Stampede! by Matt Chisholm

Author:Matt Chisholm
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: western, cowboys, western fiction, peter watts, piccadilly publishing, matt chisholm, storm family, western frontieer
Publisher: Piccadilly Publishing

Chapter Eleven

Will topped the ridge, stopped his horse and looked back to the trailing herd. It seemed that they had been on the trail for ever, as if they had known no other life. The routine had become a part of all of them, dogging the herd, keeping it together, riding in for a fresh horse and out again; rolling into blankets at night, stiff and too tired to talk almost; dreaming of as much sleep as you wanted, cold beer and fresh fruit. The drive seemed eternal. Will could imagine that a man could be lost when it was over.

The bulk of the distance now lay behind them. But distance was no problem, one could overcome it by just keeping on going and defying the elements.

It was what lay ahead that troubled him.

Kansas.

The raw wounds of the war were still fresh in his mind. Texans hadn’t forgotten, so it stood to reason that Kansas men hadn’t forgotten either. And economics followed where passions led. Or the other way around. Will was never certain which way it went.

What it added up to was what mattered. Kansas men said: We hate Texans, so let’s steal their cattle or turn them back.

They’d crossed the south fork of the Arkansas river. Ahead lay the Kansas line. Tomorrow, they would cross it.

He saw a stir of movement ahead. Dust rose lightly. Soon he saw the figure of a rider running his horse south. Will rode down from the ridge onto the trail and pretty soon the man came up with him. He was a small dried-up man on a short-coupled roan. He looked like a Texas man. He pulled in his horse and said: “Howdy. You with that herd back there?”

“Yes,” said Will, “The name’s Storm.”

“Henry Burrows,” the man said. “I’m with the Johnson herd. Mr. Johnson heard you was behind us and sent me back to talk.”

“What about?”

“We crossed the line ten days back. Jayhawkers jumped us. We had a man shot. He ain’t goin’ to die, but he ain’t none too happy about it I can tell you.”

“They turn you back?” Will asked.

“They said that was what they wanted,” the man told him. “But I reckon they wanted us to keep on a-comin’ so they could take the whole herd. But the boss turned us back and we’re workin’ our way west this side of the line an’ I’d advise you to do the same.”

“How many Jayhawkers was there?” Will asked.

“Hard to tell, they was all over. But I reckon there was fifty if there was one. You don’t stand a chance the way you’re headed, Storm.”

“Thanks for comin’ back,” Will said.

“You’re purely welcome,” the man said. “Any more herds ahind you?”

“McDowell is a day behind. I’ll see he’s warned.”

“Good. I’ll get on back.”

Will thanked him again and the man rode off into the north-west.

Will sat his horse and thought awhile. Going west would lose him some time, but he didn’t see any alternative. He wondered if any of the herds ahead of him had gotten through.

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