Devil's Gulch by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
Published: 2023-01-17T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 19

After getting his mare from the livery in preparation of loading her down with supplies for the jail, Holt drew rein in front of the general store and climbed down from the saddle. People were more eager now to tip their hat to him and bid him a good afternoon. He imagined the gossip had already turned in his favor, perhaps due to Ma McAdam’s influence.

He wrapped the gelding’s reins around the hitching rail and stepped onto the boardwalk to enter the general store of Devil’s Gulch. A bell above the door tinkled as he opened, then shut the door.

He found a portly man in a leather apron stretched across his girth on a ladder, pulling down a bolt of fabric from a high shelf for a woman customer. Holt did not know what concerned him more. That the man might fall, or the ladder might give way.

The heavy man took hold of the fabric and brought it down to his customer. “Be with you in a moment,” he said as he offered the fabric to the woman to examine. He was telling her about its high quality when he glanced over at Holt.

The shopkeeper would have dropped the fabric had the woman not been holding it.

“Great God Almighty,” he said.

“Hardly,” Holt grinned. “John Holt. I’m new here.”

The shopkeeper recovered from his shock. “I know who you are, sir.” He told the woman to examine the cloth at her leisure while he tended to the sheriff. He scrambled behind the counter, which seemed to allow him to regain some of his composure.

“I’m Art Ross,” the man told him. “Owner and proprietor of this establishment.”

Holt extended his hand across to him. “Pleased to meet you, Mr. Ross. I have a feeling we’ll be doing a lot of business with each other.”

Ross shook his hand without enthusiasm. “You’ve already made quite a name for yourself in such a short amount of time, Sheriff. Things were a lot quieter around here before you showed up.”

Holt had never been interested in the opinions of bartenders or shopkeepers. “Let’s see what we can do about getting things back to normal.”

He began to give him a rundown of the list of supplies he needed. He stood at the counter while he watched the heavy man run around the store, piling up what he needed.

When he was done, Ross wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve. His female customer had placed the fabric on the counter and promised to come back when he was less busy.

“Anything else?” Ross frowned at him over the loss of a sale.

Holt tapped the glass countertop and pointed at the double-barreled shotgun that was beneath it. “Let me take a look at that.”

Ross lifted the weapon from the case and handed it to Holt for examination. He cracked it open and, making sure it was unloaded, looked down the barrels. It looked clean enough and was in excellent condition. It would be a good gun for Jack Turnbull to use until he learned how to work a pistol properly.

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