Blood and Bullets by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
Published: 2021-05-21T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 30

Charlie and Josh had eaten their fill of pancakes and were drifting away from the crowd still gathered near the rodeo arena where the breakfast feed was beginning to taper down some. Not all of the tables that had been set up were filled to capacity like they had been earlier, even though most of the diners still remained in the area, milling and visiting. A handful of industrious men had begun taking the tables that were now empty and moving them up the street to the grassy area behind the church where the noon picnic would be held.

Not wanting to get asked to join a work detail that might detain them when they were ready to make their move, Josh and Charlie put distance between themselves and any such risk. As they meandered up Trail Street, once past the churchyard where more preparations were taking place, the street around them turned basically empty of other people.

“We ain’t gonna have much luck findin’ you a woman up this way, Charlie,” Josh pointed. “Pickin’s are about as slim as a ghost town, what with everybody back the other way either by the church or still at the pancake feed.”

“You think I can’t see that?” Charlie said irritably.

“Speakin’ of seein’—did you spot any likely bride candidates in the crowd back there?” Josh asked. “You’re gonna have to lock your sights on one sooner or later.”

“You want to tell me something else I already know?” grumbled Charlie. “Yeah, I saw plenty of gals back there who would have suited me just fine. But the circumstances wasn’t hardly right for slingin’ one of ’em over my shoulder and walkin’ off. I need to catch one out on the edge of the pack where I can grab her and slip away without nobody noticin’. We’ll have to go back and mingle some more when everybody starts driftin’ up to the church. That grassy area out back where there’s some trees around the edges looks like it’ll give me a better chance than the way it was with all that open space around the rodeo arena.”

“I reckon,” Josh allowed.

“In the meantime, as long as we’re up this way, we might as well duck in and check on our horses. Make sure everything’s okay.”

“Yeah, that’d be a good idea,” agreed Josh. “You know, speakin’ of ideas, here’s another one you might want to consider.”

“What’s that?”

“Well, I made sure to look real careful but I didn’t see no sign of Miss Cleo back there at the pancake feed.”

“Did you really expect to? Come on, Josh—an upstairs saloon girl like her? You think the goody-goods of the community would allow gals like that to mingle right in the thick of their precious festival? There’s only one place for their kind, and they know it as well as anybody.”

Josh’s face reddened with anger. “Yeah. Bunch of stinkin’ town phonies. Most all the men back there would trade their fat cow wives for a beauty like Cleo in a heartbeat.

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