The Hanging at Leadville Firefall by Cameron Judd

Author:Cameron Judd
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group
Published: 1991-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

They found Peabody still huddled against the boulder, hiding his face. “I’ll never drink anymore, Lord,” he was saying. “I’ll never taste another drop.”

Rankin knelt beside Peabody and pulled a flask from beneath his coat. “Here you go, preacher. Something to make you feel better.”

Peabody looked at the flask glinting in the light of the fire, licked his lips once, and reached out for it. He turned it up. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

Rankin took the flask away and repocketed it. “Glad to find you alive, Parson. Or maybe we ought to call you ‘Prophet’ now. Because it sure happened just like you said it would.”

“I didn’t know,” Peabody said. “I swear, I didn’t know. I was just talking when I said all that. I didn’t know the fire would really fall!”

“Why, sure you knew!” Rankin said. “You said it would happen, and it did. Likelihood is, you caused it to happen, Parson.”

“I didn’t cause it! I didn’t!”

“Well, something, or somebody, sure did. And I didn’t hear anybody else making predictions. You’ve got the power to tell what’s coming, Parson. A gift from God, for you to use.”

“I don’t want that gift! I don’t! Can I have another drink?”

“Surely.”

When Rankin pocketed the flask again, he said, “Parson Peabody, I want to follow you.”

“What?”

“I want to follow you. Be around you. Help you with your work. Be sort of a disciple for you.”

“A disciple…”

“You’ve got the gift, Prophet. Whether you want it or not. It’s something you ought to use.”

“But I didn’t do nothing! I didn’t!”

Rankin put his face close to Peabody’s. The reflected firelight gave his eyes a piercing glitter. “There are those in Gomorrah, if any are left alive, who would be hard-pressed to believe that. They’ll believe in you. So will plenty of others who hear about this.”

“Do you think they all died up there?”

“Let’s go up and see.”

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