Hang Fire - A Short Story (Age of Steam) by Monk Devon

Author:Monk, Devon [Monk, Devon]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Odd House Press
Published: 2013-04-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

"Rose," Cedar ordered, "make sure Wil's breathing."

"He is, Mr. Hunt," Rose said. "But..." she moved away from the mouth of the pit, so that all Cedar could see were branches and the sky beyond.

"Rose!" he called up again.

"Sorry," she said, leaning back over the pit. "His leg is hurt. He won't stand on it."

"What hit him?" Cedar asked.

"That old rusted bucket of bolts I was chasing," she said. "Had some kind of safety on it. When I saw you and Mrs. Lindson take a tumble down into this pit, I hit the thing with a stick and knocked a valve free. Whole thing went up with an almighty pop. Not much left of it to salvage, though there might still be some use out of its little boiler. It's a clever thing, really, though I don't know what it was doing all the way out here in the nowhere of Oregon."

"Rose," Cedar said, both happy to hear her in good spirits and wishing she'd get back to the matters at hand. "We're standing at the bottom of a pit."

"Oh. Right. Sorry, Mr. Hunt. You see anyway up out of it?" she asked.

"No tunnel to either side,"

"Are you sure?" Mae Lindson, beside him, asked. She couldn't see through the darkness of the pit.

He could. The Pawnee curse in his blood had some uses.

"I'm sure," he said to her. Then to Rose, "I want you to go back to the Madders and get a rope. Our horses are tethered just due west, outside this stand of trees."

"There's rope on my mule," Mae said. Then, louder, "Rose, there's a rope on Prudence. Should be long enough to reach us."

"I'll be right back, then," Rose said. "Hold tight."

Cedar was going to tell her to be careful, but there was no need. Other than getting a bug in her bonnet to chase after the metal contraption, Rose was one of the most level-headed people he knew.

"Don't worry," Mae said. "If Wil hurt his leg, I have comfrey and other herbs that should help ease the pain."

"Thank you," Cedar said. He held some hope that Mae's healing spells might have more than a good chance to mend Wil's leg.

He wanted to pace, the beast inside him anxious and angry at being trapped, but instead, he searched for his rifle. Found it on the ground not too far from where they'd fallen.

"Mae," he said, wondering if this might be his best chance of telling her his feelings for her. His real feelings. "I need to tell you something."

"Yes, Mr. Hunt?" she said. "What is it?"

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.