The Redhead and the Preacher by Sandra Chastain

Author:Sandra Chastain [Chastain, Sandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Fiction, Western, Historical, General
ISBN: 9780307798701
Google: O4z-yX9SrTwC
Amazon: B0062OCNGC
Barnesnoble: B0062OCNGC
Goodreads: 13535855
Publisher: Fanfare
Published: 1994-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Marshal Larkin studied his pocket watch and spoke to Bran, who was standing with the town fathers by the fence. “I’m beginning to wonder if Mrs. Mainwearing is coming.”

“Maybe she heard that Lorraine would be here and decided not to come,” Preston said, watching the women place the food on the table.

“Maybe, but I was out at the mine this morning. She said Judge Hardcastle was picking her up. I’m getting a little worried.”

Bran pulled his attention from Macky, who’d been given a place of honor on a stool just outside the cabin door where she could watch the women trying to turn the cabin into a proper parsonage and the others preparing the food. “What were you doing at the mine?” he asked the marshal.

“I suppose it’s all right to say now. Another gold shipment went out this morning. I sent an escort with it, but after the bank robbery in Promise, I’m worried.”

“Was there something unusual about that robbery?” Bran asked.

The marshal pulled out a small cigar and lit it. “The regular wagons left for Denver as usual. Then we secretly shipped the new coins to Promise. From there they’d have gone on to California on the stage. It would have worked except that the Pratt gang decided to hold up the bank.”

“Yeah, it was almost like Pratt’s gang knew they were there,” Hank Clay said as he joined the group.

“And then,” Bran added, “there was the explosion in the mine.”

The marshal shook his head. “We still don’t know whether that was an accident or not. It turns out the man who was killed had been newly hired and the other men said he seemed awfully nervous.”

Something was wrong but Bran couldn’t put a finger on it and he hated that nagging feeling. He did know that whoever was behind the trouble was not an ordinary criminal. Sylvia had hired Bran to find the culprit, but he didn’t have a lead on the guilty party.

Larkin drew on the cigar and tapped the ash to the ground where he crushed it beneath his boot. “If Mrs. Mainwearing isn’t here by the time the ladies get the food ready, I’ll ride over there and check.”

“Why wait?” Bran asked.

Larkin nodded. “You’re right, let’s go. But don’t alarm the women, we’ll just say we’re going to meet them.”

“Want us to tag along?” Hank Clay asked.

“No,” the marshal said as he mounted his horse. “Don’t want to make the women worry. You and Cribbs stay here, in case there’s trouble.”

Bran borrowed a horse that was already saddled and rode out behind the marshal, giving a quick wave to Macky, whose look of alarm wasn’t going to be satisfied without more explanation. But that would have to wait. Besides, it wasn’t safe for her to know any more than she already did.

They rode leisurely back toward town until they came to the fork, then took the other path that ambled up the trail into the mountains. After ten minutes of riding, the marshal spoke.

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