King Colt by Luke Short

Author:Luke Short [Short, Luke]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

As night settled down on them, they knew they were in for it. The rain held on, increasing the misery of man and beast. A dozen times that night, the cattle were on the verge of stampeding. Every time they rounded a fresh bend in this tortuous trail and the wind drove at them with the force of padded hammers, Johnny and Hank were driven to a fury of activity. Johnny never knew where they were going, what the country looked like, or if Turk was lost. It was his job and Hank's to keep the herd moving—and somehow they did it.

Toward morning the wind died down and the rain lifted a little so that Johnny almost drowsed off in the saddle. He could tell by the ease with which his horse walked and by the increased pace of the cattle that they were through the pass and on the gentle downslope of the eastern side of the Calicoes.

Dawn broke cold and clear, and in another hour they reached timber line. Already behind them, the thunder-heads were gathering for a new downpour. When they got to the green belt of trees, they conferred and decided to rest the cattle and let them graze on the hardy upland bunchgrass if they could. Pursuit was hardly probable, , since a fresh storm would be almost certain to blot out the tracks.

A half day of sleep and dry clothes lifted their spirits. At noon, after a quick lunch, they got the cattle moving again. Turk, with the experience of many such drives behind him, took them down the slope through the thick timber until, when dark fell, they were in the foothills.

Warms, Turk said, was off several miles to the right.

They were heading for the railway station and stock pens that Turk had used in his rustling days. A crooked agent, no brand inspector, and a split of the rustled beef would allow them to dispose of it without so much as a trace to indicate where it had gone.

Close to midnight, they saw the lights of the way station. Turk had ridden ahead, to confer with the agent. When Johnny and Hank arrived with the beef, the pens were open, ready to receive it.

“There'll be a train out of Warms tomorrow morning," Turk informed them.. “It'll pick the stuff up.'' He grinned up at Johnny. “I signed Leach Wigran's name on the waybill. That all right?"

Johnny nodded. Next morning, in the mining town of Warms, Johnny opened an account at the Warms bank in the name of Leach Wigran. He arranged for the deposit of the money from the sale of the cattle shipment. If Fitz got curious and searched for his herd. Leach Wigran's name would be dark with guilt.

A few moments later he joined Hank and Turk on the main four corners. They looked at each other and smiled. They each needed a shave, clean clothes, and rest. Johnny, in spite of his bone-weariness, felt something driving in him that would not let him rest.

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