Free The Rider of Phantom Canyon by Don Bendell

he rarely attended or was even in town to attend, Joshua even gave tithes to and was a member of the First United Presbyterian Church of Cañon City, which was located near his late fiancée’s home at Seventh and Macon Streets. By 1902, it would be built into one of Colorado’s oldest and most beautiful churches, but right then, it was still a very nice church and quite popular with local residents, and had been since 1862. There were also popular Baptist, Methodist, and Catholic churchesin the town. Strongheart believed in some of the tenets of his father’s religion of the Lakota, but was a Christian in his heart and main beliefs. To him, spirituality was a necessity for a warrior. In fact, with his father’s people, it was empirically more important to be considered in favor with the Great Spirit than it was to be brave in battle. It was the same way with many other nativenations.

6
EDUCATION
    There was only one time that Joshua did not have extra money hidden on him, and that was the last time he drank and got into very serious trouble. As they rode, he thought about that experience. Joshua had been riding south from Montana Territory and decided to spend the night in a town, opting for Cheyenne. It had only been established in 1867, in what was Dakota Territory that would later become Wyoming Territory, but a newspaper editor had already dubbed it the “jewel of the plains” because it had grown so rapidly. Joshua remembered crossing Crow Creek and heading to the Cheyenne Social Club to wet down some of the prairie dust he had been swallowing for several days.
    *   *   *
    He blinked his eyes and felt dizzy. His head felt like he was spinning in a circle, and his tongue felt like there was fuzz on it. A sweet-sour flavor crept from his stomach into his mouth, and Joshua sat up quickly on his bunk, making everything worse. He looked in the corner and saw a waste bucket for his use, and he ran to it, emptying whatever might have been left in his stomach into it. His head pounded as if his horse were standing on it and trotting in place. Finally, he spotted a bucket with a bar of soap and towel nearby, and he crawled to it on hands and knees and dunked his head in and out of the bucket three times. His head cleared a little as he shook it like an old dog who had just crossed a creek.
    He blinked his eyes and then rubbed his face with the towel, looking around. Joshua Strongheart was in a dark, dusty jail cell and could not, for the life of him, figure out how he got there. He only remembered crossing Crow Creek and that was all, and now he was in a cell.
    Joshua and Scottie rode toward the Royal Gorge as he remembered the rest of that incident, which was never far from his mind.
    The outer door opened with a loud, rusty squeak, and Joshua scrunched his shoulders up with the sound, which made his headache hurt worse. He had never seen a more beautiful woman in his life. Dark auburn, her hair hung all the way down to the small of her back, and it had a natural curl in it, the morning sun streaking through thewindow making it glisten like dewdrops. The classy full-length shiny green dress she wore could not hide the natural curves of her body, but what entranced him were the light hazel, almost yellow eyes. She smiled looking at him and walked right up to the bars. Hesitantly, he got to his feet and walked forward.
    â€œThe deputy said I could visit with you briefly,” she said through full crimson lips.
    Joshua knew this beauty was speaking to him as if they were close. Her body language showed it, but he had no idea what had transpired the night before, or nights before.
    He said softly, “Hi,” still wondering why he was here and what had happened.
    â€œOh, you poor thing,” she cooed, “your eye is black, and you have a nasty cut on your cheekbone. I was certain those men were going to kill you. How can I ever thank you?”
    He suddenly realized his