A Texas Hill Country Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page A

where he was going from here.”
    â€œNo, I’m afraid not.” Clancy frowned. “But I believe he mentioned something about Enchanted Rock.”
    â€œWhat’s that?”
    â€œBig mounded heap of stone up in the Hill Country north of Fredericksburg. Never seen it meself, mind you, but I’ve heard tell of it. Sounds like a place where the old Druids would have one o’ their pagan ceremonies, if ye ask me.”
    That was interesting, Luke had thought, but he couldn’t think of any reason why an outlaw like Sam Brant would be headed there. Still, it was a starting place, a trail for him to follow, and he had never asked for anything more.
    He didn’t have the money to stay at the Menger, so he would have to find some place cheaper. He had left his horse at a stable on the other side of the old mission. He was walking in front of that building with its blood-soaked heritage when three men stepped out of the shadows to block his path.
    Luke wasn’t surprised. The hint of movement he had seen in the gloom had alerted him to the possibility of trouble. He stopped short but didn’t reach for his guns just yet. He wanted to find out who these men were and what they wanted with him before any gunplay broke out.
    Luke didn’t care to kill someone if there was no profit in it.
    â€œYou just hold it right there, mister,” the middle one of the trio said. “We got some business with you.”
    â€œI doubt that,” Luke said. “I’m not looking for any business this evening, or any trouble, either.”
    â€œYou’re Luke Jensen,” the man on Luke’s left declared. “I recognized you through the front window of the Menger.”
    â€œYou’ve got the advantage on me, then.” Luke’s keen eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and he could make out the faces of the three hombres in the faint light that came from nearby buildings. They were all cut from the same cloth, men with hard-planed, beard-stubbled faces. Men much like him, Luke mused, but he was convinced they were on the opposite side of the law.
    â€œI’m Dewey Dunham,” the man in the middle said. He angled his head toward the man on Luke’s left. “Thad Barnes.” Then the one on Luke’s right. “Ned Godfrey. I’ll bet you know the names, don’t you . . . bounty hunter ?”
    Dunham’s voice was full of contempt and scorn. Luke was accustomed to that attitude. Most folks didn’t have much use for his kind, even the law-abiding ones.
    As a matter of fact, Luke did recognize all three names. He had seen them on various wanted posters. None of them had a particularly large bounty on his head, but together they would add up to a not-bad payoff. They were wanted for rustling, stagecoach robbery, attempted murder, and assorted other crimes.
    â€œYeah, I know who you boys are,” Luke said, “but I haven’t been looking for you. Wouldn’t be worth my while to go out of my way to do so. Since you’ve been kind enough to turn yourselves in to me, though—”
    Barnes cursed bitterly, interrupting him. Dunham said, “We’re not turnin’ ourselves in, you fool, and you know it. We’re here to kill you, Jensen. You killed Henry Stockard out in El Paso a few months ago. Henry was a friend of ours. We rode with him for nigh on to a year.”
    â€œYou’re here to settle the score for Stockard, eh? Well, he had a chance to surrender. I called on him to put down his gun. It was his choice not to do it.”
    â€œSo you killed him!” Godfrey yelled. “You son-of-a—”
    He broke off and clawed at the gun on his hip.
    The three outlaws had called the tune, and there had never been any doubt in Luke’s mind what it would be. So he was ready, and as soon as Godfrey made his move and the other two hardcases followed suit, Luke went for his guns, too.
    He was twice as fast as any of