"We're wastin' our time out here! They ain't comin' huntin' nobody" Treach stated flatly. "Least not taday. Best we make the best of this. But if they ain't here by tamarra, I'm fer pullin' our freight."

"I figure we got us a couple days out here before we know they ain't comin'. And yeah, it's a big gawddamned spread, so it's gonna take some time, if they're comin' at all." Dutch growled, he was suddenly aware that yes, a couple of days at least.

"The boss sent the four of us, that's a long fence line so I understand that he figgered it would take four of us to cover it. So hightailin' it back on our own may not sit well with the old man. You know he wants to get somethiin' started with the Lost Lake, been wantin' too fer years." Deckered explained. "We best stay till we get sent for. Other'n ridin' in fer grub."

Watts just shook his head. "Man's payin' wages ta do what we's told, he wants us out here, that's the damned job. Not my place ta argue with the boss and the foreman cuz I don't wanna sleep on the ground."

"Aw shut up Watts!" Dutch said.

"Well, I brung a bottle along ta keep us comp'ny." He added, then grinned. "Not so much ta git us drunk, but enough to ward off the chill."

"So who's goin' in fer chuck first?" Deckerd wanted to know about supper.

Once they had all eaten, the four sat where there was cover, to the right, up against an outcropping of rock. There were stones so they set a ring and built a fair sized fire and even though there was whiskey, the set a pot to boil, that way they would have coffee, it could get chilly for whoever was on watch, and even if the others decided on a cup, there would still be coffee for the men on watch.

Maybe the Lost Lake hands had found the body and hauled him off the mountain, it didn't seem like they were looking for any blood trail, and if Carson had managed to control his blood loss, and kept it off of the ground, then maybe they lost interest and just brought the man in. Chances Carson was able to that, were not real good, but he may had been able to manage the bleeding enough that there was no blood trail for quite a ways, and they lost interest.

That could have happened ad it seemed to be a good reason that the Lost Lake riders had not shown up at the fence line. The Evergreen riders would be happy to have that wire down, but until the framer was gone, and Lost Lake was taken, it would remain. It was just the way of it. Evergreen cattle would just keep heading in a southerly direction destroying crops as the moseyed along. but they'd not be looking for grass in the rocky terrain beyond, they would turn back and do more damage.

It didn't seem like Steelgrave was ready to wipe out the sod buster, so the fence needed to be watched and mended when necessary. All four believed their time on the fence would be short lived.

Boon Dawson stopped in the Mercantile as he needed a couple of things he had already passed the General store, though in his quest for information that would be a stop he would make.

"Help you?" John Anderson asked.

"Need the makin's, box 'er two of matches, and a box of forty-fours." Dawson replied with a smile, laying a five dollar gold piece on the counter. "Man runs short o' these things while not payin' attention sometimes. 'cept maybe the cat'ridges."

"Yes sir, happens a lot from what I hear. You new in town?" John asked.

"No, no, just passin' through, thought I'd sleep in bed a couple night an' eat somethin' I didn't cook." Was his response. I was tryin' to find a fella I run onto down Missoula way, maybe you know of him? Casey was his name, never did git his last mane. Said he was gonna be County Sheriff up here. 'course now that was a while back, but since I was headed up this way I thought I'd look him up."

"Casey? No, no I don't know any Casey." John rep;lied.

"Case, John. Case Steelgrave's who he's looking for." Mary Agnes interrupted.

"Yes Ma'am, that's it. Steelgrave. Yep. So he win that job he was boastin' on?"

"No he didn't, and isn't about too!" Mary Agnes blurted out.

"Now Mary, we don't know that. The election is in September, but he had a run in with the Town Marshal, went to trial and everything. He got off, but I don't think he's been in these parts since." John advised. "None to popular here."

"Darn shame, seemed to be a nice enough fella. But now, ain't that the way of it sometimes?" He picked up his things and his change. "Thank you for the information though. Good day to you. Ma'am," He tipped his hat, then turned and walked out the door.

"Odd fellow that one." John observed, Mary just harrumphed and went back to stocking.

Doc Gilcrest walked into the bunck house to see Carson on his feet, dressed. "I may not be able to ride, but I can darn sure walk some. Tired of layin' in that bed."

