Ransom Valley (Wind River Book 7) by James Reasoner & L. J. Washburn & Livia J. Washburn

Author:James Reasoner & L. J. Washburn & Livia J. Washburn [Reasoner, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Book Place
Published: 2012-11-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

With the wind blowing out of the north, it was chilly under the shade of the juniper trees, but a while later Cole noticed that beads of sweat had broken out on Nathan Smollet's face. The banker used a handkerchief to wipe away the sweat. He fumbled some when he tried to stuff the handkerchief back in his pocket.

Frowning, Cole started to ask Smollet what was wrong. But before he could get the question out, Smollet's eyes rolled up in their sockets and his knees started to unhinge. He would have fallen if Cole hadn't been close enough to spring forward and grab him.

Jeremiah and the other men hurried over as Cole lowered Smollet to the ground. "What happened?" the blacksmith asked.

"Looks like he passed out," Cole said. "There's a canteen on Ulysses' saddle. One of you fetch it for me."

When Cole had the canteen he held Smollet's head up and trickled some water into the man's mouth. Smollet choked a little, but most of the water went down his throat. His eyelids fluttered a few times and then opened.

"Wha . . . what happened to me?" he asked.

"You passed out, Mr. Smollet," Jeremiah said as he leaned over the banker. "You don't remember?"

"I . . . I remember feeling very . . . lightheaded all of a sudden. And then . . . nothing until I woke up just now."

"Jeremiah, give me a hand with him," Cole said. "Let's get him sitting up." When they had propped Smollet against a tree, Cole went on, "I'm not too surprised. From what the folks in the bank said, you took quite a wallop from that outlaw, and Doc Kent warned me it might have done some damage."

"My brain is perfectly fine," Smollet said stiffly.

"Maybe so, but you'd better not take any more chances. I think you should head back to town, too." Cole looked at the other possemen. "One of you gents needs to go with him to make sure he gets there all right."

"Blast it, no!" Smollet said. "This . . . this posse has already dwindled to almost nothing. If you lose two more men – "

"Sawyer's on his way," Cole said, hoping that was actually true. So far he hadn't seen anything of the Texans, and he thought they ought to be showing up by now. "Once that wild bunch gets here, we'll be more than a match for those outlaws. Besides, I've got a hunch an army couldn't get into that valley without losing a lot of men. It's going to take something else besides sheer force to save Miss Durand."

Smollet closed his eyes for a second as he paled. Cole figured he was feeling another wave of dizziness. Smollet didn't pass out this time, though. A moment later when he had recovered some, he said, "I suppose you're right. I should have known I wouldn't be of any use. I'm just not a fighting man."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Cole told him. "But it doesn't look like this is gonna be your fight.

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.