Follow The Stone

  “John Locke's novel, ‘Now & Then’, is superbly developed with a strong storyline. The novel presents diverse elements of mystery, revenge, and historical background. The author has cleverly begun the novel as a modern thrilling tale. However, he weaves within a depiction of a rare gift passed from generation to generation.”

  “John Locke is one of my favorite authors. I have read his previous novels and this one is just as action packed and entertaining. I guarantee that after finishing it, you will want to immediately start on another one.”

  “Mystery, romance and fast paced action make this novel a must read!”

  “In this mixture of mystery, adventure & fantasy, the action rarely stops.”

  “This was my first John Locke novel, and I have to say he is now among my favorites. He does a wonderful job in making the characters believable and real. Especially Donovan's crazy girlfriend—she was a riot!”

  “Another great read from John Locke. This novel delivers both thriller and comic which is pretty rare in an action novel. If you are a Donovan Creed fan, you will definitely like this book. It provides more insight into the mysterious man we have all come to love.”

  “Here is another book in which John Locke shows off his talent for humor and plot twists.”

  “This book will hook you right from the beginning. It is a great mix of action and fantasy.”

  “Mystery and Mysticism usually don't go together, but in 'Now and Then' by John Locke, it does, and with elan.”

  “Most fans of good mystery know that John Locke and Donovan Creed stand for nonstop action, exciting plots full of twists and turns, and an ending that no one expects, ever.”

  BOOKS BY JOHN LOCKE

  Donovan Creed Series:

  Saving Rachel

  Lethal People

  Lethal Experiment

  Now & Then

  Wish List

  A Girl Like You

  Vegas Moon (Coming May 2011)

  Every novel John Locke has written has made the Amazon/Kindle Best Seller’s List. His Donovan Creed series is so popular that every 21 seconds, 24 hours a day, a Donovan Creed novel is purchased and downloaded somewhere in the world.

  For previews of upcoming books by John Locke and more information about the author, visit http://www.SavingRachel.com

  “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”

  —The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

  Acknowledgment

  Special thanks to author Claude Bouchard, for providing French translations for this project, and Winslow Eliot and Ricky Locke, who provided guidance, support, suggestions, and critical reading skills. Thanks also to my publisher, Claudia Jackson at Telemachus Press.

  1.

  I held the reins low while we walked, so Major could stretch his neck and toss his head if it pleased him. We’d done thirty miles over steep Ozark trails, and he was gettin’ pissed. He’d earned his sorghum hours ago and knew it. But I was determined to camp on the banks of the Gasconade, and we were eight miles shy.

  I rubbed Major’s neck. “Soon,” I said.

  He blew a loud snort, which I won’t bother translatin’.

  It was late September, 1860, and we were north of Devils Rock, Missouri, where the air’s cool to the nostril this time of year, and scented with honeysuckle. A stand of short leaf pine lined the right side of the trail and ran deep as the eye could see. Limestone cliffs and mud bluffs dotted with pink dogwood towered above us on the left. A soft breeze pushed us eastward, mile after weary mile.

  It was nearin’ dusk when I saw the five small stones on the path.

  I pulled back on the reins and slid off Major’s back and tied him to a pine bough. He took the opportunity to chew what grass he could pull from the pine needles.

  Shrug had arranged the stones as he always did, North, South, East and West, with the fifth stone pointin’ in the direction he was headin’. I was annoyed to see the fifth stone at the north-west point. Shrug knew I loved fishin’ the Gasconade, and since he, too, had a passion for Nade perch, I was perplexed he would knowin’ly head the wrong way. But Shrug was the best scout in the territory, always had a reason for his actions, so I quietly cursed and climbed back on my horse and followed the stone.

  Ten minutes into the ride we hit a clearin’, where I found a circle of stones that ringed a single footprint, the cause of our detour.

  It was a woman’s shoe print.

  I was so stunned I nearly fell off my horse.

