“Who’s mare?” Gina asked, a strange look on her face.
Sam laughed at Gina’s expression. Journey had doctored her forehead and left the bandage off for it to air, and while he could see by her cheeks, ( they were pulled up under her eyes,) that she was frowning, her red angry looking skin above her eyes hadn’t moved.
“Not who’s. It’s an old expression my grandmother used to use when we asked Dad for a ride to school.” Gina still looked puzzled, “The ten-toed horse. In other words, we’d better start walking.”
“Why didn’t she just say that in the first place?”
Sam sighed and shook his head. “Never mind. How old are you?”
Gina laughed, but her heart wasn’t in it. “How long before John returns do you think? Every time I look at that mountain, it makes my skin crawl. I’m afraid of the river of lava making it this far and burying all of us, just like it did to the city of Pompeii.”
“It’s been what, four days? We didn’t go all the way, and we didn’t have to clear the way through for the vehicles either. I hope they can make it there in a week, get situated and maybe three or four days back.”
“And if they don’t show up in that time frame? Then what?”
“Stop looking for problems. They’ll be back, until then, we sit here and take care of the animals. McGrubber still wants to get the rest of his things, so I assume they’ll bring his wagon back.”
She didn’t say anything else, but it didn’t stop her mind from dwelling on what could happen. They had left with no idea what they would face along the way. She wondered if it wouldn’t have been better for them to wait and all go together. John had been adamant about leaving, and Mark had agreed. She thought about Mark’s radio and wondered if he knew more than he was letting on. Gina pulled her feet up to her butt and rested her chin on her arms. She could never have sat in the same position before the lights went out, but the change in her diet had done wonders for her body. Thinking about their diet, she thought about food. Real food, not something they got out of a mylar package or the pemmican. While the pemmican had been good, she thought it would be better used for snacking on and not for a meal.
“Okay dammit,” Gina said and sat up straight. “You don’t want to consider that anything could go wrong, but my gut is telling me it already has.”
“Give them ten days. If they aren’t back in ten days, I’ll go see.”
“And I’ll go with you,” Andy said as he sat down in the chair beside Sam.
“Why are you up? Sam asked and turned his chair to include Andy.
“Because I’m with Gina on this. I can’t shake the feeling that something has gone wrong. Sorry, but I overheard you, and I think she’s right.”
Sam threw his hands in the air, “So what do you want to do? Abandon the animals and go riding hell bent after them? Will that work for you?”
Gina put her hand on Sam’s arm, “Not at all. There is no reason that we can’t bring the animals and follow their trail. It’s no less were going than we do once they came back. Right?”
Sam nodded, “Yes, but I hate not to follow the plan. It seems like that’s when things go wrong.”
They turned when they heard the trailer door latch, and Willy came walking over. He crossed his ankles and sat down on the ground all in one motion. “Plans not set in concrete were meant to be changed or adapted as needed. If a man can’t adjust to meet the demand, he’s going to lose. Now, tell me what’s going on.”
Sam and Gina had told him they were moving, but not included the details. He had no idea how many of their people had gone on ahead. It wasn’t that they hadn’t trusted him, they simply hadn’t had the time.
Sam started when the volcano had appeared and rained ash down on them, and then of their fears. He explained about the Saint Joe River area and that he and John had taken the cattle to pasture above the river, but they hadn’t traversed down to the valley floor.
“You know that roadway goes all the way to St. Regis and passes through several small towns?”
“I knew that, but supposedly we were headed into winter which should have prevented the tourists from being there.”
Willy shook his head, “The summer visitors. The snowmobilers would have been setting up camp by the first snowfall.” He held his hand up when Sam leaned forward as if to interrupt, “Some of those guys go in before the snow falls and stay most of the winter. They hide out in some of the primitive camping spots and don’t leave until spring.”
“Silas! Oh my God, this is all starting to make sense now. Remember Steve saying that Silas would be along with no explanation where they were then or where they had been?” Sam, jumped up, knocking over his chair.
