Death Rides Alone by William W. Johnstone Read Free Book Online Page B

to . . . whatever the name is of the place he ran away from.”
    â€œWhite Fork,” Donovan said. “So?”
    â€œYou send him back up there, he’s liable to get away before they can hang him.”
    â€œYou mean put him on trial, don’t you?”
    The man Donovan was talking to waved a hand in dismissal and said, “Put him on trial, hang him, what’s the difference? It all ends up the same way, with a killer dancin’ at the end of a rope where he belongs!”
    â€œFirst you say they’re gonna let him go, then you say they’re gonna hang him. Make up your damn mind.” Donovan scowled at the men in front of him. “I’ll tell you what’s really goin’ on here. You fellas are bored! You don’t want those folks up in White Fork to have all the fun of stringin’ up a killer. You don’t care if Tyler’s guilty or innocent, you just want to see him hang!”
    A stunned hush fell over the crowd at that bitter accusation. After a moment, one of the men said, “Hell, Chet, if that was true, it’d make us terrible people.”
    â€œDamn right it would. And I know better, because I’ve knowed most of you for the whole seven years I’ve been here. You’re not terrible. You just let yourselves get stirred up. And now you’re gonna settle down, go home, and forget about all this.”
    A broad-shouldered man with a surly expression on his rugged face said, “Any man who’d kill a defenseless girl deserves to die!”
    â€œYou’ll get no argument from me about that, Hobson, but it ain’t up to us to see it done. Now, are you gonna back off, or are we gonna have trouble here that we’ll all wind up regrettin’?”
    Luke sensed that the issue hung in the balance. These men were starting to see the error of their ways, but with the stubbornness of typical Westerners they didn’t want to admit that they’d been wrong.
    Maybe he could tip the scales, he decided. He stepped into the edge of the light that came from the open doorway and raised his voice to say, “Besides, gentlemen, the marshal and I have you in a crossfire, if it comes to that. Between his shotgun and my Remingtons, things can get very ugly, very fast.”
    â€œIt’s that bounty hunter!” a man said.
    The burly man called Hobson turned and sneered at Luke.
    â€œWhat’s the matter, bounty hunter?” he asked. “Afraid if we take care of Tyler, you won’t get your reward?”
    â€œThat’s not even a consideration right now,” Luke said, mostly honestly. “Lynching is murder! If you string up Tyler, whether he deserves it or not, you’ll be killers. Only it won’t be just an accusation. It’ll be a fact.”
    â€œI’m done with this,” one of the men suddenly muttered. “I’m going home.”
    â€œMe too,” another one said, and as Luke had seen many times before, once the mob mentality began to crack, it fell apart in a hurry. One after another, the men strode off in different directions into the night, until only Hobson and a couple of others were left.
    â€œYou fellas might as well go on home, too,” Donovan told them. “You can see for yourselves that there ain’t gonna be any lynchin’ tonight.”
    â€œNever thought I’d see you sidin’ with a damn bounty hunter, Donovan,” Hobson blustered. “Or protectin’ a killer, either.”
    â€œI’m protectin’ the law, that’s all.” Donovan glared at Luke. “And I don’t much like what I’m doin’ right now, either. I just got crowded into it.”
    â€œWell, it’s a sad day for Bent Creek, that’s what it is.”
    â€œGo back to your blacksmith shop,” Donovan snapped. “And I’ll try to forget about you runnin’ your mouth that way.”
    The three men finally turned away from the open