There was a quiet that fell over the group, it was as if they had said all that needed to be said about staging an attack on the Lost Lake. They had decided the hows and the whys of such plans. None of which sounded any too risky, unless you were Lost Lake men. They all liked that part of it.
Of course, it was not just about the sniping and the ambushes, it was about drawing out Shade Thornton and Quentin Cantrell, it was about burning the place to the ground. It was about one man's revenge! The death of a son that he called murder, and since, the loss of his wife Elenore, the betrayal of his only daughter Leah, despite the fact he had rapped her, and even to some degree, the destruction of Whitefish, although it was a natural disaster it was take as a personal affront by him.
"You got months Pa, all the time in the world to plan this thing." Case declared, "So you and the boys just relax, take your time and plan it right. I'll be around if you need my help, and my boys'll be back come spring, just in case. Til then take your time. Be seein' ya. Good meetin' you hombres."
And with that, he marched back out the front door, mounted up and trotted out with no particular place to go, but his place really was no longer on the Evergreen, maybe he'd ride into what was left and resettled of Whitefish, or maybe just ride on to the hideout, it had been a while, and he would have the place to himself for a while anyway. Of course, he could ride back to Kalispell, but even though he was not wanted, Kalispell was just not where he wanted to be, at least not just yet, maybe down the line.
Elias watched his son walk out, wondering what it would take to bring the rest of his brood back before the war got underway, and under way it would get. He turned to face the men still in his parlor.
"So, when those others get back we may have a new plan to look over, but there's no way to be sure about this cave, or tunnel, or lost mine might actually be," Elias stated, unsure of what had been discovered, and why they had not uncovered it long before this, however, if it gave him an edge that was all that mattered.
"Boss? If it is any one of those, what would we do about it? I mean, if it's a tunnel that get's us right close to the Lost Lake what would the plan be? I mean," Bo Harker began, "A tunnel that is an advantage, but surely if it is, then they'd sure know about it, wouldn't you think?"
"Maybe not." Granger interjected, "If we didn't find it, what makes you think they had? They never used it and could have, fact is, they would have."
"He's right you know. That damned Thornton, why he'd have snuck over here and done something, his men would have to avenge that rider Carson killed." Elias responded. "No, I think whatever it is, no one knew about it, leastways, no one alive. Old timers, sure, otherwise, nobody. The fact is, nobody told me about some hole in the mountain when I bought the place. No, it's some old mine, them boys'll be back any time now."
The facts being, Dutch and the other two were just then slipping out of the tunnel for a look around, and it would be some time before they started back for the Evergreen.