“Where are you going?”
Sam looked at Gina, “To wake up Ben unless you know the name of the guy who ran the group he joined right after this all started. The place where we found the goats.”
Gina leaned back in her chair, her heart rate quickened, and she felt weak, “Oh geez,” she breathed out. “No wonder we never saw them.”
“What? Never saw who?”
Sam hurried to the trailer and went in. He was back in less than a minute. Sam dropped heavily into his chair, “It was Silas. Damn, why didn’t we share any of this shit? Ben wasn’t with us when we went after Lucy, he wasn’t with us in St. Regis, he couldn’t have known they were all the same group, but dammit, we should have known.”
“If we had shared the facts each of us possessed, we could probably have found the connections, but we didn’t, and it’s too late to worry about it now. Now, what are we going to do about it? We still don’t know that anything has gone wrong or that Silas is even involved.”
“What’s going on? Why did you need his name?” Ben asked as he held the door open for Lucy and then Journey to come out.
“I thought you guys were sleeping?” Gina asked.
“Who can sleep with Sam waking everyone up and you probably don’t know it, but noise travels differently out here. Good thing there’s no one in the next county, or they’d have heard you.”
“Oh, don’t be so bitchy, You never did like to get up early.”
“Early? We just got to sleep,” Journey was trying to smooth out her hair as she walked.
“Enough bickering! Come sit down. We might have a problem.”
With Sam’s raised voice everyone fell silent and did as he asked. Gina had never heard him sound angry or growl at people before. She almost wished that she had kept her mouth shut. “Not true,” she murmured. She wished she had said something when they had first returned when she’d felt someone was watching them. In the past, Gina had always listened to her gut feeling.
Sam rubbed his hands together and looked around. “Sorry. I’m just now realizing the predicament that John and the others could be facing. The thing is, we can’t go running off and leave this stuff behind. The horses and that cow and calf are crucial to our survival as everything on the wagons.”
“Don’t forget about the chickens and the goats and my rabbits,” Olivia reminded him. “They’re important too.”
“Yes they are and believe me, there is no way I could get out of taking the chickens. Gina would see that they were with us if she had to carry them herself.”
“I can see your dilemma Sam, but do we give them a couple of days to get back or do we start that direction?”
Sam looked at Ben and shrugged, with a shake of his head, “Truthfully, I’m not sure what we should do. We’re all packed up here, and it will take us longer herding the livestock, so maybe tomorrow we could set out that direction.”
“Why not today? You already said we were packed and there’s nothing to hold us here is there?”
“In case you forgot Gina, no one has had any sleep, and there’s one more thing I’d like to do before we leave.”
“Is it something important?”
Sam nodded, “I don’t know, but it could be. It was important enough for Charlie to bring his wagon back to get it. I know
he put the last of his belongings in one of the silos. So whatever it is, is important to him. It’s not far to his place, and I’d like to try out a couple of those horses that Andy and Journey caught and see what we have. With ours pulling the wagons, that leaves you, Lucy, and me walking.”
“If no one has an objection I wouldn’t mind having a horse to ride. It’s been a number of years, but I don’t think you forget.”
“Are you sure Willy? Bones break a lot easier when you get…a certain age.” Journey was trying to suggest that Willy should forgo riding the horses, without saying that in her opinion he was far too old to be taking chances with an unknown horse.
Sam looked at Journey, “And just what age would that be?”
Journey flushed, “Well, he hasn’t ridden lately and look at what you went through with Matt…I was just. Oh never mind. I was trying to look after his health.”
“I appreciate it, but I think this is something I think I can handle. Those horses will probably be a lot kinder than some I’ve been on.”
Willy, Sam, Gina and Ben walked down to the field. Gina stopped to watch them graze and saw Sailor looking at her. She put her fingers in her mouth and gave a sharp whistle. Sailor loped toward her, a fringe of grass hanging out the side of his mouth. He skidded to a stop in front of her. She was surprised when right behind him was a big bay appaloosa.
