Chance's Bluff by Catherine McGreevy

Author:Catherine McGreevy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cedar Fort Publishing
Published: 2017-08-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chance

Western Idaho

Summer, 1866

After their narrow escape, following the bank robbery in Moose City, Chance listened grimly to his companion’s excited exclamations.

“Woo-hoo! We done got away with it, Chance! Forty-three dollars richer, an’ not so much as a bullet through my hat to remember it by!” Walter took off his hat and proudly waved it in the air.

“Forty-three dollars ain’t even close to what I hoped for,” Chance growled. “I’ve been thinking, Walt—”

Walter kept talking as if he hadn’t heard, sitting cross-legged on the ground in the cave that Chance had earmarked for himself, spooning beans onto his metal plate. “I always said you’ve got brains, Chance, and I was right. Next time, you’ll figure out how to do even better. Forty-three bucks this time, four hundred the next.”

“I dunno, Walt. Like I was saying—”

“And on our very first try! I bet next time we’ll just sail into the bank and out, smooth as flapjacks! You’ll figure it out, Chance. Best thing I ever done, tryin’ to hold up a smart fellow like you.”

Chance found himself wavering as his partner gloated. He’d already thought of how to avoid mistakes next time. An image floated back of his farm that had been stolen from him and of his mother’s lonely grave far away. The banks had hardly had a taste of Chance McInnes yet.

Maybe it was too soon to give up, he thought, glancing at the paltry treasure, which sat with a rock on top to keep the banknotes from blowing away. Walter was right. They’d surely do a sight better the second time around. On the other hand …

As if blown by the winds of fate, a yellowed newspaper flew past the cave’s entrance, blown by the same wind that set tumbleweeds rolling and necessitated the rock to hold down the banknotes. Chance chased the broadsheet downhill and trapped it.

It was a copy of the latest Moose City Tribune. His glee quickly turned to dismay. It contained a lurid account of the bank robbery that could have come out of the penny dreadful the young bank clerk had been reading. “A yellow-bearded giant of a man stomped into the bank like a crazed bear, brandished a gigantic pair of matching pistols, and bellowed in a menacing voice like that of death itself, ‘The entire wad of cash, youngster, and make it quick or I’ll blow out your brains like a bowl of mush!’”

Walter peered over his shoulder. His eyes widened at the headline splashed across the top, the bold black letters several inches high: “Yellowbeard Bandit Strikes Moose City! Empties Bank Safe! Clerk Terrorized at Gunpoint!”

“Now, look at that!” Walter marveled. “You done made us famous!”

The former hatter didn’t realize their new fame was proof of incompetence, Chance thought bitterly, folding up the paper. Why on earth had he chosen to rob a town that had its own newspaper, virtually guaranteeing publicity of their heist? Worse, the clerk had painted him as a flamboyant, murderous thug. Chance’s hatred of banks reared up again, stronger than ever.

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.