Ride to Ruin by Eleri Stone

Author:Eleri Stone [Stone, Eleri]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Eleri Stone

* * *

Mordecai might not claim to be a prophet, as his father had done, but that didn’t seem to stop him from filling a tent. The meeting tent was one of the largest Garrett had seen, with four great posts and heavy canvas walls to block the wind, rain, and sun. It had to have taken an army of volunteers to set it up, which spoke to Reverend Blackwell’s popularity despite the rumors swirling around about Ruin. Of course, rumors ran different courses. There were probably just as many people calling Thaddeus Blackwell a martyr as a villain. And then, like Garrett, there would always be those who were curious and simply came to watch the show.

When Garrett stabled his horse, he took a moment to ask the stable hand about Mordecai and his revival. The boy pocketed the coin Garrett tossed his way with a grin as quick as his hands. “He’s good for business and he hasn’t raised any trouble for the folk around here. Who would turn him away?”

The inn and stables were full. People were camped outside of town like they were coming to the fair. Gatherings like this were rare on the border because they drew Reapers, but Blackwell had guaranteed everyone’s safety for so long as they were in town.

Blackwell seemed to have enough men with him to ensure that promise. The Redeemed—men who had once been Reapers, but were now cured. Garrett studied them, trying to see some evidence of what they’d once been on their bodies. They didn’t look like any of the former Reapers he’d ever seen. Of course, when the cured Reapers left the fort, they were still weak and disoriented. The forts couldn’t afford to house and feed them for long, so they clothed them and sent them on their way. He’d heard that a lot of ranchers and farmers were afraid to take them in because early on one had turned mad and murdered a rancher and his family. Whether or not the rumor was true, Garrett had no idea, but stories like that tended to make people cautious.

It didn’t help much that so many of the cured Reapers turned outlaw, robbing honest men and women traveling the plains. There was a growing sense in the forts that more needed to be done, but the forts didn’t have the resources to care indefinitely for men who might never fully regain their sanity. No one on the border had money to spare, and Scrapers didn’t care about anything that didn’t affect their business interests.

Blackwell’s Redeemed looked like normal men. They weren’t dazed and fearful like the freshly cured Reapers Garrett was accustomed to seeing. They all wore the same simple clothes that looked as if they’d been made by the same hand. Cotton shirts and black trousers. Sturdy canvas coats. Their secondhand boots were a bit worn in the heel, but their weaponry appeared well cared for. Each carried a brace of pistols. They had rifles holstered to their saddles, and some wore hunting knives strapped to their thighs.

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.