Shadow of Legends Read Free

leave the store,” he demanded.
    â€œI ain’t never been kicked out of no store twice.”
    â€œYou have now.”
    â€œI got me a big gun!” He waved the revolver. They were still twenty feet apart.
    Dub Montgomery signaled from the doorway. “I’ll go get Daddy Brazos.”
    â€œNope,” Todd called back. “I’ll take care of this.” Why do all my clerks think I can’t get along without my father?
    â€œJust leave the store and I won’t have you arrested.”
    â€œI ain’t leavin’ without money.”
    â€œYou pull that trigger and you’ll miss me, injure your wrist even worse than it is, and get thrown in jail for attempted murder. That’s not what you want.”
    Perspiration dirt streaked down the man’s flushed face. “Well, I cain’t back up. I told ’em at the Piedmont that I wouldn’t get shoved out again.” He lifted the gun and pointed it at Todd.
    â€œDid you know that Walker Colt has mud in the barrel?”
    Tidy Dumont turned the barrel around and peered in. “Well, I’ll be.”
    â€œDid you steal it? Or do you own it?”
    â€œIt’s mine.”
    â€œI’ll buy it from you for three cash dollars,” Todd offered.
    â€œIt’s worth five.”
    â€œI can get a brand new centerfire Colt revolver for seven. Why would anyone pay five for an outdated cap and ball?” Todd reached in his pocket and pulled out three silver dollars. He held them out. “You can hike back down to the badlands, buy a round for your friends, and brag about how you made a good trade on an old worthless pistol. That’s a whole lot better than hurting yourself or getting arrested.”
    The man didn’t lower his pistol, but Todd could tell by the man’s eyes the confrontation was over.
    â€œDo I get my knife back?”
    â€œYep. Do you promise not to come in here unless you have a bath and cash?”
    â€œYep, I guess I do.”
    Todd handed the coins over the shelves to the man and retrieved the heavy pistol, barrel first. “Mr. Toluca, get this man his knife, please.”
    When the big man ambled out of the store, Carty mumbled, “That ain’t the way Daddy Brazos would’ve done it.”
    Todd opened his mouth to reply, then shrugged. “Tell Mr. Montgomery I’ve gone to lunch.”
    Rebekah Fortune tilted her head to the right and folded her arms across her chest. “Do you mean after being threatened with knife and gun on the same day you still won’t even consider the offer?” she seethed. Curls from her light brown bangs drooped across the corners of her forehead like an inverted V. Her long hair was carefully pinned and stacked neatly on the back of her head. Her thin lips drew tight into a straight line.
    Her brown eyes narrowed. They hid nothing.
    Disappointment.
    Frustration.
    Boredom.
    Todd Fortune had seen it all before.
    Often.
    Too often.
    The black silk scarf ribbon tied around the high, white-lace collar of her blouse gave her a schoolteacher’s scolding look. “Father says one day Rapid City will be the most prominent city in all the territory. Sure, there are only three hundred people there now, but the railroad is coming. He says it’s essential to open a bank there now.”
    His stiff white, four-ply linen Garcia collar unfastened, his black tie hung loose, his suit coat neatly on the back of a chair, and his polished black boots by the door, Todd leaned back on the flower-print, cretonne-covered, hair-stuffed settee.
    He closed his pale blue eyes and ran his fingers through his light- brown hair. In the background he could hear a familiar rumble, one that every seasoned citizen in Deadwood could sense and feel above the dull thunder of the stamp mills echoing down from Lead, four miles away. “I thought you hated the Black Hills because of the sparsity of population,” he countered. “At least