Slocum and the Diamond City Affair (9781101612118) Read Online Free Page A

shook his head at the man’s attitude. “From your wife for free, if you ever find her again.”
    â€œThat no-good bastard,” O’Riley grumbled and scowled at the thought of the wife-stealing horse trainer.
    Rosa soon returned with her two hands full of tamales, and they sat on the stage office porch, unwrapped the corn shucks, and ate them.
    â€œWhat’s next?” O’Riley asked. “My asshole is sore. I could sleep for a week. And still no horses.”
    Slocum looked at him hard in disgust. “Did I tell you this would be easy?”
    â€œNo, but—”
    â€œThat’s right. Now stop your bellyaching.”
    They rode on through boulder-strewn Texas Canyon to Benson, arriving in the night, and ate supper in a small café they found still open.
    â€œWhen she gets through eating, I’m sending Rosa up to the block of crib houses and see if they’ve seen your fancy horses. The rustlers had to go by those narrow cribs to have gone south to Tombstone. And those women don’t miss much.”
    â€œWho are the ones that you want?” she asked between bites.
    â€œThey would have been leading two fancy horses, a mare and a big stallion. You don’t have a good description of them, do you, O’Riley?”
    â€œThey are both fine, bay-colored horses. Heads high and powerful. The stallion has a scar, but you wouldn’t see it unless you were up close.”
    â€œOh, sure, if they went by, one of those
putas
would have seen them.” Rosa jumped to her feet. “I won’t be gone long.”
    â€œWhat help will she be?” O’Riley asked, disgusted, when she was started away from them.
    â€œShe probably can find out more from those women in half an hour than you or I could in a day or more.”
    â€œShe’s a whore, ain’t she?”
    â€œI don’t know. She ain’t run off with another man yet.”
    â€œWhy do you keep reminding me about my damn wife? That money-grubbing bitch left me.”
    â€œMaybe because you treated her so nice is why she left you. You know, you are about the dopiest guy I ever met. You gripe even when folks are trying to help you for free and are doing their best.”
    â€œHell, you’ll get paid.”
    â€œStart paying me and her every day then.”
    â€œI need a drink.”
    â€œSure, go blab off in some cantina and warn them bastards who’ve got your horses that we’re coming after them. That’s why I sent her. She can learn more from those sisters than you or I could spending a week in those saloons. Besides, the women won’t mention she’s been there.”
    â€œAll right, all right. What do I need to do then?”
    â€œStop bitching. We will run these thieves down and get your horses back somehow. Be more helpful and damn sure stop treating Rosa like she’s a slave. She came on her own and she can go on her own, anytime she wants. I figure she doesn’t like working in a whorehouse, and she can be invaluable to us in this job.”
    â€œI never really thought about that.”
    â€œSo now go back and tell me about your wife and the guy she left with. Did they take the horses?”
    â€œNo. I don’t think so.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œThey left Tucson, and I learned that they went north. I think those two went to Preskit in my buggy. They have horse races up there, the marshal told me. Do they?”
    â€œYes, they do.”
    â€œThey have races up there. He wanted to find another sucker like me and race his horses for him. No, I don’t think they stole my racehorses. They just took my buggy and those two buggy horses. She could always say they were hers.”
    â€œWhere did you meet her at?”
    â€œAt Albany, New York. Her father had some racehorses. I met her at the racing meet. She was a lovely young woman, though I doubted she was a virgin at the time. She got a little tipsy at a party one night