Outlaw Pass (9781101544785) Read Free Page B

thinking. “Ain’t gonna be easy findin’ your brother, is it?”
    â€œReckon not,” Adam replied thoughtfully. “I didn’t figure it was gonna be.”
    â€œTrouble is,” Jim interjected, “this here is just Virginia City. There’s half a dozen or more places along Alder and Daylight gulches that’s already big enough to have a name—Junction, Adobetown, Highland, Summit, and a few others.”
    â€œYou say he started out from Bannack?” Rob asked. When Adam nodded, Rob suggested that his brother might still be there.
    â€œMaybe,” Adam said. “But if he did leave Bannack, he mighta stopped on the way, so I expect I’d best look around here before I move on to Bannack just to be sure.” The odds were against his ever finding Jake in the writhing mass of humanity below him, but he had no choice. He reached over to each side to shake hands with his new friends. They were not going into Virginia City, planning instead to join some friends farther up Daylight Gulch. “You two take care of yourselves,” he said in parting, “and good luck prospectin’.”
    â€œGood luck to you,” Rob returned. “Hope you find your brother.” Jim saluted with a finger to the brim of his hat, and the two continued along the ridge while Adam turned the roan down the hill.

Chapter 2
    Unlike his younger brother, Adam was not comfortable in the noisy cauldron of a boomtown. As he guided Brownie through the clogged thoroughfare called Wallace Street, he was often forced to pull the roan up sharply to avoid running over a drunk staggering from one of the saloons, or a collision with a bull train. As unaccustomed to the turmoil and noise as his master, the roan was not able to adapt and soon became skittish and jumpy. Adam decided he had better stable the horse and canvass the town on foot. The best choice turned out to be a livery stable at the upper end of the street.
    â€œHowdy, neighbor,” a wiry little man with a shiny bald head and a long flowing gray beard called out in greeting when Adam dismounted at the stable door. “What can I do for you?”
    â€œI need to board my horse for a night or two,” Adam replied. “He ain’t used to so much noise and confusion, and I think he’d be better off in a stall.”
    â€œWell, I reckon my place is about as quiet as anywhere else in town,” the stable owner said. “Three dollars a night in advance.”
    â€œThree dollars?” Adam exclaimed. “That’s a little high, ain’t it?”
    â€œYou are new in town, ain’tcha? Hell, I’m the cheapest around—three dollars a night—in advance,” he emphasized.
    It was plain to Adam that his money would soon run out at that rate, so one night was all he was willing to splurge on the red roan; then he would camp outside town. “We’ll go for one night,” he said, then hesitated before asking, “How much for a ration of oats?”
    The bald man smiled. “Dollar extra.”
    â€œDamn!” Adam exclaimed. “A dollar for a quarter’s worth of oats.”
    â€œI give a fair measure.”
    Adam shook his head in disbelief. “I reckon there ain’t no banks in town to rob, so an outlaw has to go into the livery stable business to get by.”
    The owner was not amused. “Like I said, mister, you’re sure as hell new in town.” He shrugged. “But them’s the rates. Ain’t gonna be any cheaper anywhere else. All the same to me if you leave your horse here or not.”
    Adam stroked Brownie’s neck and said, “Well, boy, you can go in style for one night, but don’t go gettin’ used to it.” He reached in his pocket and brought out his money. He had peeled off only a couple of bills when the stable owner stopped him.
    â€œWhoa! I don’t deal in no paper money. Dust is the currency hereabouts.