  I looked around. It was so crazy uncommon to find a woman’s shoe print in this part of the wilderness, I wondered if perhaps Shrug had played a trick on me. I climbed off Major’s back and knelt down beside the shoe print and studied it carefully while thinkin’ a talkin’ horse, a tree that lays eggs, a flyin’ pig—would make more sense. And yet…

  It was real.

  I looked around again, this time for a stone that’d show me where he went. There was none. I’m no skilled tracker, but I managed to follow the lady’s shoe prints to the edge of the forest. I had no idea how old the prints were, but I figured ’em fresh, or Shrug wouldn’t a’ changed course. Maybe he’d find her and bring her back alive. More likely, he’d find evidence she’d been carried off by a pack of wolves or a bear.

  But Shrug didn’t intend us to follow him into the forest, or he’d a’ left a fifth stone.

  Which he didn’t.

  “No fish for dinner,” I hollered to Major. “Let’s make camp.”

  I ain’t ashamed to admit I talk to my horse more than I should. But we been together a long time, and Major’s good company. I got a witchy friend, Rose, who travels with me from time to time. It’s her opinion that Major can follow the spirit of my words, and I ’spect she’s right.

  I took a bowl from my kit and poured some water in it and let Major drink it dry. I was about to pour some more when, from deep in the woods, I heard a woman scream.

  2.

  The first scream was followed by a second, then the screamin’ stopped. I added water to Major’s bowl, and watched him drink.

  “Well, she just saw Shrug, or whatever it is he’s savin’ her from,” I said. “Which means she’s still alive. Or was, ’til that last scream.”

  When Major finished drinkin’ his fill, I tied him to a saplin’ and removed my kit, blankets, and saddle from his back. Then I gathered some rocks and arranged ’em to hold a coffee pot and fryin’ pan, and put some wood between ’em, and enough kindlin’ to get things goin’. The first match worked, so I filled the coffee pot with water from a canteen and put it on my rock stove. Then I pulled my rifle from the scabbard and headed out to see if I could scare up a rabbit or two.

  I couldn’t.

  I only tried for twenty minutes, and wouldn’t a’ given up so soon had I not heard Major’s whinny. I headed back to camp and was dumbfounded to see a tangle-haired woman spoonin’ something I took to be coffee, into my pot. She hadn’t seen or heard me yet.

  I froze where I stood among the poplars, then ducked down and surveyed the scene.

  She was alone, busyin’ herself with the coffee. I wondered if she’d gone through my things to get it, then realized from the smell it was her coffee. Probably got it from the huge carpetbag sittin’ on the ground, left of the fire. While I didn’t sense danger, I also never had a lone woman walk into my camp before, so I whistled the song a wood warbler makes, and got a similar response from a half mile away. The response had come from Shrug, which meant everything was as okay as it was likely to get. I stood and made some noise as I walked into camp, so as not to spook her.

  “Where’s the food?” she said, lookin’ up from the coffee pot.

  I had to stop where I stood a minute, caught up in her eyes. They were cornflower blue, a color I’d never seen in a person’s eyes before. She wiped her hands on her skirt, then tried to smooth her hair, gave up, and waited for me to respond.

  I said, “Excuse me?”

  “Wayne said you were bringing food.”

>   “What? Who?”

  “Are you daft? He didn’t tell me you were daft.”

  Her eyes had me transfixed. It felt like she was borin’ holes into my soul. She had the kind of eyes that could shame a man quickly, and get him to church when he’d rather be drinkin’. I forced my gaze lower. She had tiny, precise feet, somethin’ I’d noticed from the tracks.

  “Ma’am,” I said, “If you’re talkin’ about Shrug, well, he don’t speak.”

  “Shrug? Is that his surname?”

  I wondered if I might be dealin’ with a crazy woman. I guess she caught the look of concern in my mind, for she eyed me carefully, and crept slowly toward her carpetbag. Probably had a gun in there she couldn’t shoot.

