Powder Burn by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone [Johnstone, William W.; Johnsto]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2017-04-05T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

Melva Sams paused after throwing out some potato peels for the two hogs to eat. She shielded her eyes against the rays of the afternoon sun as she tried to make out the riders approaching along the west bank of the river. There were four of them and they seemed to be in a hurry. That didn’t always mean good news to the folks scattered around the small settlement, so she hurried in the kitchen door to alert Dewey and Jake. She found the two brothers in the store at the front of the cabin, standing by the window. “There’s some riders comin’ and they look like there’s somebody chasin’ ’em,” she said.

“Yeah, I saw ’em when they came down the bluff,” Dewey replied. “Looks like a bunch I saw ride through here a couple of days ago. At least three of ’em are. I don’t recognize the other ’un.”

“I thought them two that was in here a little while ago might be part of this bunch,” Jake said, “but I don’t see either one of ’em.”

“They do look like they’re in a big hurry to get here,” Dewey said. “Somethin’ about those men makes me think it wouldn’t be a bad idea to be real careful when we’re dealin’ with ’em. Jake, why don’t you get over there at the end of the counter with that scattergun of yourn?” Dewey went back to the counter then and reached under it to get his gun belt and revolver. While he strapped it on, he said to Melva, “You go on back in the kitchen, hon, till we make sure these boys ain’t lookin’ to start no trouble.” She nodded and returned to the kitchen. He often felt a little guilty to have brought his wife to this part of the territory. It was well known that there were a good number of outlaws in the Nations to escape the law. But it was also common thought that while in Indian Territory, most of them behaved themselves, not wishing to call marshals down upon them. Whether or not there was any basis to that thought, Dewey couldn’t truthfully say, but he had counted on it when he moved his business from Durant to the remote riverbank near Tishomingo. Thinking they were about as prepared as they could get against the four, Dewey and Jake waited inside for their visitors to arrive.

When Lynch and the others pulled up in front of the store, the Sams brothers were mildly surprised and somewhat relieved when only Lynch dismounted and came inside. It was immediately obvious, however, that he was not there to buy anything. Before Dewey could greet him, he asked bluntly, “That deputy that was in here yesterday, did he come back this way?”

Astonished, Dewey replied, “Why, no, he didn’t, least not that I know of. I mean, we ain’t seen him.”

“You told my man that deputy said he was goin’ to Tishomingo to see the Injun policeman. Is that right?” Dewey nodded.

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.