The Sharp Kid by Vining David

Author:Vining, David
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9 – A Mining Town

Militia Springs was in the middle of nowhere and could barely justify the name town. The trip out had taken two days and it had been some of the dreariest time Cal had spent travelling. Cal had thought the farm back home had been isolated, but it had been a quarter mile from a main road and less than ten from town. On top of that, there had been green trees, green fields, and cattle. This out of the way corner of Missouri felt dead by comparison. The weather was finally beginning to warm up in mid-April, but there was still no green as far as he could see aside from a resilient shrub here and there. The ashy gray of the trees all around them made Cal feel like he was walking through the afterlife.

They arrived in the area on the 15th and had more than a full day to camp and reconnoiter for more information about the hamlet before the stagecoach was scheduled to come through. Cort had wondered if it might have been safer to take the stagecoach in transit instead of waiting until after the deposit, a point to which Ryon had dutifully seconded, but Daniel had insisted that the stagecoach actually had more security than the bank itself.

“I’ve been hoping for us to take on a harder target,” Blow had added. “We did so well on the train I feel that a tiny provincial bank will be no problem.”

Whether they did it on the road or in Militia Springs itself didn’t matter to Cal, but the assurances from both Blow and Daniel had been enough to quiet Ryon and Cort’s concerns. Edmund had stayed invisible through it all.

After their tents were mounted, their horses unburdened, and some semblance of home brought to their simple, outdoor residences, they began to prepare for the night to come. Daniel wanted nothing to do with the work, insisting that they should go and investigate Militia Springs right then. Cal was inclined to agree, but kept his mouth shut when Ryon dismissively brushed Daniel’s suggestion off and Cort said nothing in response.

“Here,” Cort said instead, handing Cal the axe. “Cut us some firewood, would you?”

Cal took the wooden handle from his father and said, “Okay.”

The area had fallen branches here and there, so all Cal needed to do was pick one that had fallen from its tree relatively recently and cut away. The bet branch he found was about a hundred yards from camp and was still quite dry after Cal’s first, exploratory cut. He hacked away, cutting the branch into foot long segments. He managed three and was a few swings into getting the fourth when the metal head lodged deep into the wood and Cal could not pry it loose. He pulled and pushed and tilted uselessly.

“Dammit,” he whispered to himself.

“Got troubles?” Edmund asked from behind.

Cal spun around, slightly startled at the large man’s voice.

“Yeah,” Cal replied after a moment. “It’s stuck.”

“Hmm,” Edmund replied as he peered around the younger man.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.