Chapter 8Lt. Edge and I dismounted, tethered our mounts, and crept forward, taking care to avoid fallen branches littering the ground. Rain had swept through the area recently, leaving leaves and needles dripping with water. The refreshed air held a trace of smoke. As we moved slowly along the rough trail, the sounds of men grew louder. Pausing in the trees on the lip of a small grassy bowl that reminded me of the place described in Billy’s journal where he and Cut Hand had taken down a band of renegades, we settled down to watch and get the lay of the land.
After nearly an hour, the group of roughly thirty men grew quiet and still. Had we been discovered? Then a horseman broke through the forest on the south side of the clearing. Upon discovering who he was, the robbers gathered around h