Apparently, the whistle was not unfamiliar to him and may have been the way he’d been called in his past. He nuzzled her looking for treats. He was shorter than Sailor, but bigger around his girth. His brown eyes had the Appy’s trademark white ring around them, the little mane he had, stood on end. Gina took her piece of pemmican out of her pocket and offered him a bite. She offered Sailor a bite when he laid his ears back at the other horse. “Hey buddy, are you broke to ride?” Gina worked her way around the horse and admired his white rump with a few dark brown spots sprinkled around. His tail was much like his main as in there wasn’t much of it. With her hand trailing over his back and down his legs and back up to his neck, she worked her way back to his head. He didn’t fuss when she looked in his mouth and checked out his teeth. She had already decided that she would choose him when Sam hollered at her. The other three already had halters on their chosen horses and were leading them back to the trailer.
“You’re not picking out a show horse for Pete’s sake. Get your halter on him and let’s go.”
She slipped the halter over his muzzle and did the buckle up. His head was almost as big as Sailors, so it fit fine. He was a little more straight up and down in the shoulder than she liked and shorter in the back and knew it would make for a rougher ride than she was used to, but she could adjust.
“By the time she made it back up top and had convinced Sailor that she didn’t need his help, the others had their mounts brushed, and Sam already had his saddled. Ben and Willy were taking their time as she would. Gina looked at the mount that he’d chosen for Lucy, and while she was half the size of Joe, Gina could already picture Lucy on the mare. She was white with fine brown speckles scattered over her body. The only fault she could see with the horse is that she was white and would be hard to camouflage. Willy had picked out a gray roan that to Gina looked a little long in the tooth or maybe it had a parrot mouth. He was standing without being tied so at least she was assured the horse was broke to ride. It was his choice, and she wasn’t going to say anything.
Willy saw her watching him, “You don’t have to say it. I already know what you’re thinking. He’s still got a few miles left in him just like me.” He chuckled and reached under his belly for the girth. For the time being, he was riding in the saddle that belonged to Carlos. It would be a tight fit for him, especially if he gained any weight.
Sam had already climbed aboard and was testing the sorrel gelding to see how much he knew and as far as Gina could see he was dead broken in. He never made one wrong move as Sam put him through his paces and turned both directions at each gait. It was then that she remembered that Jake had raised and leased horses to the dude ranches in the area. She felt good about all of them. There were still the four unknown horses besides theirs, and three of them looked ready to foal at any time. She hoped they would wait until they got where they were going.
Her girth fastened, she led the horse in a circle and then put one foot in the stirrup and tested him. She laughed when he turned his head and looked at her. She could almost read his mind, “Well, are you going stand there like that or get on?” She swung up and sat. She barely squeezed, and he moved out. She took him through his gaits and she was right, there was no sitting his trot, and she easily transitioned to posting. If her knees didn’t give out and they didn’t hold the trot for any distance, she would be fine. Gina turned him back to where Sam and Willy sat watching her.
“So does he meet with your approval? He looks good from where we sit.”
“He’ll do fine. Ben, aren’t you coming with us?”
“Nope. I’m going to let Lucy ride this horse around here for a bit. We think that one of us should stay behind just in case.”
Gina nodded at Journey when she read the look that Journey was giving her. “Good plan, no telling when they’ll need a man around.” Her eyes never left Journey’s face as she said it and saw the eye roll that Journey gave her. “It’s not perfect yet, but you’re getting there,” she said and turned to ride after Willy and Sam.
“Wait!” Ben called. Gina pulled up when the two men in front of her didn’t hear him. He had run into the trailer and came out with not only Gina’s 30/30 but Sam’s AR as well as his own Keltec. Gina rode back to him, “Thanks, Ben. I guess it’s not a habit yet and it should be.” Gina slid her’s into the scabbard and hung the other two by their slings off her saddle horn. With one hand holding the two rifles close to the horse’s shoulder so they would not bounce, she loped to catch up.
