High Plains Showdown by Will Keen

Author:Will Keen [Keen, Will]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Robert Hale
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

It seemed to Boone Kingdom, as he thoughtfully sipped the strong coffee while Roberto Aguandra’s foreman sat bowed forward on the bunk with the cigarette smouldering under his big moustache, that this moment in the strap-steel cell in West Fork’s jail was what his life had been leading up to for the past, oh, twelve months or more; from the time, in fact, when he’d deliberately let the reins hang slack for the first time and his big sorrel had turned his nose towards the rich grasslands of the Texas Panhandle.

But believing that, and understanding what was going on, were two thoughts separated by a gulf as wide as the Bravo was long.

Hell, it was bound to happen, sooner or later. His back-trail snaked a couple of thousand miles and ten years into his past. Somewhere along it his smoking six-guns had left a man stricken with a tearing grief that tormented his soul and refused to heal. But to prise one name out of memories dulled by the thunder of blazing guns, blurred by gunsmoke drifting across the dusty streets of nigh on a hundred frontier towns, was surely an impossible task.

‘Don’t even try askin’ me,’ Harry Gregg said, anticipating the unspoken question, his pale eyes cynical as he came up off the bunk and bent to crush the cigarette on the tin plate. ‘Aguandra’s a mean bastard with something black weighin’ heavy on his mind. After twelve months on the Rocking Z, I’m no closer than you to knowin’ what that is. I mostly do what I’m told, collect my pay at the end of the month—’

‘Mostly?’ Kingdom cut in bitterly. He put the empty cup on the floor, stood up quickly to confront the foreman and said, ‘Does that mean you pick and choose those jobs that suit you? If so, what’s your yardstick, Gregg? Is it how much profit, or how far the wrong side of the law? Where does drivin’ a decent horse-rancher off his spread come into your sense of right and wrong?’

‘That question ain’t arisen,’ Harry Gregg said easily. His big hand planted itself against Kingdom’s chest and pushed him back a step. ‘You want good advice, Kingdom, don’t waste energy makin’ decisions unless something’s right there bangin’ you in the face.’

Light and shade swept across his square countenance as the office door clicked open and the oil lamp swung in the sudden draught. Dave van Tinteren walked into the cell-room, dark-suited, pants tucked into glossy riding boots, wearing a stiff-brimmed black Stetson and with the keys to the cells jingling in his hand.

Harry Gregg laughed, and moved away from Boone Kingdom. ‘Dave, you taken on the job of deputy?’

‘Crabtree’s over at Gus’s grabbing a bite to eat. I guess he trusts me.’ The lawyer winked at Kingdom, unlocked the door and swung it open. As the big straw boss walked out, van Tinteren said, ‘Give Aguandra a message for me, Harry?’

‘Shoot.’

‘Tell him that today, history repeated itself.’

‘That supposed to ruin his sleep?’

‘Depends on his conscience.

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.