Yellowstone Justice by Peggy L Henderson

Author:Peggy L Henderson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Peggy Henderson

Ezra and Miss Morrison had a greater lead than Zach had first anticipated. They must have left the day after his first visit to the Morrison cabin. That meant they were at least five days ahead of him. If Ezra had anticipated that Zach would find his tobacco pouch, surely he would have tried to maintain a slow pace so Zach could catch up. Every stop along the route up the Missouri, however, had proven to bring him no closer to the woman and Ezra.

A week after his departure from St. Louis, Zach had arrived at one of the many trading posts along the Missouri and learned that the old mountain man and Miss Morrison were traveling by keelboat upriver. Since Ezra had worked for Morrison’s company and knew their routes, he must have a good idea where Barnes had gone to trap for the year.

With each day that passed, Zach’s frustration grew. He was no closer to caching up with the woman who was a constant vision in his mind than the day before. He’d opted to travel on horseback rather than by boat. He knew the overland routes like the back of his hand, since he’d journeyed with his family many times from the Yellowstone to St. Louis over the years.

Ezra would most certainly stop at Fort Pierre before heading west. It was one of the largest trapper outposts before the mountain men left all civilization behind. The trading post would be the best place to meet up with him. He would then send them both back to St. Louis so he could focus his attention on finding Barnes himself.

Zach arrived at the fort late in the day. His horse was tired and so was he, but he headed directly for the trading post where most of the news and gossip was exchanged.

“Osborne, is that you?” the trading post owner called as soon as Zach entered the building.

Zach smiled. Joe Astor called him by his surname only because he couldn’t be sure which Osborne he was addressing. Few people could tell him apart from his twin, Matthew.

“Yeah, it’s me, Zach.” Zach held out his hand for the man to shake.

“Last I heard, you were in Boston.” Astor glanced at him, assessing his appearance. The long days on the trail had surely altered his looks from a well-groomed St. Louis lawyer to the woodsman that he used to be.

“I moved to St. Louis,” Zach clarified. “But I’m on my way to the Yellowstone country to find someone. I was hoping to meet up here with some friends, but I don’t know if they’ve arrived yet.”

“Who are they?” Astor asked. “Folks pass through here all the time as you well know, but I might have seen or heard something.”

“Ezra Meeks. He’s an old mountain man. Works for the North Missouri Company.”

Astor nodded. “Know him well. He did stop by just this afternoon.” The man cocked his head to the side. “He had a young woman with him.”

Zach breathed a sigh of relief.

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