Rocky Mountain Lawman

by Rachel Lee

  “It’s a little more complicated than that. Are you aware that when we turn land into national forest or parkland we don’t throw out people who are already living there?”

  “I hadn’t thought about it.”

  “Well, we don’t evict people. They get to stay the way they always have if they want to, or we buy them out. The guy you met owns a spread inside the forest here.”

  “Is that what I saw across the valley?”

  “Part of it. He owns a fair piece.”

  “Does he make a point of bothering people?”

  “Not usually. He’s got his property posted and doesn’t like trespassers, but...” He paused. “Something’s going on over there lately. I usually mind my own business when it comes to his property, but maybe it’s time to have a few friendly words. I’m certainly going to make sure he doesn’t drive people off public land, or scare them. Maybe I can even find out why he was bothered by you at all.”

  “He called me a spy.”

  Craig turned his head and looked straight at her. “Really?”

  “His word, not mine.”

  He fell silent as they continued to walk. The sound of the horse’s hooves were almost entirely muted by the deep pine needles under the trees, then would become louder again as they scuffed through leaves. “How often have you been out there?”

  “This was the third day.”

  “Do you use that camera a lot?”

  “Like I said, to capture the light as much as anything. It’s changing constantly, and sometimes there’s something about it I really want to catch for later.”

  “I wonder if the camera got to him. Well, I’ll find out. Either way, if you want to come back to this spot, you can. I’ll make sure of it.”

  “You may have a lot of guns, but they won’t be around when I’m out there alone.”

  That elicited a laugh from him. “True, but I don’t think Buddy runs to violence. A little nutty maybe, but I never heard of him hurting anybody. But if you like, I know some other vantages as good as that one I can show you. Well away from Buddy.”

  “I may take you up on that.” Although the idea of ceding ground to a crank annoyed her no end. She knew perfectly well that she could deal with that guy. He hadn’t even been armed that she could see. She just didn’t want the conflict. This was supposed to be a break.

  “Feel free. Just leave a message for me with Lucy at the station. She’ll radio me.”

  “Thanks. So you’re a biologist, too?”

  “Focused on wildlife mostly.”

  “What kind?”

  “If it walks, crawls or flies, I’m probably on it. Our mission is to protect everything in these forests for future generations. It’s not always easy. We humans seem to have some problems getting along with nature.”

  “No kidding! So I bet you know the names of all the wildflowers?”

  “Sure. You want to know what they are?”

  “Actually no,” she admitted. “I see them a different way, categorize them by colors and shapes. Names might change what I see.”

  “An artist’s eye?”

  “Maybe so.”

  “Then why did you ask?”

  She gave him a sidelong glance. “Because you’re the first person I’ve ever met who might actually know the official names of everything in the woods.”

  He flashed another truly attractive smile as they reached the service road and her battered sedan came into view. He helped her load her car, then closed her door after she climbed in. She rolled down the window and started the engine.

  “Drive slow. We’ve got some logging trucks driving a little crazy up here.”

  She looked up at him, drinking in again his good looks. “I didn’t see any.”

  “We’re doing some thinning to prevent disease and clearing some deadfalls. If you stay around awhile, you’ll see them. Drive safe.” He gave the top of her car a friendly rap, then stepped back, remounted and watched her drive away.

  Glancing in her rearview mirror, she saw him. Dang, that man looked good enough to eat.

  As soon as there was nothing left but a cloud of dust, Craig pulled the radio off his belt to call his boss. “Hey, Lucy.”

  “What’s up, Craig?”

  “Buddy. He’s done it again. I’m going to have to go talk to him, probably in the morning. Night’s drawing near.”

  “Want me to send someone to meet you?”

  “I doubt that’s necessary. I’m just going to remind him that the public has a right to be on public land.”

  “What’s going on with him?”

  “Damned if I know, but maybe I can find out. I told a lady artist to let you know if she wants me to find her somewhere else to paint.”

