The First Day of Eternity, page 1
Pinnacle Westerns
by Spur Award–Winning Author
CHARLES G. WEST
THE JOHN HAWK WESTERNS
Hell Hath No Fury
No Justice in Hell
Montana Territory
THE COLE BONNER WESTERNS
Massacre at Crow Creek Crossing
THE HUNTERS
To Hell and Gone
Published by Kensington Publishing Corp.
THE FIRST DAY OF ETERNITY
THE HUNTERS
CHARLES G. WEST
PINNACLE BOOKS
Kensington Publishing Corp.
www.kensingtonbooks.com
Table of Contents
Also by
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
Teaser chapter
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Copyright © 2024 by Charles G. West
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ISBN: 978-0-7860-5021-5
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For Ronda
CHAPTER 1
Cody Hunter remained standing motionless for what seemed like many minutes, staring down at the engraved stone that seemed so out of place here in this wilderness. This was not the roughly carved names and dates left by emigrants and travelers so often found on these wagon roads. The persons responsible for memorializing this rugged-looking patch of scrubby weeds and bushes thought it worthy of a permanently engraved and polished gravestone. He was still in a mild state of shock as he read the gravestone again. The tragic attack had happened fifteen years ago, but the stone had obviously been left here at a more recent date, judging by the condition of it.
In loving memory of
Our Father and Mother, Robert and Rose Frasier
Our brothers, Tim and Bobby
And their friend, Cody Hunter
Fifteen years had passed since the attack on the three wagons traveling the Mullan Road to Washington Territory, and Cody had been only five years old at the time. So, his memory of the attack was vague at best. He remembered the sudden explosion of shooting and his parents telling him to run to the lead wagon. He remembered he had been walking with Bobby Frasier when the shots first rang out. He and Bobby ran until Bobby suddenly fell. After that, there was nothing until he awoke one morning in a Crow tipi to find an Indian woman smiling down at him. Her name was Morning Rain, wife of Spotted Pony. When Cody was well enough to understand, Morning Rain told him that Spotted Pony had found him under a bush after the attack on the three wagons. She told him about the wolf that was protecting him until he was found by the Crow hunters. She also told him that Spotted Pony had found the bodies of his father and his brothers.
Now, after so many years had passed, years that saw him accept Spotted Pony and Morning Rain as his parents, he is stunned to realize one of the bodies Spotted Pony found was not that of his father. He had said he found the body of a woman and a man. They were evidently Bobby Frasier’s parents. The bodies of the two boys were those of Bobby and Tim Frasier. He remembered then that the Frasiers also had two daughters. Looking at the tombstone again, he guessed that the daughters were responsible for its existence. At the moment, he wished he had never seen the stone. He had grown into manhood thinking his real parents were dead and he was proud to be a Crow warrior. To learn now that his father and brothers might still be alive was more of a troubling nature to him. He could not deny a natural curiosity about them, but the contrast in their lives might be too much to overcome. Maybe best to leave things as they are, he decided, and push on westward. “Things happen for a reason, Storm,” he announced to his big dun gelding as he climbed back up into the saddle. “And it seems to me that I was supposed to walk the path of the Crow. I’ve got no complaints.” He wheeled his horse around to follow the trail out of the Mullan Pass.
* * *
Cody continued to follow the road down from the pass, just as his father had fifteen years ago. It was supposed to lead him to Clark’s Fork River. Although only five at the time, he remembered that the river would take them up a valley to a place called Hellgate Village. He remembered that he and his brothers had laughed at the name. He could only assume he would know the river when he reached it, for he was now traveling where he had never been before. Since he was in no particular hurry to reach Hellgate Village, he was inclined to keep an eye alert for any signs of deer activity. He had already decided to stop and make his camp if he discovered a good hunting spot, and he came to an obvious one when he approached a healthy stream making its way down from a tree-covered ridge north of the trail.
When he reached the point where the road crossed the stream, he was gratified to discover a multitude of deer tracks going and coming on a path he assumed led to the river. There was no longer any decision to be made, he was ready to select a spot to camp for the night. If he had read the sign right, and he was confident that he had, then he should be able to take care of his needs for meat for quite a while. So he turned his attention toward the selection of a place to camp that would serve him for a few days while he butchered and smoked a quantity of deer meat to last him for some time. The camp he needed would have to provide grass and water for his horses for the few days he would spend there. So it only made sense to follow the stream to the river, camp beside the river, and hunt the game trail the deer followed to the river. That way, his camp would be far enough away from his hunting and not likely to scare the deer away.
