The Lonesome Gun by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone [Johnstone, William W.; Johnsto]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
Published: 2023-04-17T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

They said goodbye to the folks at Millie’s Dining Room, then said another one at Tully’s Stable when they picked up their horses. They left the dun gelding that Tully had passed on before as a token of their appreciation and started out leading just the two packhorses. After leaving town, they picked the first decent-looking stream they came to and made their camp for the night.

They reached Sulphur Springs a day and a half later, at noontime. “We’re right on time for dinner,” Perley said. He nodded toward the little establishment wedged in between a saloon and the hardware store. “Varner’s Vittles,” he read the sign aloud. “Maybe we’ll run into the sheriff. He said that was his favorite place.”

“That’s right,” Possum said. “And maybe they can tell us how to get to the academy.” That brought a groan from Perley.

There was a wide area behind the buildings, grown up knee high in grass with a stream on the other side. It looked to be a perfect place to leave their horses while they visited Varner’s Vittles. They didn’t unload the horses because they planned only to be gone long enough to eat, and then they intended to move the horses to a deep creek a couple of miles north of town to rest them.

Varner’s Vittles proved to be as down-home as its name. Jake Varner was the owner and manager, and his wife, Polly, did the cooking, as well as all the cleaning up, except washing the dishes. That responsibility was given to their only child, a one-eyed daughter of fifteen, whose name was Violet. Jake was sometimes asked how his daughter lost her eye, and he explained that Violet didn’t lose her eye; she never had one on the right side of her nose. She was born with an empty socket on that side of her face. According to Jake, it never made any difference to Violet. “She never had but one eye, so she don’t know if the world looks different to other folks or not.” There was a common saying around town, however, that when you ate at Varner’s Vittles and you got a plate with a little dirt on one side of it, that was Violet’s blind side. Otherwise, she was not a homely girl, but because of her uniqueness, she was not courted by any of the young boys in town. The matter did not concern Violet herself, but it caused grief to her mother. Polly was convinced the boys had a fear that marriage to Violet might produce a long line of one-eyed young’uns.

Jake gave Perley and Possum a big welcome. “Welcome to Varner’s Vittles, fellers. This is your first visit with us, ain’t it?” Possum said that it was and told him that the sheriff recommended the establishment. “That’s right,” Jake said, “Sheriff Cooper don’t hardly miss a day eatin’ here.” He chuckled and added, “Tell you the truth, I ain’t sure it’s the cookin’. I think he’s sweet on Polly.

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