Rob placed one shaky leg in front of the other, and the two men slowly made it to the cave. There was more light inside as the professor had placed another candle on a rock outcropping on the opposite side of the cavern. Ike laid Rob down on the dirt floor and sent Walnutt to get his brother’s horse. “Rob, can you hear me?”
Rob slurred a reply. “It’s so cold, Ike. I ain’t never been this cold—even on that damned march at Pea Ridge durin’ the war.” He drifted off.
The professor returned with Rob’s horse and looked down at Rob with a frown. “We need to warm him up, Ike. I would suggest you get down on the floor and hold him tight, while I retrieve some blankets off the horses.”
Ike dropped to the floor and embraced his shivering brother. He held him snugly, alternating between squeezing him tightly and rubbing his clothes hard to generate some heat.
The candles spread faint light around the large cavity. The room was nearly all smooth granite, as if someone had taken a large scoop and fashioned the circular space with it. It measured about thirty feet across, and as deep, and the ceiling rose in shadowy fits and starts to more than twenty feet high in most spots.
Ike got up and looked around. “Let’s get squared away, Professor. Put the horses at the back there, and start levelin’ off this floor with a rock or somethin’ so’s we’ll have a decent spot to sleep on tonight. I’ll chop some boughs off the pines outside for sleepin’ and burnin’. The fresh pitch on the branches should catch easy, and a fire will help warm Rob up. We can use the rest of the boughs to soften the floor for our blankets.”
“A good plan, Ike.”
Ike retrieved an ax from his saddlebag and grabbed at his coat collar as he disappeared out the entrance.
When he returned with an armful of spruce branches, Ike looked half-frozen himself. His beard was white, and his clothes were covered with snow. After he’d gotten a little fire going, Ike moved Rob closer to the small flame. He threw another bough on the fire. “It’ll be interesting to see if there’s any hole in the roof, or if we’re gonna smoke ourselves right on out of here.” The boughs produced heavy columns of smoke that wafted upward and disappeared in the darkness. “A good sign. At least we won’t die by chokin’ to death. There ain’t much heat, but we’ll take what we can get.” Ike eased himself down to the ground and curled closely around Rob again.
Walnutt spoke up. “I believe your brother is suffering from what is called hypothermia, Ike.” The professor continued. “It’s a condition where the body’s temperature falls below normal because of the cold. The best thing we can do is warm him up as quickly as we can.”
Ike looked at him. “In other words, Rob’s cold.” He got up and grabbed Ally’s reins. He led her to where Rob lay and told her to lie down. Then he pushed Rob in tight up against the horse’s belly, and draped Ally’s legs over him. Ike said to her, “I know you don’t like being this close to fire, but brother Rob needs you right where you are.” Ally stayed put.
The professor fed the horses, while Ike warmed up some coffee for Rob. He held a warm cup to his brother’s lips and encouraged him to drink. Rob mouthed the cup slightly, and Ike dribbled some coffee down his throat. Within a half hour, between the stunted fire, Ally, and the warm coffee, Ike’s treatments started to have an effect. Ike was also able to get some weak soup into Rob which perked him up a bit.
“I am so damn cold! And what’s Ally doin’ down here, Ike?” Rob’s voice was still shaky. “I’d a rather had a different female companion than her to snuggle up to.”
The remark made Ike smile.
The professor fed the little fire with some wet sticks that produced more smoke than flame. “It looks like Rob is going to be just fine, Ike, but it was a close call. We will need to watch him the rest of the way, because he will be more sensitive to cold now. Perhaps we can find some insulation to keep him warm, say, like the boughs you just cut. Stuffing them, or dry leaves inside his jacket might help, wouldn’t you think?”
“That sounds like a capital idea, Professor,” Ike replied, smiling at his use of a British word. “Pretty smart for an Englishman.”
“I have been in your country long enough to have picked up some of your western wisdom as well. And don’t you think it’s about time you started calling me Hugh?”
“I’d be honored to do that, Prof…Hugh.”
Rob gave a slight laugh and sat up closer to the fire. “You two ain’t gettin’ to be friends now, are you?”
