The Valley of the Wendigo Read Online Free Page A

desk.
    â€œThere ya are,” Dekker said. “Thought ya forgot about me.”
    â€œI stopped in earlier, but you were not here.”
    â€œMusta been makin’ my rounds. You get the supplies you needed from Styles?”
    â€œYes, and a packhorse from the livery. Now I need to pick up some ammunition from the gun shop, and perhaps another weapon,” Fiddler explained.
    â€œWhat can I do for ya, then?”
    Fiddler gave it some thought.
    â€œI think all I require of you is to stop Dakota from trying to hunt the Wendigo.”
    â€œNow how can I do that?” Dekker said. “That lady’s got as much right to try for the bounty as anyone.”
    â€œRemove the bounty,” Fiddler said. “Now that I am here, you do not need a bunch of amateur hunters out there, perhaps shooting each other.”
    â€œYou’re probably right about that, but she don’t seem like no amateur.”
    â€œWhen it comes to this, she is.”
    â€œFar as this beast is concerned, you think you’re the only one who ain’t an amateur, ain’t that right?”
    â€œMy ancestors hunted it, and I hunt it.”
    â€œI’ll talk to the mayor about takin’ off the bounty,” Dekker said. “You don’t need the amateurs out there shootin’ at you. That’s about all I can do, though.”
    â€œVery well,” Fiddler said. “I will accept whatever help you offer.”
    â€œYou get settled in camp?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œDidn’t happen to see that gal, did ya?”
    â€œI did. We talked.”
    â€œIs she any good?”
    â€œShe is an excellent hunter.”
    â€œFor a woman?”
    â€œFor anyone.”
    â€œWhy not take her out there to help you?”
    â€œI hunt alone.”
    â€œYeah, you said that before.”
    â€œThank you for your time, Sheriff.”
    â€œThat’s my job,” Dekker said, “to give folks my time.”
    As the Cree turned to leave, Dekker spoke. “Hey, Fiddler?”
    â€œYes?”
    â€œWhen you say you don’t want amateurs out there shootin’ at each other, and you, that include me?”
    Fiddler just stared at the sheriff for a few moments, then turned and left the office.

SEVEN
    Dakota gingerly lifted one foot and set it in the tub. The water was hot, and it took a few moments before the other foot followed. Once she was in the tub, she lowered her big butt into the water until she was finally sitting down.
    She hadn’t had a bath in a month of Sundays and she had to admit the hot water felt good on her skin. She grabbed the soap and began to lather herself up, and as she did her thoughts drifted to Clint Adams. What was it about the man that every time he looked at her she tingled between her legs? She hadn’t been with a man in a while, maybe that was it. In fact, she was thirty-six and hadn’t been with many men in her life. Toby Mathers had popped her cherry when she was fourteen, and they’d done it every Saturday for a couple of months after that. But when his folks moved him away, she didn’t do it with anybody else for a couple of years, and then there was her uncle when she was sixteen. He did her in the barn a couple of times a week for about a month before he moved on. She liked it well enough, but she doubted either one of them had her liking in mind. They pretty much rutted away until they were done, and then he rolled off her.
    In fact, that was pretty much her experience with men from that point on. Never really met one who didn’t fuck like his ass was on fire and he had to get out of there.
    She wondered if Clint Adams would be any different. While she thought about him, she soaped her legs, her thighs, and then, oh Lord, she was soaping her twitchit kinda hard, getting it nice and clean and tingly until suddenly she spasmed and had to grab both sides of the tub for support.
    When she caught her breath, she thought that was the