Read Online Longarm 245: Longarm and the Vanishing Virgin by Tabor Evans - Free Book Online Page A

I’m certain of that.”
    â€œShe probably came in on the stage from Denver on Tuesday evening.”
    Burke nodded. “Yes, that sounds right.”
    â€œDid she get off the stage? Do you know where she went?”
    Instead of answering right away, Burke scratched his beard and said, “Why are you looking for her? Did she do something wrong?”
    â€œThat’s sort of hard to say right now,” Longarm answered truthfully. “What I really want to do is ask her some questions.”
    â€œWell, she didn’t get off the stage, I remember that now. Or rather, she did, but she got right back on after she came in here and bought a ticket to Tucumcari.”
    Longarm suppressed a groan. He had really hoped that he would find Nora here in Raton, but it looked as if the chase was going to continue.
    â€œSo she was on the stage when it pulled out?”
    Burke nodded. “Sure was. I saw her leave.”
    â€œWhat’s the quickest way from here to Tucumcari?”
    â€œYou could always take the stage,” Burke said with a shrug. “Of course, there won’t be another one for three days, but...”
    â€œPoint me to the nearest livery stable,” Longarm said grimly.
    Â 
    He went back to the depot and picked up his rifle, carpetbag, and saddle before going in search of the stable. Burke had given him good directions, and Longarm found it with ease. The place was a big barn on a side street, with corrals behind it. Inside the office, Longarm found an old man with bushy white whiskers, sitting behind a desk with his booted feet propped on it. The old man was reading a yellow-backed novel by somebody named Stark, and he put the book down reluctantly when Longarm came in.
    â€œSomethin’ I can do you for?”
    â€œI need a couple of good saddle horses,” said Longarm.
    The old man shifted his feet off the desk and put them on the floor. He sighed again as he placed the dime novel facedown on the desk. “Goin’ to swap from one to the other and do some fast travelin’, huh?”
    â€œThat’s the idea, old-timer. Can you help me or not?”
    The old man pushed himself to his feet. “Don’t get so impatient. Ever’body’s turn for the boneyard’ll be here soon enough.”
    â€œYou own this place?”
    â€œNope. Just the hostler. But I know the horseflesh we got, sonny, don’t you worry ’bout that. Come on.”
    The old man limped out of the office. He led Longarm down the wide aisle in the center of the barn, between the rows of stalls, and stopped in front of one of the enclosures. Inside the stall was a sturdy-looking buckskin mare.
    â€œI know she don’t ‘pear to be made for speed, but she’s got a good pace to her when she gets to goin’,” said the old man. “And she gets her strength back quick once you swap out and ride the other hoss for a while.”
    â€œAll right,” said Longarm, who was a pretty good judge of horseflesh himself. “What else have you got?”
    â€œBack here.” The old man led the way to another stall, this one in the rear comer of the barn. As he stopped in front of the stall, the horse inside reared up and slammed its hooves angrily against the side wall. Longarm’s eyes narrowed as he studied the animal, a rangy, mouse-colored gelding with a darker stripe down its back.
    â€œSort of touchy, ain’t he?”
    â€œYeah, he’s a devil, all right. You want to keep an eye on him all the time, or he’ll reach over and bite a hunk out of you. But once you got a saddle on him, he settles down a mite, and he’ll run all day if you ask him to.”
    Longarm was a little dubious about the dun. It reminded him too much of other rambunctious mounts he’d had in the past. But he nodded again anyway, unwilling to waste any more time. “How much to rent both of them?”
    â€œYou aim to go far?”
    Longarm