Battle of the Mountain Man by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone [Johnstone, William W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General, Western stories, Westerns, Colorado, Jensen; Smoke (Fictitious character), Cattle Stealing, Rocky Mountains
ISBN: 9781599507255
Publisher: Pinnacle
Published: 1998-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

The crossbreds all had white faces. Some were brindle in body color, while others were spotted like many longhorns, or a solid black or brown. The steers they saw were long yearlings, born last year, and they carried more beef than Smoke had imagined. Riding across a narrow, tree-studded valley turning green with spring grass, they rode among the gende cattle without disturbing them. At the far end of the valley, a pair of Chisum cowboys kept watch over the herd. Smoke noted they were carrying rifles and pistols as if they expected trouble.

“Your cowhands go heavily armed,” he said. “Too bad you’re havin’ all these problems with rustling.Seems to me like the law would step in.”

Chisum’s jaw went tight. “The law ‘round here is mostly a bunch of crooks wearing badges, taking bribes from powerful men up in the territorial capitol at Santa Fe. They look the other way when I got robbed, for the most part. Now and then they go through the motions, investigating any rustling. That leaves it up to me to protect my own interests if I want to stay in business.”

“So you’ve hired your own gunmen,” Smoke observed. .“I guess it makes sense if it’s the only way.”

“I feel .I’vegot no choice, unless our new governor takes some action. Things have gotten so far out of hand it isn’t safe to ride my own land any longer. These rustlers get more brazen as time passes, when nothing official is done about them. I’m hoping all that will change this summer. But if it doesn’t, I intend to fight fire with fire. I’ve hired two experienced manhunters…Buck Andrews and Curly Tully. If I lose one more cow or one more ranch hand, I’m sending them after whoever is responsible. I’m through sitting on the fence waiting for the law to come to my rescue. I’m taking things into my own hands.”

“That’d be my way of handlin’ it,” Smoke agreed as they rode to a pine-covered ridge at the north end of the valley. “I’m a real firm believer in takin’ an eye for an eye.”

“You’ll need to watch the cattle you purchase from me very closely until you get out of this area,” Chisum warned. “They won’t spare your herd if they think they can take it.”

Now it was Smoke’s jaw tightening a little. “Let ’em try,” he said quietly as they neared the trees where the last groups of crossbred steers grazed peacefully.

It was a sudden glint of sunlight on metal up on the ridge that made Smoke twist in the saddle, one hand reflexively going for a bolstered Colt. “Watch out!” he snapped, eyes glued to the spot. “Somebody’s up there with a gun.”

Chisum wheeled his horse for the closest tree. “Get to some cover!” he yelled, wasted breath since Smoke was already heeling his borrowed horse in the same direction.

Almost at the same instant, a rifle cracked somewhere above them. A pinon branch snapped above Smoke’s head just as they rode into the pines.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.