Blood Bond 5 Read Free Page B

days sleeping in a real bed. Not to mention some time off from your lousy cooking.”
    â€œAt least I can cook,” Matt told him. “You have a tough time getting water to boil.” He stretched out on the bed with a sigh. The brothers had taken baths in the tubs behind the barber shop, then had gotten a shave and a haircut while fresh clothing was being brushed and ironed and their trail-worn clothing was sent to the Chinese laundry, run by a pleasant enough fellow named Wo Fong.
    â€œWhatever is going to happen must be close,” Sam said, still standing by the open window. “Two more riders coming in, and they look like they’ve been on the trail for a time.”
    â€œRecognize them?”
    â€œOne of them does look familiar. The little man.”
    Matt heaved himself off the bed and took a look. “That’s Little Jimmy Dexter. Texas gunhand. He’s little but he’s mean as a snake. I don’t know that other fellow.”
    Dexter and his partner swung down in front of the Bull’s Den and disappeared inside the barroom.
    â€œI’m hungry,” Sam said.
    â€œI could use a bite myself.”
    The words had just left Matt’s mouth when a dozen riders and two buggies came into view, racing down the street and kicking up a lot of unnecessary dust, sending people on foot scrambling for the safety of the boardwalks.
    â€œMust be somebody terribly important,” Matt said.
    â€œOr somebody who thinks they are,” Sam added. “More than likely, the latter.”
    â€œLet’s go take a look.”
    At first, the blood brothers thought they were experiencing double-vision. The desk clerk cleared it all up.
    â€œIdentical twins,” he told him, after smiling at the confused looks on their faces. “Bull Sutton’s girls. Willa and Wanda. Don’t get in their way, boys. They’re pretty as all get out, but both as mean as snakes. And if you repeat that, I’ll call you liars.”
    The twins sashayed across the boardwalk and wiggled into the lobby. One of them spotted Sam and pointed to him. “You there!” she hollered. “Water our teams and see to our buggies and be quick about it.”
    Sam looked at her, one eyebrow arched. “See to your own buggies,” he told her.
    â€œOh, Lord,” the desk clerk muttered. “And this started out to be such a nice afternoon.”
    The Flying BS riders who had crowded into the lobby stopped in their tracks and slowly turned, facing Matt and Sam, giving them hard looks. The desk clerk quickly dropped on all fours behind the counter.
    â€œBoy, you don’t talk to Miss Willa like that,” a puncher said. “You better do like you’re told and do it quick.”
    â€œI don’t think so,” Sam replied.
    â€œLet’s drag him,” Wanda said, a wicked look in her eyes. “Somebody get a rope.”
    â€œWhat nice young ladies,” Sam muttered.
    â€œYeah,” Matt agreed. “They were at the top of their class in charm school, for sure.”
    Several of the Flying BS riders took a step toward the brothers, and Matt and Sam braced for trouble.
    â€œBreak it up!” Marshal Tom Riley spoke from the doorway. “Right now.”
    â€œAw, hell, Tom,” Willa said, and with those words, the brothers knew she was not a lady. “We were just gonna have some fun with this drifter.”
    â€œThat drifter is Sam Two Wolves,” the marshal quietly informed the crowd. “And that’s his blood brother, Matt Bodine, standing to his right. If you people want to see blood all over this lobby, just crowd those two about one inch more and see what happens.”
    The punchers stood easy, being careful to keep their hands away from their guns. They weren’t afraid of the blood brothers—they were all drawing fighting wages and rode for the brand—but they knew well the reputation of Bodine and Two Wolves, and