“He’s here all right, Buck,” he said.
“Where’d this all happen?”
“Near the mouth of Trapper. Down in them willers, jist before yuh reach the ford. Two men, Priest. They had sacks over their heads.”
Priest backed his horse off the road and motioned for Nelson to drive on.
“Ain’t we goin’?” asked Rowdy.
Buck Priest watched the wagon disappear up the road.
“I don’t know what to make of it,” he said. “Sam Herd was one of Park Reber’s trusted men. And they stole that girl, eh? That’s funny. We’re goin’ back home, boys. No use goin’ off half-cocked, I reckon. We’ll pack up some grub and blankets and swing in on the Porcupine. It must have been kinda late when O’Steen was shot, and the rustlers can’t move cattle much after dark.”
They turned and rode back to the ranch.
In the meantime Nelson lost no time in driving his jaded horses to Tomahawk town. It was dark when he arrived, and he went straight to Reber’s house, where he found Reber with the old doctor. Nelson blurted out his story as quickly as possible. He helped the doctor carry Herd’s body into the house, and the doctor found that Herd had been killed almost instantly.