Shadow of the Eagle by Harlan Finchley

Author:Harlan Finchley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Culbin Press
Published: 2020-05-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

“VERNON MUST HAVE FOLLOWED your brother’s lead and pretended to be dead to avoid the gunfire,” Gideon said when they were an hour out of Diamond Springs.

Joshua nodded. “That’s the best alternative. Otherwise, the only explanation I can think of is that he was in league with Warner.”

They were riding to the side of the stagecoach and their orders were to keep on the lookout for trouble. So far the only trouble Gideon had encountered was Messina’s angry expression while everyone had boarded the stage, but as her attitude appeared to show that she thought he was coming along only because of her, he hadn’t explained himself figuring she could find out the truth for herself.

For the first quarter-mile they had trundled along with the railroad to one side and the line of wagons to the other, but once they’d moved beyond the end of the line Rudyard had shouted instructions to the driver. They had sped up and they had soon left the slow-moving wagons behind them. Now the open plains were ahead and they faced a journey that they wouldn’t complete until tomorrow.

“Bearing in mind our job is to protect Rudyard and Lloyd,” Gideon said, “and we might be facing problems from both outside the group and from within it, I need a gun.”

“You’re not getting one.”

Gideon frowned. “In that case, I guess I can console myself with the thought if Vernon is working with Warner, at least that might explain some of the mysteries we’ve encountered, such as why nobody but me saw Warner in Empire City.”

“What do you mean?”

“Warner’s Wanted poster was outside the law office in Diamond Springs when I was last there, but now it’s gone.”

“That doesn’t have to be suspicious. I didn’t know about him and I spent time with Boyd who was looking for him.”

Gideon rubbed his jaw and then conceded Joshua’s point with a sigh.

“Perhaps I am being paranoid and looking for problems that aren’t there.”

“I reckon so, and I’m trying to avoid being paranoid, too, so that I don’t consider the opposite conclusion to yours. So far you’re the only one who’s mentioned Warner, the man you claim killed Boyd.”

Gideon shrugged. “Then I guess in a way your lack of trust pleases me, because that means when we find Warner maybe you’ll start trusting me.”

“Maybe,” Joshua said.

With that slight note of agreement they rode on. The stage driver headed along low ground and as Rudyard and Lloyd often leaned out of the windows to monitor the passing terrain, Gideon assumed the railroad would take this route.

The sun had yet to set when Rudyard directed them to stop at a creek. It had been dried up when Gideon had passed over it on his way to Diamond Springs, but now it carried a narrow dribble of water.

While the driver dealt with watering the horses, Lloyd and Rudyard moved away from the group to gesture up and down the creek. Gideon assumed the creek was usually more water-laden and they were discussing how they would deal with this problem when the railroad reached it.

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