TREASURE KILLS (Legends of Tsalagee Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

indicated the large tree forty yards from the left corner of the front porch. Then she surveyed the whole homestead, looking last down towards the river. “Ma liked it out here, especially in the fall.”
    “Yeah,” Ed said.
    Pearl opened up then, and started sobbing uncontrollably. Ed put his arms around her and patted her back. He didn’t know what to say, so he just stood there and let Pearl cry. After a few minutes she slowed and then stopped. Ed kissed her on top of her head, then he mounted up and rode off without saying another word to his sister, pulling along the lead to Clod.
    * * *
    Ed heard the sound of a Winchester levering a round into the firing chamber, but the late afternoon sun came from the same direction as the sound, so he couldn’t see who held the rifle. He pulled up on his reins and held up his left hand. He slid his right hand cautiously toward the holstered Colt at his waist.
    “Name’s Ed Reed,” he said loudly into the glaring sun. “I come up from around Eufaula looking for some of my ma’s kin.”
    Ed waited for several long seconds before he got a response.
    “Who’s your ma’s kin?” The voice sounded like that of a boy.
    “She was married to Sam Starr. Her name is Belle Starr.”
    More time slipped by in silence. Finally, the boy voice said, “Sam Starr was my uncle. I know who Belle Starr is, but she ain’t kin. She just married my uncle. I don’t like her much.”
    “Well then, you’ll be happy to know she’s dead,” Ed said. “She was shot in the back and kilt yesterday. I had to hightail it out of there, because the sheriff is thinking I was the one who shot her.”
    “Well, did ya?”
    “Does it matter?”
    “Not to me, it don’t.” The boy walked around to the left side of Ed’s horse out of the sun’s glare. He pointed his rifle at Ed from about ten feet away. Ed took the boy to be about fifteen or sixteen.
    “Your folks got a place around here?” Ed asked. He still kept his left hand in the air, and his right on his pistol handle. The boy didn’t say anything. He just kept his rifle leveled at Ed’s chest.
    “’Cause I sure could use a hot meal. I been riding and pulling this mule since sunup. And I ain’t stopped to eat all day. My horse and mule could use a rest, too.”
    The silent stare continued from the boy.
    “Of course, I’d be willing to pay your folks for their trouble,” Ed added. He smiled trying to show he meant to be friendly.
    “You got money?” the boy asked.
    The smile melted a little on Ed’s face and he moved his right hand back to grip his pistol. “Some,” he said. He was thinking he could slide off his horse to his right, draw his pistol, and fire at the boy under the horse’s neck. His horse might take a slug, but under the circumstances, it was his best chance. He was seconds away from putting that plan into action, when a man’s voice came from the trees.
    “Henry!”
    The boy looked toward the tree line, but he still kept his rifle pointed at Ed. The man emerged from the trees carrying his own rifle, but in one hand at his side.
    “Lower the gun, Henry,” the man said. Then he looked up at Ed.
    “Sorry about the boy, mister. He’s had some bad personal experiences with white men, so when one of you rides across our land, Henry here don’t care for it.”
    Ed put both his hands on his saddle horn and nodded. “You folks Cherokee?” he asked. The man nodded. “Well, I ain’t looking to cause no trouble,” Ed continued. “Like I told the boy, I come up from Eufaula looking for some of my ma’s kin. Your boy there says Sam Starr was his uncle. I reckon that makes you his brother.”
    “You Belle’s boy?” the man asked with some surprise.
    “Yep, I reckon I am. I’m Ed Reed.”
    “I remember you. You weren’t no bigger than a bobcat last time I saw you.”
    “Belle’s dead,” Ed said. “She was shot in the back and kilt, yesterday.”
    “Is that right?” the man said. His expression looked