Vengeance Trail Read Online Free PDF

for burial in the misty beauty of the Ozarks.
    His widow and two grown daughters watched as the ornate casket was lowered into the ground. All three women wept beneath their
     black veils, and they were given the state flag that had draped his coffin by a uniformed member of the Little Rock Militia
     who had accompanied the senator’s body home.
    And then, just as the coffin was lowered into the dark shaft of grave, it began to rain a light cold rain that chilled the
     skin and splattered darkly against the clothes. All the food that had been placed on long wooden tables and covered with white
     linen had to be taken inside the big house.
    “It’s as though the Lord himself is shedding tears,” said one woman whose black bonnet withstood the first drops of rain.
    “He was a good man,” replied a neighbor. “He did a lot for us back here in Montgomery County.”
    “Seems the country ain’t safe for anyone anymore,” said another man, who was working a chawof tobacco inside his jaw and looking for a place to spit that wouldn’t offend any of the mourners or the family.
    “Seems like if they can shoot a man like Willard Gray, a state’s senator, off’n his horse in broad daylight, they can damn
     near shoot anybody,” continued the man, and then spat straight down between the toes of his boots.
    “You ought not to chew at such an occasion,” said the man’s wife, looking consternated.
    And then everybody went inside the big house to eat and to get out of the rain.
    “Mrs. Gray,” said a man in a checked suit. She knew the man to be George Kimbel, a local banker and trusted friend of her
     late husband’s.
    She stared at him through the veil. He could see her eyes were red from the crying.
    “Mrs. Gray, if I might have a word with you in private?”
    She led him into a small sideroom where the senator’s favorite rocker sat empty; doilies rested on the rocker’s arms.
    “There are some of us who wish to assure that justice is served in this terrible tragedy. Will was a trusted friend to all
     of us. Me and several others who wish to remain discreet have decided to post a reward for Will’s murderer.”
    “That’s very generous of you, Mr. Kimbel. But, as I understand it, the state of Arkansas has already posted a reward.”
    The banker coughed, cleared his throat politely and said, “Yes ma’am, we’re well aware of that. Thing is, even if the guilty
     party is captured and returned, there is no way of assuring that justice willbe served. Lots of guilty men have been set free, even under Judge Parker’s court.”
    “I see, Mr. Kimbel. You think that maybe Will’s killer might find a way to get off?”
    “Anything’s possible, Mrs. Gray. Our little, hmmm…, committee, would like to make sure that doesn’t happen. I know a
     man that would probably be interested in the reward.”
    “You mean bounty?”
    “Well, I reckon you could call it that. However, if you’re opposed to the idea, we’ll respect your wishes.”
    “No, Mr. Kimbel,” she said, shaking her head slightly. “Maybe once all the sorrow has passed from me, I will find our conversation
     troubling. But right now, I’m about as full of anger and hate as I reckon I can be. And to tell you the truth, it would trouble
     me more to see Will’s murderer go without punishment. You have my approval, sir.”
    “I’ll see to it then.”
    “Hello in the cabin!”
    Eli Stagg lifted his bearish head, the whiskers of his beard tangled about his face, his fierce wet eyes searching the sound
     outside.
    “Who might it be?” he yelled out, reaching for the Hawkins rifle.
    “Faustus, Eli. It’s me, Faustus!”
    The big man sat up on the side of his cot, reached for the Creedmore rifle leaning against the wall.
    “What you want, coming around here?”
    “Brought someone to see you, a gent. He’s got some business he wants to discuss!”
    The big man approached the door cautiously,cracked it open far enough to see. The morning light