"I reckon you kin do thet, sure 'nough. No body said ya had ta lie there if'n ya didn't want to. Yer stitched up plenty good. Jest leave thet hog leg where she's hangin' fer now, don't need the weight in thet wound."

"So anybody come sniffin' around?" He asked.

"Not so's you'd notice. There's four men down there keepin' watch, but it don't look like Lost Lake's lost any sleep over their man, that is if'n they even know he's gone." Gilcrest offered.

"He seen that brand an' went ta shootin'!" Carson reflected. "I jest shot straighter. Had no choice in the matter. Fool could'a rode on, but, well, that just ain't what happened. Hell of a mess."

"Oh I dunno. So far nobodies come huntin', the boss ain't upset over it, neither's Granger, so you got nothin' ta worry on 'cept gettin' better."

"I should'a been more careful, but maybe there just wasn't no way to be more careful. Up on the side of that mountain is the purdiest view a man could look at. You can see fer miles, see right where they got them cows of theirs. Now that ain't gonna be no easy matter to get to any of 'em. They're deep on Lost Lake range. Gonna be hard to get at, an' worse to get out. We'll lose some men tryin' this one, that's for sure!'

Gilcrest rubbed his chin. It wasn't like Carson to go on about the prospects of a job.

"Cain't be thet hard, Carson. They got 'em in there didn't they?" Gilcrest objected.

"Ain't but one way in, an one way out. Herds are spread out and tougher to get at, was you in a hurry. I saw cattle in three different areas, the hardest was on a bench near the main house. Nope, making a try for them cattle's jest a suicide mission."

"I never figgered Lost Lake'd be so hard to get at."

"Well Doc, she is. Plenty tough, an' gettin' out once were in's gonna be a real fight! They'll get men above easy enough, and yeah I know we could send men to counter that, but we'd still have to get through that pass. Tryin' this ain't gonna be no picnic!"

Granger who had been standing in the door stepped inside. "Is that so?"

"It is. I was up there scoutin' it 'member? They got no real range to speak of, jest spots where the cattle can graze. Ain't like this place where there's more'n one way in 'er out, no siree bob, and we'd lose men was we to try it! Garenteed!"

"So, what you're sayin' is it can't be done." Granger pressed.

"Oh it could be done, not all their beef, no, but for what we might get, it'd be too expensive. From what I saw, they could get high ground we couldn't get at and that would be like shootin' fish in a barrel." Carson replied, "Maybe send a couple men up that trail to look it over, like a second opinion since ya ain't happy with mine."

"Be a good idea to back up what you say about this deal." Granger agreed. "I'm gonna run this by the old man an' see what he has to say. There's four men down on the wire right now. We could send them for a look-see. Yep, that's what I'll do. " he started for the door and turned back, "Good to see you on yer feet." Then he left the bunk house.

Granger had heard everything that Carson had said, before he walked into the bunk house, and all of it made sense to the ranch foreman. There were four capable men down on the wire who were brazen enough to just ride on up there and have their own look-see, and report back, as it was clear to him there were no Lost Lake hands looking to find a blood trail for the man they lost, and maybe they looked, but maybe Carson had not dropped a trail for them to follow.

Granger knocked at the door and the cook admitted him, showing him to the drawing room where Elias was having coffee. "Yes Granger? Coffee?"

"No sir, but thanks. Carson's up and walking, ain't ready for the saddle just yet, but on his feet." Granger informed him. "Now he says getting at the Lost Lake herds is going to be difficult at best, and dangerous. One way in, one way out, and the high ground. He's confident we'll lose more men than it's worth to try and take any of their cows, and Carson ain't no coward. My thought is we send them boys down on the wire up to have a look, verify what he said."

"Good to hear he's up, and no Carson is no coward. I have to agree that sending up the boys down there is not dis believing Carson's word, it' making sure of what he said, and that he missed nothing, not weakness we could exploit. Yes by all means, send them up there, I have to admit I haven't been up there in years, and my memory's not clear on how it looked then." Elias explained, but saw the merit in doing that.

"I'll ride down personally and see to it, boss." Granger stated. "You want them to report to you?"

