Spirit Wolf (21 page)

“Lord, you know I'm not much for praying, but I'm asking you to listen to me now. This old man couldn't help being what he was any more than a coyote can help barking at the moon. And I don't pretend to know Your scheme of things, so maybe he was just what You wanted him to be. That's something between You and him. Anyway, I ask You to give him the benefit of the doubt. Amen.”

Nash echoed the “amen,” hesitating a moment before laying the old man's knife on the burial scaffold.

“I don't really need it, Dad.”

Uriah nodded. They donned their hats and climbed aboard the waiting roan. Nash felt a sense of loss over the old man's death, but no sorrow. The old man had come to the hunt with this end in mind. Nash was convinced of that. Maybe he was where he wanted to be, running on the wind with the spirit wolf at his side. Wherever he was, he wasn't on the scaffold any more than an old pair of boots was the man who had worn them.

Uriah and Nash rode in near silence for some time, the only sounds the creak of leather and the muffled thumps as the roan's feet hit the ground. Then Nash spoke.

“He was still warm, wasn't he, Dad?”

Uriah nodded.

“How do you suppose he knew to wait there? How did he know to build the scaffold there?”

“It was just a coincidence,” Uriah said. “Just a coincidence.”

Nash nodded. There was no reason to debate the point.

THE END

About the Author

Gary D. Svee grew up along the banks of the Yellowstone, Stillwater, and Rosebud Rivers in Montana. His novels include
Spirit Wolf, Showdown at Buffalo Jump, The Peacemaker's Vengeance
, and the Spur Award winner
Sanctuary
. Svee lives in Billings, Montana.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 1987 by Gary D. Svee

Cover design by Connie Gabbert

ISBN: 978-1-4804-8709-3

This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

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New York, NY 10014

www.openroadmedia.com

FROM OPEN ROAD MEDIA

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