Ike just grinned. He patted Ally on the flank, and she untangled herself from Rob and rose to a stand. She walked over to Ike and nickered while Ike stroked her neck. Maybe the worst of the trek was behind them now.
Chapter Thirty-Two
The search hadn’t been fruitful so far. The first day they’d explored the area to the north of Fairplay, and on the second they found a large, empty valley hidden just to the west of a low range of the Rocky Mountains. Two days and they didn’t seem to be any closer to finding the Ute winter camp.
Or Buster.
Or Sue.
Faint light spread through the cave the next morning, and Ike willed himself to a stand. His shoulder was mostly healed, but his leg always gave him trouble in the cold. And the morning was cold. He ventured outside to see the storm’s handiwork. A low, overcast gray sky hid the mountaintops to the west and thwarted the sun’s attempts to pierce the clouds. He couldn’t tell how much new snow had fallen, as the wind had whipped it into uneven drifts all along the hillside. The three tidied up their rudimentary overnight camp and spread frozen dirt over the coals they’d huddled around last night.
Frosty breath hung in the air following the few conversations they had. Talking wasn’t necessary. Everyone knew what still had to be done. They took plenty of time to feed and care for their horses, as how well a horse held up often determined whether its rider would survive these harsh climes. The mountains usually only gave one chance at life to those brave enough, or foolhardy enough to intrude this time of year. They ate a scant meal, packed their gear, and readied themselves for the day’s ride. The poor weather matched their low morale. More snow and more tough riding stared them hard in the face. The sun normally would have peeked over the eastern peaks by now to lend modest warmth to the landscape, but that would be missing today.
“Let’s light on out of here, partners.” Ike limped toward Ally, trying to loosen his stiff leg. It took him two tries to mount up. After settling in atop Ally, he looked back at the others to see if they’d noticed his difficulties. They were both looking down at their gear, opening and closing some saddlebag pockets that they’d already opened and closed.
Ike patted Ally on her long chestnut neck and laid the reins on her right side. She started off at a steady walk down the mountainside, the others following in trail. Once down, they moved at a slow pace along the lower reaches of the little basin they’d explored yesterday. A small stream snaked its way through naked willow bushes that bordered it on both sides. A thin layer of ice extended from the edges of the rushing stream outward toward the middle, but the swift current thwarted its further advance. The searchers stopped to let their horses drink their fill. Even in this cold, the horses would sweat today as they picked their way up and down jumbled hillsides that rose all around them.
The riders reached the northern end of the yawning valley by midday, and as the land rose, the trio switchbacked along faint passageways that wound up the forested slope. They rode in the company of a rising wind that stirred barren stands of aspen intermingled with tall, majestic spruce and firs. At the top of the rise, they paused on a narrow ridgeline to survey the surrounding landscape. Ike pulled out the rudimentary map and oriented it toward what he suspected was north.
“I think we’re here.” He pointed to a ridge on the sketch that semi-circled a small basin. “This is likely the valley we just rode out of.”
The professor said, “I would concur. So, where do we go now?” He leaned in for a look at the map as his foggy breath rose
in the air. “Wait a moment. Hello, what is this?” He pointed to what appeared to be a larger valley to the north. “That may be the valley we are looking for. It is big enough, certainly, to house a rather large settlement of Indians, wouldn’t you agree?” Ike and Rob bent forward to see where he was pointing.
Rob said, “Looks like there’s a stream flowing through it, so it could fit. But then, most mountain valleys have water.”
Ike studied the map. After a lengthy pause, he said, “Wait. Here’s a valley to the west that could fit too.” He pointed to what appeared on the map as another open area. “The question is, which way to go? North to this one or west to this one? If we choose the wrong valley, we’d probably lose close to a week by the time we’d get there and have to backtrack to the other. And our food would give out long before then.” Ike looked to the north, then off to the west.
He turned to his brother. “What do you say, Rob? Which way?”
“Well, we been goin’ north ever since we left Fairplay. Maybe the Indians are just further west than we been lookin’. How ’bout you, Professor?”
