The Great Fishing Contest by David Kherdian

Author:David Kherdian [Kherdian, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781948730419
Amazon: 1948730413
Publisher: Cascade Press
Published: 2019-10-17T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

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Maddock didn’t bother to hide his limp as he and Bones climbed through the foothills in the direction of Bryce Shipman’s home. He was in bad shape, but Bones trusted him to judge whether or not he could handle what they were about to attempt and be honest about it. Right now, Maddock knew he was up to the hike, but anything more strenuous might be beyond him.

They came to a steep slope and Maddock accepted a hand up from his friend, letting out a grunt when hot pain shot along his arm. Right now, there was no part of him that didn’t hurt. Bones cast an appraising glance at him.

“What’s your plan?” Maddock asked by way of redirecting Bones’ thoughts.

“The plan is to wing it. Sneak over to Shipman’s house, see what we can see. Go from there.”

“Just like that?”

Bones flashed a wolfish grin. “It’s always worked for me in the past.”

Maddock was mentally listing the many times winging it had gone wrong when

Bones halted.

“Someone’s coming.”

An instant later, Maddock heard it, too. Footsteps coming toward them. They ducked beneath a juniper and waited. A few seconds later, Shipman appeared out of the darkness. Anger flared inside of Maddock. His first impulse was to grab the man and extract a few answers from him by any means necessary. But the flare of rage was quickly doused by common sense. They were likely to learn more by following the man and seeing what he was up to than by beating a confession out of him.

Shipman stopped a few feet away from the juniper and looked around. He craned his neck, listened, then headed off at a fast walk. But he wasn’t going toward either his home or the ranch. Instead, he headed out into the hills, moving in the general direction of the spot where Maddock and Bones had made their escape from the man in the black suit and his companions.

“I’ll follow him,” Bones said quietly. “You scope out the house.”

Maddock nodded. He was in no condition to stalk anyone. As Bones melted into the darkness, he lurched to his feet. He managed to do it without any sort of groan or grunt, which he claimed as a small victory. Even better, he managed to jog all the way to Shipman’s house. The trek had left him feeling like Daniel Boone running the Shawnee gauntlet, but he was still on his feet.

Shipman’s house sat all alone, hidden by the hills that hemmed it in on all sides. This was the first time Maddock had laid eyes on it, and he was surprised by what he saw.

As Riv had said, the house was constructed in the motif of a Medieval castle, boxy with gray stone walls, tall, narrow windows, and a third-floor garret at the top. Maddock made a quick inspection of the grounds. There wasn’t much to see. Like most people in this region, Shipman didn’t bother with landscaping, but left the desert to its own devices. Other than a paved driveway, the land around his house remained untouched.

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