Troubleshooter by David Alan

Author:David, Alan [David, Alan]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Published: 2015-02-16T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Ike Mozee had been awake in his coach for most of the night, working on his papers. He was worried about the trouble his men were encountering with the granite ridge, and had made tentative plans to ship a lot of gear around the obstruction so work could commence on the farther side while the ridge was blasted open. Each rail that was laid in the direction of Apache Pass was another step towards success, and everything depended upon getting to the Pass ahead of Western Pacific. It was almost daybreak, and he sat back in his chair and stifled a yawn. Getting to his feet, he fetched a cup of coffee from the blackened pot on the stove, and, after drinking it, he went out to the platform at the end of the coach and leaned against a rail there, looking towards the East, where the sky was beginning to break. There was a heavy silence lying over the valley, and he breathed deeply of the clean air, ridding his lungs of the accumulated cigar smoke which he had been breathing all night.

It was going to be another good day. The thought struck him as he glanced around, looking for sign of his guards. There were shadows clinging to the stacks of rails and ties, and the tents of the construction gangs were barely discernible, looking pale and ghostly in the growing light. He saw smoke rising from the chimneys of the various cook shacks, and sighed heavily as he mentally stiffened himself for another round of problems which would commence immediately the sun peeped over the eastern line.

A low rumbling sound caught his attention and he frowned as he glanced towards the west. It couldn’t be thunder. There were no clouds in the sky. Narrowing his eyes, he studied the farther side of the valley, stiffening when he imagined movement out there in the dark grey indistinctness. But his guards were out, completely surrounding the camp, and he knew there was little to fear. Yet the noise was growing louder and his experienced ears could not play him false. A great number of hooves were pounding the ground.

Climbing the rungs fixed to the end of the coach, he gained the roof and shaded his eyes as he tried to pierce the shadows to the West. Something was moving out there. A big black mass was coming over the ground like the shadow of a storm cloud. He looked again at the sky, expecting to see a cloud, but the heavens were clear. Yet the rumble was increasing in volume. Then he spotted horsemen moving in, travelling fast.

Flinging himself down the rungs, he dashed into the coach and grabbed up his gunbelt, snatching the sixgun clear as he ran outside once more. He fired a warning shot skywards, and now he could see the approaching herd quite clearly. It was as if scales had fallen from his eyes. There was a herd of cattle coming towards the camp.

It was such an ordinary sight that he could attach no menace to it.

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