Lonely On the Mountain (1980) Read Online Free

before." "And they're headin' west, like us." "We got to keep an eye out. We'll be comin' up with them maybe tomorrow night or next morning. They aren't going to make much time." "What do you make of it?" Cap asked.
    "A papoose in the cradle board, one walkin' about youngster, two women and four men.
    Two of the men are oldish, gettin' on in years.
    One's a youngster--fightin' age but young. Then there's the wounded man." "I spotted 'em a while back." Cap put the butt of his rifle on the ground.
    "They've been keepin' to low ground. Looks to me like they're scared." Well, I took my hat off and wiped the sweat off my forehead, then put my hat on and tugged her down tight. "Cap," I said, "we'd best sleep light and step careful because whatever's after them is comin' our way, too."

    Chapter III
    We were taking it easy. We had a long way to go, but the season was early, and there was no use us gettin' so far north that the grass wouldn't have come yet. The country was greenin', but it would take time. We had come up to the Jim River just below Bear Creek.
    Cap an' Tyrel scouted ahead, riding into the trees to see if company waited on us, but there was nobody. There was fair grass on the plain and mighty good grass in the creek bottom, so we swung our herd around and bedded them down.
    Swingin' along the edge of the trees, I dabbed a loop on a snag and hauled it up for the fire.
    Lin was already down from the wagon and picking up some flat stones he could use to set pots on.
    We hadn't any chuck wagon, and grub was scarce. Leavin' Brandy with the stock, Tyrel rode down to where I sat my horse. "Saw some deer back yonder." He gestured toward the creek. "Figured I'd ride out and round up some meat." "Sure." As he turned his mount away, I said, "Keep your eyes open for those Injuns. I think they're somewhere about." "Maybe so." He pulled up for a moment.
    "Night before last--maybe I was wrong, but I thought I smelled smoke." He let it rest for a minute, and then he said, "Tell? You know what I think? I think those Injuns are ridin' in our shadow. For protection, like." He took out his Winchester and rode off into the trees, but what he said stayed with me. Those Indians were only a handful, and they'd seen trouble from somebody. Tyrel might be right, and they could be stayin' close to us with the idea that they'd not be attacked with us so close by.
    By the time I started back for camp, the cattle had settled down. A few were still grazing on last year's grass, but most of them were full as ticks. I wasn't fooled by their good shape because I knew rough country lay ahead of us.
    When I stepped down from the saddle and ground hitched my horse, the other two riders had come in and were drinkin' coffee. Gilcrist was a lean, dark man who handled a rope well and seemed to know something about stock but was obviously a gambler.
    He'd not had much luck getting up a game around camp because mostly when we bedded down the cattle, we were too tired to do anything but crawl into our blankets ourselves. The man traveling with him was a big, very heavy man but not fat. He was no taller than me, maybe even a mite shorter, but he was a good fifty pounds heavier, and it wasn't fat. Gilcrist called him the Ox, so we followed suit. Nobody ever did ask him his name, as folks just didn't ask questions.
    Whatever somebody named you or whatever you answered to was good enough.
    Just as I was stepping down from my bronc, I heard a rifle shot. "We'll have fresh meat for supper," I said.
    Gilcrist glanced around. "Suppose he missed?" "That was Tyrel. He doesn't miss." A few minutes later, Tyrel rode into camp with the best parts of a deer. He unloaded the meat at the fire and led his horse away to strip its gear. Nobody said anything, but when Tyrel came back into camp, I noticed Gilcrist sizing him up.
    We ate, and Tyrel spoke quietly to me.
    "They're about, Tell. I spotted one of them watchin' me." He paused a moment. "I left them a cut of the meat." "He