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Robinson returned silently through the early morning rain. He held his hat in his hand as if it were a bowl. It was filled with berries and nuts.
He slowed when he came to the place where he'd left the sleeping giant. Morisson was not there.
Placing the hat on the ground, Robinson scanned the area, listening.
Now very far off a stream sounded. He heard rocks scraping.
Robinson passed between the fir trees to the stream.
Morisson was there, out in the middle of the rushing water. A young auburn-colored deer was trapped, its rear hoof caught tight between the rocks.
"Easy now," Morisson was telling the deer. "Jus' ya be easy now, I'll gitcha free."
The animal seemed to sense that the big man meant no harm.
Stopping a few feet away, Robinson watched, smiling.
The giant thrust his hands again into the water. He tugged at the entrapping rocks. "There, I think we got it. You pull your foot now. Easy now that's it."
The deer was free. It hesitated a few seconds before bounding out of the stream and away into the woods.
Morisson watched it until it was out of sight. Shaking water from his arms, he sloshed back to the shore. Then he noticed the smiling Robinson. "How long you been spyin' on me?"
"I have observed you for several minutes."
Morisson slapped his trousers, wet to the knees, saying, "Deer weren't hurtin' nobody. Jus' got hisself stuck out there."
"You told me you needed meat, did you not?"
"Kill him, ya mean?" Morisson shook his head. "Naw, I couldn't a' done that. Anyhow, th' stuff ya been' a'huntin' up fer us is okay."
Starting back for the place where they'd spent the night, Robinson said, "Was the deer frightened of you?"
"What?! It was a deer. How 'm I s'posed t' know whut some deer's a'thinkin'."
Robinson smiled. "You know."
When they finished eating Morisson said, "I could find berries n' roots like we been havin'. I jus' never paid no mind till now."
"There are many things you could do."
"I don't know nothin'."
"The deer was afraid, yet it knew you came to help," said Robinson. "You know things, too, Mr. Morisson."
"I cain't read or write or nuttin'." He turned his face up to the rain.
"You know pain and fear. You know the feel of the forest, the laughter of the wind, the earth's secrets, and what grows. There are many things you know."
"Ain't no use talkin' 'bout it," said Morisson. "Right now all I wanna think 'bout is findin' Ollie Potts. I owe 'im one."
"Why?"
"For what he done. He killed Logan Brock, then lemme take th' blame," said Morisson. "People always done things t'me. Now, ha! I'm goin' to get even."
"And you yourself, do you not owe something? Owe something to those you have harmed?"
Morisson eyed him warily.
"Ya wan' me t'go back jus' so they kin stretch m'neck?"
"I do not ask that of you."
"Half the time I dunno whut yer talkin' 'bout," complained Morisson. "First y'say one thing, then y'say another. An' sometimes----sometimes ya come awful close t' soundin' like a preacher."
Robinson told him, "Do not think of what I want, but rather of the path you wish to follow."
Morisson made a rumbling sound deep within himself. "Anyways," he said at last, "if'n we find yer pa, Jonny.....I won't do 'im in."
Robinson made a slight bow towards the giant. Unfamiliar as the gesture was, Morisson realized finally that it was.....respectful. Shyly, proudly, he bobbed his head in return.
The rain kept coming down, spreading a misty chill through the forest. A bluejay lay dead beside a berry-laden bush, a hundred bright black ants ticking over its feathers. Morisson swerved to avoid stepping on it.
His big head turned from side to side, the rain hitting his face. "We's gittin' right close."
Robinson's left eye narrowed, and he glanced upwards and around. There was a freshly broken branch ahead, an odd scent in the wet air.
"Don't that make ya happy," asked the giant. "Jonny oughtter be there still. Ye'll be seein' him any minute now."
"Perhaps," said Robinson. Somebody had been here recently and was probably ahead of them in the clearing. He didn't think it was Jonny, though.
Slapping aside a leafy bush, Morisson said, "What's that a'gnawin on ya now?"
"I think we had best proceed with caution."
"Heck wi' caution," said Morisson. "I didn't climb all this-a-way jus' t' sit 'round on my thumbs." He went pushing ahead.
"Hey, there it is!" shouted Morisson. "That's our shack." His huge forefinger poked at the rainy air.
Robinson saw the shack through the trees now, a scatter of tools around it, the great pile of rock and earth left from the digging for gold. And he saw something else. "Wait," he said, reaching for the big man's arm.
"T'heck with waitin'. I wanna git m' hands on Ollie Potts an' m' gold." He broke free and went crashing out of the woods to gallop across the clearing.
Robinson stayed among the trees. He'd seen a horse tethered in the trees across the way.
Morisson went bursting into the shack.
Five seconds later there was a shot.222Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡawZA6QzMkA
