Lone Valley: A Fresh Start (Mountain Man Book 6)

by Nathan Jones

  Bob grimaced. “So did I. You sure you put the fear of a night attack into them?”

  “Considering I single-handedly chased them from their camp, I would've thought so.” He glanced around at the deceptively peaceful grasslands, brow furrowed. “I think it's about time I head to the gully and check on them. If they are planning to do anything tonight I want to be there and back before dark.”

  “Can you get there without being spotted in daytime?”

  Skyler gave his friend a crooked, if weary, smile. “Randall knows I'm a ghost at night. He has no idea what I'm capable of in daylight.”

  The rancher chuckled. “Well, I do recall how you and Trapper could pop up out of nowhere in your mountains, day or night.” He clapped him on the shoulder. “Just be careful . . . not sure how I'd tell your folks I'd gotten you killed by dragging you into my trouble.”

  Considering this seemed to be personal for Randall, and most of that was due to his hatred of Skyler's dad, he could've argued it was the other way around. Or at least a bit of both. But he just nodded. “Careful is a long learned habit, don't worry. Give a good loud whistle if you see trouble coming, and if I'm in earshot I'll come running.”

  Circling around to follow the ridge from the south was the more obvious route to take, but considering circling around to the north would've added up to an hour to the trip, there wasn't much choice. So Skyler split the difference by finding another gully in the ridge, little more than a cut, well south of where the bandits had set up. He followed it to the western side of the ridge and approached from that direction, which hopefully they wouldn't be expecting.

  Besides, if he did at some point need to attack the bandits in the gully, or sneak up on them again, it was prudent to scout every approach as well as the surrounding area.

  Speaking of his quarry, he didn't see hide nor hair of them on the way to the ridge, or after passing through the southern gully and starting up the western side. That was a relief, since the last thing he wanted was to get chased back to the ranch with his tail between his legs.

  Although on the plus side, if that happened at least he'd finally know where Randall and his gang had gotten to.

  Skyler once again left Junior behind to sneak up the ridge slope to the top of the cliff wall overlooking the gully, making for a spot farther west than his previous perch. His caution turned out to be unnecessary, because the bowl the bandit camp had been built in was empty. No sign of men or horses.

  That wasn't a good sign.

  Biting back a curse, he climbed down the gently sloping wall and slipped through the empty campsite, ears pricked for any sounds of Randall's gang returning. His goal was to search for any clues to suggest whether the bandits had abandoned the gully for good, or if they were just gone on some nefarious purpose and planned to return.

  If it was the latter he needed to hurry; they could be attacking the ranch right at that moment. But if it was the former, taking a few seconds to be able to confirm that Randall's gang had either relocated to a new hideout or left entirely would be useful.

  Unfortunately, since the bandits had been forced to flee their camp in the thicket with just their horses and whatever had been on them, their fallback campsite wasn't exactly a proper one; no tents, no sleeping bags or blankets, no changes of clothes washed and drying on rocks or hanging from strung lines, or anything else you'd expect to see.

  Randall's people had been left with so few possessions that even if they intended to come back, they hadn't needed to leave anything behind.

  On top of that the fire had burned down to embers, which offered no clues since he doubted the bandits were responsible about fire safety. And the crude latrine pit they'd been using along one side of the bowl hadn't been filled in, which also didn't mean anything since, once again, there was no saying bandits would care about cleaning up their campsite before they left.

  Abandoning his fruitless search, Skyler hurried out the west end of the gully and made directly for where he'd left Junior. If Randall's gang was lurking around they might attack the ranch at any time, and he needed to be there when it happened. Especially since daylight was almost gone, and if he'd put the fear of operating at night into the bandits then right now was their last chance for an attack.

  After a day of inactivity, the stallion was only too happy to set a strong pace back through the southern gully towards the ranch. Skyler searched his surroundings carefully the entire time, anxious to find the slightest glimpse of Randall's gang and what they might be planning.

  His search ended abruptly when he spotted the glow of flames from the direction of the ranch to the northeast, lurid in the fading twilight. The sight hit him like a ton of bricks, making him freeze in Junior's saddle even as the stallion continued forward at a gallop.

  No. No way. He was in the wrong place again?

  Cursing, Skyler nudged his horse to even higher speeds. “Come on, boy, we needed to be there fifteen minutes ago! Even if we get back now, it might just be closing the barn door after the horse has bolted.”

  He had no idea how right he was.

  Halfway there, he became aware of a vibrating rumble in the area, one he'd only heard a handful of times but was instantly recognizable. The rumble preceded a stampede hundreds of yards to the north, of what looked like most of the Hendricksons' cows and horses. Including a few of those wearing saddles and ready to be ridden away in an emergency. The livestock was surrounded on three sides by bandits on horseback, whooping and waving their hats and firing guns into the air to keep the panicked animals running towards their gully.

  Randall's gang had successfully raided the ranch.

  The sight made Skyler want to be sick. He didn't see how the bandits could've managed to steal those animals unless they'd first dealt with his friends somehow, and he dreaded what might've happened while he was gone.

