Hard Ride to Wichita Read Online Free

think I can’t handle myself, then you must think I’m weak.”
    â€œIs that what all this was about?” Red asked as he waved a hand in a sweeping motion encompassing the stable floor. “’Cause if it was, then you made your point.”
    â€œDid you let me win?”
    The hint of a grin flickered across Red’s face, but disappeared just as quickly. “Why would I do that? Joey Paulsen was betting on me.”
    â€œI know. He wouldn’t shut up about it.”
    â€œThose Paulsen brothers really get under my skin sometimes,” Red grunted.
    â€œI thought they were your friends.”
    Red shrugged. “They’re around lots of times and it’s easier to just leave it that way. Joe’s so thick I’d have to waste all my breath to explain I just want him to leave me be.”
    â€œWasn’t it their idea to do this stupid wrestling thing to begin with?”
    After taking a few moments to think it over, Red scowled. “I think you’re right! They got us all fired up about it and started calling everyone yellow if they didn’t want to tussle in this damn stable.”
    â€œThey always shoot their mouths off,” Luke grumbled. “Seems like they just like the sound of their own voices. The only reason they left this time was that you and me weren’t gonna rip each other’s heads off.”
    Chuckling, Red said, “Wasn’t as if you didn’t try, though.”
    â€œI got wrapped up in the moment.”
    â€œYou was trying to prove yourself.”
    â€œIf that’s so, then I did prove myself,” Luke said. “I won.”
    â€œYou keep tellin’ yerself that.”
    Luke’s eyes were trained on the wall directly in front of him. Slowly, he glanced around to where each of the other boys had been standing. When he got to the place that had been occupied by the Paulsens, he narrowed his eyes as if he were trying to burn a hole into the old wooden slats. “Marty bet on me.”
    â€œThat’s what he said,” Red replied. “But that was just more hot air.”
    â€œDidn’t they say something about splitting the take with whoever won?”
    Red’s eyes rolled around in their sockets. “You honestly think you’ll see any of that money?”
    â€œWhy shouldn’t we?”
    â€œWe?”
    â€œThat’s right,” Luke said with a nod. “They’re the ones who started this whole mess. Why should they be able to just walk away from it without honoring their word?”
    The grin on Red’s face could have been peeled off the Devil himself. “They did say they’d pay up.”
    â€œAnd we did follow through with our end.”
    After getting up and dusting himself off, Red offered a hand to Luke. “Them Paulsens really do grate on me,” he said while helping his friend to his feet. “Someone ought to at least keep ’em honest.”

Chapter 3
    It wasn’t difficult for Red and Luke to find the Paulsen brothers. All they needed to do was listen for the sound of boisterous taunting and follow it back to its source. If the brothers weren’t giving each other a difficult time, they were extending the favor to anyone else in their vicinity. For the last few months, the younger boys who’d been at their wrestling tournament had been trying to get in the brothers’ good graces. Desperate for friends, especially older ones, the younger boys had followed them around like puppies without seeming to mind that they were getting treated more like mangy dogs.
    â€œYou know what you two should try?” Joseph asked the skinnier of the two younger boys. “Boxing! I heard that’s a sight to see!”
    â€œYeah!” Marty chimed in. “We could even sell tickets. I bet we could scrounge up some other guys to have a fight and we could split up the profits!”
    The four of them were clustered near the corner store