and he’s a man who gets what he wants. If he doesn’t, he’s liable to be upset with me, too.”
“I’m not going to accept his offer just to keep you on his good side,” Morgan said bluntly.
Augustine bristled. “You’d better think about that, Morgan. I have friends in this town, too.”
Morgan didn’t like the veiled threat in the saloon owner’s voice, but he decided to let it pass. “I’ll make up my mind when we get to Titusville and I’ve had a chance to look around. I’m not sure if I want to go up against this Colonel Black. If he’s got a small army of gunmen working for him, he must be a dangerous man.”
“That’s why you need to take Mr. Sheffield’s offer. He’ll give you a small army, too.”
And that was the problem. Morgan didn’t want an army.
He just wanted Colonel Gideon Black in his gun-sights.
Chapter 15
Augustine left Morgan at the saloon with a warning not to be late to the train station the next morning. “I’ll be there,” Morgan said, not caring for Augustine’s tone of voice but deciding that the issue wasn’t important enough for him to push it.
Morgan walked on to the Bisbee House and went into the hotel. A different clerk had come on duty, but the man paid no attention to Morgan. The dark suit made him look respectable enough that he wasn’t out of place. He went upstairs, undressed, and turned in for the night.
This day, he thought, had been a thousand years long.
Despite his weariness, he didn’t fall asleep instantly, as he’d thought he would. Instead, images played through his mind, some of them tragic and grisly—the fate suffered by Sean, Frannie, and Cyrus Williams, along with their ranch hands—and some of them unaccountably intriguing, such as Gloriana Sheffield. Morgan wasn’t interested in her as a woman, but he was human enough to know that she was incredibly attractive. He responded to her beauty as any man would, just not to the same degree that most men would experience if they spent much time around Glory. He was still in mourning for everything that he had lost.
Even if he hadn’t been, Glory would have been off-limits to him. Conrad Browning had been a pretty sorry son of a bitch at times, but even then, he hadn’t been the sort to go after another man’s wife.
No, he didn’t have any romantic interest in her, Morgan thought, but he had to admit that she was a strong personality, the sort that you didn’t forget. Even though he was sure they didn’t mean it the same way, he was looking forward to getting acquainted with her , too.
With that thought in his head, Kid Morgan finally dozed off.
After breakfast the next morning in the hotel dining room, Morgan settled up his bill and then led the buckskin down to the train station. It was early, not quite seven o’clock. The train for Titusville with Edward Sheffield’s private cars coupled to it wouldn’t be rolling out for more than a hour, but Morgan wanted to be sure he could make arrangements to take his horse with him.
The conductor assured him that wouldn’t be a problem. “Mr. Sheffield told us that you’d be traveling up to the mountains with him today, Mr. Morgan,” the man said. “He didn’t say anything about you taking a horse with you, but he asked us to accommodate anything you asked for, as long as it doesn’t throw us off schedule. We’ve got a boxcar fitted out with stalls for livestock. You can put that buckskin of yours in any of them.”
“I’m obliged to you,” Morgan said with a nod. “Have you hooked on to Mr. Sheffield’s cars yet?”
“No, we’ll do that just before we pull out. Mr. Sheffield’s up and about, though. I saw him just a little while ago, talking to the stationmaster.”
Morgan nodded again and then led his horse over to the train. Some of the porters moved a ramp into place so that he could load the buckskin into the boxcar fitted out with stalls.
Once that was done, he walked toward the siding where
“I’m not going to accept his offer just to keep you on his good side,” Morgan said bluntly.
Augustine bristled. “You’d better think about that, Morgan. I have friends in this town, too.”
Morgan didn’t like the veiled threat in the saloon owner’s voice, but he decided to let it pass. “I’ll make up my mind when we get to Titusville and I’ve had a chance to look around. I’m not sure if I want to go up against this Colonel Black. If he’s got a small army of gunmen working for him, he must be a dangerous man.”
“That’s why you need to take Mr. Sheffield’s offer. He’ll give you a small army, too.”
And that was the problem. Morgan didn’t want an army.
He just wanted Colonel Gideon Black in his gun-sights.
Chapter 15
Augustine left Morgan at the saloon with a warning not to be late to the train station the next morning. “I’ll be there,” Morgan said, not caring for Augustine’s tone of voice but deciding that the issue wasn’t important enough for him to push it.
Morgan walked on to the Bisbee House and went into the hotel. A different clerk had come on duty, but the man paid no attention to Morgan. The dark suit made him look respectable enough that he wasn’t out of place. He went upstairs, undressed, and turned in for the night.
This day, he thought, had been a thousand years long.
Despite his weariness, he didn’t fall asleep instantly, as he’d thought he would. Instead, images played through his mind, some of them tragic and grisly—the fate suffered by Sean, Frannie, and Cyrus Williams, along with their ranch hands—and some of them unaccountably intriguing, such as Gloriana Sheffield. Morgan wasn’t interested in her as a woman, but he was human enough to know that she was incredibly attractive. He responded to her beauty as any man would, just not to the same degree that most men would experience if they spent much time around Glory. He was still in mourning for everything that he had lost.
Even if he hadn’t been, Glory would have been off-limits to him. Conrad Browning had been a pretty sorry son of a bitch at times, but even then, he hadn’t been the sort to go after another man’s wife.
No, he didn’t have any romantic interest in her, Morgan thought, but he had to admit that she was a strong personality, the sort that you didn’t forget. Even though he was sure they didn’t mean it the same way, he was looking forward to getting acquainted with her , too.
With that thought in his head, Kid Morgan finally dozed off.
After breakfast the next morning in the hotel dining room, Morgan settled up his bill and then led the buckskin down to the train station. It was early, not quite seven o’clock. The train for Titusville with Edward Sheffield’s private cars coupled to it wouldn’t be rolling out for more than a hour, but Morgan wanted to be sure he could make arrangements to take his horse with him.
The conductor assured him that wouldn’t be a problem. “Mr. Sheffield told us that you’d be traveling up to the mountains with him today, Mr. Morgan,” the man said. “He didn’t say anything about you taking a horse with you, but he asked us to accommodate anything you asked for, as long as it doesn’t throw us off schedule. We’ve got a boxcar fitted out with stalls for livestock. You can put that buckskin of yours in any of them.”
“I’m obliged to you,” Morgan said with a nod. “Have you hooked on to Mr. Sheffield’s cars yet?”
“No, we’ll do that just before we pull out. Mr. Sheffield’s up and about, though. I saw him just a little while ago, talking to the stationmaster.”
Morgan nodded again and then led his horse over to the train. Some of the porters moved a ramp into place so that he could load the buckskin into the boxcar fitted out with stalls.
Once that was done, he walked toward the siding where
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