“I got a question for you,” Mitchell said, turning his horse around so he could glare at Cody and leaning forward in his saddle with both of his huge hands on the horn. Cody had learned from his Montana outfitter uncles that true horsemen-unlike himself-would rather turn their mounts around than turn their heads. “Why the hell did you hire me if you’re going to question every damn thing I do?”
Cody shifted his weight, trying to find a position in the saddle that eased the burns. “It’s just this trail we’re on. It’s obvious it hasn’t been used in years and there are places I can’t even tell it’s there. So naturally I-”
“Naturally you start yapping at me,” Mitchell said basso profundo, “when you should be keeping quiet.”
“I want to know what’s going on. You can’t expect me to just sit here for hours wondering where we’re going.”
Mitchell reached up and tilted his cowboy hat back and rubbed his forehead. “I thought you wanted to catch them,” he said.
“I do.”
“Then the only way we’re going to do it in a timely fashion is to ride cross-country and cut all the corners. We should intercept the main trail by early this afternoon. They’ll still have about half a day on us but with all those rookie riders and trail horses, we’ll make up plenty of time.”
Cody nodded. “Thank you for that. All you needed to tell me was you knew where you were going and you had a plan.”
Mitchell shook his head again.
Cody said, “All you had to tell me was you were familiar with this sort-of trail we’re on and that it will eventually run into the main trail where Jed is.”
Mitchell said, “I ain’t never been on this trail in my life.”
With that, he grinned crookedly and turned his horse back around and clicked his tongue to get him moving again.
Cody moaned and patted his shirt for his cigarettes.
* * *
Cody and Bull Mitchell had approached Yellowstone Park from the northwest in the dark pulling a beat-up horse trailer. They’d hidden Cody’s Ford in an empty outbuilding at Jed McCarthy’s compound and transferred his gear to Bull Mitchell’s rig. Mitchell drove a dented F-250 pickup and sipped from a plastic go cup of coffee, and Cody tried to get some sleep since he hadn’t gotten any the night before. Every time he closed his eyes his mind swirled with Technicolor visions of cabins burning down, hotels burning up, conspiracy, and betrayal.
He’d finally dozed for a few minutes when he was jolted awake by a violent pitching of the truck. When he opened his eyes and reached out for the dashboard to find out what had happened, he saw they’d turned off the highway onto an ancient two-track that skirted a dark river and vanished ahead in a bank of dark timber.
“What’s this?” he’d asked, groggy.
“Old Indian trick,” Mitchell said.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Means we sure as hell can’t drive through the gate at the park and explain to the ranger who you are and why we’re bringing horses in without taillights, so we’re sneaking in through a back door.”
Mitchell gestured vaguely ahead in the dark. “This is an old fire and service road nobody’s supposed to know about. It’s from the old days when the Park Service actually provided service and put out fires, so we’re talking a really long time ago. We can get pretty deep into the park without anyone knowing we’re here.”
Then Mitchell added, “I hope. They might have blocked it off.”
Cody asked, “How long has it been since you were on it?”
Mitchell shrugged and sipped at his coffee. “Seven, eight years,” he said. “Maybe more.”
“Jesus,” Cody said. “What if it’s blocked?”
“We’ll figure something out,” Mitchell said, and shrugged. “Always do. I got a chain saw in the back in case we need to cut trees and a winch on the front in case we get stuck. Of course, I haven’t tested either one out in a few years, so let’s just hope they work if we need ’em. I got shovels and a handsaw if they don’t. At least I think I do.”
When Cody just stared, Mitchell said, “Keep in mind this is Yellowstone. Anything can happen here and plans always go wrong. It’s just the nature of the place.”
* * *
The road was passable, although Cody and Mitchell twice had to get out of the truck and cut a path through fallen trees.
“This just seems wrong,” Cody said, lifting green branches out of the way of the idling F-250.
“It is wrong,” Bull Mitchell said, revving the motor on his chain saw to keep it running. He was haloed by oily blue smoke.
“Breaking into a national park seems like breaking into a church,” Cody said.
Mitchell snorted and said, “That’s a result of too much indoctrination in public school and too many Disney shows. It’s great country-you’ll see-but it isn’t all sweetness and light. Charlie the Lonesome Cougar would happily take a chunk out of Bambi’s tender throat. This place will eat you up and spit you out if you’re ever off your guard. Especially where we’re going.”
* * *
Dawn rose pink and cold and sudden waves of rain lashed at the trees and drummed on the hood of the truck but went away as suddenly as they’d come.
