Read Online Riding With the Devil's Mistress (Lou Prophet Western #3) by Peter Brandvold - Free Book Online

to the
side as she sipped her drink, thinking about it. ‘Nan. I better not.
My grandmother told me never to go off with strange
men.’
    The man grabbed her arm,
standing. ‘Come on, little honey. I’m gonna show you my one-eyed
snake.’
    ‘ No,’
the girl objected as he dragged her to her feet. ‘I told you,
my—’
    ‘ Yeah,
I know what you’re grandmother said,’ the man said, pulling the
girl away from the table. ‘But granny’s worm food now, and it’s
time you had you a good look at one of them ole one-eyed snakes
you’re gonna be seein’ plenty of out in ole Montany.’
    The men at the bar whooped and yelled.
    ‘ No!’
the girl cried, yanking her hands from the man’s iron
grip.
    ‘ Hey!’
the man shouted, his face creased with sudden rage. He turned
sharply and smacked her hard with his right fist, sending her
sprawling across two chairs. He grabbed her, yanked her to her
feet, bent down, and threw her over his shoulder. As she kicked and
yelled, pounding his back with her fists, he made his way to the
stairs at the back of the room.
    ‘ I’m
second,’ one of the men at the bar called.
    ‘ I’m
third,’ yelled another, raising his fist after the man disappearing
with the girl up the stairs.
    ‘ Guess
you know what that makes you,’ the bartender said to the fourth
man.
    Above them, the girl cried for help.

Chapter Seven
    ‘ WELL,
I’LL BE damned,’ Prophet said.
    Mean and
Ugly ’s reins
in his hand, he was hunkered on his haunches, studying the horse
sign in the sod. He looked around, then lifted his gaze westward,
turned it south, and sighed. With a gloved finger, he poked his hat
back from his forehead and scowled.
    ‘ They
split up.’
    He heard a snicker. Turning his head, he saw
the man sitting the speckle-gray behind Mean and Ugly. The man was
smiling through the pain of his shattered arm.
    ‘ What
the hell are they doin’ splittin’ up out here?’ Prophet asked
him.
    ‘ None
o’ your goddamn business,’ the outlaw groused, wincing as more pain
lanced his arm.
    Prophet stood and walked over
to the man. ‘I bet I could make that arm hurt worse,’ he
speculated.
    The man looked at him with bright fear in
his eyes.
    ‘ I bet
all I’d need to do,’ Prophet said, lifting his right hand to the
wounded man’s right wrist, ‘is give your arm a little
yank.’
    He tugged on the
man ’s
sleeve. The man yelled, ‘No! No, goddamn you!’
    Prophet looked into the
man ’s face,
smiling wistfully. ‘Well, sure enough, I could. Now, tell me, why
would those four that split off from the main group be headin’
south?’
    ‘ I
don’t know,’ the man yelled, his face bleached with
misery.
    ‘ Oh,
come on,’ Prophet said. ‘I think you do.’
    He reached up and gave the
man ’s right
wrist a pull. The outlaw whipped his head up, howling. Panting, he
said, ‘Ow! Goddamn you, it hurts! Oh, Jesus, don’t do
that!’
    ‘ Tell
me where those four went. What’s south of here?’
    ‘ I
don’t know ... well... goddamnit... I reckon they either cut out
for Campbell or Tintah. I reckon Campbell, seein’ as how there’s a
saloon there an’ all...’
    ‘ You
think they just split off for a drink?’
    The scowling firebrand
considered this and shrugged. ‘I reckon they’re thirsty. Ole Newt and Barry—they
can’t be without a drink for long, an’ they ran out of whiskey
around the fire last night. Campbell’s only about three miles
south. Wahpeton’s still another ten miles or so west.’
    Prophet ran his thumb along the
line of his unshaven jaw, considering this. He should probably
follow the main group, but he didn ’t want any of these gunnies getting away.
The four would more than likely rejoin the group later—probably in
Wahpeton—but that wasn’t certain.
    On the other hand, if they were
drinking heavily in Campbell, they shouldn ’t be all that hard to take down. It
might only take him an hour or so. As far as the kidnapped girl was
concerned, she could be