Black Horse Creek (9781101607466) Read Online Free Page B

back.”
    â€œMy memory?” Ed replied, confused. “Whaddaya talkin’ about? If you’re talkin’ about that deputy that got shot a while back, there ain’t nothin’ to remember. Another deputy’s already been here and took care of that.”
    Grayson favored the nervous storekeeper with a knowing smile. “Is that a fact? The way I heard it, you told that deputy that you weren’t sure who shot who. To tell you the truth, Ed, you ain’t the smartest fellow in the territory, but you ain’t so dumb that you can’t remember Billy Blanchard shootin’ Tom Malone down right here in your store.” He shook his head impatiently, keeping his intense gaze locked on Ed’s eyes. “Now you oughta know the law ain’t gonna let Billy get away with that. Did you think they’d just say, ‘Too bad. Some stranger musta done it, but he got away’?”
    â€œI never said Billy done it,” Ed quickly reminded him. Seeing the expression of amusement on Grayson’s face, he insisted, “There’s lots of strangers come in my place. I can’t remember all of ’em.”
    â€œI doubt there’s that many,” Grayson said. The smile disappeared from his face and the steely gaze intensified, signaling an end to the meaningless banter. “Billy shot that deputy. You know it, and I know it. You ain’t in any trouble so far. All I want outta you is to make sure I don’t waste any more of my time. I’m thinkin’ Billy more’n likely headed straight back to his daddy’s place up near Black Horse Creek. I’m also thinkin’ he mighta said somethin’ about it before he left, unless he was of a mind to take off for someplace else.” He paused to observe Ed’s reaction to that suggestion. There was none. “Here’s the thing, Ed. It’s gonna rile me somethin’ awful if I ride all the way to Black Horse Creek and find out that Billy didn’t go that way, that he headed in some other direction when he left here. You see where this is leadin’? I’m not a patient man, and I know damn well you know which way he rode outta here.”
    Not positive there was a definite threat behind Grayson’s rambling talk, but suspecting there might be, Ed sang out, “Billy didn’t say anythin’ about headin’ anywhere else in The Nations. I can’t say he was headin’ for Kansas, but he didn’t say he was goin’ anywhere else.”
    Grayson studied the uncomfortable storekeeper’s face a few moments longer before deciding Billy had gone home, just as he had speculated. It may have been a waste of his time, sparring verbally with Ed Lenta, but he had thought to pick up a clue in case he had been wrong about second guessing Billy.
Hell
, he thought,
it’s on the way to Black Horse Creek, anyway
.
    Ed walked outside and watched the solemn bounty hunter as he made his way across to the opposite bank of the river, just as he had watched Billy Blanch-ard depart from his store. He told himself that he could be proud of the fact that he had not told Grayson that Billy casually mentioned going home to lay up for a while. Another part of him hoped Grayson would catch up with the insolent young gunman.
I sure as hell wouldn’t want that mountain lion after me
, he thought.
    *   *   *
    Two days in the saddle brought him to the point where the Crooked River flowed into the Cimarron. He didn’t know exactly where the territorial line between the Oklahoma Outlet and Kansas was, but he knew he was close to it. He made his camp at the confluence of the two rivers, planning to follow the Cimarron on into Kansas in the morning, and figuring to reach Black Horse Creek sometime in the early afternoon. It had been a while since he had traveled this part of the territory, but from what he had heard, a sizable town had grown up on the river and he was