He was pleased to find the river was closer than he thought. When he reached the point where the stream emptied into it, it appeared to be a popular crossing point for the deer. It seemed that he had happened upon the perfect hunting ground. He wasted no time in selecting the location for his camp and soon had his horses and packs taken care of. There was plenty of wood available for his campfire as well as his smoke-curing of the meat. He thought then of his Crow brother, Bloody Axe, and their many hunting trips together. Bloody Axe would have thought this a perfect setup.
By the time he had his base camp established, the sun was already setting and soon it would be dark and the deer would be coming out of the tree-covered hills above to go to water and graze. He planned to do most of his hunting in the morning, but he decided he might as well enjoy some fresh meat tonight. So as not to take the risk of scaring the game away from the trail, he decided to kill his deer tonight with his bow. With that possibility in mind earlier, he had made it a point to notice likely spots to ambush a deer on the path down to the stream. So he picked up his bow and started back up the slope on foot, walking through the trees parallel to the game trail. When he reached the last spot he had mentally noted, he cut over to the path and settled himself across the stream from it.
After a considerable wait, he was beginning to think he might not know the habits of the Montana mountain deer. Then he heard the soft padding of deer hooves on the path above and a large buck passed on his way to the river. Behind the buck, three does followed. Cody notched an arrow and drew it back. Aiming for a lung shot behind the front leg of the hindmost doe, he released the arrow. At that short distance, both his aim and his power were enough to cause her to stumble at once, then attempt to get up to run. But Cody was quickly on her to end her suffering before the other deer knew she was down. “I’m glad you weren’t any bigger,” he said when he strained to get her up on his shoulders. Once he got her settled, he very carefully retraced his tracks back down the slope to his camp.
As soon as he got back to his camp, he gutted and bled the deer. Then he hung the carcass from a tree limb, all this before he started his fire. The spot he had selected for his camp was at a sharp curve in the river, and he located his fire back against the elbow formed by the curve. With a thick stand of fir trees lining that side of the river, he figured his fire would be very hard to detect, especially from the road that continued north after crossing the stream, a considerable distance away. That was important to him since he planned to stay long enough to supply himself with meat enough to last him for a while. He built his fire then and while it was gaining life, he started butchering the deer, setting aside the cuts to be his supper that night and his breakfast in the morning. He then prepared cuts of meat for smoking, including some thin strips to be smoked and eaten later on as jerky. After his fresh meat was done, he went to work converting his fire to a smoking chamber, using green wood and leaves and branches to produce the smoke he needed to preserve the rest of the meat.
Still feeling no need to hurry, he remained there for a couple of days until he decided he could not reasonably carry any more on his two packhorses. It was with a fair amount of reluctance that he finally closed down his camp. Had it not been in the vicinity of a well-traveled road, he might have considered wintering there. As carefully as he hunted, he was convinced he would never interrupt the endless supply of meat that came down the stream. “Time to get movin’ tomorrow,” he told the dun gelding. “Another day or two in this camp and you’ll be too fat to travel.”
It crossed his mind that he would be traveling the same road his father and brothers traveled after the attack by the Blackfoot party, thinking that he was dead. The thought of how they must have felt caused him to wonder if he should make any attempt to let them know he was alive. He had already decided it best to leave things as they were. Now, he wasn’t sure if that was the right thing to do. Ultimately, he decided he would try to find his father and brothers if he could. Then he could decide whether to tell them the true story or not. That decision sat easier on his mind. After fifteen years, it was unlikely anyone in Hellgate Village would remember that one wagon, anyway.
* * *
He was awakened shortly before daybreak by the sound of gunshots. A hunter, he wondered, but still groggy after having been awakened by the shots, he wasn’t certain exactly how many he had heard. They were not that far away and sounded as if they had come from the wagon road. He decided it in his best interest to see if he could find the source of the shots so he could avoid being shot at himself. In the darkness he might be mistaken for a deer. So he packed up his camp, figuring to cook his breakfast after he checked on the shots. He climbed on his horse and started back through the trees until he reached the wagon road again just as the first rays of light began to expand. After riding what he estimated to be a distance of about half a mile, he was approaching another stream crossing. He spotted a thin line of smoke wafting up through the trees a few dozen yards off the road. He decided it best to check it out, so he turned the dun gelding off the road and rode into the trees beside the stream, where he dismounted and pulled his rifle from the saddle sling. Leaving his horses there, he proceeded to make his way to the fire on foot. He had not gone far when he saw the campsite through the trees in a small clearing and what looked like a body lying several feet from the fire.
