Читать книгу Buzzard's Bluff - William W. Johnstone - Страница 12

CHAPTER 7

Ben led Marty Jackson’s horse back to the Lost Coyote to pick up Ed Hatcher’s horse, still tied at the rail. Tiny and the women were all standing on the porch and watched as he untied the horse. “You gonna want somethin’ to drink when you come back?” Tiny asked, thinking he might need one.

“Just a cup of coffee,” Ben answered. “I won’t be long.”

Jim Bowden was standing in the middle of the street talking to several other spectators who had happened to see Hatcher’s rough trip to the jail. “Damned if you ain’t somethin’,” Bowden declared. “I didn’t hear no shots, so I was glad nobody got killed.”

“Did you finish shoein’ my horse?” Ben responded.

“No, I didn’t,” Jim replied. “I was too anxious to see if I was gonna be the new owner of that dun you ride, but it won’t take long to finish him up.”

“I gotta take these horses to the stable, then I’ll be back to get Cousin,” Ben said.

“Didn’t look like ol’ Hatcher wanted to go to jail,” Bowden commented, obviously desiring more details on what happened inside the saloon.

But Ben was not inclined to paint a picture for him. “Reckon not,” he said and kept on walking toward the stable. “I’ll be back in a little bit.”

* * *

“Boy, there’s gonna be hell to pay when ol’ Daniel Dalton finds out about this,” Henry Barnes announced with a chuckle. “He ain’t used to havin’ his boys locked up in the jailhouse, and right after you shot another one.” He pulled the saddle off one of the horses. “I swear, Ben, you’ve stirred up more trouble in two days than we’d had all year.”