An Occurrence in Crazy Bear Valley Read Free Page B

already.”
    Stephens drew a card from the deck. “After what we did back in that last town? You really think they’d just let us go?”
    “Of course not,” Morgan replied. “You don’t pull something like that and just walk away unscathed. We were wanted men before that. Now we’re twice as wanted. I reckon the law will double—maybe triple the bounty on our heads. Then they’ll put the word out. Hell, they probably put it out already. But like I told you earlier, I don’t think any of the folks in the posse will bother riding into these parts to hunt for us. They’re too soft. We’re hard men—harder than them—and they know it. What they’ll probably do is hire their own hard men to come after us. Ex-soldiers, bounty hunters and the like. Lots of fellas like that around these days, looking for a fight. Castaways from the war. So they’ll buy themselves some hired guns to come hunting for us. But that will take a few days—a few weeks, even. I reckon we’ve got time. And it ain’t like we’ve never had those types chasing after us before.”
    “I sure hope you’re right, boss” Johnson said.
    “Tell you what,” Morgan replied. “If I ain’t, and they do show up here, you can be the first one to shout out ‘I told you so.’ Fair enough?”
    Johnson didn’t respond.
    “Whereabouts do you reckon we are, anyway?” Parker asked.
    Morgan shrugged. “I imagine we’re somewhere near the Humboldt Line. What they call Big Woods Country.”
    “That’s an apt name,” Gunderson said from his seat at the window.
    “It certainly is,” Morgan agreed. Then he glanced at Parker. “You ain’t cheating now, are you?”
    Parker grinned. “I know better than to cheat this bunch, boss. And besides, this ain’t my deck, remember? Mine’s scattered all over that saloon back where we come from.”
    “When has that ever stopped you before?”
    Parker’s grin grew larger. He winked at Morgan. “Well, I ain’t had time to mark these cards yet.”
    A search of the lumberjacks’ footlockers had turned up several rawhide tobacco pouches. It was stale but still smoke-able. After they had finished their meal, the men tamped tobacco into their pipes while Clara and Crystal removed the plates and utensils. Clara joked and flirted with each of them in turn, but it was clear that she favored Johnson. Crystal did her best to mimic the older woman’s behavior, clearly afraid of what would happen to her if she didn’t. Morgan watched her silently. The girl was smart. She’d obviously picked up on the dynamic between Johnson and Clara, so she paid special attention to him. When he ignored her advances, she turned her attempts to Parker, who seemed to appreciate them more.
    Once their pipes were lit and flowing, Morgan dealt them another hand of cards. Then he leaned back, blew smoke, and sighed.
    “It’ll do us good to stay here a couple of days,” he said. “We can rest up. More importantly, the horses can rest up. Damn things are nearly dead, hard as we’ve been riding them. Which reminds me. Stephens, head on out there and see to them. Rub them down, check their hooves, make sure they’ve got water and such. And tie them close to the cabin. We don’t need them wandering off in the night or getting eaten.”
    “Me?” Stephens peered out over the tops of his cards. “I hung the bodies up like you asked, Morgan. Can’t someone else take a turn?”
    “No.”
    “No?”
    “Did I stutter? Now go on and get.”
    “Well, that don’t rightly seem fair, boss. Why can’t someone else do it?”
    Morgan scowled at him. “Why not? I’ll tell you why not, you fat fucking toad. Because I goddamn said so. That’s why. Now if you want to skin on out of here and take your chances on your own, you be my goddamned guest. But as long as you ride with us, then you do as I say. It’s been that way since the beginning. Shouldn’t come as no big surprise to you now.”
    “You’re right.” Stephens pouted. “I