Riders on the Storm by Rob Blackwell

Author:Rob Blackwell [Blackwell, Rob]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-05-18T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Five

“There was a small expedition of troops launched in April. Their orders were to scout the Maelstrom and to report back. We had it assigned to one of our best units. They sent back messengers with regular reports, but two weeks in, those reports stopped. We never heard from them again, and no trace of them could be found.”

— Second Congressional report on “Happenings in the Dakota Territory,” dated 1883. Stamped SECRET.

They found the ruined stagecoach by noon, most of it smashed up against a canyon wall.

The paymaster’s box took more scouting, but Luke finally found it, still blessedly intact, lodged underneath a large rock. Jules didn’t want to think what kind of wind had managed to pick up a box filled with gold and silver coins.

She’d worried the whole way there that one of Rezzor’s men had escaped and retrieved it or even that a random passerby might have discovered it, but thankfully, only the storm appeared to have disturbed it.

She waited for a protest from Will when they seized it, but none came. He was staring at the wreckage of the carriage. Eventually, Fort Lincoln or Fort Curtis would send out riders to discover what happened, and God knew what they would conclude. No gang of bandits could have done this.

They’d also found Jules’ two revolvers and a replacement for Luke’s rifle. The weapons had been tucked away inside the back end of the stagecoach, and though it had been smashed against rocks and drowned in water, they appeared to work just fine.

The lock box was unsurprisingly heavy, but Jules managed to prop it in front of her, Onyx complaining just a bit in the process. She couldn’t ride as fast, and they made camp in the grasslands.

It was their second night without food at the ready. The storm had destroyed whatever stores the stagecoach still had on it, and the river had swept away Jules’ saddlebags.

Luke managed to shoot several prairie dogs, which they skinned and then roasted over a makeshift spit by the fire. Jules was so hungry that it tasted good.

She devoured the first eagerly, licking the juice from her fingers when she was finished. She did the same to a second and third.

She kept the paymaster’s lockbox with her at all times, worried that Will might try to run off with it, but he seemed resigned to coming with her. Or maybe he truly wanted to come.

She couldn’t help but notice that when he’d laid down the night before to go to sleep, he’d been some distance away from her. But when she woke up, he’d been so close he could have reached out and touched her. She wasn’t sure what to make of that, but romance was the furthest from her mind.

Still, she was glad he was there. He was a good shot and aside from wanting to take her to jail, he was trustworthy. At the very least, he wouldn’t betray her to a rival gang.

“Can I ask a question?” Will said as they ate the remainder of the prairie dogs.

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