by JR Roberts
The Home of Great Western Fiction!
CONTENTS
Title Page
About the Book
Copyright
About the Author
The Gunsmith Series
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Five
Thirty-Six
Thirty-Seven
Thirty-Eight
Thirty-Nine
Forty
Forty-One
Forty-Two
Forty-Three
Forty-Four
Forty-Five
Forty-Six
Forty-Seven
Forty-Eight
It started in a deserted town called Corazon ... but the chance meeting with the three Perkins sisters, Loretta, Belinda and Teresa, ended up causing big problems for Clint Adams. The sisters planned to use Clint like a stud, and were prepared to go to any lengths to stop him escaping ... not that he had any intention of quitting their widows’ web—at first.
But there was something about Corazon that intrigued him. He wanted to find out just why it had been abandoned, seemingly overnight. And he was sure Lorreta, Belinda and Teresa could give him the answers he sought. The Perkins girls were wanton predatory and ruthless. And the secret of Corazon wasn’t the only one they were keeping to themselves ...
One
Finding the town of Corazon, New Mexico deserted—a virtual ghost town—had come as surprise to Clint Adams. The last time he had been there it was a thriving little community. How long ago had it been? Maybe a matter of months.
It was a small town. He was able to ride from one end to the other fairly quickly. And while he did he didn’t come across a soul.
Riding back he stopped in front of the saloon and dismounted. The sign that read SAGEBRUSH SALOON was lying face up in the street. He walked over to it and squatted down. He saw what looked like several bullet holes in it.
He entered the saloon, saw that most of the tables and chair had been smashed. One table remained standing, albeit on three legs. The top of the bar was covered with dust. He walked around, saw the floor littered with shattered bottles and glasses. He found a beer mug intact, tried one of the beer taps, which yielded nothing. He looked to the shelves behind the bar, all of which had collapsed. On the floor he managed to locate one bottle of whiskey that had survived. He preferred beer, but beggars can’t be choosers.
He poured some whiskey into the bottom of the mug, walked back around the bar, found a chair that seemed pretty firm, and took it to the three-legged table. He sipped it, wondering what had happened to this town. Had it been the center of some sort of battle, or had it simply been attacked, and the citizens forced out?
Silver City was nearby, and just as the name implied, silver had been discovered there back around 1870. The only other thing the town was known for was being the first place Billy the Kid was ever arrested in the West. Also, Billy’s mother was buried in the town’s Memory Lane Cemetery.
Had silver been discovered somewhere near Corazon? Perhaps a dispute over mining rights had caused the destruction of the town.
He poured a little more whiskey, drank it, then corked the bottle and left it and the mug on the three-legged table. He walked outside, where Eclipse was standing patiently. If there was anyone around, the horse would sense it.
“Come on, big guy,” he said, grabbing the reins, “let’s see if we can find an Assay Office.”
Rather than mount up he walked, leading the big Darley Arabian by his reins. All the stores he passed were abandoned, the windows broken. Hardware store, dress shop, gun shop, mercantile—he was going to check back there, see if there were any supplies—but no one had bothered to board the buildings up. Apparently, people had left in a hurry.
Finally, he came across what he was looking for.
“Sit tight,” he told Eclipse, and went inside.
Unlike the saloon, everything here seemed to be in place. The furniture was in one piece, not that there was a lot of it. A desk and a chair. He looked around for records and didn’t find any. Someone had taken them. Maybe this did have to do with silver, after all. Or maybe the Assayer had just taken everything with him when he left.
He took a quick look around for anything that might tell him anything, but in the end left the place empty-handed, just as puzzled as ever.
Out front he grabbed Eclipse’s reins again and stood there for a moment. Truth be told his only intention had been to pass through. He hadn’t been stopping to see anybody. But he was still too curious about the town’s demise to just leave. So, he decided to make three more stops before he left—the newspaper office, the sheriff’s office, and City Hall.
~*~
The office of the Corazon Press yielded nothing. The printing press had been smashed, as had the furniture and windows. There was paper strewn all about the place, some blank, and some from past issues. He checked what he assumed was the editor’s office and desk, but found nothing.
~*~
Next stop was the sheriff’s office.
It had not been ransacked, and the chair and desk were still in one piece. However, all the desk drawers were empty, as were the gun racks on the wall. He looked into the cellblock, only to find it empty. It had been too much to ask to find perhaps one prisoner left behind who could clue him in.
Next stop ...
~*~
... City Hall.
It was an old building, probably once a store which had been transformed into the town’s City Hall. He found the mayor’s office, which appeared to have suffered the same fate as the sheriff’s office. It had been deserted, but not destroyed, and everything from the desk and file drawers had been taken.
