Gone to Texas by Jason Manning Read Free Book Online

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    "I have been authorized by Mr. Vickers to make the necessary arrangements," was Morgan's stilted reply.
    "Arrangements?" Christopher was bewildered. "Arrangements for what?"
    Morgan's eyes glittered like cold steel. "I will assume that this pretense of ignorance on your part does not stem from cowardice."
    Christopher glanced at O'Connor and Bryant. The latter appeared as mystified as he, but O'Connor seemed to suddenly grasp the situation. He glowered at Morgan.
    "I assure you that Mr. Groves is no coward, sir," he said coldly, "as you may have cause quite soon to discover."
    Morgan showed this veiled threat the proper disdain. "Are you, then, to act as his second?"
    "If asked, I will be honored to do so."
    A cold chill ran up Christopher's spine. "Seconds?"
    They all looked at him.
    "You mean . . . a duel?"
    "Of course," said Morgan.
    "Vickers has challenged me to a duel?" asked Christopher, incredulous.
    "That is my purpose for coming here. Mr. Vickershas submitted to me the honor of making the necessary arrangements."
    "You can go back to Mr. Vickers," said Christopher, seething with sudden anger so ferocious that he trembled in its grasp, "and tell him I will not jeopardize my position here for the likes of him."
    "Christopher!" exclaimed O'Connor, aghast. "You can't back down from a challenge!"
    "I can, and I do."
    "Then perhaps cowardice is the explanation," said Morgan.
    "This is absurd," cried Christopher, feeling trapped. "Why does Vickers want to challenge me to a duel?"
    Morgan's eyes narrowed as he scanned the faces of the other three cadets. "You haven't heard the news?"
    "What news?"
    "Mrs. Emily Cooper is dead."
    "Dead?" Christopher couldn't believe his ears. "There must be some mistake."
    "She took her own life last night, in her room at Cozzens'."

Chapter 5
    A few minutes prior to midnight three shadowy figures emerged from the barracks. The night was overcast, black as pitch, and though the rain had stopped an hour earlier, rumblings like distant horse-drawn caissons on the move, and the occasional piercing flash of lightning, threatened more to come.
    Accompanied by O'Connor and Bryant, Christopher marched resolutely across the commons toward the riding hall. Unlike his companions, he did not look furtively this way and that. There were sentries posted at the batteries along the parapet, at the south dock, and on the road to the mainland. They were there primarily to prevent cadets from slipping away from the Academy on some illicit assignation. Christopher knew where they were—he had logged countless long hours of guard duty himself, in all kinds of weather—and he doubted any of them would spot him and his two associates as they made the relatively short walk from the barracks to the riding hall. Not that he really cared. His tenure here as a West Point cadet was almost finished anyway.
    "Someone's bound to see us," whispered Bryant nervously. "We could at least stay close to the buildings and work our way around."
    "No time," snapped O'Connor. "One cannot be late to an affair of honor. Or one's own funeral. Right, Christopher?"
    "That's a poor attempt at misplaced humor," scolded Bryant.
    "If you don't like this, go back to the room," advised O'Connor.
    Christopher was aware of Gil Bryant's dilemma. He felt obliged to come along, as Christopher's friend, even though he considered the business sheer lunacy. And remaining behind would not spare him from the severe punishment which was destined to descend upon all their heads once the deed was done. He was Christopher's roommate—O'Connor's too—and the board of inquiry which would inevitably follow was not likely to believe that he was unaware of the duel which was about to take place.
    Assuming Christopher survived, he would most certainly be court-martialed and dishonorably discharged from the Corps of Cadets. As for his two friends, they, too, faced dismissal, although in their case at least there was a slim chance of remaining in the