He missed not the slightest movement. A “camp-robber” Jay hung tenaciously to a stout-stub of what had once been a willow branch on the far-side of the tree-line nearest the river; a “busy”-beaver towing a large branch to reinforce his dam spied the interloper at the same instant the man’s vision caught sight of the builder, Mr.-“Beaver” quickly dropped his burden and gave the animal’s trademark “slap”-of-the-tail as it dove beneath the water for safety causing the human to stifle a laugh at the antics; a Rainbow-trout flashed reddish-hues in an instant as it jumped, breaking the water-surface feeding on mid-summer May-flies; overhead, an eagle sailed-noiselessly; half-a-mile north, five mule-deer broke-brush on the opposite side of the river. Though he saw them for only several-seconds before they disappeared back into the thick-stand of willows, he did not discern any cause for their obvious-alarm; could have been a cougar.
Buckskin sat quiet for a full five-minutes, listening, searching, smelling, tasting the air; he rolled a smoke, noting that his tobacco was running low; need to restock, next civilization he came upon. Living off the land had its distinct advantages; it also made absent-comforts obvious.A slight-lull in the wind gave him a
potent-whiff of his own-odor. Whew!
He needed to wash his clothes---and…his putrid-body also. That dancehall-gal,
Cherise, down ole Denver-way would certainly object! He rubbed his jaw; going
to require a shave, too---and…a hair-trimming!
Buckskin surveyed the thick-stand of
trees before him, searching for the easiest-access to get through to the
river-bank before him. Satisfied that all was as it should be in his immediate-world,
he gave a very slight nudge with his heels to the side of Billy who
responded-naturally, carefully stepping forward. The lead-rope tightened in his
left hand as ole-Rufe, his pack-mule, tethered six feet behind his own mount
came forward to trail directly behind Billy; going through the thick stand of
willows could cause trouble if Rufe did not follow closely.
The sturdy-mule carried a heavy load of
beaver, deer, and antelope pelts along with one black bear hide. In the pannier
on Rufe’s-back was Buck’s rations, powder and balls and a bit of silver.
(Part 4 of 8 Tomorrow)
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