Montana Revenge by Dusty Richards

Author:Dusty Richards
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2010-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

HERSCHEL tied on behind the saddle the bedroll he’d made up from store stock. One of the other women there, Mrs. Jennings, was gathering some dry cheeses, crackers, jerky, and raisins for him to take along to eat.

He handed Cove the large envelope of summonses to take back to his office. “Be sure they don’t get lost, and tell Art and Phil they will have to handle the Kirk hearing, get these summonses delivered, and maybe even take care of Judge Conners’s court sessions. I’ll be back when I can.”

Cove nodded. “I’ve got that letter and the one you wrote to Marsha.”

“Good. Thanks,” he said to Mrs. Jennings, who brought him out the poke of food to tie on his horn.

He finished hanging it on his saddle horn, then turned and saw Lucille hurrying out the front door. “Mike’s dead, Herschel.”

Several of the men had offered to join him, but he’d told them how important it was that they stay there and handle the double funeral and close things at the store. He and Barley could surely capture three outlaws. His deputy could probably handle them by himself. But he’d had a bellyful of this Casey Ford and his gang. Maybe if he’d pursued him harder, Mike and Sara would still be alive— this Ford must be some talker to convince these out-of-work cowboys to help him.

“Figure they got much money?” he asked Cove as he drew up the girth.

“Several hundred dollars Mike said that they got from the safe, and all the supplies they needed, too. In fact, they stole one of Mike’s horses and a packsaddle, so they must have taken a lot of things.”

“I guess I never expected them to come back after the stage robbery. I figured they were long gone to Texas.”

“I’ve got a notion that Ford is wanted there, too,” Cove said.

Herschel stared at the distant hills waving in grass and considered the man’s words. “You’re probably right about him.” He undid the reins and slapped them in his calloused palm. Lots of miles to cover. He wondered how far ahead Barley was.

“You be careful. We need you as our sheriff,” Cove said.

With a nod, Herschel put his boot toe in the stirrup and swung in the saddle. “I’ll be back. Thanks for your help, and all of you.” He looked at the sad faces standing on the porch. “You’ve been getting all the tough jobs lately, Cove.”

“I can handle them. God be with you.”

He turned Cob and headed south waving to the cheers of his friends. Some send-off. Folks counted on him. Mike had counted on him. The murder of the storekeeper and his wife stabbed Herschel’s heart. He kept seeing Ford getting away, not once, but twice. If he’d only pursued him further. Run him down into the ground. Obviously, it hadn’t been long until Ford had come back again. Not this time. There would be no more next time for Casey and his gang.

He crossed the Yellowstone on the hand-cranked ferry while standing on the deck.

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.