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Authors: Jan Springer
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moments earlier, all of the deer were sprinting away, except for one. It tried to take a few steps, stumbled weakly, dropped to the ground, and was still.
Eve broke down into tears. She wept for Trader Jack, and she wept for the innocent deer.
* * * *
Kayne Durango winced at the intensity of emotions bombarding him. Trader Jack had been a fine friend, and the Durango Gang had visited him often over the past several months since finding him in this valley. The past couple of times when they’d visited him, the gang’s members had been dwindling, and the old guy had found it amusing to learn that first three and then another three of the gang had found women and left the gang, choosing to lead normal lives. Well, as normal as life with three guys and one woman could get in the days after the Catastrophe.
He shivered as cold blasts of wind shifted around him, and from the corner of his eye he caught sight of something moving on a nearby veranda post. It was a heavy-duty piece of cardboard, and it had been nailed to the post just beneath the ceiling to ensure it didn’t get wet from any rain.
Kayne immediately recognized Trader Jack’s scraggly handwriting.
To Whomever Finds Me,
Stepped on a rusty nail a few days back. Figure my time has come. Leave me here if you are foe. I only want friends to bury me. I bequeath my land and estate to the remaining members of the Durango Gang, and I know they’ll find a nice place to plant me.
See youse in the hereafter, Trader Jack
“Poor bastard,” Riley whispered from beside Kayne.
Kayne jolted at his friend’s unexpected arrival. He hadn’t heard Riley coming up the stairs and joining him. Hadn’t realized he’d let his guard down long enough to have gotten himself killed had it been someone other than Riley, Mad, or Eve.
“We’ll need to get shovels,” he muttered as he swallowed the thick lump of emotion threatening to clog his throat.
“Four of them at the back door. He must have gathered them for whoever came along and found him. No sign of his horses. He must have set them loose. Chickens are gone, so is his cow. The barn door was left open, so they got out. Coyotes or grizzly probably got them by now. We should have come back here and checked on him sooner.”
Kayne detected the guilt in Riley’s voice. Tucked his own guilt down deep inside of him.
“We couldn’t anticipate this happening, Ri. Shit happens. Nothing we can do about it. Let’s get him a nice place to rest.”
Riley inhaled sharply beside him, and Kayne noticed the glitter of tears in the younger man’s eyes. Felt them swelling in his eyes, too. Riley nodded, and they set about getting down to the unpleasant task of saying good-bye to a dear friend.
* * * *
It was a quiet evening inside the warm cabin. Earlier, from her perch by the creek, Eve had watched Maddox approach the cabin leading his horse with the dead deer draped over its back. Moments later, she’d watched Kayne, Riley, and Mad head out to a nearby set of saplings. A little while later, they’d come out with what appeared to be a stretcher. They headed back to the cabin, and Eve hadn’t been able to watch anymore. Instead, she bit back her tears, collected some wood, and built a small fire for warmth and companionship for herself and an increasingly skittish Snowball.
Darkness had fallen quickly. With the looming, snowcapped mountains surrounding her, she’d felt quite small and vulnerable, so she’d remained huddled beside the fire until she’d seen a buttery glow of lights splashing out of the log cabin. Despite the sadness tearing up her insides, the sight of life had been quite welcome. A few minutes later, Riley had come to collect her and Snowball. Not soon enough for her horse, though, for she’d started prancing nervously around, compliments of the eerie green lights flickering in the night sky.
Her horse would be happy to be out of the cold night air and inside a barn tonight. So was she. It felt
Eve broke down into tears. She wept for Trader Jack, and she wept for the innocent deer.
* * * *
Kayne Durango winced at the intensity of emotions bombarding him. Trader Jack had been a fine friend, and the Durango Gang had visited him often over the past several months since finding him in this valley. The past couple of times when they’d visited him, the gang’s members had been dwindling, and the old guy had found it amusing to learn that first three and then another three of the gang had found women and left the gang, choosing to lead normal lives. Well, as normal as life with three guys and one woman could get in the days after the Catastrophe.
He shivered as cold blasts of wind shifted around him, and from the corner of his eye he caught sight of something moving on a nearby veranda post. It was a heavy-duty piece of cardboard, and it had been nailed to the post just beneath the ceiling to ensure it didn’t get wet from any rain.
Kayne immediately recognized Trader Jack’s scraggly handwriting.
To Whomever Finds Me,
Stepped on a rusty nail a few days back. Figure my time has come. Leave me here if you are foe. I only want friends to bury me. I bequeath my land and estate to the remaining members of the Durango Gang, and I know they’ll find a nice place to plant me.
See youse in the hereafter, Trader Jack
“Poor bastard,” Riley whispered from beside Kayne.
Kayne jolted at his friend’s unexpected arrival. He hadn’t heard Riley coming up the stairs and joining him. Hadn’t realized he’d let his guard down long enough to have gotten himself killed had it been someone other than Riley, Mad, or Eve.
“We’ll need to get shovels,” he muttered as he swallowed the thick lump of emotion threatening to clog his throat.
“Four of them at the back door. He must have gathered them for whoever came along and found him. No sign of his horses. He must have set them loose. Chickens are gone, so is his cow. The barn door was left open, so they got out. Coyotes or grizzly probably got them by now. We should have come back here and checked on him sooner.”
Kayne detected the guilt in Riley’s voice. Tucked his own guilt down deep inside of him.
“We couldn’t anticipate this happening, Ri. Shit happens. Nothing we can do about it. Let’s get him a nice place to rest.”
Riley inhaled sharply beside him, and Kayne noticed the glitter of tears in the younger man’s eyes. Felt them swelling in his eyes, too. Riley nodded, and they set about getting down to the unpleasant task of saying good-bye to a dear friend.
* * * *
It was a quiet evening inside the warm cabin. Earlier, from her perch by the creek, Eve had watched Maddox approach the cabin leading his horse with the dead deer draped over its back. Moments later, she’d watched Kayne, Riley, and Mad head out to a nearby set of saplings. A little while later, they’d come out with what appeared to be a stretcher. They headed back to the cabin, and Eve hadn’t been able to watch anymore. Instead, she bit back her tears, collected some wood, and built a small fire for warmth and companionship for herself and an increasingly skittish Snowball.
Darkness had fallen quickly. With the looming, snowcapped mountains surrounding her, she’d felt quite small and vulnerable, so she’d remained huddled beside the fire until she’d seen a buttery glow of lights splashing out of the log cabin. Despite the sadness tearing up her insides, the sight of life had been quite welcome. A few minutes later, Riley had come to collect her and Snowball. Not soon enough for her horse, though, for she’d started prancing nervously around, compliments of the eerie green lights flickering in the night sky.
Her horse would be happy to be out of the cold night air and inside a barn tonight. So was she. It felt
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