A Plain and Simple Heart (The Amish of Apple Grove) by Smith Virginia & Copeland Lori

Author:Smith, Virginia & Copeland, Lori [Smith, Virginia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780736947565
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
Published: 2012-08-31T12:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

Yeah, they were in here all right.” The man behind the bar wasn’t as big or as burly as Ed, but he had a reputation for being every bit as tough. He’d have to be. Tucked onto a less affluent street on the northeastern edge of town, the Horseshoe Saloon didn’t attract a prosperous lot. A handful of tables, little more than wide planks on pole legs, crowded the room, and the bar was splintered and stained. Few of the bottles on the shelf bore labels.

“You’re sure it was Hughes and Calhoun?”

Colin laid wanted posters on the bar so the man could examine them more closely. Though not as notorious as Cleon Benton, these two had been pinpointed as accomplices in a series of stagecoach holdups down in Colorado a few months back. Grandpa Maddox had arrested them twice and told them the next time they rode into town he would haul their sorry hides to the jail and throw away the key.

“I’m sure it was them. Came in around two o’clock and sat at that table right there.” The man pointed to a table situated between the door and an ancient-looking potbelly stove.

“Did they happen to mention what they were doing here?”

The men would have to be brazen or half nuts to go against Bull Maddox’s warning to “get out and stay out” of Lawrence.

The bartender shook his head. “They didn’t say much of anything, Sheriff, even to each other. Downed three shots of whiskey each and then left. Looked trail weary, both of them, like they’d been rode hard and put away wet. I had the feeling they were just passing through.”

Colin frowned. “What makes you say that?”

“I watched them leave.” He jerked his head toward the window that took up half of the front wall. “Their horses were packed heavy and their saddlebags were full. They mounted up and took off that way.” He pointed east, where the town of Lawrence ended at the shores of the Kansas River.

“Let’s hope you’re right.” Colin snatched the wanted posters off the bar and walked out of the saloon. Hal waited on the weather-beaten porch, watching the street.

“They left town,” he told him as he mounted Gus.

“That’s where I spotted them, headed toward the river. Couldn’t have been more than ten, fifteen minutes ago.”

Colin set his jaw with frustration. Because he’d assigned himself jail duty this afternoon, Gus was at the stable. When Hal ran in with his big news, precious minutes had been lost going to the livery and saddling up. He nudged his horse with his knees and urged him into a gallop, Hal following behind.

The few buildings to the east of the Horseshoe were spaced wide apart and small. One horse stood hitched in front of the auction house, and a small shanty beyond that looked to be deserted. There was no sign of movement either place. The road they followed became a trail that curved along the river and disappeared to the north behind a tree-covered bend.

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