Ben The Mountain Man

By Loretta B. Staley

Life in the Rocky Mountains can be wonderful or brutal, according to the situation. Beauty and splendor are everywhere; from the snow capped mountains covered with green, lofty pines and golden, quivering quaking- aspen trees to the beautiful valleys with their azure blue lakes, wild grasses and flowers.
So colorful in the summer and so glistening white and cleansed looking in winter!
Ben experienced both pleasure and danger as he roamed the mountains encountering many wild animals; sometimes with life threatening results.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Loretta B. Staley
• Release date: Mar 21, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458076335

Loretta B. Staley

Loretta Barnes Staley was born and raised in Evanston, Wyoming, a small town in Southwestern Wyoming. She was the sixth child in a family of nine children; all talented in the arts, especially music.Loretta was writing poems, songs and short stories by the age of twelve.Throughout a busy life of “ranching”, then, later on, managing a motel that she and her husband purchased, raising three children, and helping with grandchildren, she continued (when she could find time) to “dabble” at writing.Many of her stories of adventure and mystery were inspired by her own experiences. Others were inspired by the interesting and strange lives of various people she knew as they traveled through her life.Now most of her time is spent writing and she has been encouraged by her friends and family to seek publication of her work -- some of it recent and some from long ago.Hoping that a few will read, and perhaps enjoy, some of her stories, she has done just that.This is just one of the many novels written by this author.All of her writings are considered “acceptable” for young adult and teen reading.A note from the editorLoretta passed away in 2006. Since then her family has continued to publish and promote the stories she loved so much to tell.Thanks for reading Moms books. We hope you enjoy them all!contact info: [e-mail]

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BEN, THE MOUNTAIN MAN

by Loretta B. Staley

Smashwords edition

Copyright symbol © March 1995

by Loretta B. Staley

Revised edition

Published by Lynn Staley on Smashwords

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedicated to Amber, who was my inspiration,

and the rest of my family, who encouraged me to keep writing, in spite of my doubts.

INTRODUCTION

BEN, THE MOUNTAIN MAN is a story inspired by the true adventures (and mis-adventures) of a young man who, even as a boy, sought refuge in the mountains near his home to escape abuse by both his father and the law.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Some will find it hard to believe some of the incidents in Ben’s young life, or that so many pivotal things could happen to one person, in such a short time, but that’s why his story is so exceptional.

All names have been changed and I have taken some license in some areas such as at the beginning and ending to enhance the telling.

PART ONE: SAFE HAVEN

The shots rang out again. This time a bullet landed dangerously close. It twanged against one of the rocks that Ben was crouching behind. Chips of rock flew into the air and one of the pieces smacked against his cap. Bullets were getting closer with every shot and Ben knew his hiding place was now known by his adversary, whoever he was, but there was no other place to hide, and to make a dash up the mountain in broad daylight to his beloved forest, across the area that was only covered by small bushes and sage brush, would be sure suicide.

He would have to stay settled in this little protected spot (the place he had known as his safe haven since he was a small boy) until after dark or, at least, until whoever was down there shooting at him came up to get him ... or went away.

Years ago, when Ben and his brother were just boys, they had worked hard, dragging in brush and stacking rocks to make this spot into a fairly comfortable place to hide-out when their dad was on the rampage and threatening their lives.

More than halfway up the mountain, their mountain, they had discovered this hidden space among a small outcropping of rocks. Back under one of the overhanging rocks was a small space, about six feet by six feet, that was protected from the howling wind and the often and sudden downpour of cold, penetrating rain. And back farther was a small cave; not big enough to crawl into, but just right to stuff two sleeping bags, a little camping gear, and a small cache of food into.

The bags and a few old pans were still there, but the food had been used up, or taken away, years ago.

Farther up the mountain, where the forest began, one could see the inviting coolness and promised protection of the quaking aspen, with their beautiful, shimmering leaves and behind them, stretching up to and over the mountain top, was the deep green of the pine trees. Up there, hiding in the trees, there had been herds of deer and elk and, once in a while, one would come upon a bear.

Ben and his brother had often stalked and killed a deer or an elk, in those woods, and dragged the meat home to their mother ... when their dad was not around.

Ben had often boasted that he could survive for months, up on his mountain, with nothing but his sleeping bag, nap—sack, a gun and a knife. But now, now that he was older, he realized that it would not be that easy, besides, right now he had no gun, no knife (except a tiny pocket knife) and no nap-sack.

Also, things had changed now. Many people had invaded the area

hunters, and campers, and construction workers who, under the direction of the Bureau of Land Management, had dammed off the sparkling creek, cut down trees and made roads up the mountain side and deep into the woods, to build a reservoir. All of this had scared away, or killed off, much of the wildlife that had been so plentiful there in earlier years.

Ben sighed sadly. They had destroyed so much and spoiled the serenity and security of his mountain forever.

He peeked up over the rock and someone down below spotted him probably because of the bright blue and white cap he wore perched upon his head. (Not a wise cap for a mountain man to be wearing while being pursued, but it happened to be what he was wearing when he’d made his desperate dash to his safe haven). Once again he heard the crack of a gun shot and the singing of a bullet as it whizzed past his head.

Damn! he muttered to himself as he huddled near the ground. He made up his mind that whoever was down there doing the shooting would have to come and get him. What ever the warrant for his arrest was all about, he was not going down there unless he was forced to. He was not going to spend any more time in jail if he could help it. He’d spent too many times there for petty little things. He hated being confined and maligned for even a day, especially when he had never committed a crime or done anything seriously wrong; unless one wants to count failure to pay child support or any of those other silly little things as actually serious.

God, that made him angry! He had tried so hard and everything had gone so wrong. Like the time when he finally had a good job and had planned on paying on several bills and the traffic fine. A credit company had garnished his whole check to pay on his hospital bill! There was nothing left to pay on the other things. Okay, so they suspended his driver’s license for not paying his