Page 88 of River Ride

Willy-John left Tammy sleeping after breakfast and trudged out to the barn behind the house that he rarely set foot in.

He’d often thought of getting a horse and riding some of the beautiful mountain trails but had had nobody to ride with and he’d never followed through.

New thoughts were popping into his head since Tammy’s arrival and not all of them were welcome.

He sneezed twice as he moved through the pile of dusty old furniture searching for the single bed he’d taken out of the cabin when he first arrived.

“There it is.”

The dogs sniffed around the barn floor and would no doubt scare up a mouse or two.

He moved several things to get to the bed and found all the pieces. Headboard, footboard, side rails, slats and the mattress wrapped in plastic.

As he hauled the bed to the house a few pieces at a time Willy came to the conclusion that this was a better bed than the one he’d been sleeping on.

He leaned the pieces up against the wall in the main room of the cabin, not wanting to wake Tammy. He’d set up the bed later when she woke up.

He loved having her there in the cabin and taking care of her. She didn’t seem like a wanted fugitive to him, but he barely knew her. She was no longer armed, and she was too badly hurt to be a danger to anyone.

Wild Stallion Ranch.

After dinner Travis said, “We’ll go down to the roadhouse for a pitcher and in the morning we’ll feed the horses and then drive over to Black Wolf Mountain for a couple of days.”

“Yeah, you need some down time, Travis. I’ll take care of the horses, and Ted and I can run the station while you’re gone. We’ve got no open cases now.”

“Should we pack tonight?” asked Virge. “How early are we going to leave?”

“Not too early,” said Travis. “Don’t take long to get there.”

“What about food?” I asked.

“We’ll get that at the store in town before we go up the mountain. They have a decent grocery store in Black Wolf Pass.”

“Sounds like an adventure, Dad,” said Virge.

Dry Run Roadhouse. Coyote Creek. Montana.

Me and Harlan were worried about Travis. He had some of the signs that his PTSD was going to kick up again and we didn’t want that to happen.

Billy was afraid it was true and was encouraging Travis to take time off work.

We sat in our booth and drank beer while Dad talked to Jack at the bar. “What the fuck are we gonna do up there, Harlan?”

“We’re only going for a couple of days. We could play poker or something.”

“Yeah, I guess. I’m gonna look for Sunday’s tame bear while I’m up there and I might hike all the way up to the cabin where she lived. Dad said he never went up that high after the wolves tore his leg up.”

“Yeah, we could hike up and see her place as long as we had our rifles with us. I’m not keen on meeting Sunday’s bear or any of its kin.”

Epilogue

Tuesday, July 16th.

Annie’s Birthday.

Wild Stallion Ranch.

Travis cooked breakfast for us, but he was quieter than usual, and me and Virge figured something was definitely up with him.

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