Category Archives: 10. Igneous Range
The Standoff
The flames closed in on the ranger. The fiery net constricted on him, forcing him to take shelter creekside where Rifle Creek flowed through a meadow. The fire blasted him with windblown smoke and ash, and consuming the free oxygen. Ranger Searles lay creekside, looking out at the fire encroaching on the edge of the [...]
The Fall
Soundtrack: The White Stripes, 7 Nation Army The hunter climbed up to a prominence on the edge of the ridge. He looked down over the bowl, and saw a pillar of smoke rising from the vicinity of the corral. The campfire must have rekindled, he thought, and he heard a footstep behind him, and someone [...]
Rifle Creek
Soundtrack: Jimi Hendrix, All Along the Watchtower The heat of the sun broke through the trees. It was going be another hot day; perhaps hotter than yesterday. Sam crept to a patch of cedars and manzanita atop a low rise above Rifle Creek. He could see a camp below. He could see two men standing [...]
The Watchtower
Armen walked up the trail, looking down for glimpses of the Little River. He came around a bend and encountered Sam standing on the trail, facing him. “Turn around,” Sam commanded him. Armen conceded with raised eyebrows, turned around and began walking back down the trail. Sam stood there and wondered why Armen had seemed [...]
The Father of the Man
In the depth of the Great Depression, Mika Murakami had a baby boy that she had to give up. There was something wrong with him that wasn’t immediately obvious to the untrained eye. He was impure; tainted with the blood of his father, who had left Mika to find work and never returned, and worse [...]
As Armen made his way up the Little Trout Valley, he heard the sound of hooves clopping in the dust. He turned around to see a cowboy hat floating through the crown of a manzanita bush. He stepped off the trail, to give the rider and his horses plenty of room. He’s spooked horses before, [...]
In the morning, Armen continued west across Tunnel Meadows and the Bad Country, and descended down into the Grand Canal, which he followed south to Trout Meadows. From there he turned west again, and well after nightfall, finally tracked down the old cowboy at Burnt Corral.
Second Season
Cindy stayed in the shack a couple days. Sam coaxed Sue into showing him Cindy’s whereabouts, but by the time they got to the shack, Cindy was gone. No wildfires followed, so there were no hints as to her whereabouts, and no cause for the authorities to be concerned that she might have fallen back [...]
Escape
As spring unfolded, Cindy grew more restless. She watched the grass on the nearby hill turn lighter and lighter shades of green. When light green began to take on a golden glisten, she vanished. The director of the youth home wouldn’t say how it was that she escaped, but it’s well-known that Cindy disappeared while [...]