Clint went to the window and looked outside. And then he heard it. He went to the door and opened it, listened intently. There it was again.
The squeaky wheel of a wagon.
Two
Earlier in the day Loretta Perkins watched her two sisters climb aboard their buckboard, getting ready to head to town.
“You really think there’s gonna be anythin’ left there, Loretta?” the youngest sister, Belinda, asked.
“And why not?” Loretta asked. “You were there last week, and you didn’t take everythin’, right?”
“Maybe somebody else took everythin’ since then,” middle sister, Teresa, suggested.
“If that turns out to be the case,” Loretta said, “then you two better get your asses over to Silver City and buy some supplies.”
“Buy them,” Teresa replied. “Is that what you said?”
“That’s what I said.”
“And what are we supposed to use for money?” Belinda asked.
“Figure it out, girls,” Loretta said. “Use your feminine wiles.”
“Our what?” Belinda asked.
“She means,” Teresa said, “that we should shake our asses.”
“Shake ’em,” Belinda asked, “Or sell ’em?”
“Same thing,” Lorett
a said. “Oh, and don’t take too long.”
“If we have to go to Silver City—” Belinda started.
“Look,” Loretta said, “nobody’s been to Corazon for weeks. Just go in and clean the store out once and for all, and we’ll be fine. Got it?”
Belinda and Teresa exchanged a look, and then they both said, “We got it.”
They started off down the road, with the rear left wheel still squeaking, as it had been for months.
~*~
Clint stood in front of City Hall, trying to figure out what direction the squeaking noise was coming from. It seemed to be getting closer, so he didn’t feel he had to mount up and go looking for it.
He leaned against a pole and waited, listening to the sound get closer and closer. Finally, he heard hooves, and then a buckboard appeared and started down main street. From what he could see, it was being driven by two women.
He stepped into the street.
~*~
As Teresa turned the buckboard onto the main street of Corazon Belinda said, “Hey, somebody’s here.”
“It’s a man,” Teresa said.
She stopped the buckboard.
“Whataya stoppin’ for?” Belinda asked. “I wanna get a good look at him.”
“We ain’t had a man since our husbands died,” Teresa said.
“So?”
“You know how Loretta says we get around a man.”
“You know how Loretta gets around a man,” Belinda sad. “She starts thinkin’ about a baby right away.”
“And what do you start thinkin’ about?” Belinda asked.
“I just wonder what he’s gonna look like naked,” the little sister said.
“And what he’s gonna taste like,” Belinda said.
“Well, get the buckboard movin’, sister, or we ain’t never gonna find out.”
Teresa shook the reins at the team and asked, “You think he’s alone?”
“I don’t see nobody else,” she said. “Of course, I wouldn’t mind another man.”
“A man’s one thing,” Belinda said, “but more than one can be dangerous.”
Belinda reached between her legs and under the seat to touch the pistol there.
“We’ll be ready,” she said.
~*~
Clint stood by Eclipse and waited for the buckboard with the squeaky wheel to reach him. As it got closer he saw that it was being driven by two very pretty women, probably sisters from the way they looked. They were wearing simple shirts and skirts, appearing to be under thirty, one maybe four or five years younger than the other.
The one driving the team reined it in about ten feet away from him.
“Howdy,” she said.
“Hello,” he answered. “I’ve been here almost an hour and you’re the first people I’ve seen.”
“Ain’t gonna see any more,” the younger girl said. She was staring at him in a way that made him think he was being both weighed and measured.
“Anybody with you?” the older one asked.
“No,” he said, “I’m by myself, just passing through. I was thinking of stopping for a beer, a steak and some supplies. Looks like I’m out of luck.”
“You been inside the mercantile?” the older one asked.
“No.”
“Still some supplies there,” she said. “We been takin’ some little by little.”
“Our sister sent us to get the rest,” the other girl said.
“There’s another one of you?” he asked.
“Oh yeah,” the young one said. “Loretta. She’s the oldest. I’m the youngest, Belinda. This here’s my middle sister, Teresa.”
“I’m happy to meet you,” he said. “My name’s Clint.” He left off the Adams, for the time being.
“Well, Mister Clint,” Belinda said, “you wanna check out the mercantile together?”
“Why not?” he asked. “At the very least I can help you ladies load your wagon.”
“That’d be right nice of you,” Teresa said.
She started the team up again, drove it across the street in front of the mercantile. Clint walked Eclipse across.
“Let me help you,” he said, as Teresa started to get down.
He grabbed her by the waist and lowered her to the ground, then did the same with Belinda.
“Thank you,” Belinda said. “You’re very strong.”
He didn’t say anything.
“That’s a fine lookin’ horse,” Teresa said.
“Yeah, he is,” Clint said. “When was the last time you ladies were in town?”