  “Who are you, sir? Please, identify yourself at once.”

  “I’m Emmett Love.”

  She stopped tryin’ to get to her bag and looked confused a moment, then said, “Are there more than two of you?”

  “Two of me?”

  She seemed exasperated, and began speakin’ deliberately, as if to a child. “No, Emmett. Are there more than two of you men up here on the mountain?”

  I removed my hat and ran my fingers through my hair while tryin’ to cipher what she was askin’.

  I said, “It’s a big mountain, and I don’t know how many men might be on it. But in this area, far as I know, it’s just you and me and Shrug.”

  She frowned, and shook her head.

  “You must have heard me scream,” she said.

  “Yes, ma’am, and a fine scream it was. By the second one, I had you pinpointed.”

  “You did.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “And yet you moved not a muscle to come to my aid.”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “And why is that?”

  “Well, if Shrug needed my help, he would a’ whistled.”

  “Whistled.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She gave me a look that might have had disgust in it. “So you’re neither hunter nor hero. Are you a coward, then?”

  I felt a burn creep up the back of my neck.

  “A coward?” I scowled and put my hat back on, tired of her disrespect.

  “That’s right,” she said. “After all, I need to know what type of person I’m dining with. Perhaps you’re just lazy.”

  I’d never known a proper woman to have such a sharp tongue. I doubted she had a husband. If she did, he probably cut her loose. I shook my head and spoke in my strictest voice.

  “I cut my huntin’ short on account of my horse.”

  She looked at Major. “How so?”

  “He announced you were enterin’ camp.”

  “I see,” she said with a smart tone. “Your horse talks, but your friend does not.”

  I sighed. This tenderfoot was lucky to be alive. I knew seasoned trappers who couldn’t survive an Ozark night. Forgettin’ that, her insultin’ nature alone could get her killed by any number of men I know and admire. I worked to keep the anger outta my voice, but I’m sure some leaked out anyway.

  “Ma’am, checkin’ on my horse don’t mean I can’t hunt. And trustin’ my friend’s ability to handle trouble don’t make me a coward, nor lazy.”

  We gave each other stern looks until I wondered if Shrug would care if I put a bullet through one of her hands, to soften her temperament. If I shot the fleshy web between her thumb and forefinger, she’d heal in a week or two. As a bonus, there’d always be a circle scar to keep her reminded.

  Abruptly, she said, “Perhaps you’re right. After all, I’m the outsider here. I shouldn’t rush to judge. I’ve had a harrowing time, and I’m new to your ways. Forgive me, please.” She approached me, extending her hand. “I’m Phoebe Thayer, of the Philadelphia Thayers.”

  I hesitated briefly, then wiped my hand on my shirt and took hers and shook it while thinkin’ how close she’d come to losin’ the use of it. But then, standin’ a mere two feet from her, close enough to smell her scent, I began to think less about her hard words and more about her soft physical features.

  She sensed the change in my mood, and pulled away, sayin’, “I noticed your friend had neither horse nor gun.”

  “Shrug can’t ride a horse, and don’t need a gun.”

  “How can a man survive in the wilderness without a mount and gun?”

  “Shrug ain’t a normal man. On certain terrain he can move faster than a horse. On the plains, he’s still plenty swift.”

  “Well, how does he protect himself?”

  “He’s an uncommon rock thrower.”

  “A rock thrower,” she repeated.

  “Yes, ma’am. He’s got some sharp ones he throws vertical.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

  “I’ve seen Shrug slice a man’s ears clean off with nothin’ more than two sharp rocks flung from a short distance.”

  “That’s preposterous!”

  I removed my hat and gestured at the pot. “Is that sissy coffee any good?”

  “I’m known for my coffee.”

  “You pourin’?”

  She smiled. It was a small smile, but a pleasant one, just the same.

  “You haven’t asked how I came to be here or where I’m headed,” she said.

  “I tend not to ask people much, nor ask much of ’em.”