Immediately alert then, he crouched and advanced a little closer to the fire, holding his Henry rifle ready to fire. He hesitated and listened for a few moments. Hearing no sound other than the insects by the stream, he took another step forward in time to hear the snap of a bullet behind his head, followed at once by the report of the rifle that fired it. At the same time, he saw the muzzle flash directly across the campfire in the bushes on the other side. He reacted at once. Hearing no sound of another cartridge being chambered, he instinctively charged right across the fire and into the bushes on the other side. The collision with the shooter sent them both tumbling and both frantically fighting for possession of the shooter’s rifle. Cody easily overpowered his opponent who turned out to be a woman who continued to struggle until she realized it was useless.
When he felt her relax her arms, he said, “I have not come to harm you. You have nothing to fear from me. Do you understand? The person lyin’ beside the fire, is that your husband?”
“He is my brother,” she answered. “They killed him. I thought you were them coming back to look for me.” He released her arms then, feeling sure she was no longer a threat.
“You’re sure he’s dead?” Cody asked.
“Yes,” she answered. “They shot him three times.” She started crying then. “I ran into the bushes and they came after me, but I climbed up into a tree and they didn’t see me in the dark. I waited a long time after they gave up before I went back to my brother. I’m sorry I shot at you, but I thought it was them.”
“How many were there?”
“Two,” she answered. “Two vile men. They took our horses and the little food we had. They said they wouldn’t hurt us and then they shot my brother down and that’s when I ran. I outran them and kept running till I got tired and hid in that tree. I heard them talking when they walked under that tree. I was so afraid they were going to look up and see me. One of them said I would come back to the fire to get anything I could use. So they went away to make another camp, then sneak back here when I came back.”
“I’m surprised they left you a rifle to use against them,” Cody said.
“They didn’t see it,” she said. “Tom propped it up against a tree when he went to get more wood for the fire. And that was why he didn’t even have a chance to fight when they pulled their guns.”
“I’m sorry about your brother,” Cody told her, “but right now I expect we’d better get ready for their return so you can get your horses and whatever else they took from you. I’ve gotta go get my horses and move them down below your camp so they don’t see them.”
“Are you sure we shouldn’t just run before they come back?” she asked. “These are two rough men.”
“They need to answer for killin’ your brother,” Cody told her. “And we need your horses back. So you stay right here outta the clearin’ and I’ll be right back.” She looked uneasy about it as if he just might leave and keep going rather than fight two killers. But she nodded her head vigorously. He went back toward the road to get Storm and his packhorse. In a few minutes, he was back, and when he led the two horses past her, he held out a piece of deer jerky. “You hungry?” Again, she nodded vigorously and took the jerky while he went to hide his horses.
CHAPTER 2
“Whaddaya reckon that shot was?” Elmo Cox asked. They had been gone for more than half an hour, but they hadn’t ridden but a quarter of a mile at most. “I didn’t see no rifle at their camp.”
“I know it, but you know that feller musta had one. He just had it hid somewhere,” Paul Pickett said. “So it had to be that woman firin’ that shot.”
“But whaddaya reckon she was shootin’ at?” He pulled at his chin whiskers as he thought about the slender little woman. “She ran like a little doe through them bushes. You don’t reckon that one shot we heard was her shootin’ herself, do ya?”
“I hope to hell not,” Pickett replied, “but you can’t really blame her after she got a look at you. We better let me break her in first.”
“The hell you say,” Elmo replied. “We’re gonna flip a coin to see who gets to saddle break her.”
“I say we’d best get back down there and find out what that shot was about,” Pickett insisted. “I’ve got a bad feelin’ about that woman. She just mighta stuck that rifle under her chin and pulled the trigger. Maybe we shouldn’ta left her back there by herself. Hell, let’s get the horses rounded up and get on back there.” That was motivation enough to get both men hustling to get back to find the explanation for the one shot.
Aware now that the woman had a rifle and might know how to use it, the two outlaws approached the spot where the road crossed the stream. They decided it best to leave the horses there by the road, and they would go into the camp on foot. They left their rifles on their horses, but both had their handguns drawn in precaution as they carefully made their way back to the clearing. Just before reaching it, they both stopped upon seeing the woman sitting beside a tree on the opposite side of the fire from them. “There she is, Elmo. She’s just settin’ there waitin’ for us.”