“I would defer to your best judgments, gentlemen. I am not accustomed to traveling in the mountains, so my inclination is to allow you two to decide.” He sat ramrod straight in the saddle, looking at the brothers.
Ike studied the map again for a moment, then looked up into a gathering westerly wind. “I agree, Rob, west it is. That way.” He pointed in the direction the sun would be setting in a few hours. “And if we’re goin’, we better do it now, before that storm closes in on us. We’ll head toward that set of ridges in the distance. I’ll bet our valley lies just beyond that last ridge—the third one—there.” He pointed again. “That one. The one with the jagged top that looks like the devil’s backbone.” They stared at the granite formation, and all three snugged their hats down further.
Rob said, “How long a ride do you think that is, Ike?”
“Well, it’s sure all the rest of today, and my guess is most of tomorrow too if we run into any weather, and from the color of those clouds, it looks like we will.”
They dropped down off the ridgeline, angling to their left. Three rugged ridgelines backdropped by a lowering sky stared at them as they descended. Rob followed Ike, and the professor brought up the rear. The riders leaned back in their saddles while the horses carefully picked their way down, trying to avoid any slippery stones hidden beneath the snow.
They reached the bottom of the first ravine, stepped through a minor stream and started climbing again, but the low sky still had not yielded to the sun. Going downhill was harder and slower than switchbacking uphill. This was territory where severe weather often reigned absolute, with little to blunt it. Storms this time of year were wild and unpredictable, and always bitter.
Ike shouted back at Rob over the wind. “You need to stay warm. You ain’t over that chillin’ you got back by the cave yet.”
Rob nodded and took gloves out of a coat pocket, pulled them on, and drew his thick coat tighter around his neck.
Ike turned to his two companions as he rode. “We got to make it near the top of this ridge before nightfall hits. We’ll find a place to camp just shy of the top to shield us a little from the wind tonight.” By the time they neared the ridgeline, faint stars twinkled against the last of a dim sky. “Pull the horses down after you feed ’em, so they’ll stay out of the worst of the wind. After dinner, lay downwind next to yours, so you got some shelter from the elements tonight.”
Rob looked around their high campsite. “Maybe we shoulda stayed down by that small stream, Ike, ’stead of up here. Mighta been out of the wind more down there.”
Ike nodded. “Mighta been, but can’t tell, ’cause sometimes the wind has a mind to come whippin’ straight down the gorges, ’stead of down across ’em. Then we’d freeze.”
The travelers spent a frigid night under cold blankets, bundled up against the weather and the wind. In the morning, all three men, but especially Rob, moved sluggishly as they brushed snow off everything and broke camp. The sun peeked through a spotty cloud cover this morning, and as the three rode, blinding glare from an unbroken blanket of white affected their eyesight. The horses stumbled more than usual as they climbed and descended the intense white land. Hands to the eyes did little to cut the reflection. Rob rode with a bandana over his eyes, letting his horse follow the two ahead on its own. The trio made the most of the good weather, traversing the final two ridges by nightfall. As they made camp near the summit of the last crest, Ike laid out the plan for the morning.
“First thing tomorrow, we’ll be up and over this rise and drop down into the valley beyond. Hopefully, it’s the right one. We’ll know soon enough after we see it. Let’s hit the hay.”
Ike was the first one to stir the next morning. He glanced over at Rob and the professor, still sleeping and covered by blankets and coats. He struggled up and cut evergreen branches off nearby trees to start the morning fire. The horses stood nearby, breath steaming out of flared nostrils as Ike fed them out of the saddlebags.
The professor got up and shook his blanket with a smile. “This is the first morning I have not had to brush snow off myself when I got up.”
Rob was the last to wake up. He rose to a shaky stand.
By the time they broke camp, a welcome full sun was shining over the mountains, casting a soft yellow light over the landscape. The riders soon gained the ridge summit and rode along it, eyeing the basin below which spread out before them. About half a mile down the slope, the evergreen forest gave way to the low scrub oak and tall grasses of the broad river valley floor. The high basin lay under a gray rocky rim on one side and a rise that ended in forested mountains on the other. The floor dropped uniformly from both sides toward the snaking water that cut the valley in half. The valley disappeared down to the left in the distance and rose slightly to the right as they looked at it. It was mostly open terrain, with stands of pine surrounding granite outcroppings occasionally dotting the basin. A small stream bisected the landscape.
