Colorado Sam Read Online Free

announced he’d been appointed general manager of the Blackridge Drayage Company. He married your mother a week later. We railroaders always figured your father showed more backbone and sense than all the bachelors chasing Lila put together. They wanted your mother bad as he did, but none of them was clever enough to let off the scent and win the support of old Lionel.”
    Â Â  The conductor dipped his head and winked at Nathan. “You know, you remind me of your Uncle Seth, too. He and your father looked a lot alike, didn’t they?”
    Â Â  Just the awareness that the conductor was personally acquainted with his uncle heightened Nathan’s curiosity. “Mr. Darling, I only saw my uncle once. He wasn’t married when he came to St. Louis to visit Father. Now, uncle’s dead and I’m to spend a month or more with an aunt I’ve never seen. Do you know anything about her?” 
    Â Â  Sam Darling’s lips pursed. “Not much, other than what your father said here and there. He always claimed Seth preferred the company of cattle to women, and news of Seth’s sudden marriage surprised him. Your uncle was past sixty at the time. Your father feared some scheming female had hitched up with Seth to get title to his ranch and hustled off to Colorado to meet the new bride.”
    Â Â  “He never shared anything with me about his trip, neither did Mother,” Nathan said. “Did he ever talk about it with you?” 
    Â Â  The conductor nodded. “Just once. We were having dinner at Breen’s Pub not long after he returned. He mentioned he was investing in your uncle’s cattle ranch and that Seth’s new wife had insisted she be an equal partner. I thought your father was joking, but he just laughed and said Alana Birdsong wasn’t a city belle like your mother. Seems she totes a rifle everywhere, and owns a huge black dog with fangs long as your thumb. The dog never leaves her side. He even sleeps at the foot of her bed.”
    Â Â  Brakes squealed. The 903 slowed and then came to a full stop. “That’s all I can recall about her, lad. We’re at the mainline and I’ve chores to do.” 
    Â Â  The conductor rose from his chair and patted Nathan’s knee. “Eat the rest of your sandwich and get some sleep if you can. You’ve a long trip ahead of you.” 
    Â Â  Sam Darling reclaimed his lantern and joined Farrell on the rear platform of the caboose. Nathan finished his impromptu meal and pulled his carpetbag from beneath the bench. The canvas jacket he sought for a pillow was folded beneath the revolver and shell belt Ira Westfall had borrowed from his father’s den. Nathan lifted the weapon from the carpetbag. A cross-draw holster held a Colt six-gun. The initials “N.T.” had been burned into the wooden grips of the revolver. Nathan realized that it was the same pistol his father had given him on his birthday. 
    Â Â  The unfairness of the whole miserable night descended upon Nathan and he bit his lip to avoid bursting into tears. He had to own up to the truth as it was, not as he wished it to be. His parents were gone forever and nothing could change that, but even in death, his father had provided him the means to survive. He had a revolver and ammunition, money in his purse, and temporary quarters that were hopefully beyond the reach of the murderers hunting him. 
    Â Â  Maybe his aunt wasn’t like his mother. Maybe she would never dress in a satin gown and play the spinet for the cream of St. Louis society. But boarding at a ranch whose owner packed a rifle and kept a huge dog for added protection had its advantages when you were being sought by paid assassins. Maybe the most he would have to worry about once he reached Colorado was staying in the good graces of Alana Birdsong’s giant guard dog until Ira Westfall jailed the killers. 
    Nathan traded the