Canyon Song by Gwyneth Atlee Read Free Book Online

The words stung like scorpions when Mama said them and only a bit less when his younger brothers took them up as well. It was up to him to prove they’d all been wrong. Ned Hamby was going to make his mark on this world, show them all.
    Ned took a slug out of the inch or so remaining in Pete’s bottle, then roared with anger at the especially smooth taste.
    “We was savin’ this, you idiot! We was savin’ this for goin’ home time.”  He glared at his men and realized that although they were as likely to kill each other as ever, the three had passed around his bottle while he’d been asleep. Sorry bastards.
    “If any one of you was worth the bullets, I’d shoot the whole damned lot,” Ned said. “But as it happens, you ain’t, and besides, I got a thing we need to do.”
    “Trackin’ down some imaginary white woman in the canyon?” Hop laughed. “Hell, Ned, that’s half a day’s ride, not to mention whatever it’ll take to find her. Why not just tell Cameron she’s dead and be done with it?”
    “Judge’s got them puppet’s strings too tight,” Pete said.
    Hamby’s revolver was clear of its holster in an instant. Unlike the others, who had slept late on his whiskey, Ned had gotten up and around at a decent hour this morning. And he never dressed without strapping on the Navy Colt.
    “Didn’t mean nothin’ by it, Hamby,” Pete murmured . “Just don’t none of us like runnin’ Cameron’s errands.”
    The silence stretched out, long and brittle . Ned wondered if he’d have to shoot Pete sometime soon if he was to keep the other two in line. The tension made him tired, as well as the thought of hunting that white woman in the canyon. He wanted to be done, done with this bunch of idiots, done with the woman, so he could get on home.
    “You mean to tell me you got no use for Cameron’s gold?” Black Eagle asked . He spooned some beans onto a tin plate. Raised by his white mother, he bore the strong Apache features of the man who’d raped her. He’d once told Ned he’d had a proper Christian name when he was younger, but around the time he’d turned to stealing cattle and horses, he’d decided Black Eagle more fitting for an outlaw.
    If Black Eagle was trying to keep the peace, he must have some reason . Damned half-breed never did anything out of the goodness of his heart. Of the three men Ned rode with, he was by far the most dangerous, Hamby had long ago decided. A fellow who was smart enough to learn to write his name and cipher when no schoolhouse in the country’d take an Indian. A fellow who was mean enough to skin a man alive, then tan his hide for leather.
    If Black Eagle wanted to ride on out to the canyon, he must have his own reasons . And they probably involved killing the woman on his own and claiming all the profit instead of sharing as they’d earlier agreed. Course, the half-breed didn’t know that the reward Ned had promised was only half what Cameron offered, but what use was being leader if Ned couldn’t claim a bigger cut?
    And Black Eagle better never find out, either, or Ned figured he wouldn’t survive to see his Mama, much less live to make her proud.
    *     *     *
    Quinn jerked awake at the warm moisture on his shoulder . If she had put that stinking poultice on him agai n 
    He sniffed . It didn’t smell the same now. Instead, the odor was sour, almost cheesy.
    “Don’t you make any medicines that smell good ?” he turned his head to ask.
    The blasted dog licked his mouth . He swore. Being shot was one damned humiliation after another. It wasn’t enough that Annie had plastered that disgusting mess all over his shoulder while he slept, he also had to endure the affections of this overgrown mongrel. He shooed the cur away, only to have it circle around and slather him with damp affection once again.
    If he could get up, he would boot it out the door into the nearest snow drift.
    “Annie!” 
    She didn’t answer, so carefully, he moved his