  I fetched my cup from my kit and let her pour some coffee into it. Up close I could see that her face, though smudged with grime, was smooth, and her features delicate and fine. Like all women, she had on twice the clothes she needed, and the parts of ’em I could see were covered in dirt and mud.

  “How long were you in the cave?” I said.

  She appraised me with what appeared to be a new respect. “Who said anything about being in a cave?”

  I pointed. “Your clothes.”

  She looked down at her dress and frowned, as though this were the first she’d thought to look at it.

  “I thought you didn’t ask people much.”

  “I generally don’t. But you seemed to leave the door open on it. I marvel you’re alive.”

  “Why? Because I’m a woman?”

  “Well, there’s that.”

  “And what, you think all women are helpless?”

  “Don’t matter what I think, it’s what them bear and wolves think. A woman’s scent is one they’re not apt to associate with danger. It’s a scent they’ll pick up on and follow.”

  She considered my words. “You put that very delicately, for a Western man.”

  I waited.

  “I was in the cave for one night.” she said. “And a terrible night it was. I heard wolves howling. And they were getting closer. Had Wayne not come to my rescue, I fear I would have perished.”

  I nodded. Then said, “Who’s Wayne?”

  Phoebe looked at me as though I were feeble-minded. About that time Shrug slipped into camp with three rabbits hangin’ from his belt.

  Phoebe’s face lit up. She said, “Wayne! Thank the dear Lord you’ve come back, and with food, no less.”

  She looked at me and my rifle. “He killed three rabbits without a gun!”

  Implyin’ I hadn’t killed any with one.

  I said, “Your screamin’ probably scared them his way.”

  Shrug smiled.

  I looked at him. “Wayne?” I said.

  Shrug shrugged.

  3.

  Phoebe chattered at us while me and Shrug skinned the rabbits. More than once we exchanged glances about it, but I let her ramble on, hopin’ she’d be talked out by dinner. While Shrug cut the meat, I got the fryin’ pan on the fire and put some sowbelly in it ’til a fine layer of fat coated the bottom. Then Shrug placed the rabbit pieces in the pan, and I fussed with ’em some, enjoyin’ the sizzlin’ sounds and heavenly scent that only pan fried rabbit can produce. By the time I got the rabbit crisp on both sides, we’d forgotten all about the perch I originally planned to cook.

  When the rabbit was right, we divvied it up and Shrug put h
is part in his pocket and scampered outta camp like he always did. I kept the rest in the fryin’ pan, removed it from the fire, and placed it on the ground between Phoebe and me.

  Phoebe seemed upset that Shrug had left without speakin’.

  She looked at me. “Where’s he going?”

  “He’s standin’ guard.”

  “Where?”

  I gestured broadly. “Everywhere.”

  “Well, where will he sleep?”

  “Shrug don’t sleep.”

  “Well, of course he sleeps! Everyone sleeps.”

  I stared at her face, tryin’ to figure her out. Most people, when you answer their questions, don’t contradict you afterward. Phoebe seemed not to need me participatin’ in our conversations.

  “He talks, too,” she added.

  “Uh huh.”

  She frowned. “You act as though you don’t believe me.”

  I sighed, and pushed our rabbit around in the pan ’til the pieces were cool enough to handle. I tasted some.

  “That’s damn good rabbit!” I said, with great enthusiasm.

  She launched her hand toward my face to give me a hard slap. But my reflexes are even sharper than her tongue, and I caught her wrist long before her hand made contact.

  “Let go of me!” she cried.

  I wasn’t sure I should. But there was a mess of rabbit in the pan with my name on it.

  “Fine,” I said. “But don’t try to hit me again.”

  “I can’t abide cursing,” she said.

  “Well, you better learn to, ’less you’re headin’ back east.”

  She sat and pouted awhile, but then the smell of dinner got to her and she tried some.

  “This is outstanding!” she said brightly, despite her mood.

  In my experience, fried rabbit will bring folks together, even enemies.