“Right you are!” Tom agreed and swung himself into the saddle. “I’ll probably be back sometime about noon,” he said and was off.
As long as they could hear them, the girls listened to the rumbling beat of his horse’s hoofs. When silence settled down on the valley again they looked expectantly at Jim and Virginia. The latter two were westerners, versed in the ways of the West. Surely they could tell the girls what they could do. It was inconceivable that they should sit idle for hours and hours, just waiting for Tom and his companions to come.
“Can’t we do something?” Madge asked, voicing the desire of all of them.
“We can make sure that nobody enters or leaves this camp without all of us knowing it,” Jim said sternly.
“What could Val have been thinking of to wander off like that?” Virginia added worriedly.
“She probably didn’t think there was anything to fear,” Phyllis defended. “What are we to do?” she asked of Jim.
“Get your revolver,” he said crisply.
Phyllis bent down and pulled it from her boot. She had taken the suggestion from Gale, and now she was never without it.
“We’ll have to watch the camp,” Virginia said practically. “Is that your idea, Jim?”
“Yes. I’ll take a spot here in the shadows.” Jim indicated the direction from which Val’s scream had come. He stationed Virginia and Phyllis on both sides of the camp. The others, unarmed, could go back to bed or do as they pleased as long as there was no noise and they didn’t leave the camp.