Once Bitten: Twice Mad

Chapter Fifty-five

Chapter Fifty-Five camouflage

July 1st 1887

Wyoming Territory

The days passed quickly and rather uneventfully which Colt was thankful for. There was not an overabundance of rabid and those they did come across were simply stragglers or small groups that were easy to deal with.

They reached the train tracks they'd been searching for only three days after leaving the brothel and for nearly two weeks they'd been following them. Colt knew he was pushing the group too hard, covering between twenty and thirty miles per day. The horses were wearing down quickly and so were the people.

He could see the fatigue deep in their eyes and their postures, though no one dared complain. While Colt missed Frankie, he had to admit that things seemed more peaceful now without someone bitching nonstop. Colt grinned, Frankie had certainly been a good bitcher. Nowadays even Rachel kept her mouth closed and did as he said.

Though that may have more to do with the fact that everyone was too exhausted to do much in the way of complaining. They were once again running low on food, the horses were out of oats and were living strictly off of grass and bits of hay. Water was low as well and while it was only midday every person and animal was bordering on heat exhaustion.

"Colt..." Evangeline whispered as she sat behind him on the saddle and laid her head on his shoulder.

"What?" Colt asked, hating the drawn quality of her voice. His wife was tired. Dammit so was he. He wanted to take a few days off but he didn't want to do that out in the open. His hope that towns would be plentiful along the railroad was quickly proving baseless.

So far there had been nothing.

"I don't want to complain but—"

"You're tired." Colt finished with a sigh. "I know. I am too."

"We all need a break, Colt. I've caught sight of a river over the horizon several times today and there's a patch of trees over that way too. Why don't we try to settle down and camp for a day or two?"

"What about food, sweetheart? We're running low..."

"Yes and it's summer. There are plenty of berries, wild onions and herbs growing and I've seen lots of critters running around—"

Colt turned his head and kissed her nose as he smiled. "My proper lady just said the word critters."

"Don't you mean hardened criminal wife?"

"Yes of course."

"So we can camp for a day or two and let everyone recover?"

Colt felt his resolve waver as she pleaded with him and then it completely crumbled when her lips brushed his ear. "Please?"

With a grunt, Colt held up his hand to bring everyone to a stop. He looked around at the group and felt a pang of guilt when he realized just how tired and run down everyone was. "There's a river and a patch of trees over that way," Colt pointed across the plains. "Evangeline here thinks we should stop and camp for a couple of days and let everybody rest up and I reckon I agree with her. What do y'all think?"

Colt couldn't help but chuckle at the hearty nods and the show of hands from the group. Ox must have wanted to ensure Colt saw that he agreed because the man raised both hands and waved them in the air.

Colt adjusted his hat and clicked his tongue. "Well alright then. Let's head that way."

***