Ghost Valley Read Free Page B

“Now if you can direct me to a good livery stable, I’ll make arrangements for my horse.”
    â€œThere ain’t but one. It’s at the end of Main Street.”
    Frank nodded and walked outside. Dog was waiting for him on the porch. Most of the buildings in town were empty, with boards over the windows. Glenwood Springs had the odor of decay about it.
    â€œLet’s go, Dog,” he muttered, untying his horse, aiming for the livery. He still wondered about the shadowy figure he’d seen at the cemetery. There was nothing wrong with Frank’s eyes.

THREE
    Sitting in a warm, soapy cast-iron bathtub, he thought back to his arrival at the edge of town. Sipping a bottle of whiskey he’d bought at a saloon next to the hotel, he recalled the figure he’d seen at the cemetery and the old man who’d told him that from time to time, some folks saw ghostlike figures of the Old Ones, the Ones Who Came Before. Frank wasn’t a superstitious man, and what he’d seen, the man in buckskins, hadn’t been a product of his imagination. He was sure of that.
    Then he let his mind drift, enjoying the warmth of his bath and the whiskey, remembering what had started this whole affair and what had brought him to this part of Colorado Territory.
    It had begun with a quest to rescue his son from two gangs of outlaws. Then there was the incident with Charlie Bowers....
    * * *
    â€œYou’re a sneaky bastard, Morgan,” Charlie Bowers said, lying in a patch of bloody snow, his shoulder leaking crimson fluid onto the snowfall. “Nobody ever snuck up on me like that before.”
    â€œThere’s a first time for everything. Tell me where they took my boy, and who has him. The trail split a few miles back and I need to know what tracks to follow. Don’t lie to me or I’ll finish you off right here. A bullet in the right place will send you to eternity. Where the hell are they taking my son?”
    â€œNed and his bunch have got him.”
    â€œWhere’s Victor Vanbergen?”
    â€œThey turned toward the river, to throw off any pursuit if you or some posse from Durango was getting too close. Ned’s being real careful about this, and so is Vanbergen. They know about your old reputation.”
    â€œConrad’s with Pine?”
    â€œYeah. Sam and Buster and Josh too. Mack and Curtis are ridin’ rear guard. Arnie and Scott rode on ahead to get the cabin ready. They figured you’d be behind them all the way, once you picked up their trail. Hell, they’re expecting you to show up.”
    â€œThe cabin? What cabin?”
    â€œIt’s an old hideout. Sits beside Stump Creek at the edge of the badlands. Way back in a box canyon. Ned’s gonna send somebody back to Durango to tell you where the ransom money is supposed to be dropped off.”
    â€œNed Pine’s gotta be crazy. He knows I don’t have that kind of money. Hell, all I’m gonna do is kill him and every one of his sidekicks.”
    Charlie winced when the pain in his shoulder worsened. “It ain’t gonna be as easy as you make it sound. They don’t figure you’ve got big money. All Ned and Victor aim to do is kill you when you show up. They’ve got grudges against you from way back, and they won’t rest easy till you’re dead. Like I told you, it ain’t gonna be easy gettin’ close to ’em. They’re gonna be ready for you.”
    â€œDepends,” Frank said, squatting near Bowers.
    â€œDepends on what?”
    Frank chuckled mirthlessly. “On how mad I am when I get to that cabin.”
    â€œThere’s too many of ’em, Morgan. One of them will get you before you reach the kid. Ned Pine’s about as good with a gun as any man I ever saw. He’s liable to kill you himself, if the others don’t beforehand.”
    â€œI wish him all the luck,” Frank said. “I’ve been trying to quit the