Slocum's Silver Burden by Jake Logan Page A

he said. Well, I overheard him say that. Don’t tell Mr. Wright I was spyin’!”
    â€œWhat about the woman who came right on his heels?”
    A dreamy expression came to the boy’s face. Tamara had been here. Words weren’t needed to confirm that.
    â€œDid she buy a horse?”
    â€œYeah, she did. Mr. Wright wanted to dicker.”
    â€œSo he could keep her here a bit longer,” Slocum guessed.
    â€œHe ain’t nobody’s fool. ’Course he wanted her to stick around a spell. She was quite a looker. But she paid him the first price he asked. That made him mad.”
    Slocum had to laugh. Horse trading often went on all day long, both sides enjoying the ebb and flow of arguments and observations about the quality of the horseflesh being purchased and even the legitimacy of both buyer and seller’s heritage. Tamara had been in a rush to get after Jack and had paid the asking price. Slocum guessed she wasn’t used to such haggling either, at least not with money. Her price came higher, much higher, and had little to do with greenbacks.
    Unless he was completely mistaken, she had worked her way into Collingswood’s office to get the time and schedule for the silver shipment. Whether she knew a big shipment was due or had worked her way up the corporate ladder and simply waited for a decent opportunity hardly mattered. The more he thought on it, the more he thought she had told Jack and his gang about the shipment, and they had double-crossed her. Now she wanted her share—or all of it.
    He found a single road leading due east through the hills and took it, keeping the horse trotting along. The mare had no trouble with him astride, making him believe the repairman might have been heavier. Getting rid of most of the tools in the saddlebags had lightened the load, too. He only wished there had been time to lay in provisions for what might turn into a long pursuit.
    It only took an hour for him to spot the woman riding along a mile ahead on the mountainous road. He caught sight of her as she took a sharp bend some distance above him. The way she rode, she paid no attention to her back trail. Jack had to be ahead of her because Slocum saw no trace of the man trailing her. He began the climb up the side of the hill, losing track of Tamara, but unlike her, he kept a close watch on his back trail. The way Collingswood had hired other railroad detectives meant Slocum had company. He just didn’t know who they might be—and they had no idea who he was. When such a haul was at stake, shooting first and asking questions later was the easier trail to ride.
    Slocum thought hard as he trotted along the switchback road. The vice president had to be desperate to hire men recruited by Underwood, unless he trusted the two-fingered man more than he would a simple employee. Underwood might be a good judge of character but how many men were like Slocum, who would find such a trove and return it for a small reward?
    He was a man of honor, and he had promised to find the silver for the railroad.
    He came out on the crest of the hill and was treated to a fine view of the eastern slopes. The road went down steeply, almost straight as an arrow. Tamara rode with the same resolve the sheriff had shown before. Squinting, Slocum made out another solitary rider much farther along the road. It took little imagination to believe this was Jack. Since he rode alone, he would be easy prey. Even with a gang backing him up, Slocum thought it would be easy to get the drop on him.
    Night crept up on him, but Slocum pressed on because both Tamara and Jack did also. He tried to keep from falling asleep in the saddle, but a bigger problem was his horse. As game as the mare was to keep going, it started to stumble, as much from exhaustion as the dark.
    Slocum gave in to the inevitable. Either he stopped for the night to rest the mare or he walked when the horse died under him. He found a narrow game trail