Odell Hunsacke - The Lone Sentry

By John J. Law

"It's plain as day that the fort's been abandoned."
"Don't matter, old timer. Now help me unload the supplies."
Hunsacker wasn't deterred in the least bit. If anything, from the tone of his voice, he seemed even more determined to stay.
Corben shook his head and whistled. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. There was a hint of madness in the young man's eye, that much, Corben noticed. He was quiet and kept to himself, rarely speaking the entire way. That was definitely strange, but he never thought that this young man actually had a few loose screws in his head. There was no other way to describe somebody who was willing to stay in a deserted fort all by himself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.C. Hulsey Books
• Release date: Dec 9, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223122630

Book preview

ONE

The Skeleton.

The stagecoach ambled forward, driven by its two horses. The horses seemed just as old as the rickety coach, and showed a genuine exhaustion for living itself. They could barely put one foot in front of the other, as they strained to pull the old coach and its supplies and single passenger. The coach itself, was not much better. The wheels gave off a strange sound as they spun, and one could not be sure if a spoke or axle would suddenly give out.

Yep, Betsy and Liddie have seen better days, they definitely have.

It was quite strange that the coach pulled its strongest horse from behind. Unlike the two weary horses up front, the horse at the back was young and strong. One look at the horse from behind, and you could tell that it was strong, and its best years were yet to come. It was a fine animal that could run for several miles with no rest, and it was loyal and reliable to a fault. 

It was Odell Hunsacker's steed, Windsweeper. Hunsacker sat beside the much-older coachman. Like his steed, He was a young man, at the prime of his life. He was handsome, fit, and healthy. He was young, but seemed to have an unusual purposefulness to him. It was as if the young man had a rare sense of drive that was sorely lacking in the youth of any era.

When the coachman rambled like this, Hunsacker often stepped down, and untied Windsweeper. He would prefer to ride on ahead and scout the area than bear with the old man's rants. Whenever he would untie his horse, the animal showed its obvious gratitude to him. The horse would often bolt ahead of the coach, often too far away. The animal clearly didn’t like this pace, and preferred to run free. He would have wanted to untie the horse and ride ahead now, but the old coachman would probably complain that they were getting too far ahead. Because of this, he decided to endure the old man's rants, a little longer. He comforted himself with the knowledge that their destination was near now. They would soon reach the fort and he could get down to what he had to do.

The coachman was a talkative sort. He ranted and gave a detailed account of his entire uneventful life, the whole trip. His single passenger beside him kept stoically silent and unresponsive. This did not deter the coachman from ranting in the least. After all, he did not get much company, and he seemed just as lonesome and alone as his passenger.

"I guess I've seen better days myself. Heck, I guess we all have. I can't say that I envy you, no sir. A young man like you, being stationed off at Fort Lazenby. No, that would be the worst place to be assigned. The army hasn't received