  Even though the enemy might've been vulnerable as they herded the Hendricksons' animals, he ignored them and ducked low over Junior's neck, urging every bit of speed he could out of the powerful stallion to get back to the ranch. In his mind he kept picturing awful images of the ranch house burning and his friends' bodies sprawled across the yard.

  His worst case imaginings proved to be overblown, since as he got closer he saw that the flames were coming from the barn and not the house, licking up from the hayloft to engulf the roof. And to his vast relief, not only were there no sprawled corpses but instead he spotted figures darting between the well and the burning building, struggling to fight the flames.

  Four figures, three working desperately while one farther out kept watch in case the bandits returned.

  His friends were alive.

  Skyler galloped into the yard past Lisa as she kept watch, throwing himself out of the saddle and hurrying to the well to join the firefighting efforts. Aunt Vicky was filling buckets there faster than Uncle Bob and Fernando could empty them, so he grabbed one of the spare full ones and got to work.

  He was ashamed to admit he had more experience burning things down than saving them, and firefighting was always a confusion of smoke, endless running, and hoarse voices shouting orders. Often conflicting ones. Still, over the next interminable eternity he helped his friends save the bottom part of the barn, and put out the flaming parts of the roof as it collapsed.

  At some unspoken signal they all finally stopped amid the charred ruin, having done all they could. The others slumped down in exhaustion, while Skyler stood dumbly staring at the half-burned barn, unable to tear his eyes away. Now that the crisis was over he once again felt sick about being in the wrong place to help his friends.

  Head hanging in shame, he made his way over to where Bob was sprawled against a damp, scorched support post. “What happened?”

  The rancher shook his head bleakly. “Not quite sure. One of the bandits must've managed to sneak into the barn. He freed the animals, set fire to the building to spook them, then opened the doors and sent them fleeing out into the night. To add insult to injury, he esc
aped with them on one of the horses we had ready to go.”

  “And Randall and the others were waiting to round them up?”

  “Pretty much. They attacked us just hard enough to keep us pinned in the new positions you suggested we use, so we couldn't even try to round up our livestock ourselves.” His friend's shoulders sagged. “Not that we could've done it with just the four of us, with no horses while being picked off by bandits out in the night.”

  They could've if Skyler had been there to guard them in the job. Or better yet, he might've been able to catch the bandit sneaking up on the barn and stop him before he could do anything. The man had to have snuck up in daylight somehow, which showed an impressive amount of skill, but he wouldn't have got past Skyler.

  He finally tore his eyes from the wreckage, gritting his teeth. “Looked like they were driving them towards the gully.”

  Bob snorted bitterly. “Does it matter? Our only shot at keeping those animals was making sure Randall didn't get them away from the ranch. Which he did, with pathetic ease.”

  Before Skyler could think of a response, Vicky slumped wearily over to plop down on her husband's lap, huddling in his arms. In the sullen light of the dying embers around them tears glistened on her cheeks. “Ten years of work,” she said in a dull, broken voice. “All our hopes and dreams, our lives, gone like that.”

  “We've got our savings,” Bob replied, although with no hope or energy. “We could maybe buy a calf with it.”

  One calf, to replace everything they'd lost. And maybe a few animals Randall hadn't managed to wrangle could be found with a bit of searching, or might make their way back home. That was still more than most had these days, but it was a pathetic way to restart their lives.

  His friends might spend another decade just to get back to where they'd been.

  Skyler opened his mouth to invite them to come to Utah with him, begin anew at his family's ranch. Then he closed it again with a snap; well-intentioned as it might be, now was a terrible time to make such an offer. Salt in the wounds as these good people's lives were crashing down around them.

  No, that wasn't what his friends needed. He crouched down beside the couple, speaking firmly. “This isn't over yet, Aunt Vicky. You know as well as I do how hard it is to move animals at night. And Randall's going to be expecting us to chase him every step of the way, picking his people off in the darkness.”

  His friends stared at him, expressions hard to read in the dim red light. “What are you suggesting, son?” Bob asked quietly. There was still no hope or energy in his tone.

  “The bandits will have taken your livestock to their hideout in the gully. Randall shouldn't know I followed them there, and even if he suspects it that's a more defensible location. One where he'd be more willing to hunker down and guard his newly stolen animals until they can drive them off in the morning.”

  Vicky pushed to her feet with a weary grunt, reaching down to place a small hand on Skyler's shoulder. “You aren't planning to try to get our animals back yourself are you, Sky?”

  He smiled, or at least bared his teeth. “I thought I'd taught Randall last night not to try anything after dark. Looks as if he needs another lesson.”

  “Even if you could somehow take on his gang in a well defended canyon, you couldn't wrangle the livestock back to the ranch while under attack every step of the way,” Bob protested.

  “Then it's a good thing that's not the plan.”

  The older man threw up his hands. “What is the plan, then?”

  Skyler let his smile become wolfish. “They snuck in and set fire to your home, drove your animals out where they could scoop them up. Let's return the favor . . . show them how it's really done.”

  ✽✽✽

  Skyler had snuck into better defended camps than Randall's.

