Three Rode the Trail by Richard Lear

Author:Richard Lear
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Richard Lear
Published: 2021-01-07T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

IKE AWOKE WITH A START. He opened his eyes to discover it was night. Still, the light from a gibbous moon high above lit the area bright enough for him to see the area around him. The air was filled with the echoing choruses of chirping crickets and croaking frogs. He could hear the stallion breathing softly as it stood next to the creek a few feet away, remaining in place as if standing guard duty.

The pocket watch was still in his hand, the cover still open. He closed it and put the watch back in his jeans pocket. After pulling his boots on, he stood up and grabbed his gun belt. After he buckled it around his waist, he felt more secure wearing the revolvers again. He put on his hat and walked quickly over to the horse to check the saddlebags. He opened each one and placed a hand inside. The silver certificates were still there. He felt relieved, yet silly. Why shouldn’t they be there?

Ike had no idea what time it was. In fact, he had been asleep for ten hours. The moonlight was bright enough for Ike to find the trail back to the stage road. He led the Belgian by the reins until they were clear of the trees. He put his foot in the stirrup, grabbed the saddle fork and, lifted himself up, grasping the saddle horn as he swung into the saddle. The palomino seemed eager to hit the trail again. It was well rested and had drunk its fill at the creek. On its own the horse started to trot along the flat ground then fell into an easy lope up the hill to the railroad track. Sitting high up in the saddle, Ike felt as if he were flying through the night air as they crossed the track. He reined the Belgian over to the stage road. They were back on the trail leading to Stovepipe and the Territory of New Mexico.

Ike was feeling much better. He had needed the sleep. The rhubarb pie had eased his hunger, and the creek had quenched his thirst. He figured no posse would be chasing him at night because their horses could trip over rocks and maybe not even see the edge of a cliff.

And speaking of night, what time was it? The moon was bright, but not enough to see a watch face. He only knew it was dark, and it had gotten very cold. His clothes were dry, but the night air made them feel cold and brittle against his skin.

As he rode out of the Pass and onto flatter terrain the moon bathed everything in its cold, silver light. Desert land stretched away in all directions from him. In the distance, he could make out the dark shapes of mountains sleeping under the stars. The night sky was so full of glittering stars that when he looked up, he imagined himself rising up off the horse and dragged off into the furthest reaches of space by the gravitational pull of the universe.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.