Night Hawk by Beverly Jenkins Read Free Book Online Page A

as giddy as a child.
    â€œOkay. Coming up the ladder out here to fill you up.”
    â€œThis is a wonderful invention, Mr. Tanner.”
    Next she knew he was at the top of the stall and looking down. They both grinned.
    He filled the barrel from another barrel of water about the same size.
    â€œAll done. Betsy show you how to work the ropes?”
    â€œYes, she did.”
    â€œThen happy washing. Yell if you want more. Preacher man and I’ll hear you.” He offered a parting nod and disappeared back down the ladder.
    Maggie quickly undressed and placed her dirty clothes on the ground in a corner. She tugged on the rope and sure enough, the barrel tipped and the water began to cascade down. It took her a moment to get the flow right, but the idea was to get wet, soap up, and rinse off. The rope didn’t allow for the water to flow in a continuous steady stream but she imagined Mr. Tanner would figure out a way to perfect that before long.
    All in all it was wonderful. Even though she could only douse herself a portion at a time, the water was hot and glorious. She used the first two barrels on her hair. Because of her mixed heritage it was thick and long. And filthy, having not been washed in weeks. When she was done soaping and rinsing it, her head felt ten pounds lighter and her jet black hair was sleek and running down her back like an African stream.
    Ian and Rand were seated on the back porch within shouting distance of what Rand called his washing tower. Tired and worn out from all the traveling, Ian hadn’t protested when Rand took it upon himself to be the Freeman woman’s water bearer. So far, he’d delivered four barrels.
    â€œYou get the next two. I’m old and getting tired.”
    â€œSure.”
    Settling himself back into his seat, Rand picked up the conversation where they’d left it before he’d gone to deliver more water. “So, tell me about this marshal business I’ve been hearing about. Is Judge Parker getting feebleminded?”
    â€œNo,” Ian replied while slowly savoring the cigar Rand offered him when they first sat down. “I was really sworn in by Griffin Blake.”
    â€œOklahoma Red? Who in the hell was crazy enough to make him a marshal?”
    Griffin Blake was a good friend. At one time he’d been one of the most notorious outlaws west of the Mississippi, and like many in the profession answered to various names, most of which had the word red in them due to his coloring and hair. “He was in a Kansas jail when Seminole Marshal Dixon Wildhorse got him freed in exchange for help with an investigation Wildhorse and Judge Parker were working on down in Texas last year.”
    â€œBlake as a lawman. If I was dead, I’d be spinning in my grave.”
    â€œGets worse. The other two deputies he swore in were the Twins.”
    Rand choked on his whiskey. In a strangled voice he asked, “Neil and Shafts?”
    Ian nodded. “And believe it or not, we got the job done. Griff even wound up marrying the lady rancher we were there to help.”
    â€œYou’re pulling my leg. Blake? Married? Is the woman blind?”
    â€œNope. Name’s Jessi Rose. She’s a pistol.”
    Rand shook his head. “Will wonders never cease.”
    Silence crept between them for a moment as they both thought back on the past.
    â€œOnce I get back to Wyoming, I’m going to put the Preacher to rest.”
    Rand studied him and then nodded as if he understood. “Preacher was a force to be reckoned with, but there comes a time when who we were no longer fits who we’ve become.”
    â€œAmen. And I’m hoping I’ve balanced the scales enough to make the man upstairs forgive me for my earlier sins.” In the years since coming to the States, he’d been an outlaw, a hired gun, and had ridden with gangs that robbed trains and banks. In one of those banks he’d met Matilda Lawson and his entire