Slocum and the Socorro Saloon Sirens Read Online Free Page A

“And knowing my father, I don’t believe he told them what they wanted to know. I know he wouldn’t. He had too much respect.”
    â€œRespect?”
    â€œYes. For—for his brother, my uncle.”
    He started to walk out of the room.
    â€œWait,” she said. “You helped us. You deserve to know. I think you do. It—It’s just that I don’t know who you are, or even if I can trust you. I hope you understand.”
    â€œBest keep those reasons to yourself, Penny,” he said. “You don’t owe me anything. And you’re right. You don’t know me.”
    â€œWho are you?” she said, and then put her hand over her mouth as if to stifle anything else she might say.
    â€œNobody. I’m just a drifter. I am like the wayward wind, the tumbleweed, the little dust devil that blows across the prairie and then disappears.”
    â€œDo you have a home, or a ranch? Where did you come from?”
    â€œThe land is my home. The sky my roof, the streams my well, the woods my larder, the campfire my kitchen. I need nothing else. The West is my home and I roam it at will, beholden to no man, with only my own mouth to feed.”
    â€œYou don’t look like a drifter. Are you wanted by the law?”
    â€œWanted?”
    â€œI saw you shoot Roger. You were very fast on the draw. Are you a gunman?”
    â€œI feel like I’m being questioned by someone with a badge right now. I don’t think of myself as a gunman, although it is a tool I use when the situation calls for it. I don’t like killing a man, but sometimes, in this life, it’s a matter of survival. I aim to survive for as long as I can.”
    She looked him up and down, at the flat-crowned black hat, the black shirt, the gun belt bristling with cartridges, the revolver, the black pants, and the stovepipe boots. She looked at him and sighed in resignation.
    â€œVery well. It’s my Uncle Obie, Obadiah. There’s something funny about that Socorro Saloon. They know Uncle Obie has been mining silver, but they don’t know where his mines are. What’s more, they know he’s not just taking out ore and taking it to the refinery in Albuquerque, he’s smelting it himself. They tried to get Pa to tell them where Uncle Obie lives and where his mines are.”
    â€œSo they can steal his silver.”
    â€œExactly. Pa would never tell them where Obie lives.”
    â€œBut those jaspers at the saloon must be searching far and wide for those mines.”
    â€œThey are. But Obie’s house is well hidden, and fortified. He has men working for him who are armed and would shoot any intruder. Uncle Obie’s a very private person, almost like a hermit.”
    â€œBut he can’t hide from those thieves forever,” Slocum said. “Eventually, they’ll find out where he lives.”
    â€œMaybe. But I doubt they would find any of his mines. Uncle Obie keeps them well hidden.”
    â€œAnything can be found,” Slocum said. “It’s just a question of time. Meanwhile, I think your uncle is in danger. Does he know about the men who are looking for him? Does he know what they did to his brother?”
    Penny shook her head.
    â€œNo, he doesn’t,” she said. “He doesn’t come here often and I’m afraid to ride out to tell him. I’m afraid someone might follow me.”
    â€œThat’s a possibility,” Slocum said. “Would you trust me to talk to your uncle and tell him about Jethro?”
    â€œLet’s go into the front room,” she said. “Pa can probably hear us, although he seems to be unconscious.”
    â€œSure,” Slocum said. He followed her into the front room. She sat in a chair and waved him to the sofa. He sat down.
    â€œIt’s not that I don’t trust you,” she said, “but Uncle Obie is due to stop by at any time. In fact, I expected him yesterday. I’d rather