On the Mountain by Peggy Ann Craig Page A

embrace.  The nights were getting colder and that evening was no exception.  A shiver crept over her and she wished she had a blanket to warm herself by the river.  Chuck Rhodes had disappeared and reappeared several times while she sat and waited.  Thankfully, he made no attempt to join her.
    She first felt rather than saw the men return.  Beneath her the earth began a slow rumble that grew until a cloud of dust proceeded a group of men on horseback out of the trail that led from the mountain.  Leaping to her feet, she watched as they headed toward her, their faces covered in soot and drained from exhaustion.  As they neared, she noticed something else.  It was in the eyes.  They lacked life.
    One of the first men to cross the river was Wade.  His horse easily plowed through the deep river and up the rocky bank.  She felt a surge of panic as Sty closed the distance between Wade and herself.  When the animal came abreast to her, his rider leaped from the saddle and handed her his reins.
    “Take my horse to the stable, boy.”
    Desperately afraid to look into his eyes, she recalled vaguely nodding and hurrying off toward the barns with Sty.  A small fragment of her mind wanted details about the fire, however a greater portion feared it immensely.  Her entire state of mind lay on its foundation.  The information Wade carried would affect her completely, whether it be good or evil.
    She stepped inside the dimly lit stables and was immediately confronted by Chuck Rhodes.  He caught her by surprise when he loomed from the shadows near the entrance as if waiting for her.  He was smaller and weaker than Anna and due to his disabled form stood shorter than any of the other men, but he was the one she trusted the least.
    Stepping far too close he sniffed the air around her as a dog would upon a new arrival.  Agitated, she pushed him away and was startled to see the anger leap to his eyes.  Thankfully, the sound of footsteps and pounding hoofs followed directly behind her as the ranch hands piled into the stables along with their horses.
    “Get back to work, old man.”  Neil ordered the man twice his age.  “Christ, and take a bath.  You’re beginning to smell like horse shit.”
    Without another backward glance, he scurried back into the darkness and out of sight.  Anna released a silent sigh of relief, and headed for Sty’s horse stall.  She didn’t know what the old man’s story was, but from now on she would be on her guard.
    She was in the act of brushing Sty down after removing the saddle and blanket from his back when Wade entered the barn along with a man she did not recognize.
    “Put that down and come here, boy,” he said.
    Apprehension crept up her spine, causing her delayed reaction.
    “I said, come here boy.”  This time Wade’s voice was firmer.
    Avoiding any eye contact, she put the brush back in a bucket nearby and stepped out of the stall.  With her back to them, she took her time in the process of closing and locking the gate.  To her surprise, Wade waited patiently until she completed the task and turned around at last to face him.
    “This is Constable Stanford,” he said.  “He wants to ask you a few questions to see if you know anything about the forest fire.”
    Keeping her head downcast she did not acknowledge nor refuse.  She simply stood and waited.
    The man identified as the constable stepped forward.  “Do you have a name boy?”
    She offered no reply.
    “I asked you a question boy.”  The constable’s voice grew stern.
    Slowly she nodded her head.
    Satisfied, he continued.  “Can you tell me?”
    A third person joined the small group.  Prescott was reigning in his mount when he caught this last question and offered, “We call him Peter.”
    The constable turned to look at the younger of the Haddock men.  “Is that his name?”
    “He conceded to it when I asked, so yes it is his name.”
    “He told you his name?”
    “No I guessed it.”  Prescott