by Clay More
Despite himself, Deputy McCaid blushed. "We're a team, Marshal. We are a team."
Saul Horrocks looked dazed a few moments later as he came around, to find the myopic deputy of Tucksville locking manacles on his wrists.
* * *
A week later Johnnie Parker and Elly Horrocks were married in Tucksville, a week before the trial of her brother Saul Horrocks.
"We wanted that monster to see that despite all of his murdering and deviousness, that we were man and wife," Elly explained to Jake and Nantan.
"It will be hard," Johnnie said. "Saul Horrocks was rotten to the core, but he is still her natural born brother, so she is bound to be torn up about it all – especially when he is sentenced to be hanged, which he surely will be."
They ate a quiet supper together, then the following morning Jake and Nantan rode off together. Neither of them had any place in particular to go, and neither knew how long they would ride together. For now there was just one trail that they meant to follow. That was the one leading away from so much tragedy and so much death.
It was the trail that went through Rattlesnake Pass.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CLAY MORE
My real name is Keith Souter and I was born in St Andrews in Scotland. I studied Medicine at Dundee University and then practiced as a family doctor in the city of Wakefield in England for thirty years. While I was at medical school I started to write children's stories for a family magazine, but after qualifying as a doctor the exigencies of the job were such that the focus of my writing was on medicine. I have also been a health columnist for almost thirty years and have written about a dozen medical and health books. In addition I write non-fiction books including Schoolboy Science Remembered; The Pocket Guide to Dice and Dice Games; The Little Book of Genius; The Little Book of Golf; Medical Meddlers, Mediums and Magicians – the Victorian Age of Credulity and The Classic Guide to King Arthur. Using the pen-name of Clay More I write traditional westerns with the Black Horse Westerns imprint of Hale of London: Raw Deal at Pasco Springs; Nemesis for the Judge; Double-Dealing at Dirtville; A Rope for Scudder and Stampede at Rattlesnake Pass, all soon to be reprinted by The Western Fictioneers Library. I also write Scottish-based crime novels as Keith Moray for Hale: The Gathering Murders; Deathly Wind; Murder Solstice and Flotsam and Jestsam. In 2006 I won a Fish Prize for my short historical story A Villain's Tale and writing as Keith Souter started a series of historical mysteries set around Sandal Castle, the ruined medieval castle that I live within arrowshot of: The Pardoner's Crime and The Fool's Folly. In the summer of 2012 the first in my series of Victorian children's adventures begins with The Curse of the Body Snatchers by G-Press. My website is www.keithsouter.co.uk and my blog is http://west-uist-chronicle.blogspot.co.uk
[I am a member of the Society of Authors, The Crime Writers' Association, Medical Journalists' Association, International Thriller Writers, Western Writers of America and Western Fictioneers.]
Also available from Western Fictioneers
West of the Big River:
The Lawman
William M. "Bill" Tilghman had one of the most illustrious careers of any Old West lawman, serving as sheriff, town marshal, and deputy United States marshal in some of the toughest places west of the Mississippi. But he faced perhaps his greatest and most dangerous challenge when he rode alone into the wild Oklahoma Territory settlement of Burnt Creek on the trail of a gang of rustlers and outlaws with some unexpected allies . . .
THE LAWMAN, by New York Times bestselling author James Reasoner, is the first novel in a new series from the Western Fictioneers, West of the Big River. These are brand-new, original short novels inspired by real-life characters and actual events from the exciting, colorful history of the American frontier, written by today's leading Western authors including Robert J. Randisi, Michael Newton, Jackson Lowry, Frank Roderus, Bill Crider, Matthew P. Mayo, James J. Griffin, and many others. Don't miss any of these action-packed short novels that showcase the best of the American West!
West of the Big River:
The Avenging Angel
Orrin Porter Rockwell is more than just a deputy United States marshal and a deadly gunfighter. He's a member of the Mormon Danites, the group of enforcers known as the Avenging Angels, and he's the personal troubleshooter for Governor Brigham Young. And when Young sends Rockwell to the rough-and-tumble mining town of Tartarus, there'll be plenty of trouble for him to shoot. A group of Mormon miners has vanished, and before Rockwell uncovers the secret of their disappearance he'll face deadly danger from all sides. What his adversaries don't know is just how dangerous the Avenging Angel is . . .
Award-winning author Michael Newton spins an action-packed, historically accurate yarn in THE AVENGING ANGEL, another exciting adventure west of the big river.
West of the Big River:
The Artist
Before he was a world-famous Western artist, Charles M. "Charlie" Russell was a horse wrangler on a ranch in Montana during the worst winter in that state's history. The danger of freezing to death while riding for the brand isn't the only threat Russell has to face, however. A ruthless band of rustlers is sweeping the range of cattle, and a beautiful but trouble-making rancher's daughter complicates Russell's life even more. He'll need more than his artistic ability to survive this deadly winter!
THE ARTIST is the latest volume in the popular West of the Big River series from the Western Fictioneers. Acclaimed author Jackson Lowry spins as entertaining a tale as any of those from Charlie Russell himself in this superb new historical novel.
Coming: West of the Big River:
The Ranger
The Forty-niners
The Deputy
The Bandit
And much more.
***
The Traditional West
The classic American Western returns in this huge collection of brand-new stories by some of the top Western writers in the world today.
Six-guns and Slay Bells: A Creepy Cowboy Christmas
Put on your Santa hat and saddle up for this collection of creepy Christmas stories from the Western Fictioneers, the world's only organization of professional authors devoted solely to Western fiction.
The Peacemakers
Collections of 4 award winning western stories in each volume
Volume I
Volume II
Volume III
Wolf Creek:
Here you will find many of your favorite authors, working together as Ford Fargo to weave a complex and textured series of Old West adventures like no one has ever seen.
Book 1: Bloody Trail
Book 2: Kiowa Vengeance
Book 3: Murder in Dogleg City
Book 4: The Taylor County War
Book 5: Showdown at Demon's Drop
Coming: Book 6: Hell on the Prairie
Book 7: The Quick and the Dying
Book 8: Night of the Assassins
Book 9: A Wolf Creek Christmas
The Western Fictioneers Library
RAW DEAL AT PASCO SPRINGS by Clay More
LEAVING KANSAS by Frank Roderus
JUDGE ON THE RUN by Clay More
RANGER'S REVENGE by James J. Griffin
REACHING COLORADO by Frank Roderus
DEATH STALKS THE RANGERS by James J. Griffin
A ROPE FOR SCUDDER by Clay More
DEAD MAN'S GUN AND OTHER STORIES by Ed Gorman
GUN FOR HIRE by Jory Sherman
FINDING NEVADA by Frank Roderus
THE CAST-IRON STAR AND OTHER WESTERN STORIES by Robert J. Randisi
THE TRAIL BROTHERS by Troy D. Smith
STAMPEDE AT RATTLESNAKE PASS by Clay More
A DISGRACE TO THE BADGE AND OTHER WESTERN STORIES by Ed Gorman
Coming Reprints in The Western Fictioneers Library
HOME TO TEXAS by Frank Roderus
BUZZARD BAIT by Jory Sherman
THE TRAIL BROTHERS by Troy D. Smith
CHARLIE AND THE SIR by Frank Rod
erus
DOUBLE-DEALING AT DIRTVILLE by Clay More
IRON HEART by Jory Sherman
JASON EVERS: HIS OWN STORY by Frank Roderus
POTTER'S FIELDS by Frank Roderus
RED TOMAHAWK by Jory Sherman
HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS, J. AUBREY WHITFORD by Frank Roderus
www.westernfictioneers.com