Willy and Sam had waited for her by the oak tree. Sam had her opera glasses to his eyes scanning the surrounding area.
“Hey, where did you get those. I looked all over for them.”
“They were in my saddle bag the whole time. I completely forgot they were there.” He held them out to her with a grin. “Here you go.”
Gina shook her head, “Never mind, put them back in your bag. I just keep thinking of the fun you poked at me for having them.”
He opened his bag and tucked them in, “They actually work pretty well, and they don’t take up much room either.”
Gina rolled her eyes as Sam repeated exactly what she had told him in the first place. “My words exactly.”
“How far are we going?” Willy asked as they rode along.
“Is your butt worn out already?” Sam asked him. Sam grinned and nudged his horse into a jog. He had done it on purpose because even he knew with the bone structure of Gina’s horse, it would be hard to ride until he looked back and saw the gelding in a slow motion lope. Gina sat comfortably on the rocking horse a huge grin plastered on her face. The Appy was loping at the same pace that he and Willy were trotting. “Damn, so okay she picked out a good one.” He would keep his thought to himself.
“There’s a side road cutting off to the north just ahead. Once we get on it, it’s about three, maybe four miles up there. Charlies got a nice little valley hidden back in the hills. Had corn for a while and after his Dad had passed, he changed over to grain crops, and I’m not sure but I think he told John that he had quite a bit of grain left, but he needed help loading it.”
“So this ride is to see what? If the grain is still there or to get some conditioning on these horses?”
Sam’s laughter could be heard as he rode ahead maintaining the jog, “To get some conditioning on Willy.”
They rode for another two miles or so until Willy, who had finally caught up to Sam, pulled his horse to a stop. He hollered at Sam, “That’s it for me. If you need to keep up this pace, I’ll be right behind you.”
“Oh come on. We can walk them for a while. It’s not much further to the turn
-off.”
They walked the horses for another mile, made the turn to the north and slow-trotted until Sam slowed and stopped, “We should have been able to see the top of his tall silo by now. He only has the one of any height, and the rest are all short.” The trees had opened up to reveal fields that had been worked but were fallow. Over a rise in the landscape, a twist of smoke rose into the air. Sam looked at Gina, and she shrugged.
“We might want to check that out. Charlie said his boys hadn’t come home, but if that’s his place, we don’t want to go riding in there without knowing who it is. Anyone else live close by him?”
Sam thought about it and nodded, “Five or six families live further up the road, but I don’t know them. Let’s head for that group of trees on the edge of the field and check it out.
Across the field, there was a thin row of cottonwoods with the skeletal blackberry vines interspersed through them. As they drew closer the odor of decaying carcasses assailed their noses and Sam was forced to rein up, and Willy and Gina stopped on either side of them. All three horses were fidgety and couldn’t stand still. They didn’t like the smell either.
“Oh my God, what’s that’s that smell? Dead bodies?” Gina asked and pulled the neck of her shirt up over her nose.
Sam shook his head, “It smells like dead fish. Cottonwood Creek used to be full of some of the finest cutthroat trout in the world. I mean full, people came from all over just to fly fish this area. A man could catch a meal in less than an hour. Charlie made a little brush dam and let nature do the rest. He had himself a nice pond, and I think he had it stocked a few years back. Breath through your mouth and you won’t notice the stink so much, but let’s find somewhere to tie these guys up and go the rest of the way on foot.”
Gina looked around, they were in the middle of a field with nowhere but the cottonwoods to tie to and they were by the creek. The creek where all the dead fish were. Behind them at the edge of the field was the only logical place to tie up. The three horses were skittish already without exposing them to the raunchy odor for however long they were gone. She thought it was better for them to walk a little further than to have the smell permeate everything they had with them.
Beyond the New Horizon (Book 3): Living on the Edge Page 19