Thunder Over Lolo Pass by Charles G. West

Author:Charles G. West
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2011-02-01T05:00:00+00:00

“Not again!” Jimmy Sullivan exclaimed. It was the second time this month the spirited young stallion had managed to squeeze through a small gap between a corral post and the barn. And just like the first time, it took off up the road toward Helena. It was Jimmy’s job to find him and bring him back. His father planned to geld the young horse in the early fall when the flies weren’t so bad and the cooler temperatures would tend to keep the swelling down after the procedure. Gelding was usually done in early spring or late fall. Jimmy’s father could have done it in the spring just passed, but he wanted to give the horse time to develop a little muscle definition and aggressiveness first. The leggy stallion was not quite a year old. Its withers hadn’t grown to be level with its croup yet. In Jimmy’s opinion, the horse had already developed enough aggressiveness to be a nuisance. You’ll settle down to more respectable ways after you’ve had your balls lopped off, he thought.

The first place Jimmy had looked for the rebellious young horse was the meadow just above a band of pine that ringed the lower slope of a low mountain. This was where he had found him the last time, and sure enough, that was where he found him again. It took a little cussing, and a fair amount of time, but Jimmy finally got a rope on the renegade. With the ornery stallion in tow, he guided his horse down through the pines with the intent to come out on the road to Helena. The stallion followed reluctantly, jerking and tossing his head in protest to Jimmy’s rope. Emerging from the trees that lined the road, Jimmy’s horse shied away from an object lying beside the trail, some thirty feet away. It took a second look before Jimmy realized it was a body. “God A’mighty!” he exclaimed involuntarily, and hauled back on the reins. Hesitant to move closer at once, in case someone might be watching him, he sat there and looked up the road in each direction, then back to the still form lying beside the track. When he felt sure there was no one else around, he nudged his horse closer until it was plain to see the cause for the body to be there. It was covered with blood, the obvious work of an Indian or a road agent.

Still in the saddle, Jimmy walked his horse slowly around the body to take a better look before riding for home to tell his father. The face seemed familiar and it occurred to him then that it was the man who had spent the night in the barn. McCloud was the name he recalled. Shocked, he didn’t wait any longer, but gave his horse a kick and galloped off for home, the leggy young stallion in tow.

As soon as Fred Sullivan heard his son’s excited report, he sent him to the house to fetch his rifle, while he hitched up the wagon.

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