTER 12

I was weary when we carried Sam’s body, along with the other victims of the murdering night riders, back to Miles City. My body ached for sleep, yet my mind was darting wildly from one thought to another, alert and quick. I was horrified, almost devastated, by what had just happened, but what would come next was worse—the task of having to tell Becky of Sam’s death. Becky, the quiet, gentle, loving wife that had stood by Sam through the hardest times—how would she be able to go on without him, especially with her child on the way?

We carried the bodies on crude moving conveyances made of two limbs, one on each side of our horses, with rope forming a crudely-woven support on which we strapped the bodies. The ends of the limbs dragged the ground, leaving little ruts in the dirt where the weight of the bodies pushed the wood into the earth. Bacon had learned how to construct the conveyances from an Indian friend, he said.

I had recovered my horse from the hills behind the Guthrie ranch, and I rode numbly, dreading to reach Miles City, and then later to face Becky with the dreadful news. Part of me was restless, longing to go after Madison and his band of murderers, but yet I knew that right now I could not. That would come later, after preparations had been made.

Whether or not hatred is ever justified I do not know, but I learned at that moment what it was to truly hate a human being. I longed to see Madison dead, and to make sure that with his final breath he knew he was dying. Sam had lived with that kind of hate all of his life, for he knew Josiah Madison for what he was. And then he had died by his hand, and that was the cruelest thing about it. My desire for vengeance was powerful; I wanted to destroy Madison not only for what he had done to me, but also for the sake of Becky, and most of all for Sam. Whether my feelings were good or bad I cannot say; at that moment it didn’t seem to matter. My rationality was gone, and I wanted only revenge.

We said little to each other as we rode. The hour was late when at last we reached Miles City; it would not be long ’til dawn. I had not asked McCuen or Bacon what they planned to do about pursuing Madison. It didn’t really matter—I would go alone if it came to it, for such was my bitterness that I hardly cared what happened to me.

The undertaker was waiting for us when we rode down the main street of the town. He had heard of the battle, for many of the wounded had already been brought into town for treatment from the local doctor. He methodically took the bodies off the conveyances behind our horses and moved them inside. It hurt me when he took Sam’s limp form away.

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