“No, I couldn’t eat another bite. Why, you’ve fed me so now that I won’t need to eat a bite for the entire train trip back home.”
“You are sure you don’t want to use my private car?”
“No, thank you. I’ll be just fine.”
“Well, I can’t say as I blame you,” Governor Routt said. “Getting back on that car would have to bring up unpleasant memories for you. I’m so sorry that your visit with us had to wind up so disastrously.”
“Nonsense, I loved my visit here,” Layne said. “I met several wonderful friends, and it was very exciting.” She laughed. “All right, maybe a little too exciting, but I will certainly have stories to tell for the rest of my life.”
“You will at that, won’t you?” the governor replied. “Well, you will be pleased to know that I have sent some people into Dorena to run out the riffraff and to restore law and order to that town. It isn’t right that an entire town should be stolen from the people as Dorena was.”
“I’m glad,” Layne said. “I’m so glad you paid the reward to Señora Arino,” Layne said.
“She deserved it,” Governor Routt said. He hugged his niece again. “And I’m thankful to Mr. Jensen for bringing you safely back to your family.”
“I hope Frederica can make a new life for herself,” Layne said.
“I believe she will,” Matt said.
“I just wish Mabel had lived long enough to collect the reward as well. She and Frederica were very brave women.”
“So was Maria,” Matt said.
“Yes, so was Maria,” Layne agreed. “It’s just that I think of her as more of a little girl than a woman.”
“She grew up,” Matt said.
“I guess she did.” Layne sighed, then looked at her uncle. “What’s going to happen now to Mr. Highgate?”
“Mr. Highgate is going to spend a very long time in prison,” Governor Routt said.
“The funny thing is, I believe him when he said that he didn’t really want any harm to come to me. I believe him when he says he regrets his part in all this.”
“Yes, well, he will have a long time to contemplate those regrets,” the governor said.
The clock chimed two.
“Oh, heavens, it’s two o’clock already,” Layne said. “The train leaves at three. I had better get ready to go to the depot.”
“I’ll have the carriage brought around and go to the depot with you,” the governor said.
“I had better get going as well,” Matt said. “Miss McKenzie . . .” he began.
“Surely, you’ve earned the right to call me Layne by now,” Layne told him.
Matt smiled and nodded. “Layne,” he said. “You are a remarkable young lady. The boys and girls in your classroom will be very lucky to have someone like you as their teacher.”
“Thank you, Matt,” Layne said. She smiled. “Are we never to meet again?”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Matt said. “Never is a very long time.”
Although he could have left Denver by train, Matt preferred to ride away on his new horse, a spitting image of Spirit, bought for him by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad.
“I’ve given you a good name,” Matt said, patting the animal on his neck. “It is a noble name, a name I hope you can live up to. I’m going to call you Spirit.”
As the bustling city of Denver fell behind him, Matt studied the country before him. Somewhere, on the other side of the next range of hills, just over the horizon, there would be more towns to see, more world to explore.
It was already getting on into fall, and a chill wind blew down from the north. There would be snow in the higher elevations soon.
Maybe he would go south.
PINNACLE BOOKS are published by
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Copyright © 2008 William W. Johnstone
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PUBLISHER’S NOTE
Following the death of William W. Johnstone, the Johnstone family is working with a carefully selected writer to organize and complete Mr. Johnstone’s outlines and many unfinished manuscripts to create additional novels in all of his series like The Last Gunfighter, Mountain Man, and Eagles, among others. This novel was inspired by Mr. Johnstone’s superb storytelling.
If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
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ISBN: 978-0-7860-3526-7
Notes
1 Excerpt from Matt Jensen—The Last Mountain Man
Deadly Trail Page 24