Collection 1986 - The Trail To Crazy Man (v5.0) by Louis L’Amour Page B

what had happened.
    Stopping by the store, he bought ammunition from Baker. He glanced up to find the storekeeper’s eyes studying him, and he didn’t like the expression.
    “Is Ann in?” he asked.
    Baker nodded and jerked a thumb toward the curtain. Turning, Barkow walked behind the curtain and looked at Ann, who arose as he entered. Quickly, he sensed a coolness that had not been there before. This was no time to talk of marriage. First things first.
    He shrugged shamefacedly. “I suppose you’re thinkin’ pretty bad of me,” he suggested ruefully. “I know now I shouldn’t have listened to Dan Shute or to Gomer. Pod swore he had a case, and Shute claims Caradec is a crook and a rustler. If I had realized, I wouldn’t have had any hand in it.”
    “It was pretty bad,” Ann agreed as she sat down and began knitting. “What will happen now?”
    “I don’t know,” he admitted, “but I wish I could spare you all this. Before it’s over, I’m afraid, there’ll be more killin’s and trouble. Dan Shute is plenty aroused up. He’ll kill Caradec.”
    She looked at him. “You think that will be easy?”
    Surprised, he nodded. “Yes. Dan’s a dangerous man, and a cruel and brutal one. He’s fast with a gun, too.”
    “I thought you were a friend to Dan Shute?” she asked, looking at him hard. “What’s changed you, Bruce?”
    He shrugged. “Oh, little things. He showed himself up today. He’s brutal, unfeelin’. He’ll stop at nothin’ to gain his ends.”
    “I think he will,” Ann said composedly. “I think he’ll stop at Rafe Caradec.”
    Barkow stared at her. “He seems to have impressed you. What makes you think that?”
    “I never really saw him until today, Bruce,” she admitted. “Whatever his motives, he is shrewd and capable. I think he is a much more dangerous man than Dan Shute. There’s something behind him, too. He has background. I could see it in his manner more than his words. I wish I knew more about him.”
    Nettled at her defense of the man, and her apparent respect for him, Bruce shrugged his shoulders.
    “Don’t forget, he probably killed your father.”
    She looked up. “Did he, Bruce?”
    Her question struck fear from him. Veiling his eyes, he shrugged again.
    “You never know.” He got up. “I’m worried about you, Ann. This country is going to be flamin’ within a few days or weeks. If it ain’t the fight here it’ll be the Indians. I wish I could get you out of it.”
    “But this is my home!” Ann protested. “It is all I have!”
    “Not quite all.” Her eyes fell before his gaze. “Ann, how would you like to go to St. Louis?”
    She looked up, startled. “To St. Louis? But how—”
    “Not so loud!” He glanced apprehensively at the door. There was no telling who might be listening. “I don’t want anybody to know about it unless you decide, and nobody to know till after we’re gone. But Ann, we
could
go. I’ve always wanted to marry you, and there’s no time better than now.”
    ____________
    S HE GOT UP and walked to the window. St. Louis. It was another world. She hadn’t seen a city in six years, and after all, they had been engaged for several months now.
    “How would we get there?” she asked, turning to face him.
    “That’s a secret!” He laughed. “Don’t tell anybody about it, but I’ve got a wonderful trip planned for you. I always wanted to do things for you, Ann. We could go away and be married within a few hours.”
    “Where?”
    “By the chaplain at the fort. One of the officers would stand up with me, and there are a couple of officers’ wives there, too.”
    “I don’t know, Bruce,” she said hesitantly. “I’ll have to think about it.”
    He smiled and kissed her lightly. “Then think fast, honey. I want to get you away from all this trouble, and quick.”
    When he got outside in the street, he paused, smiling with satisfaction.
    “I’ll show that Dan Shute a thing or two!” he told himself grimly.