A Wanted Man Read Online Free PDF

Hiram patted her awkwardly on the shoulder. “Hoxie’ll be fine. Heck, even if he did get popped with a slug or two, it’d take more than that—”
    “Mr. Peel!” Mrs. Bossidy broke in when Laura paled. “If that’s your attempt at cheering her up, God forbid you show up at a funeral and try to comfort the bereaved. You’d have people throwing themselves in the grave in no time.”
    He scowled. “I—”
    The door flew open, and Hoxie staggered through with a gun in his hand. He’d lost his hat, his jaw was puffing up on one side, and blood smeared the back of his hands. There was a rip in his jacket, and he was grinning like a kid who’d just been shown the candy store and told to “have at it.”
    A hum of concern and excitement greeted his arrival. “Not to worry, folks.” He stuck a thumb in his belt, as puffed up as a banty cock set free in a henhouse. “All safe and sound. We’ll be gettin’ under way again shortly.”
    Good as his promise, the steam whistle blast drowned out the questions tossed in his direction as he swaggered his way to the middle of the car.
    “What happened?” Laura asked, as soon he reached them. She raised to her tiptoes to peer over Mr. Hoxie’s shoulder, but no one else came through the door.
    Surely he will come back , she thought. He’d originally been riding on this car’s platform. And wouldn’t he wantto check on his captives? “Is everything all right?”
    “It’s just fine,” Mr. Hoxie said, grinning, preparing to take his seat.
    “Wait, wait!” Mrs. Bossidy sprang up and pushed him away before his hindquarters landed. “You’re going to get blood all over the cushion.”
    “So? I practically saved the whole train. I don’t think anybody’s going to complain.”
    Mrs. Bossidy dug in the huge canvas bag she took with her everywhere, pulled out a thin dishcloth, and spread it over the seat. “There. Go ahead.”
    He dropped into his seat with a gusty sigh and slapped Hiram on his knee. “Hoo-wee, you missed it, bud! Haven’t had that much fun since—” He stopped, shooting a guilty glance in Laura’s direction. “Well, in quite a while.”
    “Is—” Laura raised her voice as the train picked up speed, clacking along steadily, an already-familiar sound. “Is everybody all right?”
    “Everybody but a couple of the robbers.” He shook his head. “There were at least ten of ’em, though a couple rode away when it was clear which way the wind was blowin’. Four came up on the engine, shootin’ at the engineers, and the rest were stationed in the passenger cars.” He chuckled. “All of ’em but these two are trussed up and stacked in a freight car.”
    “And he…he’s okay?”
    “Who?”
    If she squeezed them any tighter Laura’s fingers were going to be permanently welded together. But if she relaxed her grip, they were undoubtedly going to shake. “You know. Him .”
    “Oh, the dark avenger?”
    “The what ?” Mrs. Bossidy snapped. “What kind of astupid name is that? What kind of a man would call himself such a ridiculous thing? Sounds like something out of a penny dreadful.”
    “ He didn’t call himself that. I did.” Mr. Hoxie smiled, clearly unoffended. “You should have seen him, bursting in with both guns drawn, like he thought being one against four was more than fair odds, bullets flying in all directions. Never seen anythin’ like it.” He rubbed his chin. “A novel, huh? You think I could write one of those?”
    “No,” Mrs. Bossidy said.
    “Did anybody get shot?” Laura couldn’t imagine that one man could face four ruthless train robbers and come out unscathed.
    “Oh, sure.” He shrugged. “Not bad though.”
    “Who?” Her voice quavered. Mrs. Bossidy looked at her sharply. Laura said back in her chair, affecting unconcern.
    “One of the robbers. Big brute of a fella, almost as big as Hiram, here. Went down just about as hard, wailing like a girl.” He chuckled. “Shot him in the shoulder, he did,