Microsoft Word - Jenny dreamed Read Online Free PDF Page B

Though Dev hadn't turned his head, he was sure that hand was also flexing, hanging near his holster in readiness should his calculated insults have their desired effect.
    The tension in the room was almost visible, like flashes of heat lightning on a hot summer's night. All but Dev seemed to be holding their breath, as the scene built toward a climax, waiting; waiting to hear the sharp explosive bark of a handgun, the muffled thud of fallen body. The watchers were not cold-hearted but merely men whose senses had been dulled by countless scenes such as this. It remained only to be seen which man still stood, his death-dealing weapon still extended when the final curtain closed.
    Two

    The man had a date with death, Dev thought, it was just a matter of time until he picked the wrong adversary, until his big mouth got him involved with somebody who, without batting an eyelash, would silence him for good. Easy as it would be, Dev wasn't sure he cared to expend the effort. Besides, what kind of impression would it make on Jared's daughter, to arrive in town and find him at the sheriff's office, making a statement about the man he'd just killed?
    The barkeeper anxiously cleared his throat. His business was suffering while everyone waited and watched. As far as he was concerned, Cantrell would be doing him and the town a favor by ridding the town of one of the good-for-nothing drifters passing through Langdon lately. One more wouldn't crowd the cemetery.
    This time, though, the audience was not destined to see the finale. Later Dev might wonder if he would have finally allowed the man to goad him into drawing in anger, but as the disgruntled drunk stepped away from the bar and opened his mouth to add another jibe, a young boy burst past the double doors of the saloon and drew attention away from the confrontation.
    His blue eyes were wide with an excitement that had     The tension of the barroom brawl evaporated in the face of a more exciting event. It wasn't every day that the stage from Helena was robbed. Dev forgot the drunk, who even now pounded his glass for another round. The boy turned to go, anxious to spread the word throughout the town.
    Dev called to him to wait, tossed the money for his drink on the bar, and was at his side in seconds, anxious to discover what had happened to Jennifer Bryant. The boy was happy enough to offer what sketchy information he'd gathered before he'd run to spread the word.
    The stage had been held up ten miles south of town, a gold shipment taken, and the driver wounded in the right shoulder when he'd tried to defend two ladies against the masked thieves.
    "An' they took the ladies, too," the boy suddenly remembered to add. "Buck tried t'stop 'em.
    He's awful brave, y'know, but the leader shot him faster'n' a jack-rabbit an' he didn't have a chance!" He finally stopped to take a breath and then, his eyes widening further in a freckled, too-thin face, he tugged at Dev's sleeve and I leaned closer to whisper in an awed voice, "Buck says it I was the Starmer gang that did it, says it was Cap'n Beau, hisself, that shot him!"
    Dev frowned at the news, absently tousling the boy's unruly thatch of sandy hair. He dug in his pocket and produced a penny, tossing it for the lad to catch as he thanked him. He hardly heard the boy's surprised, "Gee, thanks, mister!" or saw him take flight immediately for the general store and its large candy display.

    The back of Dev's neck had begun to ache, and he rubbed it as he made his way through the crowd milling about the sheriff's office. On a lazy afternoon, people had appeared out of thin air at the news of the daring robbery.
    He knew Sheriff Crandall well enough, having tracked for him from time to time when the lawman needed a trained eye to pick out an outlaw's trail. Crandall was interviewing the shaken