Have Brides, Will Travel by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
Published: 2019-08-25T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 24

The crowd moved back like snow melting in the hot sun as Forbes Dyson’s gun wolves stepped down from the boardwalk and moved among them.

Dyson followed, a king surrounded by royal guards, and gestured for Bo, Scratch, and the ladies to follow him.

“Just swing that wagon around, friend,” he told Scratch. “My men will see that you have room.”

Bo and Scratch exchanged a grim glance; then Scratch lifted the reins and got the team moving again. He circled across the broad street as Dyson led the way toward another of Silverhill’s actual two-story buildings, this one an adobe structure in the Spanish style, with a red tile roof.

Rance Plummer said, “I reckon we’ll be seein’ you around town, Creel. Hope you don’t hold it against me that I didn’t tell you exactly what you’d be runnin’ into when you got here.”

“Those cowboys of yours might have mutinied if you’d said or done anything to make the ladies turn back before we got here.”

Plummer chuckled and nodded, saying, “Yeah, they sure might have. They’ve plumb got their hearts set on winnin’ those contests and gettin’ ’em some good-lookin’ young brides. Of course, the odds are against ’em, and the gals might not agree to come back to the ranch, anyway.”

“Scratch and I aren’t letting anyone take those ladies off somewhere against their will.”

“If anybody tried to do that, I’d be right there beside you, backin’ your play.”

“Against your own men?”

“If they pulled somethin’ as lowdown rotten as that, damn right I would.”

Bo believed the man. He nodded and said, “I’m glad to hear that, Plummer. I’d better catch up with the wagon now.”

Plummer lifted a hand in farewell and followed his men, who were drifting on horseback toward the other hitch rails in front of the Silver King. If Bo knew cowboys—and he did—they were bent on lubricating their tonsils in the saloon.

Now that the ladies had agreed to spend the night in Silverhill, at least, the crowd was breaking up to an extent. Some of the men still followed the wagon toward the hotel, obviously intent on getting the best look possible at the five young women, but others wandered away. Bo was able to weave his way through the remainder and caught up with the wagon as Scratch brought it to a halt in front of the Territorial House.

Dyson’s men took up positions on the hotel’s gallery and stood there looking around, as if making sure no one came too close. Dyson himself waited beside the team while Scratch climbed down from the box and went to the back of the wagon to lower the tailgate. Bo dismounted, looped his horse’s reins around a hitch rail, and joined his old friend in helping the ladies get out of the wagon.

When they were all on the ground, Dyson held out a hand to usher them into the hotel.

“Right this way, ladies,” he invited them with a suave smile.

With varying degrees of reluctance, they walked into the hotel ahead of Dyson.

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