Slocum #395 : Slocum and the Trail to Yellowstone (9781101553640) by Jake Logan Read Free Book Online Page A

before dawn.
    â€œSorry, I had to sleep some,” she whispered. “Have you seen them?”
    â€œA little sleep won’t hurt us.” He squatted down on his heels. “I suspect those three Injuns are out there. I brought the horses in closer.”
    â€œWhat are they waiting on?” She got up on her knees and swung the blanket over her shoulders for warmth from the chill in the air.
    â€œNerve. They’re getting it up to take us on or they’ll ride off. They’re really all concerned about their medicine. Superstitious as hell. An owl can call and they say, ‘Bad time to attack them.’”
    â€œI sure hope this is a bad time. I’ve been up here for several years and never had any of them give me a minute’s trouble.”
    â€œSo have I. But hell only knows what goes on in their brains. Their way of life has been totally changed from what they were used to, when they were able to follow the buffalo and fight their enemies for land usage. Braves were hunters and warriors, not farmers like the government proposes.”
    â€œThere are no more buffalo to amount to anything. Or any other game like it was before.”
    â€œThat’s it. They are disposed of and spit upon. Breeds even more ’cause they are the spawn of their own traitorous tribal women lying with the white man. They are neither white nor red and have less of a place in this closing world.”
    â€œWhat the hell do we do about them?”
    â€œI hope they ride on.”
    â€œIf they don’t?”
    He shook his head ruefully. “I won’t bury them.”
    With a nod, she asked, “Is there coffee?” She indicated the pot on the edge of the fire.
    â€œNot much coffee left. It’ll be daylight soon, and we’ll see what they plan to do.”
    â€œWhatever. I ever tell you that you’re my favorite guy?” She gave him a big smile in the dim light.
    â€œDon’t brag on me. I’ll disappoint you.”
    She looked at the lightening sky and shook her head. “No, you won’t—”
    From the corner of his eye, he saw the flash of a paint horse—moving away. “I see them. They’re headed west.”
    She rose, hugging the blanket to her. “Where are they going now?”
    â€œI have no damn idea.” He removed his hat and scratched his scalp. Single file, the bucks disappeared between the lodgepole pines. “I guess their medicine was bad.”
    â€œSonsabitches,” she swore. “They simply went away?”
    â€œI’m not complaining. Let’s load up and go back to your place.”
    â€œI agree. Damn them to hell anyway.”
    One more incident—he was glad he didn’t have to kill them. Not that he felt they were special or anything. They were simply lost people, like himself, looking for something. They all shared a lonesome world. At least he had a buxom woman who tried her damnedest to please him, while those three had nothing but their hands to jack off with. He kissed Wilma for being there, and she went around blinking her eyes like she was in shock over his actions.
    The two of them saddled and loaded up. In ten minutes they were headed for her place. No sign of the three bucks, and Slocum hoped they were gone forever. But doubt about them, and the two men Slocum was hunting, rode on his mind as they headed southward . Where in the hell were Jennifer’s killers?

6
    Clouds floated overhead all day, harbingers of some storm headed for the Bighorns. The thought of a severe disturbance made Slocum’s belly crawl. When they reached her place, it was near dark. But slung over his lap they had a fat doe he’d shot an hour before. They’d need the meat, and Wilma also spoke about riding in to a settlement for coffee beans if he had some spare money.
    He laughed and agreed he had enough money to buy coffee and a few other luxury items.
    â€œTake me a day to get down there and