Cooper (The Landon Saga Book 3)
Page 15
“Do you know who Ike Nash is?”
“Heard of him.”
“He showed up a few months ago with a lot of money, and he’s been buying ranches all over Texas,” Dave spoke up. “He’s got a lot of hands, and every week they come to town. They tear up the saloon, take supplies from my store without paying for them, and scare honest folks.”
“Last week one of them ran over a child in the street a-horseback, and he didn’t even stop!” Fred added.
“Who was it?” I asked, concerned.
“My son,” Morgan said, and there was anger in his voice.
“Is he all right?”
“He broke his foot and some ribs,” Morgan said. “Doc says he might have a limp for the rest of his life.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s got to stop,” Fred spoke back up. “That’s why we want you.”
“Sounds more like you want my reputation,” I said.
“I guess you could say that,” Fred agreed.
“How many hands?” I asked.
“That come to town?” Fred asked. “Fifteen, sometimes twenty.”
“Are they gun-hands, or cow-hands?”
“They all carry guns,” Fred replied.
I smiled at that.
“Any man can carry a gun, but that doesn’t make ’em a gun-hand,” I explained.
“I don’t think they’re professional gunmen,” Morgan said. “But there’s so many of them! They just laugh at us when we try to stand up to them.”
“Would I get a deputy?”
“Why sure,” Fred said. “You can even pick your own man.”
“Tell him about the house, Fred,” Dave said.
“House?” I asked.
“There’s a nice little house on the edge of town that comes with the job,” Fred explained.
“It’d be perfect for a man with, say, a wife,” Dave said.
“Maybe even kids too, later on,” Fred added helpfully.
I was embarrassed, and I felt my cheeks turning red.
They must have noticed my discomfort, because suddenly they all became very interested in the ground.
“Let me think on it,” I said. “Give you my answer tomorrow.”
They agreed, and they went over to their horses and mounted up.
I watched them leave, and then I went to find Ross.
Coming soon from Solstice Publishing
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