Friends and Enemies Read Online Free

nothin’ for their hide,” Little Frank concluded.
    The man’s hat dropped. His face whitened.
    Robert grinned. “The truth of the matter is, this is a pretty stubborn family and we just don’t push around very well. Never have. Kind of an inherited characteristic.”
    â€œYes,” Jamie Sue concurred. “All the Fortunes are that way.”
    â€œFortune?” As the man retrieved his hat, Robert noticed he packed a small revolver in a shoulder holster under his suit coat. “Your name is Fortune?”
    â€œI’m Robert Fortune. This is my wife, Jamie Sue, and our children.”
    The man rubbed his round chin as if contemplating a weighty decision. “You related to that Deadwood bunch?”
    â€œI’m afraid so,” Robert laughed. “They have quite a reputation, don’t they? Are you a friend of Daddy Brazos or my brothers?”
    â€œEh . . . well . . . I’ve never actually met any of them.”
    â€œI bet you read that book about my Uncle Todd and his ‘Flying Fist of Death’!” Veronica added.
    The man took several small steps backward.
    â€œIt wasn’t all that dramatic. You know how those dime novels play things up,” Robert reported. “That was about the only time Todd had to face a gunman of the caliber of Cigar Dubois. Daddy Brazos, on the other hand, has made a lifetime gettin’ himself in and out of tight squeezes. He was the one who brought down Doc Kabyo and that gang.”
    â€œYou don’t say?” The man cleared his throat. “Actually, I was hoping to meet the one called Samuel Fortune,” the man explained.
    â€œUncle Sammy is a real gunfighter!” Patricia added. “He isn’t scared of anything. Some say he was the toughest man in the Indian Territory.”
    â€œThey call it Oklahoma now,” Veronica corrected.
    â€œBut it’s still a territory,” Little Frank added.
    â€œSammy’s served his sentence in prison and retired from all that now,” Jamie Sue added. “The Lord has made him a changed man.”
    Robert leaned back on the log and surveyed the other passengers. A large woman chased a two-year-old boy, naked from the waist down, through the boulders. He glanced back at the short man. “Are you in the telephone business like Sammy?”
    Even though it was cloudy and cool, beads of sweat popped out on the man’s forehead. “Eh, no.”
    â€œWell, what do you do?” Little Frank quizzed.
    The man took out a soiled white handkerchief and sponged his forehead. “You might say I’m a retired bounty hunter.”
    â€œNo foolin’, you used to be a bounty hunter?” Little Frank added. “Boy, that must have been an exciting life. I’d like to be a bounty hunter, but Daddy says all the important outlaws are dead or in jail already.”
    â€œWhen did you retire?” Jamie Sue asked.
    The man pulled out a gold-plated pocket watch from his vest and studied the time. “About thirty seconds ago,” the man mumbled.
    Robert glanced over at his wife, then back at the man. “You were after Sammy?”
    â€œEh . . . well . . .” He looped his thumbs in his belt. “A family in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, said that Samuel Fortune owed them $400 for the wrongful death of four horses and two mules. If he doesn’t pay, I’m supposed to arrest him and bring him back for trial.”
    â€œIf Sammy truly owes them something, he will pay, I know that,” Robert said. “But they had better show up in person and have some proof of their accusation, because lots of folks want a piece of Sammy’s bank account nowadays.”
    â€œAre you really going to try to arrest my Uncle Sammy?” Veronica quizzed.
    â€œCan we watch?” Patricia pleaded. “Mama, you’ve got to let us watch.”
    The man wiped the sweat off his forehead. “Actually, I