Slocum 394 : Slocum and the Fool's Errand (9781101545980) by Jake Logan

bath,” Karl offered.
    Before Young could get his nose bent too far out of joint, Dan said, “That should make a difference. At least splash some water on your face to wash off a few layers of grime.”
    â€œGot anything else to say?” Young asked.
    â€œYeah,” Dan replied. “If you mess this up and get caught, you’re on yer own.”

9
    Slocum began his search back at the cave. Now that he had more of a purpose for being there, he dismounted and tied his horse to a tree so he could take a closer look for himself. He’d done a fair amount of tracking, but could think of other men who were better suited for the job. Time was a factor, and there was always a chance that Jack might come to his senses to realize what a fool’s errand they were on before paying the agreed-upon fee, so Slocum put his nose to the grindstone and got to work.
    â€œWhy are we still here?” Jack whined.
    â€œIsn’t this the last place you saw those wolves that attacked you?” Slocum asked.
    â€œYes.”
    â€œThen these tracks are the ones we want to follow. Can’t exactly expect much success if we start off following the wrong trail. Maybe you should help me instead of complaining.”
    Jack lent his eyes to the task of picking up the trail left by the wolves, but didn’t stop muttering under his breath while cradling his wounded hand. Although Slocum knew the wounds were bad, he was amused by the fact that the pain became worse when it was time to do something other than talk.
    â€œI think they headed east,” Slocum said.
    â€œYou sure about that?”
    He wasn’t, but admitting as much wasn’t going to make life any easier. “As sure as I can be.”
    â€œThat don’t sound good.”
    â€œIf you know so much about tracking wolves, then let me know. Are you even certain they were wolves?”
    Holding out his bandaged hand, Jack wailed, “I saw ’em close enough, didn’t I?”
    â€œMaybe they were coyotes.”
    â€œWhat difference does it make?”
    Slocum squatted down to a large patch of mud surrounding a portion of rock that was shaped like a giant dent in the ground. The sides were angled only slightly, but were steep enough to have collected some of the water that fell during a short bout of rain that had passed through a few nights ago. Most of it had dried off and the rest was lapped up by the horses. In fact, Slocum’s horse had been the one to make the find. Pointing down to the hardened mud surrounding the puddle, Slocum asked, “Those look like coyote or wolf prints to you?”
    Jack rushed over so quickly that Slocum almost had to stop him from trampling over the prints he’d discovered. He skidded to a halt a few paces shy of doing any damage and placed his hands upon his knees while hunkering down for a closer look. At least he tried to place his hands on his knees. The moment his bandaged right hand touched his leg, he let out a pained yelp and shifted into a wobbly sideways stance. “There’s a whole bunch of tracks,” he said. “I think some might be deer or elk or something like that. Are there elk around here?”
    â€œYou’re not much of a hunter, are you?” Pointing down to a section of mud directly across from where his horse was drinking, Slocum said, “Those right there. That’s what I’m talking about.”
    â€œYeah. Those do look like wolf tracks. Some sorta big dog anyways.”
    â€œI’d say about the size of a small wolf or a large coyote. The storm that came through was about the right time for when your wolf pack would have still been here. Did they get to you before or after the rain fell?”
    Jack closed his eyes and thought about it for a few seconds. “That night’s kind of a mess when I try to think about it.”
    â€œLooks like plenty of animals came along to drink from here, but these are some of the freshest