Slocum and the Warm Reception Read Online Free PDF Page A

account.”
    â€œIs she married?”
    â€œNo. Just real pretty and she knows it. Sometimes that’s a lot worse than just being married.”
    â€œWhat kind of trouble has been started?” Slocum asked.
    â€œFights and such. One man wants to take a run at her and another gets the same idea in his head. Next thing you know, they’re locking horns like a couple of rams in a field.”
    â€œDoesn’t that sort of thing happen a lot when women are involved? At least, often enough that it’s not a very new predicament.”
    â€œIt ain’t a new predicament,” Patrick snapped. “And this ain’t my first time wearing a tin star. I ain’t no fool. I’ve kept the peace in plenty of towns bigger than this one, and a big part of doing that is knowing where the trouble lays. That little thing back there is trouble. It don’t just follow her. She stirs it up and she enjoys every bit of it.”
    Slocum nodded. “I’ve met a few women like that.”
    â€œThere’s something else about her, though. I think she used to be a whore in California. Some say she cheated some poor soul out of every dime he earned sifting through river dirt in the Rockies.”
    â€œDoesn’t explain why she’s cleaning horse manure.”
    â€œCould be she’s laying low,” Patrick explained as he started walking again. Since Slocum was following him, he slipped back into his former easygoing mannerisms. “Could be she’s waiting for some kind of storm to pass. Perhaps she’s biding time before she can get to that money she stole. Who knows? All I do know is that she’s got a wicked glint in her eye that I don’t like.”
    â€œI’ve met other women with that glint,” Slocum said with a wink. “Wicked women know plenty of things that sweet ones don’t.”
    Patrick leaned over so he could whisper as they passed a long porch in front of a clothing store, where a few elderly women in dreary dresses with high collars watched them. “I ain’t just talking about curling yer toes . . .”
    Despite the deputy’s best efforts to keep his voice down, one of the old ladies must have had ears sharper than an eagle’s eye because she recoiled and grimaced as if Patrick had taken the Lord’s name in vain. After she’d taken the time to lean over and whisper to the old woman beside her, both of them glared at Slocum and Patrick as if they were trying to burn holes through their heads.
    â€œLadies,” Patrick said in a futile attempt to win them over. Even his crooked grin and hat tip weren’t enough to remove some of the venom from the women’s eyes. “Come on in here,” he said while leading the way into a general store beneath a sign advertising ointments and other assorted medicinal offerings. There was a large counter along the side wall with a skinny bald man behind it and a row of stools in front of it.
    Following the deputy’s lead, Slocum took a seat. “This where I can have some of that pie you mentioned or did you just duck in here to escape the notice of them crones?”
    â€œAin’t escaping from no one,” Patrick grumbled. Having caught the skinny man’s eye, he asked, “What’s Martha cooked up today?”
    The man behind the counter looked at Slocum nervously before replying, “Peach and rhubarb.”
    â€œI’ll have a slice of the peach!”
    â€œFair warning, Pat. Them peaches are canned.”
    â€œWe live in a desert,” Patrick sneered. “You really think you needed to warn me about us not havin’ peach trees?”
    The skinny fellow shrugged and shifted his attention to Slocum. “What can I get for you, mister?”
    â€œYou can get me the name of someone who might know a thing or two about mining claims.” Although he didn’t have a claim in mind or any inquiry regarding one, any man