Hard Ride to Wichita Read Online Free PDF Page A

to see that he was fighting to keep from busting out in laughter. Motioning for his friend to keep holding his tongue, Luke said, “That depends on what kind of trade you can make.”
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    The Paulsen brothers scampered off like a couple of whipped dogs. Although the arrangement was for them to meet Red and Luke at an empty lot the older boys in town had claimed as their own, there were only two souls on that patch of land almost an hour after the agreed-upon time had passed.
    Red sat on an overturned bucket that had been in that spot for so long it had sunken roots into the dirt. His elbows rested upon his knees, and his hands worked to whittle down a short stick with a pocketknife. “They ain’t comin’, you know.”
    Standing at the edge of the lot with his arms folded and his eyes pointed in the direction of the Paulsen home, Luke replied, “They’ll come. Marty will, at least.”
    â€œWhat makes you say that?”
    â€œBecause he was too scared to do anything else.”
    Shaking his head, Red asked, “What did you tell that boy?”
    â€œTo pay what he owes.”
    â€œI thought we were just going to give them two some grief for shooting their mouths off all the time.”
    â€œWe were,” Luke said.
    â€œSo what happened?”
    â€œThings got . . . out of hand.”
    â€œThey sure did,” Red chuckled. “Why did you tell Marty you were gonna kill him?”
    â€œI didn’t! Why did you bust Joseph’s nose?”
    Shifting his focus back to his whittling, Red said, “It’s like you said. Things got out of hand.”
    Luke looked over to his friend. “Why did you do that to Joseph?”
    â€œHe’s always gotten under my skin. He thinks he’s so tough . . . I guess I showed him he’s not the big man he thought he was. What about you?”
    â€œWhat about me? I barely even touched Marty.”
    â€œBut you put more of a fright into him than I did with Joe,” Red told him. “And I could tell you liked doin’ it.”
    â€œYeah? Well, Marty flaps his gums plenty as well. Guess it was good to take both of them down a notch or two.”
    â€œDid you have to threaten to kill him, though?”
    Luke sighed. “He came to that conclusion all on his own and I got no idea how he got there.”
    â€œAll he had to do was look at you,” Red said as he sharpened the stick in his hand to an even finer point. “I even thought you were gonna send that little weasel to meet his maker.”
    â€œYou know I could never do something like that.”
    â€œSure. I know that. If I hadn’t known you since we were in short pants, though, I wouldn’t be so sure.”
    Luke turned his back to his friend so he could watch for approaching visitors. That way, Red couldn’t see the little smirk on his face when he said, “Let him think what he wants. Just as long as he follows through.”
    â€œAnd what if he don’t?” Red asked.
    â€œLooks like we won’t have to worry about that. Have a look for yourself.” Luke pointed west of the Paulsen home. Maconville was a tame little place under most circumstances, and any movement had a tendency to stick out. The pair of figures Luke had spotted walked directly toward the empty lot. One of them was shorter than the other, and judging by how they carried themselves, if they’d had tails, they would be tucked between their legs.
    â€œGuess I’d better put these away,” Red said as he stood up from his grimy seat with the stick and knife in his hands. “There’s no telling what they think I’ll do with ’em.”
    Red stuck the stick into the ground and was folding his knife when Joseph and Marty Paulsen entered the lot. Joseph did his best to keep his chin up, but his younger brother was rattled all the way down to his core, which made it