Collection 1997 - End Of The Drive (v5.0) Read Online Free PDF Page B

against the mountains. “And men shall live again for the Glory of All Highest! Your wives, your mothers, your brothers and fathers, they shall walk beside you again!”
    And then he led them into the singing of a hymn and the three of us walked away.
    That was the quietest Sunday Red Horse ever knew. Not a whisper, all day long. Folks were scared, they were happy, they were inspired. The townsfolk walked as if under a spell.
    Strangely, it was Ed Colvin who said it. Colvin, the man who had gone to the great beyond and returned…although he claimed he had no memory of anything after his fall.
    Brace was talking about the joy of seeing his wife again, and Ed said quietly, “You’ll also be seeing your mother-in-law.”
    Brace’s mouth opened and closed twice before he could say anything at all, and then he didn’t want to talk. He stood there like somebody had exploded a charge of powder under his nose, and then he turned sharply around and walked off.
    â€œI’ve got more reason than any of you to be thankful,” Ed said, his eyes downcast. “But I’m just not sure this is all for the best.”
    We all glanced at each other. “Think about it.” Ed got up, looking kind of embarrassed. “What about you, Ralston? You’ll have to go back to work. Do you think your uncle will stand for you loafing and spending the money he worked so hard to get?”
    â€œThat’s right,” I agreed, “you’ll have to give it all back.”
    Ralston got mad. He started to shout that he wouldn’t do any such thing, and anyway, if his uncle came back now he would be a changed man, he wouldn’t care for money any longer, he—
    â€œYou don’t believe that,” Brennen said. “You know darned well that uncle of yours was the meanest skin-flint in this part of the country. Nothing would change him.”
    Ralston went away from there. Seemed to me he wanted to do some thinking.
    When I turned to leave, Brennen said, “Where are you going?”
    â€œWell,” I said, “seems to me I’d better oil up my six-shooters. There’s three men in that Boot Hill that I put there. Looks like I’ll have it to do over.”
    He laughed. “You aren’t falling for this, are you?”
    â€œColvin sounds mighty lively to me,” I said, “and come Sunday morning Brother Elisha has got to put up or shut up.”
    â€œYou don’t believe that their time in the hereafter will have changed those men you killed.”
    â€œBrennen,” I said, “if I know the Hame brothers, they’ll come out of their graves like they went into them. They’ll come a-shootin’.”
    There had been no stage for several days as the trail had been washed out by a flash flood, and the town was quiet and it was scared. Completely cut off from the outside, all folks could do was wait and get more and more frightened as the Great Day approached. At first everybody had been filled with happiness at the thought of the dead coming back, and then suddenly, like Brace and Ralston, everybody was taking another thought.
    There was the Widow McCann who had buried three husbands out there, all of them fighters and all of them mean. There were a dozen others with reason to give the matter some thought, and I knew at least two who were packed and waiting for the first stage out of town.
    Brace dropped in at the saloon for his first drink since Brother Elisha started to preach. He hadn’t shaved and he looked mighty mean. “Why’d he pick on this town?” he burst out. “When folks are dead they should be left alone. Nobody has a right to interfere with nature thataway.”
    Brennen mopped his bar, saying nothing at all.
    Ed Colvin dropped around. “Wish that stage would start running. I want to leave town. Folks treat me like I was some kind of freak.”
    â€œStick around,” Brennen said. “Come Sunday