Rocky Mountain Justice (The Legend of Camel's Hump) by Jeff Noonan Page A

construction business. The friend had volunteered the forms, cement, and the big cement mixer riding on the truck. The townspeople spontaneously broke into cheers. This contribution would save days of backbreaking labor. The men crowded around the truck and soon had it unloaded.
    The construction project totally consumed the next few days. The town’s boys and older men congregated on-site every morning at 8AM. They brought their personal tools (or those of their fathers) and everyone worked until dusk. At mid-day, Otto and ladies from the town brought lunches for the workers. In the late afternoon, men would come from their day jobs and lend a hand, often providing the guidance that was needed for the next day’s construction. Soon the frame was erected and the walls begun.
    George Parker hauled logs to the mill in Big River and traded them for lumber. His workers all agreed to work for free during the time they were cutting the “trading logs”, so the impact was spread more evenly. The home that was being built was truly a community project and they were all tremendously proud of the effort.
    However the plight of the prisoner woman was never far from the thoughts of the three people who knew about her. They had no idea about what to do, but they knew that they had to do something. When they finished work for the day, they would meet at Jerry’s home and sit, talking, at the old picnic table under the trees in the yard. By agreement, they never talked about the woman when any others people, were present. They agreed that they would start watching Ike’s place regularly to try to get a better idea exactly what was happening there.
    But Jerry and Ray found that they didn’t have enough free time to do the watching. After a couple of frustrating days, Dawn volunteered to go to the knoll above the house every day for a few hours and watch. But Jerry refused that idea. “You can’t be out there alone,” he would state adamantly whenever the idea came up. “Just wait until Ray or I can break free and go with you.” But, as the days drug on, it became apparent that neither Ray nor Jerry would be able to get free of the work. Jerry was the acknowledged leader of the teen-aged building crew. Ray was the one who was going to be living in the house when it was done. So both boys were too obvious on site to leave for even an hour. In the meantime, Dawn was getting more and more adamant about helping the woman in the stone dugout.
    Finally one evening, Dawn put her foot down. “Tomorrow I’m going out there. I’ll take binoculars, like you guys did, and I’ll watch from the hill. But I am not going to ignore this any longer. It’s too important!” Ray immediately tried to argue with her, but Jerry was surprisingly quiet. He, too, had been having his own pangs of guilt about the woman out there. He didn’t want Dawn going out there, especially not alone. But he knew it couldn’t be postponed any longer. He leaned back and thought, as the other two argued. Finally he broke his silence. “Wait a minute, Guys. I’ve got an idea.” When they quieted down, he said, “What would you think about letting Little Red in on our secret? He could go with Dawn and be her backup. If anything were to happen, there’s no one around here that can catch Red in the woods. He could raise the alarm, if nothing else.”
    Dawn and Ray thought about this, slowly accepting the idea of bringing someone else into their little conspiracy. They all knew Red and trusted him. He was younger than them, but he had proven to be a good friend on many occasions. They discussed the idea and finally agreed. Red was going to be the fourth person in their search for the truth.

CHAPTER TWELVE:
    The Vigil
    T hey didn’t find Red until the next morning when he was delivering his papers. They walked with him, describing the situation they’d found at Ike’s sheep ranch. Red characteristically didn’t say much until they were through. “Who else knows