  Granted, it was fairly well locked down. The gully really was a defensible location, and the bandits had sentries closely watching the mouth and head of it. But they obviously hadn't expected enemies to climb, not even on the relatively low and gentle gully walls. And if they'd expected an attack from the top of those walls, they must've thought their sentries would be able to fend them off, or at least warn them in time to do something about it.

  It looked as if the bandits had butchered another goat, one of the few they'd been able to drive away along with the horses and cattle. Most of the men were gathered around the fire, salivating over the prospect of the meat; they'd left most of their food behind in the thicket, so this might be the first real meal they'd eaten all day.

  With them all occupied with their hunger it was a lot easier for Skyler to find a nice shadowed section of wall and creep down it, blindly feeling for handholds and footholds in the darkness. He hadn't done as much climbing as he would've liked in the last two years, and it used different muscles than pretty much anything else you did in day to day life, so his arms were screaming by the time he painstakingly picked his way to the ground. Still, even if he wasn't exactly speedy he managed it without mishap.

  Giving himself a minute to catch his breath, he took out the knife Trapper had given him years ago and crept away from the cover of the wall.

  Moving unseen at night hours before the moon was due to rise, especially where enemies didn't expect you, was far easier than during the day. Over open grassy ground where he would've been spotted in an instant in any proper lighting, the shifting shadows created by the fire gave him plenty of opportunities to take chances he might not otherwise.

  Which wasn't to say his heart wasn't in his throat as he moved with agonizing slowness in the way Trapper had taught him. His dad's advice in situations like this was that he was going to feel exposed, going to feel like the enemy would spot him instantly at a glance, but he had to fight the impulse to dart for cover, make any movements that would be seen.

  Patience had always been any hunter's most important tool.

  Even if the enemy did look his way, in the dark and with his barely perceptible movements they'd see a rock or hump of ground, not an intruder. They might be expecting to see an enemy, looking to see one. But their brains would still fool them unless they'd trained themselves to pay attention in a way most people, even in these suspicious times, just didn't do.

  So, senses alert to the dangerous men around him, he crept one agonizing foot after another to where the bandits were keeping the livestock.

  The cattle hadn't been tied down in any way, since they were docile enough to wait patiently in a new enclosure, even one as flimsy as a few ropes hung between the gully walls. Skyler just needed to cut the rope closer to the gully's mouth before spooking them, to make sure they had no obstacles to their escape.

  Which just left the bandits' horses.

  Taking them was a pretty obvious move. He was here anyway, and he needed to take back the Hendricksons horses too. Not to mention that depriving their enemies of mobility would make fending off future attacks easier. And, a more immediate concern, the bandits would have trouble chasing down and recapturing the cattle on foot.

  Bob had been worried that the bandits would be even more tenacious in their attacks if they were trying to get back their mounts, but Skyler had convinced him that if Randall's gang was going to attack anyway, they might as well make them less able to do it effectively. Besides, even poor as they were, the horses would more than pay for the damage to the Hendricksons' barn and the slaughtered goats. Not to mention Jared's near-fatal wound.

  It was even possible that kind of loss might demoralize Randall's people, finally convince them to give up entirely and leave.

  He crept among the horses, doing his best to keep them calm as he freed them from their tethers one at a time. It took longer than he would've liked, and he kept shooting anxious looks at the bandits gathered around the fire.

  They were cocky in their victory, Randall loudly boasting about sneaking into the barn and getting the animals loosed so the others could drive them away. Skyler had to grit his teeth against his fury as he listened to some
of the bandits lament that they hadn't been able to capture any of the ranch's women in the attack to help them celebrate, although they promised their boss first dibs on the next one they got their hands on.

  “With what we make off selling these cattle,” Tram hollered, “we'll buy him a week with the best whore we can find!” That drew whoops and guffaws.

  Skyler wasted no more time finishing with the horses, then crept over to the cattle and cut the rope keeping them from wandering towards the mouth of the gully. Then he crept over to Buster, who was still settled near the western end of the untethered horses, and after spending a few seconds quieting the nervous gelding cautiously mounted up. He hung down to one side to stay out of view of the bandits in the camp as he mentally prepared himself to start the next part of the plan.

  Lisa still had Nibbly, the one horse that hadn't run off in the stampede, and Skyler had loaned Bob Junior. The two were waiting out past the mouth of the gully to round up the cattle and guide them back to the ranch, like some deadly game of keep away.

  To help cover them Fernando, lured by the promise of one of the bandits' horses, was out in the darkness ready to take potshots at any enemies who rushed out of the gully chasing the animals. Hopefully keeping them pinned down until Skyler and the ranchers had led the livestock out of range of the bandits' guns.

  Skyler had done everything he needed to here. Time to put the next part of the plan in motion and get the animals stampeding.

  This was the part that would very likely get him shot. Thankfully his mom, or Tabby for that matter, had no idea what he was up to; even convincing the Hendricksons of his role in this plan had been difficult enough.

  Although he'd bantered with his friends about returning the favor of burning the barn, there wasn't much in this little bowl to burn. Thankfully there were other ways to spook animals besides fire, such as noise. His rifle could certainly do the job, but Skyler wasn't going to count on just that when he also had the bullwhip he'd borrowed from Bob.