Where There's Fire, There's Smoke by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone [Johnstone, William W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
Published: 2019-07-22T00:00:00+00:00

30

“Your own sister would pay to have you killed!”

Bountiful said, appalled at just the thought. “How dreadful. What kind of person is she?”

Ralph and Bountiful were having supper with Smoke and Sally. “She must have a lot of hate in her heart,” Ralph said.

“I reckon,” Smoke said. “Well, I’ll just have to be more careful and keep looking over my shoulder from now on.” He smiled. “That’s something I’m used to doing.”

Then he remembered Utah Slim. The man had aligned with no side in the mountain country war. No, Smoke thought, he didn’t have to. He already had a job.

U.S. Marshal Mitchell had told Smoke that his office had received word that a gunslick had been paid to kill Jensen. But none of their usual sources could, or would, shed any light on who that gunslick might be.

Or why.

Smoke felt he knew the answer to both questions.

Utah Slim.

“You’ve got a funny look in your eyes, Smoke,” Sally said, looking at her husband.

“I’m not going to sit around and wait for a bullet, Sally. I just made up my mind on that.”

“I felt that was coming too.”

“What are you two talking about?” Bountiful asked.

“A showdown,” Smoke told her, buttering a biscuit. He chewed slowly, then said, “Might as well brace him in the morning and get it over with.”

Ralph and Bountiful stopped eating and sat staring at the young gunfighter. Ralph said, “You’re discussing this with no more emotion than if you were talking about planting beets!”

“No point in gettin’ all worked up about it, Ralph. If I try to avoid it, it just prolongs the matter, and maybe some innocent person gets caught up in it and gets hurt. I told you and your friends a time back that we do things differently out here. And I’m not so sure that it isn’t the best way.”

“In the morning?”

“In the morning.”

“I’ll go in with you,” the minister turned farmer said. His tone indicated the matter was not up for debate.

“All right, Ralph.”

* * *

Ralph was a surprisingly good horseman, and Smoke said as much.

“I was raised on a farm,” he said. “And I’m also a very good rifle shot.”

“I noticed you putting the Henry in the boot this morning.”

The morning was very clear and very bright as the two men rode toward Fontana. As they worked their way out of the mountains and toward the long valley where Fontana was located, the temperature grew warmer.

“Ever shot a man, Ralph?”

“No.”

“Could you?”

“Don’t ever doubt it.”

Smoke smiled faintly. He didn’t doubt it for a minute.

The town of Fontana seemed to both men to be a bit smaller. Ralph commented on that.

“The easy pickings have been found and taken out, Ralph. For however long this vein will last, it’s going to be hard work, dirty work, and dangerous work. Look yonder. One whole section of Fontana is gone. Half a dozen bars have pulled out.”

“Why . . .” Ralph’s eyes swept the visibly shrinking town that lay below them. “At this rate, there will be nothing left of Fontana by the end of summer.

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