The Sons of Casey O'Donnell by Scott Connor

Author:Scott Connor
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Culbin Press
Published: 2022-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

“Are you fit again?” Ryan asked when they were five miles out of town.

“My chest’s still sore, but I’m alive and that’s more than I could have expected a month ago,” Montgomery said.

They rode on in silence for a while before Ryan turned to Montgomery.

“I’ve not got the right no more to question a deputy’s actions, but are you sure this is the quickest route to Sunflower City?”

Montgomery turned in the saddle and winked. “It’s not. Then again we’re not going to Sunflower City.”

Ryan sighed. He had wondered whether Montgomery had an ulterior motive in accepting this mission.

“I’m obliged for the sentiment, but I’ve decided I’ll accept my punishment,” he said. “Two years is a fair sentence for my family harboring an outlaw and I don’t intend to start a family tradition by running from justice.”

“I have no intention of helping you escape. I have to get you on the next westward-bound train to leave Sunflower City, and I will. That still gives us time to get those answers we both need.”

Ryan considered. Despite Montgomery’s generous offer, most of those two days would be taken up with traveling, leaving little time to investigate, but Ryan didn’t feel inclined to argue.

“Where are we going to first?”

Montgomery frowned. “Kendall Springs, the place where the payroll was stolen and where the other Marshal Coe went in search of answers of his own.”

“What do you hope to find there?”

“Another dead man whose story has yet to be told.” Montgomery raised a hand when Ryan started to ask for details. “Only when we get there.”

Then Montgomery diverted the conversation on to talking through the events they had both experienced. As it turned out, Montgomery’s ready openness while he shared his version of the situation helped Ryan to accept he had no reason to lie about Marshal Coe and that he should trust him.

“I don’t blame you for not piecing together sooner what the bogus marshal said to Hudson,” Ryan said when they’d finished. He offered a smile that Montgomery returned. “Even if you had, I wouldn’t have acted differently, but it does make me even more determined to find this man who claimed he was a lawman.”

“Me, too,” Montgomery said, sounding relieved after Ryan had passed up the opportunity to blame him. “My friends got shot up on his mission.”

“Why did you join him?”

“The three of us had ridden together on drives for years. We needed the work and also Coe’s mission sounded like something that’d give us a tale to tell around the chuck wagon at night, but I’m the only one who survived to tell it.”

“I understand, but what if we can’t find any answers in the next two days?”

“Then hopefully I’ll have the answers when you get out of jail.”

Ryan nodded and, there being nothing else to discuss, the two men sped up. They reached Kendall Springs in late morning. It presented an even more pitiful sight than Ryan had been led to expect.

The town had been abandoned after the payroll raid,

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