Read Online Ordeal of the Mountain Man by William W. Johnstone - Free Book Online

illustrated. Smoke decided to make use of his services now.
    â€œJust a minute, Jimmy. I have something for you to do.” Smoke found paper and a worn, steel nib pen in the top drawer. Carefully he drew the letters of his acceptance in a fine copper plate script. He blotted it, folded the sheet in half and extended it to the boy.
    â€œTake this to Miss Parkins, please.”
    Jimmy’s eyes went wide. “Our teacher? What’s it about?”
    Smoke gave him a brief frown. “That’s not for you to know. Here’s a dime for your trouble.”
    He handed a silver coin to the lad, who scampered off on bare feet, puffs of dust left behind by his heels. Then Smoke leaned back to reflect on his progress. Considering he had seven in jail, at least fifteen run out of town, and another on his way to Boot Hill, plus an invitation to supper, Smoke thought he had made a good start at getting a handle on the undesirable element in Muddy Gap. He might be able to rejoin the herd within three days.
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    â€œMr. Jensen, you saved my life, my job and my reputation. I can’t thank you enough.” Virginia Parkins blushed lightly as she spoke. “Only one thing . . .”
    â€œYes? And, please, call me Smoke.”
    â€œVery well, Smoke. My friends call me Ginny.” She took a deep breath and launched into her favorite theme. “I suppose that, all considered, there was no other way of handling that awful situation this morning. It’s just that I have devoted my life to ending the violence with which we, as a people, seem obsessed.”
    Smoke Jensen sat, somewhat ill at ease, on a delicate, velvet-upholstered chair in the parlor of Virginia’s tiny house. The rich aroma of a roasting cut of beef came from the cast-iron cookstove in the kitchen. Mingled with it was the unmistakable aroma of a peach pie. Their supper might be late, but far from light. Conscious of the need not to offend her, he carefully weighed his reply.
    â€œYou are right about the first part, Ginny. Under the circumstances, the only thing those craven louts would properly respond to was superior force. Bullies like Brandon Kelso take any show of politeness or mild-mannered behavior as a sign of weakness. That’s exactly what they feed upon. So, in order to get them to behave in a proper manner, I first had to get their attention.”
    A slight frown divided the space between her eyebrows vertically. “You certainly did that. What if ... what if one of them had produced a weapon?”
    Smoke shrugged, trying to ease the bluntness his words described. “Then I would have had to shoot that one.”
    Ginny shivered. “May we speak of something else?”
    â€œCertainly. Muddy Gap is a raw, new town. How many students does that afford you?”
    â€œI have sixteen. From first to eighth grade.”
    â€œThat’s quite a few for a place on the edge of nowhere. My wife was a schoolteacher when I met her.”
    Again that small grimace of irritation. “Is that so? I’m surprised at her attraction to a lawman.”
    Smoke chuckled softly. “So was she.”
    That lightened Ginny’s mood. “And were you?”
    â€œOh, no. I think I fell in love the first time I met Sally. She was, and is, so different than any other woman I had ever encountered. And beautiful, too.”
    â€œYou are a lucky man, Smoke. To have wooed and won someone whom you feel so strongly about.” She rose onto her high-button shoes. “I am sure that roast is ready now. Go on in to the table, I’ll have everything on in a minute. All I need do is fix the gravy.”
    Smoke pulled a teasing expression of being highly impressed. “All that and gravy, too. I feel like a regular guest of honor. Don’t tell me you have home-baked bread to sop with.”
    Ginny suppressed a giggle. “I certainly do.”
    â€œThen, let us begin.”
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    Aaron Tucker was