Benedict and Brazos 24 by E. Jefferson Clay

Author:E. Jefferson Clay
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: deception, revenge story, piccadilly publishing, fiction western, action adventure ebook, westerns pulp fiction, best western ebooks, colt revolvers
Publisher: Piccadilly

It didn’t take all night. By eleven o’clock, Benedict was almost certain that the law, as it stood at that point of time, was on the side of James and Jerome. By midnight, having exhausted every text and pamphlet Otto had on the subject, the last remaining shreds of uncertainty were gone.

The hush of a July night lay over Rawhide as Duke Benedict closed the office door behind him and stood on the porch to light a cigar. The dark, silent town seemed asleep under the peaceful stars.

But behind the shuttered doors of the Silver Dollar Saloon, the atmosphere was anything but peaceful. At around nine o’clock, Myron Haggerty had sent his slab-shouldered son along to the attorney’s office to see how Lanning’s locum was making out with his investigations. Benedict’s response had seemed none too reassuring, and as a result Myron Haggerty had decided to call a cattle man’s meeting at the Silver Dollar then and there.

Though it had been too late at night to round up the ranchers, the Haggerty men had mustered a good attendance of cattle buyers, beef agents and others directly connected with the cattle industry. The purpose of the meeting was to determine how much support Haggerty could get in the event the unthinkable happened and the sound of falling timber was heard once again along the Ray River.

They were still at it when Benedict came down the echoing street. He paused in front of the saloon with his shadow thrown long and black before him. Voices drifted out, thick with liquor and anger. He couldn’t make out what was being said, but he felt he could guess closely enough. Haggerty had made his views plain at the law office, and Duke Benedict had had some experience with cattlemen and how they reacted when they felt themselves threatened.

Smoke wisped over Benedict’s shoulder as he moved on. A foraging yellow dog padded by. A window opened and closed at the hotel and then the night was quiet again.

Benedict halted when he reached Peach Street. He peered along the street at the bulk of the Lanning house. He was tired, yet he felt no inclination towards rest. Setting the cigar between his teeth, he slipped his hands into the slash pockets of his dark pants and walked slowly on, his dark brows creased in thought.

He was almost past the general store when he sighted light spilling from the windows of the tiny church that stood off Leabon’s Lane. He stopped, then turned down the lane, approaching the building through thick summer grass.

Halting in the shadows of the store’s high fence, he looked through the open church doors to see Whitey Cassidy carrying a small bench from one side of the aisle to the other. He heard James’ deep voice. Cassidy nodded, set the bench down, then moved out of Benedict’s line of vision.

Benedict left the shadows and walked up to the placard that had been tacked to the church’s notice board. It announced that a meeting of the Gospel Church, to be addressed by Deacon James, would be held the following night.

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.