Brand 9 by Neil Hunter

Author:Neil Hunter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: wild west, gunfighter, the old west, neil hunter, jason brand, mike linaker, western frontier fiction, bounty hunty
Publisher: Piccadilly Publishing

Chapter Ten

It was midday when they came in sight of the abandoned way-station. It had been years since the stage line had gone out of business, mainly due to the coming of the railroad, but in part due to the fact that the man who had set up the route hadn’t taken into consideration the difficulties of taking six-horse Concords up and down such mountainous terrain. Other stage lines, taking more care over their routes, had prospered, while the dispirited owner of this particular venture, seeing the error of his ways and his falling bank balance, took a train back east. The stock was sold off, the employees moved on, and the way-station was left to rot.

The only sign of life Virginia could see was a pale plume of smoke rising from the stone chimney at one end of the low timber building. The fact they seemed to have arrived at their destination did little to upset her.

She had already experienced enough terror over the last couple of days to numb her for months to come. Whatever lay in store for her inside that building it made no impression on her. She watched Jed Cooper slip from his saddle before the building and reach out to take the reins of her own horse.

‘Get down,’ Cole Shannuck’s voice snapped. He was off his own horse, standing beside hers, prodding her thigh with a hard finger. ‘You hear me? Move it, lady.’

Virginia dismounted, pushing back the anger which boiled up inside her. She faced Shannuck squarely. ‘Shannuck, you are a loud-mouthed bully!’

Shannuck gave a tight-lipped grin, and then slapped her across the face. The force of the blow pushed Virginia back, only the bulk of her horse stopping her from falling to the ground. She touched a hand to the burning spot on her cheeks refusing to lower her angered gaze from Shannuck’s face.

‘Thank you for proving what I just said,’ she told him.

Shannuck muttered something obscene, grabbed her arms and dragged her towards the building. Reaching the door he booted it open, hauling Virginia into the dimly lit room. He didn’t stop there but simply propelled Virginia across the floor. Struggling against his brutal grip Virginia caught sight of dark clad figures on the far side of the room. She counted four of them, bunched around a fire blazing in an open hearth, bulky in their thick coats. She had little time to see anything else. Shannuck pushed open another door and shoved her into a dark room. Before he closed and bolted the door Virginia made out the shape of a low bunk against one wall. There was only one window in the room and she saw the thick planks that had been nailed across it, blocking off daylight. Then the door banged shut and she was left alone in the semi-darkness. Alone, wondering, cold, and, she admitted, a little frightened suddenly.

Turning from the door he’d just bolted Shannuck strode across the room, working open his heavy coat. He tossed it aside as he reached the group of men around the fire.

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.