“Coupla weeks,” Teresa said.
“And you don’t think anyone else has been here to maybe empty this place out?”
“We hope not,” Teresa said.
“Loretta says not,” Belinda said. “She’s usually right.”
“Well, I guess we better go in, then, and see if Loretta is still right. After you.”
The girl entered ahead of him. He saw that while they were roughly the same height, Teresa was a little thicker in the hips and butt. When he’d helped them down he’d noticed she was a little more filled out in the breast, maybe twenty-eight, and a handsome woman. However, Belinda was a pretty little thing, maybe twenty-two or twenty-three years old.
Inside he noticed that many of the shelves still had supplies on them.
“Looks like Loretta was right again,” Belinda said.
“What would you girls have done if she wasn’t, and this place was empty?”
“Then we woulda hadda ride to Silver City,” Teresa said. “I’m glad we don’t.”
“Don’t you like towns like Silver City?” Clint asked.
“Too many people,” Belinda said.
“Too many men!” Teresa said, with feeling. When she noticed Clint looking at her she said, “The wrong kind of men.”
“The grabby kind,” Belinda said, “who think all pretty women are whores.”
“That’s a real shame,” Clint said. “I think all pretty women—well, all women, for that matter—should be treated like ladies.”
Belinda looked at him and said, “I think Loretta’s gonna like you.”
Three
They loaded the buckboard with supplies, with Clint doing most of the work. He carried sacks of flour, coffee and grain, sacks filled with cans of beans and peaches, while the ladies took clothing and material to make new dresses.
“I wonder why the owner didn’t take these things with him when he left,” Clint said, tossing a sack onto the back of the buckboard.
“He left in a hurry,” Teresa said, “like a lot of the people did.”
“Do you know why?” Clint asked. “Do you know what happened here?”
Teresa averted her eyes and said, “Only what we’ve heard.”
“Loretta knows,” Belinda said. She put her hand on his arm. “Come home with us. She’ll tell you what happened, and we’ll give you a good meal.”
“I was going to take a small bit of these supplies and move on,” he said.
“We’ll give you all you need,” Belinda promised. “Come on, Teresa. Help me convince him.”
“You said you wanted a steak,” Teresa said. “Loretta will make you the best steak you’ve ever had.”
“Well,” Clint said, “that’s an offer I don’t think I can refuse.”
They went back into the mercantile ...
~*~
Sometime later they regarded the bed of the buckboard.
“I don’t think we can get any more on there,” Clint said to Belinda. “And the horses might not be able to pull more.”
Teresa came out of the building.
“I think we got everything we need,” she said. “There’s not much left.”
“I wonder if there’s anything in the rest of these buildings you and your sister can use,” Clint said.
“We’ll leave that for another day,” Teresa said. “We should get back.”
“How far away do you live?”
“We have a house abou
t an hour outside of town,” Teresa said. “Loretta will be waitin’.”
“All right,” Clint said.
He helped both women up onto the buckboard, then mounted Eclipse.
“I’ll ride alongside,” he said.
Teresa snapped the reins at the team and started forward, with the wheel squeaking. Clint reminded himself to fix that squeak for them before he moved on.
With one last look back at the dead town, he urged Eclipse forward.
Four
It was almost an hour before they came within sight of a large, wooden two-story house, with a small barn and corral next to it.
“That’s it!” Belinda said. “That’s our house.”
“It’s big,” Clint said.
“Our father built it,” Teresa said. “We’ve lived in it all our lives. Even with ...”
“What?” he asked.
Teresa couldn’t continue.
“Even with our husbands, she means,” Belinda said.
“You have husbands?”
“We did,” Belinda said. “They’re dead now.”
She looked away, like her sister, not willing or able to say more. Clint let it go, for the moment.
He rode alongside the buckboard until it stopped in front of the house. The front door opened, and a woman appeared. Obviously another sister, this had to be Loretta. She had a more mature version of Belinda’s beautiful face, but shared the full body of her sister, Teresa. However, the beauty of her face was marred by the harsh set of her mouth, left by the weight of a hard life.
“I heard you comin’,” she said. “Who’s this?”
“His name is Clint,” Belinda said. “We met him in Corazon.”
Loretta looked at Teresa for more.
“He helped us load the wagon,” she said. “we invited him back here for a meal.”
“Did you, now?”
“If it’s a problem,” Clint said to Loretta, without dismounting, “I can keep moving. I just need a small amount of supplies, maybe some coffee and jerky—”
“No, no,” Loretta said, cutting him off. “If my sisters invited you, it would be rude of me to send you away. You can come inside.”
“Let me unload the buckboard for you,” Clint said.
“My sisters will help,” Loretta said. She looked at Teresa and Belinda. “What did you promise the gentleman?”