Riders From Long Pines by Ralph Cotton

Author:Ralph Cotton [Cotton, Ralph]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Western
ISBN: 9780451226747
Google: MnSa8w1lwjIC
Amazon: 0451226747
Barnesnoble: 0451226747
Goodreads: 6487291
Publisher: Signet
Published: 2004-12-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Maria met the ranger at the livery barn where she had just finished watering and graining her horse. Sam turned his horse’s reins over to a stable boy. He noted that neither Art Mullens nor Thesis Sweeney was present. He gave Maria a curious look.

“I sent them to the River Palace,” she said, without him having to ask.

“They were easier for you to get rid of than I thought they would be,” Sam remarked.

“I gave them enough money to buy themselves a drink,” she said, “after I convinced them of how much help they’ve been.”

Sam gave a thin smile. “Did they have anything else to say worth hearing?”

“No, they didn’t,” Maria said. “But I thought it would be worth a drink to keep them out of the way while you finished talking to Sheer. Did he have anything else to say?”

“Not much,” said Sam. “He did say that he saw a stranger riding through Red Hill. Said the man avoided the trail and rode in the weeds and brush, like he didn’t want anybody seeing him.”

“Stanton Parks?” Maria asked.

“I’ve got a feeling it was.”

“Why didn’t he simply keep an eye on the saloon if he wanted to keep track of the drovers?” she asked.

“I figure he didn’t want to start any trouble in Red Hill,” said the ranger. “I also figure he didn’t want to tangle with these four young men alone. He was looking up Fred Mandrin, knowing Mandrin carried a badge—or that he used to anyway. I can think of lots of schemes those two could’ve cooked up with a badge on their side.”

“You don’t think the drovers killed Mandrin up at Three Forks,” Maria said, “you think Parks killed him.”

“Yep.” Sam nodded. “Parks killed him, once he saw the drovers had made out of Red Hill with the money, and he figured he’d no longer need Mandrin and his badge.”

“Interesting,” said Maria. “It sounds like all the four drovers are doing is trying to stay alive.”

“That’s the way I’m calling it,” said Sam. “Unless something shows me otherwise, I think the drovers are the only honest players in a dangerous game.”

“Sí, and they are the ones holding the money,” Maria mused.

“Yep,” said Sam, “and I bet they have no idea Buckshot Parks is trailing them.”

“Which puts them in a bad position, honest players or not,” Maria added.

“Oh yes,” said the ranger. He took out the broken paper money band and examined it again. “Parks is not the only person out for their hides. I imagine that by now Davin Grissin is spitting fire over this, if Peyton Quinn and his two pals had the nerve to go back and face him after we took away their guns.”

“We need to catch up to these young men before somebody else does,” Maria offered, looking toward the livery boy as he grained the ranger’s horse. “Do you think Frazier will send any more men after the drovers?”

“No, I think Frazier has learned his lesson, and so have the men he hired to capture the drovers,” said Sam.

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