“Some hunting.Odd jobs here and there.Gives us reason to move around.”
“Tell me more about the cabin.”
“Clint found it when trailing some rustlers.Pure luck.He heard some cattle bawling.Otherwise he never would have found the small valley.Perfect hiding place.There’s only one entrance from this side of the mountain, and it’s through what appears to be solid rock.It was used apparently by some mountain man long gone.We find traps occasionally.But it’s safe.I had trouble finding it even after I’d been there a couple of times.”
“The rustlers?”
“They won’t be back,” Ben said.
He pointed at a cluster of oddly shaped rocks.“That’s the turnoff.Try to memorize the way from here on up.”He moved quickly to the lead, and Rafe followed him into a forest of pines and aspens.
The smells were sweet here, the scent of wildflowers mingling with the tangy one of the pines.The tops of the trees nearly blocked out the sun, casting dancing shadows across the carpet of needles.
The way suddenly became very steep, and the horses struggled to keep their footing.
“There’s another route,” Ben explained, “but it comes out on the other side of the mountain.During the winter we had to use it several times.But it’s a hell of a long way.”
“I hope to be gone before winter.”
“It can snow early here,” Ben said.“Real early.We built a shelter for the horses and supplies.”
“Ben …?”
The younger man turned to him, a question in his eyes.
“I don’t want you and Clint involved any further.Or the others.”
“You need us.”
“No.”
Ben reined in his horse and stopped.“None of us would be alive if it weren’t for you.”
Rafe looked down at the horse and saddle.“That was war.We all took care of each other.”
“We’re still taking care of each other,” Ben said, his jaw setting.“When Johnny got in trouble …” He hesitated, then turned away.
Rafe frowned.“Johnny Green?”
Ben shrugged.“He got himself mixed up with a gang down in Texas, was involved in a robbery and almost hanged.”He gave a small smile.“None of us are exactly welcome down there now.”
Rafe was silent.Ten years of prison and bitterness hadn’t prepared him for the response he felt.Gratitude?He didn’t know whether he wanted to feel that.It was easier to feel nothing at all.
“Captain, they’re not going to let you do it alone,” Ben said.
“I don’t want anyone else involved now.It’s my fight.”
“We are involved, whether you like it or not.No way we’re going to back off now,” Ben said.
Rafe’s mouth thinned, but he accepted.He’d already drawn them in too deeply.But he could make sure they weren’t hurt.He nodded curtly and moved his gaze to the line of trees they were following.
Chapter 3
“Lady, you don’t want to go there alone.”
Shea looked at the man at the ticket window of the Casey Springs stage station.“I can’t wait a week,” she said, trying her best to stare him down.
“I’m telling you there ain’t no coach for another six days, and it ain’t safe traveling alone, not since them outlaws started robbing coaches and stealing payrolls and attacking everything that moves.”
