Lonesome Town

The story opens on a sun‑baked gorge in Montana, where a lone rider named Why‑Not Pape pauses his horse, Polkadot, for a breath. Though his gray eyes flash with a calm, easy smile, the narrative hints that Pape carries a heavy disappointment beneath the surface. The cross‑bred pony, a striking mix of sorrel, black and white, mirrors his rider’s habit of keeping up appearances, yet there’s a quiet determination in their stride.

At the edge of the trail, three perfect white circles painted on the trunks of an elm, a birch and a cypress catch Pape’s attention, suggesting a deliberate, perhaps ominous, marker. Compelled by the mystery, he urges Polkadot to leave the beaten path, scaling rocks and slipping through rhododendron thickets toward an isolated stone blockhouse perched on a sheer granite bluff. The journey promises further clues and a confrontation with whatever lies hidden at the gorge’s summit.