  “He bothered her? Craig, I don’t like it. I can see him getting mad at a bunch of rowdy campers, but a woman alone who’s just painting?”

  “And taking photos.” Craig paused. “It’s the photos that might have been the problem, and that’s what worries me. Why would that bother him?”

  “Are you sure you don’t want some backup?”

  “I never had a problem with Buddy before.”

  “Nobody had a problem with him before. But don’t forget that dead hiker we found at the beginning of the summer.”

  “I seriously doubt Buddy was involved in that. Misadventure.”

  “Misadventure my butt,” Lucy said bluntly. “I’d feel a whole lot better if the medical examiner could ascertain cause of death. I know it probably wasn’t Buddy, but you take care. The guy’s getting weird.”

  Craig tucked the radio away and looked at the sky. The day was waning; it would take him a while to get to Buddy Jackson’s place, which meant there wouldn’t be much light when he got there. Definitely best to wait for morning, especially if he wanted to be able to see anything.

  And seeing what was going on at Buddy’s place suddenly seemed like it might be important.

  * * *

  Sky drove carefully down the service road, avoiding some ruts and keeping an eye out for logging trucks. The sightlines were short along this narrow, winding road, and she could see why Craig had warned her to be on the lookout. A truck could be on her almost before she saw it.

  Her meeting with him had gone a long way to easing her anger, though. So this guy Buddy was apparently a harmless nut. Okay, she could deal with that. And she wanted to go back to that spot, because it had evoked images in her mind that she wanted to get on canvas. The colors had been gorgeous, the valley steep and full of character, the shadows almost haunting. While her paintings were more impressionistic than realistic, she knew she wouldn’t capture what that spot evoked in her if she relied mostly on memory and even photographs. There was a feeling she had while sitting there that didn’t follow her when she left.

  Buddy had sure blown that up this afternoon.

  On the other hand, she’d met Craig Stone. He was handsome, yes, but what appealed to her was his quietude. She sensed serenity around him, an ease with himself and his place in the world that she could only envy. Did spending a lot of time in the woods do that?

  She almost laughed out loud, however, when she thought about that calm and peace that seemed to suffuse him and compared it to the fact that he was packing both a rifle and a pistol. She had wanted to ask him about that. What dangers was he prepared for? Bears? Wolves? People? All of the above?

  She’d heard over the years that occasionally rangers got killed on the job, but she didn’t think it was very common. Well, if she saw him again she would ask him.

  In the meantime, if that peace she had felt in him came from being in the woods, she wanted some of it for herself. She’d gotten an inkling of it during her few days on that hill painting, but she just wished it would stay with her. Instead, by the time she got back to town, it seemed to have vanished.

  When her thoughts started to run on Craig Stone and whether she’d see him again, she sharply reined herself in. Hadn’t she come here to escape all that? Hadn’t she just
about decided men weren’t worth that kind of effort? She was supposed to be nursing a bruised heart, not seeking another one.

  Man, she definitely needed some Zen and tranquility. Just for a while. Time to gain perspective, time to ease the wounds, time to replenish the batteries so she could return to her rehab work fresh and ready to aid the vets who needed all the help they could get dealing with their scars, both visible and invisible.

  She made it down the mountain without meeting a logging truck, and pulled into the ranger station. It was a nice-looking log cabin set just inside the entrance to the forest. Two stories high, it appeared big enough for a few rangers to live there for the summer.

  Inside the lobby there were some comfortable rustic chairs, some rugs on the plank floor, carousels holding pamphlets and a long counter behind which the ranger on duty sat. A glass-fronted case displayed souvenirs but the only ones that caught Sky’s attention were the little stuffed Smokey the Bear dolls. Before she left, she’d send one to her niece who lived in Hawaii.

  The ranger, a woman, rose from a desk and smiled. “I hear you had some trouble from Buddy today.”

