The Last Chance Cowboy by Jody Hedlund

Author:Jody Hedlund
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Fiction;Novel;FIC042110;FIC042030;FIC027360
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2022-11-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter

15

Dylan paced outside the shack. Darkness had descended long ago, and the temperature in the high canyon had dipped to below freezing. He stopped and blew on his fingers to breathe warmth into them.

A dozen feet away, Edwin sat on a log in front of a blazing fire, holding out his hands and rubbing them together before taking another swig from the whiskey bottle he’d brought out of his distillery that he housed in another shack a short distance up the mountain.

The trapper-turned-miner had been drinking steadily for the past hours, and Dylan was waiting for him to pass out. It was bound to happen any time, and Dylan was keeping a close eye on the fella so he wouldn’t fall into the fire and burn himself.

“Come on and warm up over here.” Edwin’s voice slurred. “No sense in freezing to death.”

The heat was beckoning to Dylan, but he shook his head and turned away from the fire. “I’ll be fine.”

Unlike the other day when he’d ridden past the saloon and had an unquenchable thirst, tonight the thought of indulging in whiskey disgusted him. Mainly because he’d been watching Edwin drink himself into a stupor, sinking deeper and deeper into oblivion.

All Dylan had been able to think about was but for the grace of God, he’d still be drinking and living in oblivion just like Edwin.

Thank you, almighty Lord, for kicking me in the rear and pointing me back in the right direction. The silent prayer rose to the star-studded sky, his soul welling with thankfulness to the Lord, as it had many times over the past months.

If only he didn’t have to worry about his sheriff position being on the line. If Mack Custer’s accusation that he wasn’t doing his job to arrest the rustlers was any indication of how the other ranchers felt, then he wasn’t gonna get their votes in the August election. Not unless he figured out a way to do what they’d hired him for.

Trouble was, riding out and confronting J. D. hadn’t made a lick of difference. The thief just kept on taking cattle that weren’t his, getting bolder with every passing day that he got away with it.

Wyatt had remarked only yesterday during a visit that he and Flynn were still steadily losing a few cattle a week. The same was true of other ranchers in the area. All except J. D.

Now that Dylan had a wife and child, he needed to win the election and keep his position. But between Hatfield campaigning against him and the ranchers getting mad at him, he was afraid he was gonna lose his badge.

What would he do if he wasn’t sheriff? Go back to working for Wyatt? He’d be a worse failure than a penniless prospector.

Edwin leaned back and stared at the sky, too, his face etched with sadness that the drinking couldn’t completely drown. What sorrows was Edwin trying to escape?

Dylan studied the man’s ragged appearance, stained clothing, rotting teeth, and greasy hair. Edwin was dirty and disgusting.

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