Blood Bond 3 by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone [Johnstone, William W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2014-12-26T05:00:00+00:00

They rode into Nameit, dirty and tired and hungry and wanting a hot bath, some food, and rest. The wounded outlaw—his name was Charles Gruen—was treated by Dr. Winters and tossed into one cell of the three-cell pokey.

“Now what happens?” Gruen asked.

“You get tried soon as I can get a judge over here,” Josiah told him. “Might be next month, might be next year. Then we either hang you or you go to prison.”

“I want a lawyer.”

“Sure, you do. But they ain’t no lawyers in this town. Thank the Lord.”

“I was driven to a life of crime. I had a terrible childhood,” Gruen said. “My daddy beat me.”

“He didn’t beat you enough,” Josiah told him. “Now shut up.”

There was a note on the desk stating that Pen and Bam were out chasing some petty thieves. They would be back first light.

The men took their baths, shaved, then got something to eat. Josiah turned up the lamp on the office desk and took pen and paper and began writing out his report. He left it on the desk when he went out back to use the privy. Sam picked it up and read, “Me and Bodine and Two Wolves picked up their tracks heading north from the burned-out ranch. We found the six of them the next morning. I think we was in Texas. We braced them, they jumped, we shot them. Killed five—I spoke words over them—and we brung Charles Gruen back to Nameit for trial.”

“That pretty well says it all,” Matt said, reading over Sam’s shoulder.

“He’s not a wordy man, is he?”

Dodge rode up and walked into the office. He looked at the outlaw sitting on his bunk in the cell. Back in the main office, he poured a cup of coffee. “John Lee is hirin’ more men. I got that word this afternoon.”

“How’s his mouth?” Matt asked with a grin.

“Sore, so I’m told,” the old gunfighter turned rancher said with a smile. “I’m told they can’t tell about Nick’s mouth until the swellin’ goes down.” He looked at Sam. “Watch your backtrail, boy. Nick’s swore to kill you. And don’t take him lightly. He’ll kill you any way he can.

“I never take death threats lightly. I guess I should have shot him when he drew on me, or tried to draw on me, back in the saloon.”

“You mighty right you should have,” Dodge said. “But I understand why you didn’t.”

“You’re out pretty late, Dodge,” Matt said.

“Jimmy’s on the prod. We’re lookin’ for him. He left home swearin’ to kill John Lee. That was about noon today. Nobody’s seen hide nor hair of him since.”

Josiah had entered through the back door and stood listening until the foreman had finished. “Is the boy any good with a gun?”

Dodge shrugged. “Average, I’d say. He’s not fast, if that’s what you mean. But he’s real good with a rifle.”

“What brought this on?” Sam asked.

“No one knows. But he was real fond of Ed Carson. Funeral’s at dawn, by the way. Ed always requested that.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.