Mountain Renegade (Mountain Man Book 6) by Jason Manning

Author:Jason Manning [Manning, Jason]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-10-22T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Gunnison was astonished, but he swiftly gathered his wits about him. He knew that Bridger was aware of his father-in-law's true identity; in fact, Hawkes and Old Gabe were good friends and had been for more years than Gunnison had been alive. But he wasn't sure if any of the troopers present knew that this was the notorious Gordon Hawkes. Sadly, much of the Second Cavalry had fallen in an ambush sprung by Cheyenne Wolf Soldiers a couple of years ago; those that had survived had been in a detachment led by Gunnison—a detachment accompanied by Hawkes. But most of those men had left the Army since, or been reassigned to other companies or units within the regiment. But even if none of these men knew Hawkes by sight, if they heard the name it was likely that they would know his history. It was increasingly difficult, these days, to find anyone west of Mississippi who didn't know at least some of the important aspects of the man's story, particularly that he was wanted on a couple of murder charges, and had been wanted in Colorado for several cold-blooded killings at a gold camp—though technically he had received amnesty for those alleged crimes, an amnesty that had not officially been revoked. Still, Gunnison was painfully aware that the first thing that came to mind for most people who heard the name Gordon Hawkes was that he was a fugitive from the law, and by association a desperate character.

So the immediate question for Gunnison was whether the troopers present had heard Hawkes's name, and until he knew that he couldn't be certain how to react to the man's presence. All he could do was turn and look at Bridger, wanting to ask the question that might direct him out of the dilemma he found himself in, but uncertain how to phrase it. Old Gabe, though, was a very intuitive man, someone who was still alive precisely because he had the ability to accurately assess a situation at a moment's notice.

"Captain, I reckon you remember my old pard, Henry Gordon."

Gunnison nodded. So that was it, then. Bridger had the foresight to use Hawkes's alias in front of the cavalrymen.

"Yes, we've met." Gunnison extended a hand to Hawkes. "How are you, Mr. Gordon?"

Hawkes wore a bemused expression beneath his unkempt, sandy beard. "Call me Henry, Captain. And I'm still above snakes. That's about all the good I can say."

Gunnison turned to the corporal in charge of the hunting detail. "I suggest you return to Clear Creek and finish what you started. Mr. Bridger, do you intend to accompany them still?'

"You bet. Henry, we'll shoot the breeze when I get back. Come on, boys."

Gunnison waited until Old Gabe and the detail were gone. A nod to the sergeant sent the noncom out of the stables, too.

"What are you doing here, sir?" asked Gunnison. "The last news I had, you were in Taos, with Eliza. How is she, by the way?"

"She's dead."

Gunnison was stunned. His thoughts flew to Grace—and how this terrible news would affect her.

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.