Idaho Gold Fever by Jon Sharpe Read Free Book Online Page B

enjoyed your meal, Mr. Fargo?”
    “Never had better.” Fargo noticed that Rinson sat to one side, his hand near his revolver.
    “Good. Then you’ll enjoy a good night’s sleep and be well rested when you ride out in the morning.”
    “Who said I was?”
    About to take a sip, Gore paused with the cup at his lips. “I beg your pardon?”
    “Who said I was going anywhere? I might stick around a while. I’d like to see this Payette River Valley for myself.”
    Rinson shifted and scowled and looked at Victor Gore as if expecting him to say something, and Gore did.
    “How is it you didn’t mention this sooner?”
    “What difference does it make?”
    Gore drank and lowered his cup. “What possible interest would a man like you have in going there? You’ve been all over the West, I understand. You must have seen a thousand valleys.”
    “I’d like to be sure Lester and his friends get there,” Fargo said. “What with the Nez Perce acting up and all.”
    The big farmer interrupted, saying, “That’s awful kind of you. With your savvy of Indian ways, you can be of great help.”
    Victor Gore disagreed. “I know as much about Indians as any man. And we have enough guns to protect us, should it come to that.” He smiled at Fargo. “I would much rather you went on your way. These people are under my care.”
    “No,” Fargo said.
    “Perhaps I haven’t made myself clear. I’m in charge. Complete charge. It’s one of the conditions I set and they agreed to before we left Fort Bridger.”
    Fargo returned the smile. “They agreed, not me. I can do as I please, and it pleases me to ride along a spell.”
    “I can have Mr. Rinson and his men prevent you from doing so.”
    “Not without losing a few, you can’t. Maybe more than a few.”
    Gore lost some of his friendliness. “Are you threatening us?”
    To Fargo’s surprise, Martha Winston broke her quiet to ask, “Where’s the harm if Mr. Fargo wants to come along? I don’t know about you, Mr. Gore, but we’re sociable folk. We enjoy the company of others.”
    “That’s very neighborly of you, Mrs. Winston. In Ohio that’s fine and dandy. Most folks are decent and law-abiding, like yourselves. But out here it’s not like that. Out here renegades and killers are as thick as ticks. One must always be on their guard.”
    Now it was Lester who spoke on Fargo’s behalf. “Surely you’re not suggesting Mr. Fargo would harm us? I say he should be allowed to stay.”
    Victor Gore stalled by drinking more coffee. Rinson stared hard at him but Gore paid him no mind. Finally, Gore drained the cup, and sighed. “Very well. Never let it be said I’m unreasonable. Mr. Fargo can accompany us. But he must agree to abide by my decisions.”
    “You’re in charge,” Fargo said, and held in a grin.
    “Yes, well. I think it only fair that I warn you. After what you did to Slag, my men don’t think as highly of you as the Winstons do. You would be well advised not to cause any more trouble or they might take it into their heads to teach you a few manners.”
    “That would be something to see.”
    “I’ve seldom met a man so brimming with confidence,” Victor Gore said. “And you know what they say. Too much of anything is never a good thing.”
    “There’s another saying. Never stand too close to a snake or you might get bit.”
    “I’ve never heard that one.”
    Fargo had made it up. If the old trapper got the point, he hid it well.
    But Rinson couldn’t sit silent any longer. “I don’t think it’s right, him tagging along. We have enough to do without keeping an eye on him, too. And like you said, Slag and the others ain’t happy about what he did.”
    “They will do as I tell them.”
    “You think too highly of yourself,” Rinson said defiantly. “There is only so much we will abide.”
    Gore looked at him. “Is that a fact? In that case, you and anyone else who wants to can head back to Fort Bridger.”
    “Now hold on,” Rinson quickly