Calamity Jane 2 by J.T. Edson

Author:J.T. Edson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gambling, deadwood, calamity jane, western ebook, the wild west, jt edson, frank derringer
Publisher: Piccadilly

Nine

Calamity Jane might be a touch hot-headed, a mite tactless and somewhat reckless at times, but she could be relied upon to keep her eyes open and take notice of anything interesting she saw. After the incidents of the past few days, she still could not relax, even though approaching her final delivery point. Her eyes continued to dart glances around, studying the people she passed and the lay-out of the town.

Standing at the end of the Big Herd Saloon’s strip of sidewalk, a medium-sized man, wearing glasses with thick lens, watched the wagon go by. By the saloon’s main entrance stood a tall, lean gambler, swarthily handsome with an air of toughness apparent to a student of western human nature. Lounging with a shoulder against the wall, he kept his right hand thumb-hooked into the gunbelt close to the Adams Army revolver in the fast-draw holster. He too studied the wagon with some interest. Enough to attract Calamity’s attention under the circumstances. Of course the sight of a pretty gal dressed in such a manner and handling the ribbons of a six-horse team could be counted on to draw male eyes. Yet Calamity felt that more than that was causing the two men to watch her approach.

Although the pair had nothing in common, the one a saloon worker or professional gambler and the other apparently a member of the lower middle-class workers—a bank clerk maybe, or a senior employee in a store—Calamity’s instincts told her they shared a mutual interest. Something in the way they stood, each exhibiting just too casual a disregard for the other’s presence, reminded the girl of peace officers keeping watch on suspected premises—or outlaws studying the scene of their next crime. Yet the latter seemed unlikely for the bank lay back along the street and, successful though it might be, Sam Werner’s store was an unlikely prospect for a robbery.

In some way the two men seemed vaguely familiar to Calamity. She tried to place them, but could not. This being her first visit to Banyan, she had not met them in the town. Of course she traveled around and saw a whole heap of people. Maybe the two had been in some other place. Or it could be that she was making a mistake in thinking she recognized them.

Putting aside her thoughts on the men, Calamity brought the wagon to a halt before Werner’s general store. She booted on the brake, then swung to the sidewalk as the store’s door opened. Coming out, the stocky, cheerful-looking owner showed his surprise at finding a girl instead of the usual male driver.

“You’re from Dobe Killem?” Werner asked.

“Sure. None of the other drivers’d come in and he allowed you’d likely need the gear in the wagon.”

“I do. This’s the first time you’ve been here, Calamity.”

“Sure, and it’s been some trip,” she answered, not surprised that the store-keeper had identified her. All Killem’s regular customers knew she drove for him. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get a deer for you on the way in.

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