[XVI]
They had nothing to eat except the can of beans Muckamuck Charlie had pocketed, some rock-hard biscuits from Tesno's saddlebags, and a few trout snagged with a hook made from a horseshoe nail. Palma's trail circled, zigzagged, doubled back. Surprisingly, he made no attempt to ambush them—although they were slowed again and again as they made roundabout approaches to places where he might be lying in wait. Finally, it seemed a safe conclusion that he had used up his ammunition sniping at horses and the boiler crew.
On the afternoon of the second day, Charlie announced that Palma had doubled back toward the road. He had entered a deep, cliff-guarded valley that led nowhere else, Charlie said.
Tesno felt a little stab of alarm. Could Palma plan to take another crack at the boiler? Alone and without ammunition?
Charlie didn't think this likely. "Hit road high up now," he said. "Boiler siah. Far away."
Still, the possibility couldn't be ignored. Tesno decided that they would graze the horses for an hour and then ride all night.
They came upon the road at midmorning. They had given up trying to follow Palma's trail; they didn't know if he was still ahead of them or if they had passed him in the night. Since Charlie knew Palma by sight, Tesno sent him on up to Tunneltown.
"If he shows up there, go see Ben Vickers," Tesno said. "Vickers. Nobody else. He'll get word to me."
He turned his tired horse down-grade as Charlie jogged off in the other direction. He came upon the boiler two hours later, only a few miles above Cle Elum. It was pulled off the road preparatory to another haul by block and tackle. It had made only three miles the day before, Rejack reported, and he guessed that was going to be about the average.
"You look like you need a meal and a bed," he told Tesno.