Read Online Luke's Gold by Charles G. West - Free Book Online Page A

found humorous. “Maybe you and your friend here would wanna join up with us,” Snider suggested. “We could use some new ideas. Couldn’t we, boys?”
    Luke favored him with a wry smile. “Well now, Snider, that’s mighty generous of you, but me and Cade ain’t lookin’ to go into business with anyone. We’re just passin’ through.”
    â€œWell, that’s too bad,” Snider said, suspicion written all over his wooly face. “It was mighty good to see one of the boys from the old company, though.” He offered his hand to Luke. “Your partner don’t talk a helluva lot, does he?”
    â€œNope,” Luke replied. He tossed his drink back, and turned toward the door. “Come on, Cade, we’d best be goin’.”
    Outside Luke hurried Cade to their horses. “Partner, it woulda been better to run into the devil himself than to run up on Lem Snider. He mighta acted like we was old friends, but I never had any use for the low-down son of a bitch back then, and I sure as God don’t have any use for him now. He’d steal the pennies off a dead man’s eyes.”
    â€œI figured as much,” Cade said, untying Loco’s reins.
    Luke frowned up at the early-evening sky. “Damn, it’s gettin’ a little late to start out now.”
    â€œThe horses need rest, anyway,” Cade reminded him. “We can go up the river a piece to camp.”
    Stepping up in the saddle, Cade turned Loco’s head upriver and led Luke and the packhorse west along the bank. The dark figure of Lem Snider stood just inside the saloon tent flap, watching them depart. Bob Dawson walked over to stand behind him. “You thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?” Bob asked. “They’re both totin’ fine-lookin’ Winchesters. Didn’t look like there was much on that packhorse, though.”
    Lem continued to watch the two riders moving along the riverbank a long moment before answering. “No, I ain’t thinkin’ what you’re thinkin’. I’m thinkin’ there might be a helluva lot more than three horses and a couple of rifles for the takin’.” He turned to explain to his partner. “Luke was mighty tight-lipped about where the two of them was headin’. I got a feelin’ them two are up to somethin’ they don’t wanna talk about. I didn’t see no picks or shovels or whatnot on that packhorse—nothin’ a man would likely be totin’ if he was plannin’ on doin’ some prospectin’. Maybe all that shipment of gold didn’t get to the Rebs. He said him and Luther Adams hightailed it together, and we found Luther’s body on the other side of the river with a bullet in his back. Maybe Luke knows where some of that gold’s hid. They’re up to somethin’, and I aim to find out what it is.”

    Luke and Cade made their camp in a stand of cottonwoods that flanked the wide river. The water was fairly deep here despite the fact that it was late summer. The spot they selected for their camp lay opposite a wide gravel bar that divided the briskly flowing water into two channels. From the edge of the bank where they built a fire, the prairie swept away to the north, a moving sea of lusty grass as the evening breeze skipped across the land. It was a peaceful place to make camp, and Cade hobbled the horses, then left them to graze while Luke sliced some strips from a slab of bacon. It was just beginning to get dark when their guest arrived.
    â€œNow, who the hell is this?” Luke uttered when a horse pulling a buckboard suddenly appeared among the trees.
    Cade set his coffee cup down by the fire and reached for his rifle. Looking back toward the trail beyond the trees, he saw that the buckboard was alone. As it approached their camp, he was surprised to see a woman holding the reins. Still cautious, however, he got to his feet and moved