Cruel Winter of the Mountain Man by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
Published: 2022-08-30T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

A meeting was held that evening at Rufus Spencer’s livery barn. Forty-seven men were there, not counting Smoke and Windy. They were the ones Windy had talked with during the day, advising them that more trouble might be on its way to Salt Lick and asking if they would be willing to join the fight against it, although he hadn’t gone into details about what—or who—that trouble might be.

To a man, every one of them had said yes.

When Smoke looked around, he saw men of all shapes and ages, ranging from fresh-faced youngsters barely in their twenties to leathery old-timers who had been around the frontier for a long time.

Two such veterans, Shug Russell and Enoch Jones, were still atop the bank, standing guard over the town. Smoke had told them about Snake Bishop, so they would know what they were getting into and what they needed to look out for.

Russell, a tall, lanky man with a tuft of gray beard, blind in his left eye from a knife wound suffered in a fight with another buffalo hunter at Adobe Walls several years earlier, had responded by saying, “I’ll take my Sharps up there with me, and if that Bishop scoundrel comes within a mile of Salt Lick, I’ll give him a Big Fifty welcome!”

Jones, rotund and a little softened up from town living but still keen-eyed, had expressed a similar sentiment. Even though Smoke had just met the two men, he immediately liked and had confidence in them.

A low hum of conversation filled the barn this evening. These men were aware that something was wrong but knew just enough to be worried.

Smoke stepped up on a bale of hay and raised his hands. “Men, if I could have your attention . . . Thanks for coming this evening. I want to thank you, too, for trusting me to fill in for the marshal. Most of you don’t know me, but my name is Smoke Jensen, and I’m an old friend of Jonas Madigan.”

Edward Warren said, “I believe most, if not all, of us know who you are, Mr. Jensen, even the ones who haven’t met you personally. And we’re very glad that a man with your reputation is in Salt Lick right now to give us a hand in our time of trouble.”

A general mutter of agreement went through the crowd, and one man called, “Damn right!”

“I appreciate that, fellas,” Smoke said with a smile. “Windy Whittaker, who’s agreed to serve as my deputy for the time being, has spoken to all of you today and let you know that the town may soon be facing even worse trouble than that attempted bank robbery last night. Those two outlaws who were killed were members of the Snake Bishop gang.”

Stunned silence greeted that blunt announcement and gripped the group of men for a long moment. Then a flood of exclamations, curses, and questions broke out.

Smoke let it continue for several seconds before he raised his hands for quiet again.

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