They were approaching a roadblock on the other end of town that was guarded by two men sitting in old, blanket-covered recliners. “Thank you for the escort,” Rose said. “I was quite nervous when I saw your uncle, but it was actually nice to talk to you. What is your name, by the way?”
The girl held her head high. “My name is Tabitha Gray Eagle, and I am a Crow Indian.”
Rose smiled and extended her hand. “Well, Tabitha, it was an honor to have met you. I hope you’ll be safe.”
Tabitha took Rose’s hand and shook it. “What is your name?”
They were interrupted by one of the men at the barricade. He spoke Crow to the girl, and Rose didn’t understand.
Tabitha said something in reply, directed a stern look at him, and gripped her gun.
The man got up and approached. He was a short man, older than the two girls, and dressed in a ragged coat and dirty jeans. He smiled at Tabitha, exposing yellowed and missing teeth as he rubbed a fresh scar on the side of his face. Then he focused on Rose, giving her a look that unnerved her. “You alone, lady?”
Shivers ran down her back. Rose pulled the reins to the right and gave Smokey a kick. “I need to be on my way. It was nice meeting you, Tabitha.”
“Good luck, Miss,” Tabitha said as she waved. Then she turned to her sister and motioned with her head back the other way.
The man waved as well, and Rose felt his eyes following her. “Goodbye, lady!” he shouted before slowly ambling back to the barricade and dropping into his chair.
CHAPTER 26
Monday, February 6th
Western Montana
A deer sprang out of a stand of trees and darted across the road in front of Kyle, startling his horse and causing Kyle to jump in his saddle. He reined the horse to a stop and studied the forest where the deer had emerged. “It’s alright, Garfield,” he said, rubbing the horse’s neck. Garfield, named after the comic strip cat because of his unnaturally orange coloring, flicked his tail from side to side and wandered towards the trees where some taller patches of grass grew.
Kyle dismounted and stretched his legs, watching the horse as it tugged at the wild growth. Garfield had been a decent companion even though he was old and had a mind of his own, not wanting to walk too fast, go for too long, or pass a creek or stream without stopping for a break.
Riding wasn’t foreign to Kyle. He’d done it a lot as a child, spending weeks in the summer on his grandfather’s farm riding with his cousins. But grandpa had also had an old dirt bike, and rather than messing with saddles and halters, it was much easier to wheel the bike out of the barn, jump on, kick it over, and be off. Looking back, it would have been nice to learn more about horses, but as a twelve year old, he’d been more concerned with fun and adventure than in planning for any distant, doomsday scenario where a knowledge of animal husbandry might come in handy.
Kyle tied Garfield to a fallen tree, untied his canteen from the saddle and walked to the river to fill it. His knees popped as he squatted down at the river’s edge and dipped the canteen into the water until it was full. He stood and shook each leg, one at a time, then dropped to the ground and did a set of pushups.
Garfield was nice to have, much better than walking, but Kyle sometimes wondered if his old cart would’ve been a better arrangement where he could’ve carried more and gone on his own schedule. But then again, despite his aching back and painful saddle sores, his body was taking less of a beating than when he’d walked, and he didn’t need to eat as much food to make it through each day. Add to that the fact that traveling the river valleys meant there was plenty of food and water for both horse and rider, and this set up did seem to be the best overall under the circumstances.
Travel had been steady and easy so far. After leaving Frank’s place, he’d traveled West, gone around Missoula, then hooked North onto State highway 93, the route he usually took to visit his parents. He knew the road well, having last traveled it just before his business trip to Houston, but that was six months ago and things had changed a lot since then.
Where before it had been just a few hours travel time with food and fuel available along the way, it was now a three-week journey with limited food, no fuel, and questionable survivability. Traveling through towns on horseback was usually a straightforward event. Stop at the checkpoint on the Southside, state your purpose, assure the sentries you had no evil intentions, then pass quietly through, sometimes escorted, other times not.
He felt like a cowboy in an old western movie, riding unannounced into town, a wary sheriff keeping an eye on him, the townsfolk nervous as children scampered out of his way, though in the movies the townsfolk never looked as hungry or as worried as they did now. Kyle had picked up a few letters along the way to be delivered to people in towns further along his route, the recipients’ names and towns printed neatly on the outside of envelopes. There was no postage fee, but the senders usually offered some food, a couple of bullets, or something else of value for his troubles. To this point, Kyle had picked up sixteen letters and already delivered three of them to grateful family or friends, anxious for news from their loved ones.
Garfield snorted, and Kyle walked back to him and checked the straps of the saddle, making sure there were no saddle sores on the horse and that everything was secure. He took a few grains of Frank’s powdered bleach and dropped them into his canteen, then closed the lid and shook it vigorously. “You ready to go?”
Garfield ignored him and continued to graze. Kyle circled the horse, checking the bottom of each hoof for embedded rocks, then mounted up and continued on his way.
CHAPTER 27
Tuesday, February 7th
Deer Creek, MT
Ty Lewis knocked on the door, then stood back and waited. The door opened a few inches, and Jennifer peered out through the crack. “What do you need?” she asked, squinting in the sunlight.
“Hi, Jennifer,” Ty said, rubbing his arms to ward off the cold. “I promised Kyle I would look out for you guys while he was gone, so I’m here. My daughter said you weren’t at school today.” She nodded. “Can I come in? I don’t want to let all your warm air out.”
Jennifer hesitated, then pulled the door open wide enough for Ty to come in.
Ty hurried in, and closed the door behind him. “Feels good in here,” he observed. “Mind if I sit down?”
“How long are you planning on staying?” Jennifer asked, her arms folded tightly across her body, her head dipped low.
“I don’t plan to stay too long, Jennifer, but we need to talk. What you’re doing isn’t healthy.” He smiled and tried to make eye contact, but she wouldn’t look him in the eye.
“How do you know what’s good for me and what isn’t?” she snapped. “Maybe this is how I like things. Maybe this is all I can do.” A tear welled up in the corner of her eye, and she wiped it away. “Maybe you should just leave me alone,” she said, raising her voice and motioning for Ty to leave.
Spencer heard his mother and ran up the stairs from the basement. He looked at his mother, then over at Ty, then wrapped his arms around Jennifer’s leg, giving her a hug.
“Hi Spencer,” Ty said. “You doing okay, buddy?”
He nodded his head innocently and looked up at his mom.
“He doesn’t exactly understand why his father’s gone. After Kyle’s miraculous return, to have the town try and kill him then run him off is a little hard for this family to wrap our heads around.”
“You want to come over to my house and play with Zettie tomorrow?” Ty asked Spencer. “You know her from school, right? I think she’s your age.”
Spencer nodded again. “She’s in my class.” He looked up at his mom. “Can I go?”
“That would be fine, if it’s okay with Mr. Lewis.”