Haunted Old West by Matthew P. Mayo

Author:Matthew P. Mayo
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780762789146
Publisher: Globe Pequot

Untold hours seemed to pass before they saw the raw light of early dawn slipping through cracks in the doorway. The new day had also brought an easing of the storm, for no snow blew in the crack left by the ill-fitting door. Had it been only one night? It seemed to them a lifetime ago.

Without a word to each other, they made for the door, trying to not turn their backs on the room. As soon as they squeezed through the doorway they made their way around the outside of the building to the lean-to. And inside stood their horses, looking, if not happy, at least alive and fidgety. The men led them out, looked to the mountains in the distance for direction, and busted trail for a few dozen yards before mounting up.

Long minutes passed before they could even look at each other, incredulity and helplessness writ large on their faces. It was Horton who spoke, in a hoarse whisper, what they each had been thinking. “I don’t know what went on back there, but I’ll tell you what—I ain’t spending another minute of my life anywhere on this here range. I’d rather die tramping in any direction than stay in these parts another second.”

“I’m with you, pard. Let’s git gone.”

And the men rode, the cold sun doing little to help them. But they kept on, their mounts punching holes in snowdrifts. And on the second day they came within sight of a line shack familiar to them.

The cowboys waiting for them were from the home ranch. They’d been sent out to check on Horton and Rigby. The blizzard’s intensity had spooked the foreman and he wanted to make sure his men—and beeves—were alive. The men, it seemed, were, but many cattle had been lost.

The two men were nursed back to health at the home ranch, but they could not be convinced to alter their plans. Within the week they left the employ of the ranch and rode off together for another range, vowing to never set foot in Park County, Wyoming, ever again.

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