Hard Ride to Hell (9780786031191) Read Online Free Page A

the two fools up one way and down the other. Instead, he just jerked his head in a curt nod and said, “You’d better hope they don’t. Finding one of their own warriors stabbed in the back is likely to spook them a lot more than running across a couple of riders would have.”
    Earlier, when the two men had come back from scouting the approaches to the Assiniboine village, they had brought an Indian pony with them, trailing from a rope lead held by Dwyer. When Randall had demanded to know where the animal came from, they had hemmed and hawed around for a minute and tried to say they found it, but it hadn’t taken long for his cold stare to get the truth out of them.
    They had run into a warrior in a canyon that cut through a ridge several miles from the Assiniboine village. The Indian kept asking questions, the scouts claimed, so Dwyer had distracted him while Page got behind him and put a knife in his back. Then they had dragged him over to the side of the canyon and caved in part of the wall on him. Chances were they were right about nobody finding the body, at least not in time to have any effect on the mission that had brought Randall and his men to this part of the territory.
    With the matter settled for the time being, unsatisfactory though it might be, Randall turned and stalked away to give himself a chance to control his anger. He looked up at the sky.
    In a couple of more hours, it would be dark.
    And once night had fallen, he and his men could ride down out of these hills and do what they had been sent here to do. That thought put a faint smile on Randall’s rugged face.
    The prospect of killing always did.

Chapter 4
    Standing Rock and several of his friends carefully wrapped Blue Bull’s body in a blanket and tied it onto one of the horses. It was a solemn group that left the canyon and started back toward the Assiniboine village.
    â€œDo you have any idea who might have done this terrible thing, Preacher?” Two Bears asked as they rode at the head of the search party.
    â€œI thought I spotted some sign from a horse wearin’ shoes in the canyon,” Preacher replied. “The ground’s too rocky to be sure of anything, though. But I’d say there’s a good chance Blue Bull ran into a white man. Probably more than one.”
    â€œWhy more than one?”
    â€œIt ain’t that easy for most folks to get behind somebody and stab ’em, unless the fella on the receivin’ end of that knife is distracted somehow. If Blue Bull came upon two white men in that canyon, would he have stopped and talked to them?”
    Two Bears looked over at Standing Rock, who was riding on his other side close enough to have heard Preacher’s question.
    â€œHe would have talked to them,” Standing Rock replied. “He would have asked them who they were and what they were doing on Assiniboine land.”
    â€œWould he have challenged ’em enough that they thought he might attack them?” Preacher asked.
    â€œBlue Bull would never attack anyone without good reason!” Standing Rock responded.
    Two Bears said, “Blue Bull’s blood ran hot at times, like that of all young men. The white men might have believed they were in danger.” The chief’s voice hardened. “But that was no reason to murder one of my young men.”
    â€œNo, it sure wasn’t,” Preacher agreed. “I think we’re on the right track about what happened, though, regardless of the reason for it.”
    â€œDo you think you could track the men who did this, old friend?”
    Preacher shrugged and said, “I could give it a try. There ain’t all that much daylight left, but I can go up on that ridge and take a look around. If there really were some other riders in that canyon, they didn’t come out either side of it. We would have seen the tracks at this end, and Standin’ Rock probably would’ve noticed ’em at the other