The Scavengers by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
Published: 2023-07-11T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

As Cullen had anticipated, there was not much activity in the stable. Every one of Moran’s men were no doubt at the Cork and Bottle. He was sure that’s where Art’s trial was being held. But he took the precaution to leave Jake in the trees by the creek while he slipped up behind the barn and entered the same way he had on a previous visit. Most of the stalls were already filled and the horses fed, another sign that Moran’s men had taken care of their horses early, so they wouldn’t have to come back after the trial. This worked in Cullen’s favor, for he figured he could be a little bold in his plan. He left the stalls and went to check the front door to the barn. Finding it locked, he was double sure he wouldn’t be disturbed, so he went back out the back to get his horse. Leading Jake inside the back door, he put him in one of the few empty stalls and pulled his saddle off as a precaution. If for some reason, someone had to return to the stable that afternoon they would not likely notice an extra horse in the stalls, unless maybe the horse was saddled. After he made sure Jake had water, he took a bucket he saw hanging on a nail and fetched some grain for the bay to eat. Thinking about the oats Jake had in Ravenwood that morning, he said, “Don’t you go gettin’ used to eatin’ grain twice a day.”

After Jake was taken care of, he looked in the other stalls to pick a horse for Art to ride. The horse he selected was a blue roan, almost totally black. The owner had left the saddle on the rail between the stalls. All set then, as far as their riding horses were concerned, he looked in the rest of the stalls, looking for his sorrel packhorse, but with no luck. So he went out to the corral where he found four horses, his sorrel among them. “Reckon you weren’t good enough to rate a stall. I hope they fed you.” He decided to take the sorrel inside and put it in the stall with Jake, thinking they knew each other well enough. Once that was done, and the sorrel was fed, too, he went to get his packs and packsaddle from the barn where Art had put them.

Thinking he had done all he could in preparation for the jailbreak he was planning, there was nothing left to do but wait. With that in mind, he went to the tack room and searched the workstand under the window, where Art kept some hand tools. In one of the drawers, he found what he was looking for, Art’s cavalry field glass. Then he climbed up into the hayloft and went to the open door. With no way to determine how long the trial would last, or even if it had already started, he sat down beside the door and watched what he could see of the street.

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