The McCallum Boys by C J Sommers

Author:C J Sommers
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780719821400
Publisher: Robert Hale

SIX

Becky Porter bounded down the inside stairs of the Porter house wearing a white blouse and leather jacket, blue jeans, and western boots, her hair knotted loosely at the nape of her neck. She looked to Dave, ‘Are you ready?’

‘Sure—you want me to saddle your horse?’

‘No, I’ll do it. He knows my hand.’

She, it seemed, was in an uncommon rush, perhaps because the crooked figure of Darby Guileford had lifted itself from the chair and now stood watching her and Dave; perhaps she was only in a hurry to see Kit McCallum again. It occurred to Dave that women did have a lot of things to think about, most of them concerning men.

They walked toward the barn, Becky looking back over her shoulder. Like an irritable, offended dog, Darby stood there in the mist, watching after them. ‘He wants to go along,’ Becky said in a wavering whisper.

‘He won’t; I’ll promise you.’

Her voice remained in a whisper as they entered the dark barn. She stopped Dave and took his arm at the elbow. ‘That man—he plans to follow us!’

‘I know he does.’

‘If he ever tries that, he’ll find himself in more trouble than he can handle.’

‘I believe you,’ he said, although in truth he had no idea what the McCallum boys were made of.

She paused again, briefly. ‘Can you use that Colt of yours, Dave?’

‘I’ve never won a ribbon at shooting, but yes, I get along with it.’

‘What about him?’ she asked, motioning with her chin toward Darby Guileford.

‘I have no idea, but he’s an outlaw—most of those boys at least think of themselves as being good.’

‘Because I was thinking …’

‘Don’t even waste time thinking about it. If he pursues us, we’ll be out on the open plains where he can’t follow recklessly, and by the time he could even catch up with us, we’d be in sight of the McCallum house. I don’t think he’s got the nerve for that, unless he’s plain crazy.’

‘He may be,’ Becky said quietly. ‘You know, Dave, I think he just might be.’

Darby might have been. Dave had never ridden with him, but he had met a few who were crazy, and outlawed simply because they could not behave as normal people did. They would gun down a man for the fun of it, set fire to a crowded saloon over some implied snub, ride crazily at a group of armed deputies, which Dave considered to be a challenge to death they could not win and maybe did not even to wish to. They plain did not care enough about life to think it worth saving.

He shoved those thoughts aside within minutes as they found themselves out riding free on the plains, which were still shrouded with ground fog. Dave did not care for the fog. It had obscured the sight of what he thought had been Darby Guileford strolling to the barn where his own horse was kept.

‘How many of the McCallum boys are at home?’ he asked Becky. ‘I saw only Wynn.’

‘There will be more than that.

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