Shooting Iron by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
Published: 2023-08-16T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

Frank Geary had not thought much of Devil’s Gulch the first time he had been forced through it in Wheeler’s prison wagon. His opinion had not changed now as he rode toward it a second time. The boardwalks were uneven. The buildings were crooked and already beginning to be reclaimed by the mud. The few people on the streets looked like they were stuck there. The surrounding lands were beautiful, and the mountains were majestic, but a man could not live on scenery. The town itself was a miserable and dank place. He’d be content to leave it to the rats and dirt.

He did not understand why Mullen had wanted to risk so much to come back here, but he knew the world looked different to a man who had a piece of it. Geary had never owned much in his life. Not as a boy on his family’s farm in Ireland. Not in the bag he had brought with him across the Atlantic and not since. He had been to San Francisco and decided that was a city. Warm and sunny and full of life. It was a place he intended on seeing again once he felt he had repaid his debt to Mullen. It was the least he could do for the man who had kept him out of prison.

Geary kept his eyes moving as he and Bart rode through town toward their respective destinations. He was on the lookout for that cackling old prison cook and Sheriff Holt among the faces he passed. He had never seen Holt in action, but he knew the man by reputation. And having seen him himself when he was on the prison wagon, Geary could tell he was every bit as dangerous as he was supposed to be. He did not doubt Holt would kill him on sight if he recognized him.

The prison cook’s cackling laugh and folksy demeanor on the trail had not fooled Geary. He had ridden too many miles with him and Wheeler to know Old Bob was no fool. He was always sure to hang a good distance behind the prison wagon, watching, and listening while he made like he was singing to himself. His food was good and had kept them alive, but all the complaints about his creaky bones and old age only served to remind Geary that there was more to the old codger than he let on. And he knew if anyone had tried to make a break for it during a meal, Old Bob’s bullet would find them before Wheeler’s gun cleared leather.

Which was why Geary was glad that Bart had decided to take the long way into town, only chancing being seen along Main Street when they were close enough to the bank and County Hall. The less anyone saw them, the better for all concerned.

After they tied their horses to the hitching rail and climbed down from the saddle, Bart said, “You take the judge and I’ll take the bank.

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