Cheyenne Pass by Lauran Paine

Author:Lauran Paine
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Published: 2019-09-06T16:38:11+00:00

Chapter Ten

Neglected, MacCallister’s cigarette had died, so he relit it, and his usually steady hands shook from suppressed anger. He flung down the match and avoided Klinger’s gaze as he stepped over to the desk, perched upon the edge of it, and unconsciously swore.

“That’s how quick things can change,” he said ultimately. “Last night we thought we had everything under control. DeFore had agreed to stay out of town for two days, and Thorne was on foot as far as taking a stage up into the pass was concerned. Now everything’s changed, and all hell’s about to bust loose.”

He glared at those two bundles of dynamite on the table in front of John. “Of all the lousy ways for men to fight … using things like that.”

Considering the dynamite in silence for a moment, John said: “I wonder how much more of this stuff they have?”

MacCallister grunted. “Trot over to the general store. That’s the only place Thorne could buy dynamite in Winchester. Find out if he bought it there and, if so, how much he bought. At least maybe we can be sure of one thing in this mess.”

Klinger departed on the errand. MacCallister killed his smoke, got himself a cup of coffee, and drank it. He was so full of resentment, he didn’t even notice the brew was cold, just sipped it steadily as he thought. He was pondering making a fresh pot of java when John returned.

“Eight sticks, Ethan,” John informed him. “The same number that are here, so I guess we can quit worrying about that at least.”

Ethan began to feel a little better as he shifted in the desk chair. It wasn’t just this information which was responsible, though. He had an idea forming in his mind. “Come on,” he said, getting up and striding over to the road-side door. “We’ve got a ride to make.”

The pair of them hiked toward the livery barn, but on the way Ethan stopped in at the stage office, with John trailing some several feet behind him.

At sight of Weaver aimlessly studying some manifests, Ethan asked: “Hank, what time is that northbound stage due in town tomorrow morning?”

Weaver looked up, gazed a moment at the two lawmen who had entered so quietly he hadn’t heard them, and answered: “Not until about noon. Why?”

Turning, MacCallister walked out without answering, John again following behind. The former sheriff strode briskly to the livery barn and called out to Lemuel for their horses. Not until the hostler came tumbling from the office to obey that sharp order did Ethan say a word to his son-in-law.

“I’m probably wrong,” he confided. “But I sure hope I’m not. If you were Thorne, where would you be this morning?”

John puckered his brow and shrugged. “Hard to say. If I knew the DeFore crew was after me, I’d probably be as far away as I could get.”

“But you wouldn’t know that, John, because you’d have left town last night before you even knew whether or not those two hirelings got safely hidden up in the pass or not.

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.