Rob perked up. “This looks like it might be the one, Ike. If there’s an Indian village here, which way do you think it is? Left or right?”
Ike studied both directions. The valley sloped down to the left, which meant its creek probably met up with a bigger stream farther down. Maybe big enough to suit a large band of Indians. “That way.” He said it with more confidence than he felt and pointed to the left. “Let’s angle on down the hill for a closer look. Keep your rifles handy, and watch for any movement.”
The professor led as they descended toward the creek. He held his rifle loosely in one hand, balanced sideways on the saddle pommel, his horse’s reins in the other. They neared the invisible boundary where pines gave way to the valley floor, and crows took flight with a raucous chorus, giving the riders a momentary start. Inside of riding right into the open valley, the professor kept his horse back in the trees so he stayed hidden. Ike and Rob followed close behind.
Ike spoke in a low voice. “Hugh, hold up there,” and he closed on the lead man. “Let’s stop and listen for a moment.”
The stark land was alive with muted sounds. Hawks screeched faintly as they circled high overhead, wind whistled through swaying tree limbs, and water gurgled over shallow rocks in the middle of the valley. Elk added their high-pitched bugling in the distance. The sun shone brilliantly in between scudding clouds, which threw dark moving blotches over the white terrain.
The professor whispered. “I do not believe we can make a conclusion yet, Ike, as to whether this is the right valley. It is exceptionally pretty, but I cannot tell if it contains the Indian village.”
“Let’s drop on down closer to the stream where it runs nearest the forest. Right over there.” Ike pointed to a spot ahead where the evergreens jutted out toward the brook, which was bordered by seven-foot high willow bushes.
The three kept to the cover of the forest as it bulged out toward the running water. Large granite boulders lay strewn among
the thinning evergreens. The professor led them out of the tree line where they walked their horses over open terrain down to the creek. None of the horses had had enough to eat or drink for several days, so the men let them drink their fill. A peek-a-boo sun warmed them as they sat on nearby rocks.
“What’s the plan, Ike?” Rob took his coat off to take advantage of the sun’s rays.
Ike walked over to Ally and patted her on the neck as she drank. “We’ll just keep headin’ in the direction we’re already goin’ and hope we find some trace of the Indians. If we don’t find anything, it doesn’t mean they aren’t here. It might just mean we headed in the wrong direction comin’ out of the trees. So, keep your fingers crossed that we’re goin’ the right way.”
The three knelt by the creek and splashed water on parts of their bodies that hadn’t been clean in some time. After a short rest, they mounted up and rode out of the maze of reddish-orange willow bushes toward the forested hillside again. As they regained the cover of the trees, Ike heard sounds coming from the creek bed they’d just left behind.
Ike halted. “Shhh. Those are Indian voices down there. Can’t see ’em ’cause of the willows, but my guess is they know we were just there. Probably already found our fresh horse prints. They’ll be comin’ after us in no time. Keep movin’ up the hill, quick like.”
They rode steadily away from the valley floor, going deeper up into the forest when Rob’s balky mount took a misstep, stumbled, and neighed loudly. “Dammit, Rob, keep that nag quiet,” Ike said in a harsh whisper.
Rob had an anguished look on his face. “I can’t do nothin’ with this fool horse since he slipped on that hillside and tumbled down the slope with me. Been real skittish ever since.”
Ike looked back down the hill toward the stream. “I don’t see nothin’ yet, but sure as shootin’ they heard that horse of yours and will be comin’ our way.” He motioned to Rob and the professor. “You two head on up this hill with my horse. I’m gonna get off and slip behind that rock there.” He pointed to a sizeable granite outcropping just to the right of the faint path they were on, and dismounted. “Ally, you go on now and go with them. Go on now, git.” He held Ally’s reins out for Rob.
The Reckoning Page 24