He reloaded and shot at the chain as close to his body as he dared, but the first shot took a ricochet off a link and then a rock making him flinch. So he sought out other options, and in the end it took him fifteen minutes using a combination of Hoyt’s cleaver and bullets to break through a link.
Even then, he was left with a four-foot long length of chain that he had to drape over a shoulder. He postponed resolving that problem until later and left the clearing, having already decided while working on the chain that he wouldn’t dally to bury any of the bodies, even Bodie’s.
He hurried down to Endsville where to his delight he found the marshal’s horse in the stable. None of their horses had found their way back to the town yet, so he saddled up and then investigated the smithy.
Ten minutes of straining with pincers and a hammer broke the chain where it connected to the band around his neck. He could think of no easy way to remove the band itself, but he filled a saddlebag with tools so he could work on it later.
Then he led the horse outside. The sun was now well above the horizon, but he figured Endsville got few visitors, so the chances of someone passing through and discovering him were low.
With time on his hands, he went in search of real money and provisions so he could hole up somewhere for a lengthy period. In the saloon he found a box behind the bar that contained fifty dollars while a storeroom at the back had provisions.
He worked his way along a shelf filling a second saddlebag with a bottle of whiskey, hard bread and beans. Then he searched for sustenance that was more substantial. He found a board that had been covered with a blood-encrusted cloth.
The bulges in the cloth suggested that cuts of meat were underneath so with his heart pounding Jesmond whipped away the cloth to reveal several chunks of meat. He poked one, concluding that they were beef steaks.
An odd feeling hit him while his heart continued to race. He tried to shrug his discomfort away, but when he failed, he wrapped the meat up in the cloth to take with him. He headed outside and without preamble he mounted up and turned away from the saloon.
He rode on, only stopping to turn back to Endsville when he reached the town sign. He took deep breaths and that helped to calm him down. But the saddlebag containing the provisions helped him to identify the odd feeling he’d had when he’d discovered that the chunks of meat were, in fact, beef steaks.
The feeling was disappointment. He gulped. Then he jumped down from his mount and strode up to the town sign. With an angry snarl he kicked the sign over. Then, for good measure, he jumped up and down on the sign until it snapped in two.
He hurled the two sections away and then stood back, but the action didn’t make him feel any more content. He considered heading back into town and starting a fire that would destroy this place, but instead he got back on the horse and moved on.
At a slow trot, he headed away from Endsville. He chose a route around the hill that took the town out of sight quickly, but he still turned around several times. Five miles out of town, he opened the saddlebag and threw the meat away.
That didn’t help either.
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Did you love Endsville? Then you should read Return to Endsville by Harlan Finchley!
When Jesmond Drake fled Endsville he vowed never to return, but within a month he is forced to head back to the town.
The sheriff of Ash Point is getting close to uncovering his troubled past and the only way he can appease the lawman is to find the outlaw Lyle Sharpe. Lyle has holed up in Endsville, but when Jesmond rides into town he finds more trouble than he bargained for. It seems that he isn't the only man looking for Lyle, and the other pursuer has a horrific fate in mind for both Lyle and Jesmond.
If Jesmond is to survive his ordeal, he'll need to once again confront the evil that men are driven to do in Endsville.
Also by Harlan Finchley
Tales From Arcadia
Memories of a Forgotten Hero
Betrayal of a Forgotten Hero
Destiny of a Forgotten Hero
The Endsville Saga
Endsville
Return to Endsville (Coming Soon)
The Legend of Boot Hill
Shadow of the Eagle
Liberty Showdown (Coming Soon)
Standalone
Encounters of the Alien Kind
Ultimate Witness
Reaper's Harvest
Endsville Page 10