The Silver Shooter
Page 32
One of Reno’s officers confirms this, saying: “It was probably during the interval of quiet on Reno’s part that the Indians massed on Custer and annihilated him.” Gall continued: “The Indians ran out of ammunition and then used arrows. They fired from behind their horses. The soldiers got their shells stuck in the guns and had to throw them away. Then they fought with their little guns [pistols]. The Indians were in couples behind and in front of Custer as he moved up the ridge, and were as many the grass on the plains.… The warriors directed a special fire against the troopers who held the horses, and as soon as a holder was killed, by waving blankets and great shouting the horses were stampeded, which made it impossible for the soldiers to escape. The soldiers fought desperately and hard and never surrendered. They fought standing along in line on the right. As fast as the men fell the horses were herded and driven toward the squaws and old men, who gathered them up.
“When Reno attempted to find Custer by throwing out a skirmish line, Custer and all who were with him were dead. When the skirmishers reached a high point overlooking Custer’s field the Indians were galloping around and over the wounded, dying, and dead, popping bullets and arrows into them. When Reno made his attack at the upper end he killed my two squaws and three children, which made my heart bad. I then fought with the hatchet.… When the big dust came in the air down the river [meaning Terry and Gibbon] we struck our lodges and went up a creek toward the White Mountains. The Big Horn ranges were covered with snow. We waited there four days and then went over to the Wolf Mountains.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My research library for this series continues to grow, and while I find myself reaching for many of the same volumes over and over, a few new additions merit particular mention. They include Mrs. Astor’s New York: Money and Social Power in a Gilded Age by Eric Homberger; The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History by Joseph M. Marshall III; Black Elk Speaks by John G. Neihardt; and The Taming of the West: Age of the Gunfighter: Men and Weapons on the Frontier, 1840–1900, by Joseph G. Rosa (with special thanks to Uncle Harry for the loaner).
As always, the behind-the-scenes support for this series is incredible. Special thanks to my amazing editor, Nettie Finn, and the entire Minotaur team; to Lisa Rodgers, Joshua Bilmes, and everyone at JABberwocky; to Evan Pritchard for providing such a thoughtful sensitivity/authenticity read; and a special shout-out to Rowen Davis, David Baldeosingh Rotstein, and Gary Redford, who keep outdoing themselves with gorgeous cover designs and cover art for this series. I’m also grateful to the wonderful Barrie Kreinik, whose narration of the audio series continues to delight. Thanks also to my family and friends for their continued support, in particular Tammy Smith for her help with Serbo-Croatian, and Suzanne Ambrogetti for her help with Italian. And finally to my husband, Don, who always knows when to be there for me, and when to be somewhere else. Because as any writer’s spouse will confirm, you got to know when to hold ’em, when to fold ’em, when to walk away … and when to run.
ALSO BY ERIN LINDSEY
THE ROSE GALLAGHER SERIES
Murder on Millionaires’ Row
A Golden Grave
THE BLOODBOUND TRILOGY
Bloodbound
Bloodforged
Bloodsworn
THE NICOLAS LENOIR MYSTERIES (WRITING AS E.L. TETTENSOR)
Darkwalker
Master of Plagues
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ERIN LINDSEY has lived and worked in dozens of countries around the world, but has only ever called two places home: her native city of Calgary and her adopted hometown of New York. In addition to the Rose Gallagher mysteries, she is the author of the Bloodbound series of fantasy novels. She divides her time between Calgary and Brooklyn with her husband and a pair of half-domesticated cats. Visit her online at erin-lindsey.com, facebook.com/ELTettensor, and twitter.com/ETettensor, or sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Chapter 1. Jailbird—Greasing Palms—A Piece of the Past—The Wrong Kind of Goose Bumps
Chapter 2. Home Sweet Home—Putting Down Roots—Hard Luck
Chapter 3. Campfire Tales—Powder Keg—A Murder, A Monster, and Magic
Chapter 4. An Elementary Theory—The Luckiest Man Alive—A New Habit
Chapter 5. Little Misery—Stone and Sagebrush—A Fancy Feller
Chapter 6. John Ward, Cowboy—A New Romance—Annie Oakley—An Unexpected Visitor
Chapter 7. A Ghoulish Gift—Personae Non Gratae—Beware of Shallow Waters
Chapter 8. Dakota Doughnut—A Counterfeit Curse—Horseshoes
Chapter 9. Scavengers—Of Pinstripes and Pig-Stickers—The Five Points Variation
Chapter 10. The Truth Hurts—A Little more Excitement—No Stone Unturned
Chapter 11. Cabin in the Woods—The Ballad of Poor Jonah—Hell with the Fires Out
Chapter 12. X Marks the Spot—Electricity—An Arresting Development
Chapter 13. Natural Law—The Buckshot Outfit—Hide and Hair
Chapter 14. A Tricky Telegram—Baiting the Trap—A Letter from Home
Chapter 15. Exodus—Cui Bono—A Dilemma Deferred
Chapter 16. The Long Arm of the Law—A Load of Bull—Gideon Proves his Worth
Chapter 17. The Bone Picker from Bismarck—Fool’s Gold—A Safe Conclusion
Chapter 18. A Familiar Problem—Initial Suspect—Duck and Cover
Chapter 19. A Thoroughly Competent Frontiersman—Smells like Money—The Hand That Feeds
Chapter 20. Fresh Blood—Family Feud—An Improbable Outcome
Chapter 21. A Trio of Disappointments—Catholic Girls and English Gentlemen—Herd Mentality
Chapter 22. Coming Clean—Of Ducks and Derringers—The Root of the Problem
Chapter 23. A Promise Fulfilled—Another Prospect Entirely—Exposed
Chapter 24. A Grim Reminder—Answered in Blood—The Unexpected Virtues of Expensive Cognac
Chapter 25. A Fork in the Trail—Sacrifice—Sweet Time
Chapter 26. Magic Lantern Show—The Riddle of the Sphinx—Checking In
Chapter 27. The Plan—A Bit of Insurance—Stampede
Chapter 28. A Ring of Truth—The Importance of Instinct—Bone White, Bloodred
Chapter 29. The Burdens of Command—Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder—No More Mischief—A Treatise on Trousers
Chapter 30. Dreaming—An Old Friend—Goodbyes
Chapter 31. One-Way Ticket—Ringing in the New Year—Time
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
Also by Erin Lindsey
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
First published in the United States by Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
THE SILVER SHOOTER. Copyright © 2020 by Erin Lindsey. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design by Rowen Davis and David Baldeosingh Rotstein
Cover illustration by Gary Redford
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Lindsey, Erin, author.
Title: The silver shooter / Erin Lindsey.
Description: First edition. | New York: Minotaur Books, 2020. | Series: A Rose Gallagher mystery; [3]
Identifiers: LCCN 2020031673 | I
SBN 9781250623447 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9781250623454 (ebook)
Subjects: GSAFD: Mystery fiction.
Classification: LCC PR9199.4.L564 S55 2020 | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020031673
eISBN 9781250623454
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
First Edition: 2020
1. Theodore Roosevelt, An Autobiography.
2. Ibid.