A Big Sky Christmas by William W. Johnstone & J. A. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone & J. A. Johnstone [Johnstone, William W. & Johnstone, J. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Westerns
ISBN: 9780786032686
Google: BaDiAAAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 17381893
Publisher: Pinnacle
Published: 2013-10-29T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

“Forget about sharin’ the loot with Cantrell,” Clete Mahaffey said as the three former outlaws resumed their conversation once Bodie had walked off toward the Binghams’ wagon. “That fool doesn’t care about money, anyway. The only thing he can think about now is the girl.”

“She’s worth thinkin’ about,” Jake said. “She’s a mighty pretty gal.”

Dave Pearsoll grunted and declared, “A big pile of double eagles is prettier. That’s what we’ve got, and I agree with Clete. I ain’t inclined to share ’em with Cantrell. He didn’t do anything to earn a share.”

“He was with us when we took them off that train,” Jake pointed out. “Shoot, he helped Eldon and the others take over the depot and make sure the train stopped. We wouldn’t have that pile of double eagles if they hadn’t done that.”

“But he wasn’t there when we risked our necks to steal them from Swint,” Mahaffey said. “Anyway, he quit the gang back there in Kansas City. That was his own decision.”

“So did we,” Jake reminded him. “But I’m not gonna argue about it with you boys. Bodie don’t know we’ve got the loot, and as long as he don’t know he can’t say that we’re cheatin’ him out of anything. So I’ll go along with whatever you say. When the time comes to leave the wagon train, we’ll go our own way and leave Bodie behind.”

“Yeah, well, when’s that gonna be?” Pearsoll asked.

That was the question they had been wrangling about when Bodie came up to them a short time earlier and caused Jake to come up with that story about the panther. Mahaffey and Pearsoll thought it was already time to leave the wagons behind and disappear in the middle of the night with the loot they had liberated from Eldon Swint, but Jake wanted to wait and stay with the train a while longer.

“We’ll reach the Platte River in a few weeks,” Jake said. “By then, we’ll know for sure whether or not Eldon’s gonna come after us. If we haven’t seen hide nor hair of him, we can figure he doesn’t know where we are and go wherever we want from there. San Francisco, Mexico, wherever suits our fancy.”

Despite the fact that he was younger and less experienced than the other two outlaws, he was in charge and he didn’t want them to forget it, so his voice hardened slightly. “Until then, we’ll stay with the wagons. If Swint and the rest of the gang show up lookin’ for us with guns in their hands and blood in their eyes, we’ll need all the help we can get fightin’ ’em off. Bodie and his new friends will pitch in on our side, I’m sure of that. Those pilgrims will think they’re under attack by owlhoots, and that’ll be the truth. They just won’t know the reason why.”

“All right, all right,” Mahaffey muttered. “I reckon what you say makes sense, Jake. That big varmint MacCallister worries me, though.”

“Me, too,” Pearsoll agreed. “Sometimes when he looks at me, it feels like he can see right through me, Jake.

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