Chapter 17
Jess easily found the place northwest of Rawlins that he had camped at before. Yet, he found it extremely difficult to go to sleep. He tossed and turned most of the night. He knew this was the last night that he would spend on the trail before he went back through Muddy Gap and up the trail where he had encountered that thick, eerie fog. Would it still be there? What had caused the fog to develop? What would he do if there was no fog to ride through? Finally, he saw the first glimpse of the dawn light. He quickly broke camp and rode toward Whiskey Creek. But this time as he filled up his canteen in the creek he was not amused as he had been before by the legend of the army commander who had dumped a load of whiskey in the creek in 1862. He found nothing amusing rite now at all. His stomach was in knots as he watched Traveler drink his fill from the creek. He was worried and edgy. Would he find the fog? Would he come out on the other side in 1870 or was he trapped in this strange time forever?
Leading his horse to less muddy ground, he mounted without his customary hop into the saddle. He felt more anxious than he usually did before a gunfight. He felt that nothing was in his control, and he couldn't stand that. In spite of his nervousness, Jess made sure that he kept Traveler moving at the same steady pace that he had traveled the day he had ridden through the fog. He kept staring at the trail, looking for any sign of mist or fog. But he saw nothing. Maybe I'm still too far south he thought. He traveled another mile. And then suddenly he noticed that the wind was picking up jest as it had done before he entered the fog before. It was obvious that Traveler sensed something also since Jess had to urge his horse on.
Jess remembered that he had had to dismount and check Traveler's hooves and legs and give him some water before he was able to coach Traveler to enter the fog last time. But now Jess didn't know what to do. He hadn't done that on the north side of the fog; it had been on the south side of the fog as they were jest entering it. Would it matter if he had to do that to git Traveler to enter the fog now? Would that be different from what he had done before or would whatever was in control of this mess expect him to treat his horse the same way he had done upon entering the fog last time? Jess wasn't sure, but he decided to do what Traveler needed. If the horse refused to enter the fog without taking a drink, so be it, Jess thought. But he wasn't gonna force the issue. For now, Traveler was shaking his head a little, but he was still moving forward as the wind continued to pick up. Jess continued to scan the trail ahead. Was he imagining it or was there the faintest amount of fog hanging low over the trail in front of him?