Blood on the Divide by Johnstone William W

Author:Johnstone, William W. [Johnstone, William W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

The truth was, Preacher just didn't like Malachi Pardee nor anyone else who thought and behaved as Malachi and his followers did. No man had the right to take from another. It was just as simple as that. A man had a right to take gun in hand to protect what was his. Whether it be wife and family, hearth and home, or a man's horse or dog. A body had a right to use force to keep what was his. Preacher had heard that a lot of folks back East, them particular in the cities, had stopped tot in' pistols and was leaving all the duties to the police and the constables. As far as Preacher was concerned, that was plumb stupid. If something like that kept on, soon they'd be laws for-biddin' a man to tote a pistol and protect himself.

Preacher shook his head and dismissed that thought. That was too ridiculous to even consider. That would never happen in America.

Sixteen

Malachi Pardee sat before the fire, a cup of coffee in his dirty hands. His thoughts were just as dirty as his body, and that was filthy. Malachi was between a rock and a hard place, and he knew it only too well.

That wagon train with the good lookin' women and the prime young girls in it was getting further and further away, and there was no telling when another one would form up and pass through. It was getting late in the summer and few would chance the crossing this close to snowfall. But Malachi knew he could not take his gang and leave the mountains after the train. Not with Preacher up here. Preacher would just swing in behind them and pick them off one at a time. No, Preacher had to be dealt with here and now and left dead in the Big Empty. That was all there was to it. The goddamn worthless, shiftless mountain man had been a thorn in Malachi's side for too many years. Just the thought made him angry. Who in the hell did Preacher think he was, anyways?

Brother Henry looked at his big brother from across the fire where supper was cooking. "Is we gonna have Preacher a-doggin' us forever, Malachi?"

"Yes, if we don't come up with a good plan to get shut of him," Malachi replied sourly. "Cut me off a hunk of that there meat, Henry. Hit's got me salivatin' something fierce."

Henry whacked off a hunk of hot, half-raw meat, and Malachi fell to gnawing. Thank the Lord they all was blessed with good strong teeth, he was fond of saying.

With blood and juices running down his chin, Malachi said, "I just can't figure why Preacher hates us all so. Lord have mercy knows we ain't never done a harm to him. We's just tryin' to make a livin', that's all. If folks that have would just share with us, we wouldn't have to do what we's doin'. Tain't right, for a fact. The government ought to provide for poor folks like us.

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.