Coal Black (Book 5)

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Unexpected Arrivals

When Ethan Taylor left the Jensen farm, he rode towards the quarry. He rode around the entrance, looking for hoof prints. His horses had an extra nail on the back horseshoes, so if they ever questioned him, he could identify his horses.

During the war, he lost his naïve outlook on life, which eroded his trust in the world around him. He had seen so much death and depravity in the war. Men would steal a dead man's boots with wild looks in their eyes. Then Ethan had become more suspicious of every man after Rachel's attack. He had lost his trust in mankind until they traveled with the trappers.

These men who lived off the land and by their wits restored his faith in humanity and reminded him that there were still fine men in this country. During the month they traveled with the mountain men, Rachel cooked for them, and Ethan absorb every kernel of knowledge from the men who were eager to share their wisdom of survival.

He turned out of the quarry and rode west on the open road to make up for lost time. Ethan urged Dolly forward and put her to the test with a full gallop down the gravel road. The outcropping was a good twenty miles as the crow flies.

The exhilaration of galloping revived Ethan, realizing he hadn't slept last night. He knew the road well. At the end of the ten-mile stretch, the road turned north into the town of Rockford, Minnesota, where they picked up supplies, got their mail and did their banking.

When the dead end came into view, Ethan slowed the horse down to a trot and then a slow walk until the road came up to a dead end. He headed north across the wooden bridge and then led the horse down the embankment into the river.

Ethan sat on the horse while it drank from the river, and he got his bearings of the land ahead of him. He saw the outcropping of rocks in the distance. When the horse finished, his rider led the mare to the tree line path by the shore as they followed the river around the bend.

As Ethan rode the tree line looking for tracks, his mind questioned his judgement.

Why jeopardize my family by harboring a fugitive, an escaped prisoner I had never met? Lord, am I doing the right thing? Could the man be trusted? How could I have left my family with a man I barely knew?

As these thoughts traveled through his mind, Ethan had to admit there was something about the man; it was like the feeling of a kindred spirit. He felt comfortable confiding in him.

Was it the lack of having another man to talk to? But why this man? Why did he feel such trust, leaving his family with him?

He had lived with his wife and children and kept so many secrets to himself, not wanting to share too much with the neighbors. Ethan quieted his thoughts with his belief in God. He knew God worked in mysterious ways, and it wasn't Ethan's place to pass judgement but to look for the blessings.

He brought himself out of his daydream as he rode the river looking for tracks. When the tree line came to another curve, he dismounted and walked the mare through the narrow path of hanging tree limbs. He stayed on foot, looking at the deer path that led up to the ridge.

Ethan continued to walk until he spotted horseshoe tracks that came from the river. He crouched and recognized his horseshoe mark in the prints. He followed the tracks that led to a deer path.

Baker and Cooper had ridden the horses through the river instead of the tree line path. Then, with a few steps across the dirt path and into the woods, they would disappear. Ethan was impressed: Erik had informed him that Baker was skilled at concealing their tracks, and now he realized he was speaking the truth.