A Shelter of Hope by Tracie Peterson

Uniontown.”
    Pike, who’d continued to watch Matthews from the cloth partition, gave his typical shrug. “It’s hard work burying a man.”
    Zack nodded. “But we can’t leave him out there, and I see no reason to drag him back in here. The sooner we get to it, the better. Why don’t you go scout around in that shed outside and see if you can scare up a shovel.”
    Zack waited for Pike to shrug, but the man merely turned and walked away. Zack hoped he intended to give him a hand with the necessary duties, but if he didn’t, it wouldn’t be the first time Zack had found himself facing an unpleasant duty alone.
    Walking outside, Zack went to the body and frowned. The man had bled to death from injuries to the head, and from the looks of the body, it appeared to have taken place the better part of a month ago. That would have put it at the early part of May, and he found it hard to identify the man’s features. It was this reason, and the overwhelming stench, that caused Zack to forego hauling the man into Uniontown. Death was neither welcoming in sight nor smell, and in this case the latter was far more oppressive than the first. Reaching a hand inside the man’s pockets, Zack came up empty. Whoever had done the man in had robbed him, as well.
    “I found this here shovel,” Pike announced. “There’s a plot of ground round back of the pelt shed that looks to have been part of a garden. Guess that’d be our best bet for burying him.”
    “All right. You start digging, and I’ll get the body ready,” Zack told Pike.
    Pike seemed accepting of this arrangement and took off back in the direction of the shed. Zack shook his head, still puzzled about the entire matter. He wanted very much to return to Laramie with the killer in hand and a confession bubbling from his lips. But there weren’t even enough clues to figure out who might have wanted the stranger dead.
    Zack retrieved a sheet from the larger of the two beds and rolled the dead man inside. This helped considerably to cut down on the stench, although everything around him seemed to be saturated with the smell of death. Zack reasoned that it couldn’t be helped, but it didn’t stop his stomach from churning.
    Once he had the man wrapped and tied inside the sheet, Zack hoisted the body to his shoulder and made his way past the shed. Pike had already dug a fair-sized hole and stood knee-deep in the dirt.
    “You want me to take over?” Zack questioned, sliding the body to the ground.
    “Suit yourself. Don’t reckon to dig it full size. We’re gonna lose the sun in another hour and that’ll put us on the trail after dark. Ain’t friendly to be on the road at night in these parts.”
    Zack nodded. “Looks deep enough. I guess if we can put some rocks on top of it, we’ll have done our part.”
    This met with Pike’s approval and the man half rolled, half stepped from the hole. He ambled over to Zack and helped to take hold of one end of the man while Zack grabbed the other. They lowered the body into the hole, then Zack took up the shovel and began covering it with dirt.
    He contemplated all he had seen at the cabin and realized there was nothing more to be done here. He would return to Uniontown and ask questions of the locals. Surely someone would know who the man was and whether or not he had any enemies. If not, then perhaps they would know what had become of Louis Dumas and his daughter.

    Later that night, Zack sat down to a bowl of watery stew and rockhard biscuits. The only place to get a meal or a room to sleep in was at the Red Slipper Saloon, and while Zack wasn’t given to frequenting bars, he figured it the best place to get some answers.
    “I’m Ada. Pike says you buried a man up at the Dumas place,” a woman said frankly as she placed a cup of black coffee in front of Matthews.
    “That’s right. I’m here to check into the man’s murder. Did you know him?” Zack sized up the woman, realizing her occupation immediately. She