  “It wasn’t exactly trouble. He was just rude.” Sky felt a little embarrassed, wondering if she’d overreacted to the guy. He hadn’t actually threatened her, he’d just told her to get lost. Still, she thought there was something a bit menacing in the way he’d approached and yelled at her, making a wild accusation.

  The tall, dark-haired woman’s name badge said she was Lucy Tattersall. “Well, Craig will get him to lay off. By the way, do you want Craig to show you some other places that might be good for your art?”

  So Craig had apparently radioed the entire thing to Lucy. Now she did feel embarrassed. “He didn’t have to make a big deal about it,” she protested. “A guy was rude to me. Apparently he’s a little quirky. But I’m not running from that. I’ll paint in the same place tomorrow. In fact, I’ll paint there until I’ve gotten what I want from the location. It’s beautiful.”

  Lucy’s dark eyes sparkled. “You go, lady.” But then the sparkle faded a bit. “Just be careful. Buddy’s never been a real cause for concern, but things can change, you know?”

  “I’ll be fine. If he gives me any more trouble, I’ll report it.” She smiled at Lucy. “I guess I got my backbone up. Public land and I’m the public.”

  “Exactly,” Lucy agreed. “Buddy has always had an aversion to trespassers, which I can understand. It’s his land, not forest land, and some of our hikers overlook that. But if you see him again and manage to get on his good side, maybe he’ll talk to you a bit. He’s got some interesting stories to tell. So same place tomorrow? Be sure to check in before you go.”

  Sky walked out and climbed into her car with the definite sense that Lucy hadn’t told her everything. But why would she? Sky was a stranger and the rangers probably never gossiped, except possibly among themselves.

  Glancing at her watch, she realized she had time to clean up before she met with a local veterans group. Somebody back in Tampa had apparently let the VA up here know she was going to be in the area, and the first day she was here she’d been approached to speak with the local support group about what she did as an art therapist.

  At first she had been annoyed because she was supposed to be taking a break from all of that, but now she found herself looking forward to it. It would only be an hour or so, depending on how much they wanted to hear, and since she didn’t have any personal involvements here yet, it shouldn’t be too painful.

  In fact, it might prove to be part of her healing.

  Chapter 2

  Craig camped under the stars that night, on a back slope so Buddy wouldn’t get the idea that he was observing him. He could have gone to one of the empty cabins scattered around the forest, provided for the needs of rangers and researchers alike, but when the weather favored it, he preferred to be outdoors.

  Over a small fire, he made coffee and heated up some freeze-dried food. The forest sounds changed at night, and he loved the contrast. The wind kicked up a bit, rustling through nearby trees and carrying a wolf howl from a long way away.

  The migration of a wolf pack down from Yellowstone still tickled him, although it was over two decades now, and it did create some trouble with surrounding ranchers. The Thunder Mountain pack, however, stayed small, and if it had split, the new pack had evidently migrated elsewhere. So eight wolves prowled this forest, on average, and right now they had some pups they were taking care of.

  Moose, elk, bear and pronghorns all thrived here, and were doing better since the wolves’ arrival. Forage had increased for all of them, and even the birds had multiplied since they got to pick over wolf leavings. By and large, this had become a healthy, thriving forest despite past scars left by men’s gold mining and lumbering, and occasional holdovers like Buddy Jackson.

  Which brought him back to Skylar Jamison and Buddy’s strange reaction to her. The camera, he had already decided, had to be at the root of Buddy’s concern. But why would Buddy be bothered if someone took a few photos? Why would he use the word spy? In short, why was Buddy acting like a man with something to hide?

  How had he even known Sky was there and taking photos? Was he watching the area through some kind of telescope himself?

  None of this made Craig feel particularly easy. Buddy had always been the independent and slightly quirky kind of cuss you’d expect to want to live in the middle of nowhere with his family. No problem there. Some folks were just built that way. But clearly something had changed since last summer, and it was something he needed to look into.

  Spying? The word rang serious alarm bells.

