The Rider of Phantom Canyon Read Free Page A

creature was walking rapidly down the road, but not moving fast enough to trigger the predatory attack response.
    Dub was shivering, looking all around, his eyessearching every shadow until they watered some more. He heard a loud snap of a branch down the road below him, and he stared into the blackness. His heart now pounded so hard, he really felt it would explode in his chest. The smaller figure behind him was large, but nothing like the one that had spooked his horses and him. It had been humongous. Dub did not know what to do, so he just moved quickly onward. The teamster did not want to run, as he might run right into the giant creature. He did not know that the decision actually prevented an attack by the cougar, as moving at a run surely would have triggered a charge.
    His fast-walking continued for an hour, and at some point the mountain lion gave up the curious pursuit and returned to the smell of the dead horses that had gone over a cliff. Contrary to many beliefs, cougars did not really care much for the taste of beef, but they loved horseflesh. Ninety-eight percent of mountain lions’ diet was deer, which they killed. They did not eat carrion, but the horses had just died, so the big cat would feed on them for several days, until the meat got a little tainted. The finicky cat would then abandon the meal and leave it for bears, coyotes, and other predators. Besides deer, cougars loved to eat skunks and porcupines, which they would reach under and flip on their backs, then biting their stomachs. However, these little critters only constituted two percent of a big cat’s diet. Horses, especially newborn foals, were loved by pumas but hard to catch and kill. These horses that had just died would be a nice treat for thebig tom for a few days. Unfortunately, Dub did not know that the cat was now long gone, and the fear of it would plague him, as well as that of the monster he was seemingly chasing down the long, winding canyon.
    At every turn now, Dub wondered if the hideous creature was on one of the steep, shadowy cliffs often towering above the trail. He pictured a gargantuan monster ready to pounce on him and devour him. He had to stop, though. He had gone many miles much faster than he was used to traveling. His legs now felt like each step was calf-deep in quicksand, and he was sucking air, although he had been steadily dropping in elevation.
    Rounding one bend, Dub spotted a large rocky overhang with a natural cavern going back into the mountain maybe forty feet in depth. He felt he could make a fire here and get some rest. A creek ran the length of the canyon, so water had not been a concern. He also wisely had carried a small emergency parfleche on his side with hardtack, jerked elk meat, matches, and bullets for his pistol. He soon had a small fire going in the back of the natural cavern, and despite his extreme fear, exhaustion took over, and he fell into a deep sleep.
    At some point, Dub started having a nightmare, and in it a giant apelike creature was standing over him while he lay on the ground. It picked a large log out of the fire and let it cast light down on Dub, who was so frightened he could not get his legs to move. The shoulders were twice as muscular as a grizzly’s and twice as wide, and the chest was more massive, too. The creaturewas standing and walked on two legs like a human and bared long fangs like a grizzly.
    Dub wanted to scream but he could not get anything out of his mouth. Then the light from the burning log really bothered his eyes and the heat was getting unbearable. The creature started to make noises that sounded strangely like one of Dub’s wagons, and it came even closer to his face. He gave a loud whimper and sat bolt upright, the bright morning sun shining directly into his face. His sides heaved in and out, and he looked all around. Dub pulled his old pocket watch out and saw that it was well past nine in the morning. He had not slept this long since the day