A FRESH START 11

the trail to willcox was pretty well layed out even tho there wasnt a lot of traffic. il left dos cabezas on the west side and dropped down into the sulphur springs valleu there was talk of a branch railroad line going in to carry ore from the different mines down to the main line where it passed through willcox. all along the trail was numerousclaims and prospect holes. about a mile out of dos cabezas slaughter turned around to wave bill off and send him home. then a scowel crossed his face and he spit. " hold it ! theres something dead near by! he almost shouted. as bill rode up to the buggy he caught the unmistakeable aroma of rotting flesh. slaughter had produced a bandanna and was holding it to his face. viola was doing the same. bill started rideing a circle around the buggy. as he came to a large prospect hole the stench became stronger. his first thought was a animal of some kind had fallen in and died. when he looked over into the hole he saw it wasnt a animal, it was the brand inspecter bryce. he backed away to keep from vommiting. he rode to the buggy. " its bryce, , it looks like some one killed him then threw him down that hole. he s in pretty bad shape. lets move away to get away from the smell." bill reported. viola whipped up the team and moved the buggy away from the spot. a hundred yards down the road she stopped. slaughter had taken his bandanna away and was a pale color. bill rode up shakeing his head.. that was a pretty crude thing to do. i guess we know who is to be responsable for this?" " dont jump the gun here bill, just because kearny has that horse doesent mean they killed him there could be a dozen reasons for them haveing the animal. . i would like to nail them kearneys hide to the jail house wall my self but only if proven guilty. we need a coronor to give us a sworn statement on cause of death. and ill get the search warrent. you go home. thank you for your help. but i cant emphasise enough to watch your back. stay close to home. ill be in touch." john instructed just as viola whipped up her team toward willcox. bill sat his horse and watched the buggy as it drifted down the trail. bill slowley turned his horse back toward his ranch. he was going to drop down into the valley and go home on the lower trail. the thought of bryce being killed and dumped in that hole had him angry he had like the brand inspecter. killing him for his horse was senseless. there had to be a bigger reason.