Bannerman the Enforcer 9 by Kirk Hamilton

Author:Kirk Hamilton [Hamilton, Kirk]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: winchester rifle, colt 45, piccadilly publishing, us frontier fiction, kirk hamilton, johnny cato, yancy bannerman, keith hetherington writing as kirk hamilton, western us cowboys, western us ebook
Publisher: Piccadilly Publishing
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Seven – Wild Country

At last the journey was getting into gear again, Kate Dukes thought as she settled into her seat in the passenger car of the train.

There were no special cars available for her on the train as it panted at the siding in Hillsboro, but that suited Kate. She had never liked the special treatment and all the fuss that accompanied it when she travelled. She would rather just use a false name for security and travel like anyone else.

But her father, like all politicians, had made many enemies over the years and she knew the security of special rail cars and Ranger guards was necessary in most cases. But she got tired of it and all the restrictions that went with it. Even her father was irritable and impatient at times with all the precautions considered necessary when he was travelling.

This time, she was relatively free of them all. The car had other passengers but there were four seats that had been reserved for her and the two Rangers. Seats either side were empty so that she was isolated to some degree from the other passengers, but Kate was able to watch the children running up and down the aisle and to see the little human dramas as the journey progressed; of husbands and wives arguing, having a falling-out, or taking the opportunity to sit close and hold hands.

Kate liked people; she liked them around her and she liked to observe them. So she was looking forward to the last part of the long journey down through Waco to Austin for more than one reason. It had been a wearying couple of days but suddenly everything seemed set for the train to pull out of the Hillsboro siding and make its way along the spur track to the main line south. The express car from Marlow had been hitched on, just behind the passenger car where Kate sat, and passengers had been successfully transferred from the original train. The Rangers had bought some food and it looked like being a non-stop run to Waco.

After a short delay there, it would be straight down to Austin and home—and Yancey Bannerman.

Kate smiled to herself as she heard the guard on the platform call the time-honored: “Booooooaaaarrrrd.”

A moment later the locomotive’s whistle hooted, there was a swift rhythmic hollow panting and then a steady, booming blast as the train rolled forward slowly, shackles clanking as they took up the slack.

The tiny siding buildings slid past the windows and in a few minutes Hillsboro had fallen behind and the train was gathering speed out on the flats, whistling insanely, the cars beginning to rock and sway.

It seemed the engineer, too, was in something of a hurry to make the journey south.

Kate settled back in the seat, enjoying the crisp breeze that blew against her face through the open window. She had a newspaper and the new Montgomery Ward Catalogue to read, but for the moment she left the items resting on the seat beside her.

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