The Winter Stranger — James E. Livingston

In The Winter Stranger: The Wishing Well Sequel, the residents of Jasper, Virginia, unite to protect the children of the orphanage, and return some sense of safety to their town.
Timothy left, as the sun was coming up, heading for the orphanage, as instructed by the stranger.

He followed the route given to him by the stranger, staying off the main road. Within an hour and a half, Timothy came upon the location where he was instructed to stop and wait. He tied his horse to a tree, deep in the woods, so it could not be seen from the road and walked back to the road.

He removed the bullets from his pistol and cautiously tossed the pistol onto the road, near the middle, so it could be seen. He walked back and hid beside the road, in a cluster of trees and large boulders.

It wasn't long before he heard a rider coming. As the rider approached, Timothy recognized him-it was Scott Hennigan.

As Scott followed the road to the orphanage, he noticed an object shining in the road just ahead and slowed his horse to a walk. As he neared the object, he saw it was a pistol.