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Henry Sonnenberg nudged him with his foot, then taking the bottle withhim, he went out the back door into the alley, through the stable, and out on the street on the other side where his horse waited. Within twenty minutes he was out of town and riding west. Chapter Twenty-Seven Page 158 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html Nobody slept inDurango unless lulled to sleep by the sound of pistol shots. The town was not quite two years old and was still celebrating. The grand opening of the West End Hotel had to be postponed when it was badly shot up by the Stockton-Simmons bands of outlaws and gunmen. TheStockton gang, from theDurango area, had a going feud with the Simmons outfit ofFarmington , down inNew Mexico . The West End Hotel happened to be caught in the middle. Some of the pistol shots inDurango were fired in sheer exuberance of spirits, others were fired with intent to kill, and a good many of them were fired erratically, and often as not it was the bystanders who suffered. Val Darrant rode into town, coming up the trail from Pagosa Springs. Purposely he had chosen the longest and less traveled route fromDenver , for he had a hunch that somewhere along the way he was supposed to be met by Henry Sonnenberg, or somebody like him. Dube caught up with him thirty miles out, andBoston , not to be left out, had taken the stage. AnimasCityhad been the town of the locality until the railroad came ... but did not come to Animas; so the bulk of the population promptly packed up hag and baggage and moved toDurango , two miles or so to the south.AnimasCity had been alive for twenty years, and it died in the space of a day. Val Darrant was riding a lineback dun when he came intoDurango , Dube Bucklin beside him on a dapple gray. They rode to the livery stable and left their horses, and packing their Winchesters they walked along the street to the West End Hotel. Bostonmet them in the door. "Val, there's a man here named Gates. He knows you, and has a box for you." "Thanks." He paused before the hotel, sweeping the street with sharp attention. He saw nobody with the bulky body of a Sonnenberg. He did not know the men who had been reported to be traveling with Sonnenberg, except by name. The half-breed Pagosa, Marcus Kiley, and Tom ... he might know Tom. He would surely know him. Tall, lank, ill-smelling because he rarely bathed, a strange, mentally disturbed man. As Will had said so long ago, nobody ever knew about Tom ... and it was something to remember. He said as much to Dube. "Don't worry," Dube replied. "Tensleep is in town. He rode west right behindBoston 's stage, sort of keepin' an eye on her. She'd throw a fit if she knew ... says she can care for herself, and likely she can, but a body never knows. But Tensleep knows them all, especially Tom." "I remember him," Val said. "As a matter of fact, I remember that he knew my grandparents Myra's folks. He came from the same town, or somewhere near. He said they were good people." It was cool and pleasant here. A few thunderheads showed in the north, overAnimasMountain . Val went into the hotel, and looked down the street from the lobby window. A man had gotten up from a seat on the edge of the boardwalk and gone into the Page 159 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html saloon. "Val,"Boston said,close behind him, "be careful." They heard a door close, and turned to see a man coming up the dark hall from the back of the hotel. It was Tensleep. Suddenly Val realized that Tensleep was an old man. He had never thought of him that way, for the outlaw-cowhand-gunfighter had never seemed to change. "They're all here, Val. I don't think they saw me, but I seen ever' last one of them. And they're loaded for bear. Pagosa's got him a buffalo gun, and Kiley is packin' a double-barrel shotgun." "Thanks. Stay out of the way, Tensleep." "Youkiddin'? This here's my party as much as yours. I never did like that Sonnenberg, and he knows it." "How about Tom?" Tensleep shrugged. "He's with them, ain't he?" Egan Gates came into the room. "Val, we've got to talk. There's this box " "I know about it." "Yes," said Gates, "and so does everybody else. I've had two flat cash offers for it in the last twenty-four hours. Masters wants to buy it because of what he could do toMyra if she starts trouble.Myra herself wants it ... and Lord knows who else." "Where is it?" "Under my bed ... and it isn't easy to sleep with it there." "I'll take it off your hands. Tensleep" he turned to him "you go with Gates. Move that box to my room and you sit on it, do you hear?" "And miss out on the fight?" "No, just untilBoston can get there. She will take care of it." Dube had been leaning on the door jamb, watching down the street. "It's quiet," he said, "but that's normal, this time of day. This here's a Saturday-night town, and by day most folks are about their business, whatever it is." "Your canyon is right out of town," Gates said, "if you want to look at it." "I'm selling it," Val said, "that's all." He was cold inside, and he felt oddly on edge, and did not want to talk. Bostonwas quiet, and he liked it that way. Just having her here was important. They moved into the dining room. The waitress was apologetic. "They hadn't really planned to serve meals, and they may not continue the practice, so we're really not set up for it." "Just anything," Val said. He was not hungry, but he wanted to be busy. Page 160 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html "You hadn't better eat," Gates said. "It makes it worse if you get shot in the stomach." But they ate, and Val gradually began to simmer down, some of the tenseness going out of him as he drank the coffee. "Boston," he said then, "you go back and stay in my room or yours, but watch that box." "Is it so important?" "To me it isn't important at all, but it is important to her. Everything she's done goes right down the drain if that box is opened and the contents get known." "What about you?And her people?"Boston said. "Val, her people probably believe she's dead. It would ruin them if all this came out now. Don't do it, Val." "Why should I? She hasn't anything I want. The one thing she could have given me was just to be a mother to me, but that's long ago and far away." The street was empty except for a dark man who leaned on a horse as if he [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |
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