Taek Won Do #2: Chains - TWENTY-FIVE

"He ain't a'gonna keep,' Morisson pointed out.

"We must attend to other things first," answered Robinson.

"Ya coulda lef' 'im up that."

"No." Robinson covered Smokes's body with a frayed blanket and left it on the cot in the back room of the shack.

Following him into the main room, the giant said, "'E wouldna done as much fer ya. He don't deserve no good burial."

"Each man deserves that."

Morisson snorted, his big shaggy head shaking.

On one of the cots, Hare was sitting.

Katherine was beside him, examining the wound in his arm. "There doesn't seem to be any sign of infection," she said. "In either wound."

"I'm feeling almost like myself again," her husband said.

"It's them Injun tricks o' Robinson's," commented Morisson, wandering to the doorway and staring out at the midday brightness. "He jus' 'bout a medicine man."

Katherine watched Robinson's lean face as he examined Hare's injuries. "Did you learn those things," she asked, "the use of herbs and roots, all that, among the Indians, Robinson?"

"Some," he replied.

"Where else then?"

"In a land very far from here. A land of morning calm."

"In Korea?"

"Yes," he said. "There are certain things that are known for a time, then forgotten, and then learned again." Standing back from Hare, he told him, "You will soon be able to move on from here."

"We'll do that today," said Hare, "later today."

"Too soon perhaps," said Robinson.

"Yes, Milton, you..."

"No, I feel up to it," he said. "And we've spent enough time in this shack. I'm anxious to get down out of these mountains."

Katherine turned to Robinson. "Should he?"

"If that is his wish."

Hare stood slowly up. "Besides, Robinson, I'm fairly sure you want to get going yourself. As long as I'm here, being the invalid, you might feel compelled to stay."

Morisson said, "We oughta git movin'."

Katherine asked Robinson, "Where will you go next?"

"Across the mountains," he answered. "In this shack, there is no clue as to where my father may have gone. I shall search for other traces of him elsewhere."

"Would it," asked Hare, discovering he could walk relatively well, "help if Katherine and I put in a word for you upon reaching the fort? They might call off the manhunt."

"There is nothing you can tell them."

"I can surely explain how you helped Katherine and me, how you brought her back safely after Smokes had taken her," he said. "I can tell them I don't believe you're a murderer, either one of you for that matter."

"What you feel," said Robinson, "is important. But it is not proof. The men at Fort Lonestar who seek me, the men in Korea who seek me, the Marines who seek me, what one man feels about another man is not important to him."

Spreading his hands in a gesture of resignation, Hare said, "Well, it may not help, but I intend to tell Major Norton our story when we get back there."344Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD5fUrcbGaA
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The late afternoon was filled with fluttering brownish moths. They whirled through the clearing for a moment, then were gone among the trees.

Hare and Katherine were on their horses, about to depart.

"Don't lose our address," Katherine told Morisson.

The huge man jammed the little chit of writing paper into the bib pocket of his overalls. "Naw, I won't fergit it, mam."

"Half of this claim is yours," she said. "If you---well, when everything gets straightened out for you, you may want to come back."344Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7MBfMUH4Ex

"Don't know when that's a'gonna be."344Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmNhCD1dVkB

"Maybe sooner than you think."344Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN750L2rEjO

"You gonna come back an' try t' work it?" Morisson asked the girl. "I jus' know thar's more gol' 'ere. If Logan hadn't...." He let the rest of the words die off.344Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3q4YSr5NLf

"Yes, we'll come back," said Katherine, "someday."

Robinson stood beside Hare's mount, "Have a safe journey."

"Thanks, Robinson," said Hare. "Thanks for all the help you gave us."

"I hope you find your father," Katherine said to him.

Robinson smiled at both of them. "I hope you find what you desire."344Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtT9MeINkuM

TWENTY-FIVE

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