The Other Madden by Brent Towns & 9780719829192

Author:Brent Towns & 9780719829192 [Towns, Brent]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780719829192
Publisher: Robert Hale Fiction
Published: 2023-01-18T00:00:00+00:00

Meredith was far from happy. Even later that afternoon while I was out at the corral feeding the horses, she tried again to talk me out of it.

‘I don’t like it, Trace. I want us to leave before it’s too late.’

‘It’s already too late, Mer. Jeff needs my help.’

‘Oh, you are so stubborn, Trace Madden,’ she fumed.

I took her in my arms and stared into her tear-filled eyes. ‘Caldwell and Deavers are behind the death of Joe. I know it. They’re after the ranch and I have a feeling we’ll find out why in the next few days. I can’t leave now, you know that.’

Meredith placed her head against my shoulder. ‘I just couldn’t bear it if I lost you, Trace.’

‘Outlaw and all?’

‘Outlaw and all.’

It was almost as if I could feel the disturbance before I heard it. I looked up and saw two riders approaching the ranch house.

‘Riders coming, Mer,’ I said and eased her away from me.

She turned and stared in their direction. She squinted and said, ‘Is that who I think it is?’

‘Yeah, I think so. Blaze and Miller.’

‘What on earth are they doing here?’ Meredith pondered.

‘More to the point, where’s Frenchy?’

The duo rode into the yard, looking ragged and worn down.

‘What happened?’ I asked. There were no hellos. It was beyond that.

Blaze said, ‘We screwed up, Trace. When you left we went and pulled a job on our own.’

I felt my blood begin to rise. ‘Tell me about it.’

‘It was my fault,’ Blaze said. ‘We thought – I thought that if we did it then you wouldn’t need to do the other. You’d have enough money and that would keep Mer happy too.’

‘What happened, Blaze?’

‘Cleve Hardin had the same idea as we did. At the exact same time. Only we got away with the money after one of his men dropped it. They got arrested and we got away.’

‘Where’s Frenchy?’

Blaze went on. ‘Somehow, Hardin and his men must’ve got away. They tracked us to the cabin. They killed Frenchy before we even knew they were there.’

I closed my eyes as my mind became filled with rampant thoughts. This wasn’t good. Hardin wasn’t a man to let things go and I knew that out there somewhere was an angry grizzly on a trail of blood.

I glanced at Meredith and saw a tear run down her cheek. I felt the same way. The gang had been together for a while now and we were all close friends.

‘Do you know the worst of it, Blaze?’ I asked. ‘It’s not the fact that you went and did this on your own. Nor that Frenchy died because you screwed up. The worst is that Hardin ain’t going to stop until he finds you. And that means he’s going to come here to my family’s home.’

Realization dawned on Blaze. ‘Oh, hell, I’m sorry, Trace. I didn’t think.’

‘Now that’s twice. Don’t let there be a third. Get your horses into the corral.’

I watched them go and felt Meredith move closer in beside me. I put my left arm around her and pulled her close.

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