Shifter Born by Weaver A. T

Author:Weaver, A. T. [Weaver, A. T.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Talespinner Publishing
Published: 2013-08-05T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

1906

Loneliness closed in on Marrok. It had been ten years and he missed Billy. Oh, not the sex, after all they didn’t have sex for three years before Billy died. It was companionship he missed. There was no one to talk with or share the workload. He’d been here thirty-five years. It was time to move on. Another trip into Missoula netted a team of horses and a wagon like the one he left Independence with in 1843. He tied two of his cows and his riding horse to the back of the wagon and set the other cows loose. A cage on the wagon held three hens and a rooster. The rest of the animals would either fend for themselves or become food for predatory animals. He headed southwest.

It took over two weeks for him to reach the hot springs where Billy and he camped many years before. He found the area occupied by men who staked claim to the area and built a swimming pool and cabins for people who came to avail themselves of the springs. He continued on to Canyon City.

Instead of weather-worn wood buildings he expected, the buildings looked almost new. As he hitched his mules to a post in front of a general store, a couple of townsmen approached his wagon.

One spoke, “You’re a stranger here. I’m Bill Russell. From the looks of your wagon, you must be looking for a place to settle.”

“Jacques del Sol. I’m looking for a place my grandfather homesteaded about sixty years ago. He and my father left here in 1871. The cabin was down where Fawn Creek meets Canyon Creek.”

An old man sitting on a bench in front of the store spoke up, “Name’s Gary Allen. I remember a couple of men had a place around there when I was a boy. They did have a French-sounding name. It was about the time that animal was killing women. They left soon after the creature was killed. Never did hear where they went.” The old man squinted and looked closer at Jacques. “Fact is, if my memory’s right, you kind of look like the younger man.”

Jacques remembered Jim Allen had a son named Gary. “That was my father and grandfather,” Jacques answered. “They went north into Montana and homesteaded there. My father met my mother and they married about a year later and I was born. Grandfather talked about this place and the hot springs east of here. I’ve been told I look like my father.”

“What happened to them?” the old man asked.

“My grandfather fell from a horse and died a few years later. My parents are still there.”

“Why’d you leave?” Bill Russell asked.

Jacques grinned. “I inherited my grandfather’s wanderlust, and I decided I wanted to see more of the world.” He made a circular motion with his arm. “After listening to their stories, I’m surprised to see such new buildings. I thought the town was built up before he and my father left here.”

“Well,” the old man said.

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