He thought a moment, "No, I don't think that will be necessary. You can relay whatever it is they have to say."

Granger mounted up and headed south to where the men were patrolling the fence. This was a good idea, it way not like every cowhand had ever been up along the ridge where the view of the the whole of the Lost Lake could be seen easily enough. It had been a spell since he himself had ventured up there, back before he was foreman.

He pushed to get to where the men were so they could get on with the job, and back to the bunk house. He could see them pausing to look his way, knowing that there was something up, some change it their assignment. And Granger thought they would like this better than watching for men, who by now were not coming.

As Granger got closer the four bunched up

He reined in, "You boys got a change in orders. The boss want you to ride on up top and have a look-see. Carson said it would be hard to get out of there pushing cows. Says they're spread out in hard to reach locations. Then ride back and report."

Dutch looked at his friends, then back to Granger, "And after? We come back here?"

"Nope, they ain't comin' or they'da been here by now. You boys look the place over and ride on back, look me up and let me know what you think." There were smiles all around. "Gwan an' break camp before you head up. See ya up ta the bunk house."

"We're on our way!" Dutch stated as Granger turned and headed back. "Let's get to it!"

Four hard men invading the Lost Lake Ranch, only to look the place over. Only to investigate where the herds were held, and to evaluate the difficulty in rustling their cattle. The other information, even at that distance was to get a rough count of the hands on the place. How many would they be up against? How dangerous would an attempt on the herds be?

These four were well versed in rustling, and they were not about to risk life and limb in a situation that was perilous. They were not about to chance getting killed over some cattle when there were far less dangerous means of stealing cattle, not that rustling went without risk.

The ride was not all that difficult to the summit, it was easy to see the benefit of taking the farm nestled between the two ranches. It would actually be encroaching on Lost Lake by taking the farm. But the men riding to the top of the hill to overlook the ranch below had no interest in the taking of the farm, actually, they had no interest in rustling cattle, they were well paid as it was for their guns.

Cresting what was a mountain peak, even though the climb had not been that difficult, they reined in and each reached for their saddlebags to get their binoculars out. What they would see was exactly as Carson had described it, but to these four, it was worse. Funneling cattle out of the Lost Lake would border on suicide.. They paid more attention to the high ground on both sides, two or three men with Winchesters on either side could rain lead down on the rustlers.

Deckerd looked to the others, "Suicide gettin' in or out. I count eight to ten with the herds, none of 'em simple to get at, 'specailly that bench by the main house."

"Yeah, I get about the same so far as hands are concerned, and that don't count the one what we cain't see. No way ta get down closer without bein' seen, neither." Treach added.

Watts simply shook his head. "Ain't gettin' kilt tryin' that 'un."

"We had our look-see. Carson was dead on, let's head on back." Dutch declared. "A fools errand if ya ask me."

"Tryin' that would be plumb crazy!" Dutch barked. "We'd get cut to pieces! Air'd be as full of lead as a bag of bullets. No sir, not on yer life. An we likely wouldn't get close to where they hold their cattle, let alone drive a herd outta Ishmael's Gate!"

Granger looked at the four, who were all shaking their heads. "You boys don't think it can be done?"

"Maybe in the black of night we might could grab us some, an' run like are pants was on fire." Deckerd said, then laughed. "Granger, we might get close to one of the herds, not on that one on the bench by the main house, but even at night there'd be hell to pay. It just ain't sitchyated for stealin'."

"Not so's you'd notice it ain't. Grazin' land is spread out, hard to get at, 'sides, they seem to have eight ta ten men on each of them herds which would be another problem." Treach added.

"The old man ain't gonna like this." Granger said.

"Really?" Dutch asked sarcastically, "The place is a natural fort, that's why Thornton ain't lost so much as a cow. No sir, the price would be too high, Carson was on the money."

"Glad I ain't the only one who saw that as a death trap." Carson said as he came around the corner. "Takin' the ranch itself would amount to a war. I know that's what the old man wants, but he'd have to figure a way to get whoever's there out in the open, an' that probably ain't gonna happen. Even if Thotnton was to reappear, an we killed him, what would the difference be? None! There's still family and this Cantrell fella."