  Well, he’d do what he could to deal with that in the morning. Meantime he could indulge in more pleasant thoughts, like that cute little artist.

  All right, she wasn’t little. She was a bit taller than average, and she moved and walked with the ease of someone whose body was in tip-top shape. From what little he could see of her under that baggy, ugly sweater and paint-stained jeans, she seemed to have a nice figure. But her face, even smeared with a daub or two of oil paint, had been winning. Blue eyes, curly brown hair escaping from a ponytail, a face that immediately made him think of a Madonna. Which was something he didn’t often think about.

  Apart from everything that had been going on, he’d sensed an aura of sorrow around her. A feeling that life hadn’t been treating her well recently. Not that he should care. He would do his bit by keeping Buddy out of her hair and in a few days she’d be gone. The way everyone else left.

  Lucy had chided him once. “You really need to marry a forester.”

  “Are you offering?”

  That had sent her off into gales of laughter, the more so because Lucy didn’t run to men.

  The thing was, though, Craig didn’t feel lonely. At least not often. Overall he was pretty content with the way things were. He’d long ago figured out the average woman needed far more year-round attention than he could provide, but he loved his life and wasn’t about to give it up. The thought of a picket fence made him shudder. So he settled for a few good friends and the companionship of the wilderness. He didn’t have a whole lot to complain about either.

  The night didn’t promise to grow too cold, so he doused the fire with his leftover coffee and climbed into his sleeping bag, pillowing his head on his saddle. Nearby his mount, Dusty, stirred occasionally in the horse version of sleep.

  He stared up at the infinite stars and thought of all the people before him who had lived just such a life, from shepherds to cowboys to hunters, and knew he was in good company. It was a great life, and yes, it was missing a thing or two, but they didn’t fit. Que será, and all that.

  He drifted into sleep with visions of Sky dancing around the edges of his thoughts. Simple thoughts, for the most part, because his life was largely a simple one, mostly untethered and unconfined except for the dictate to protect this forest and all its inhabitants.

  The next thing he knew, his eyes were p
opping open to a flaming sunrise sky. Yawning, he sat up and debated whether to try to start another fire and make some coffee. He liked starting his days with coffee, but he’d pretty well put paid to that by dousing his fire pit last night. It was still wet, and an unusual dew clung to everything.

  Rising, he made his way to a nearby stream, washing up with special soap that wouldn’t pollute the water, then donned a fresh shirt and underwear. While he didn’t exactly look perfectly creased, that was to be expected when he didn’t touch base overnight. Good enough for what he had to do, anyway.

  He saddled Dusty, fed him a handful of oats and promised him better grazing in just a little while. He kept his promise as soon as he reached the spot where Sky had been painting. While Dusty ate his fill of the tenderest shoots of green, he surveyed the valley and across it, Buddy’s place.

  It sure was a long distance, he thought again. So what the devil had bothered Buddy?

  Pulling out his binoculars, he scanned the area around Buddy’s place. Even with their aid, he couldn’t see a whole lot of detail at this distance, certainly nothing to ring alarm bells.

  So what had bugged Buddy? That telephoto lens and the resolution it could probably provide? If so, Buddy was up to no good. And how had Buddy become aware of it anyway? Just seeing someone return to the same hilltop a few days running shouldn’t have been enough to bother him, not at this distance.

  Smothering another yawn, he capped the binoculars, let them dangle from the strap around his neck and urged Dusty toward the trail he knew was in those woods. Maybe Buddy would be neighborly enough to offer coffee. Somehow he doubted it.

  Before long, he sighted a few hoofprints that told him someone had ridden up this path recently. Probably Buddy yesterday. At least he was keeping his ATVs to his own property. They’d had a discussion about that just the year before last. ATVs did a lot of damage to the ecosystem, and weren’t allowed in this forest except in a few places. One or two ATVs wouldn’t have been a problem. The problems began when you got a lot of people with them, which seemed to happen nearly everywhere they were allowed.