Once a Renegade: A Sheriff Ben Stillman Western by Peter Brandvold

Author:Peter Brandvold [Brandvold, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781641199063
Publisher: Wolfpack Publishing
Published: 2019-04-16T22:00:00+00:00

"There, that should keep you cozy," Stillman said later as he regarded the beds of pine boughs he'd made for both boys. "Now if we can get some food into you younguns, you can get some sleep and be ready to head for home first thing in the morning. I bet your ma's gonna be some happy to see you."

"You gonna take us, Sheriff?" Edgar asked.

He was sitting on a deadfall log, watching Jody tend the spit he'd erected over the fire and upon which two young rabbits roasted. Jody had brought the rabbits from home—two cottontails his nephews had shot earlier that morning. He was also tending a pan of corn cakes sizzling in the grease dribbling off the rabbits.

"I reckon Jody and me'll both see you home," Stillman said, trying not to sound too disgusted over the dilemma. "One of you can ride with me and one can ride with Jody."

"If we had one more horse, they could go on alone," Jody said thoughtfully. "I can give them decent enough directions."

"Well, we just have the two horses, so we'll take them," Stillman said. "Besides, I have a feeling ole Louis'll be holed up in that first cabin of his for quite some time, while that wound heals."

"Louis?" Robert asked. He was sitting on bis pine bough bed, his back against a log, holding a tin mug of coffee in his gloved hands.

"Louis Shambeau," Jody told him. "That's who we're after."

"We seen ole Louis," Edgar said. "About midday, just before our horse threw us."

Stillman and Jody looked at each other. Then Stillman turned to Edgar. "You saw Louis Shambeau?"

"Yeah, he crossed our trail and headed up a ridge. How come you're trackin' him, Sheriff?"

Stillman ignored the question. "Where did this happen, son?" he asked, regarding Edgar intently. "Where did you see him?"

Edgar thought a moment, his eyes wide, and turned to look eastward along the stream. "Well, I thought it was back that way, but now I'm not sure. All I know, there was a big rock sticking up off a butte, and there were a lot of trees around it. There was a stream a little bigger than this one nearby, too." Edgar paused, thinking. "Oh, yeah, and we'd just passed an old tipi frame some Injun left in a clearing."

"I know the place, Ben," Jody said. "It's off one of the feeder canyons to Aspen Valley."

"How far away from here?"

"About an hour's ride."

"If he was there at midday, how far ahead of us would that make him?"

Jody shook his head and exhaled. "I'd say at least a half day, maybe more. And if he's traveling at night, like he probably is, we won't catch up to him till he's at his cabin. He probably knows a lot more trails in these mountains than the brush wolves."

"Well, at least we know we're heading in the right direction. I was worried he might have had another plan in mind, or another cabin you didn't know about."

Stillman turned to Edgar.

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