Read Online [Texas Rangers 05] - Texas Vendetta by Elmer Kelton - Free Book Online Page A

saddlebags Andy had brought. He handed them to Sheriff Truscott. “Me and Pickard have done what the captain ordered. Jayce belongs to you, but you’ll need to sign this release.”
    Truscott signed with a flourish, smudging a little ink. “It’ll be like havin’ a box of dynamite in here, but I’m glad to have him. I hope the trial don’t take long.”
    Big’un grinned. “It won’t, not with Uncle Judd on the bench.”
    The wooden floor trembled as an iron door slammed heavily. The sound made Andy feel cold even though he was not the one being locked away.
    Farley told the sheriff, “There’s lots of people out yonder that would like to do the prisoner harm.”
    “You don’t have to tell me my business. You Rangers have done your job. I expect you’ll want to head west and put some miles behind you before dark.” His voice was hopeful.
    “Our horses need a rest. We’ll bed down at the wagon yard and make a fresh start in the mornin’.”
    The sheriff shrugged. “Suit yourselves. There’s a fair-to-middlin’ eatin’ joint down the street yonder, run by one of my wife’s nephews. Nothin’ fancy, but it’s cheap.”
    “Sounds fine to me.” Farley beckoned to Andy. “Let’s go see to our horses.”
    Walking outside, Andy sensed the tension. His scalp tingled as if an electrical storm were building. It would take but little to set off a riot. The fight would be one-sided, for the Hopper crowd appeared to outnumber the Landons by a considerable margin.
    Farley growled, “Don’t look to the left nor the right. Just walk straight ahead. This don’t concern us anymore.”
    “Jayce won’t get a fair trial in this town.”
    “Don’t matter. Even a fair trial would end up hangin’ him. He’s as guilty as sin.”
    Andy rubbed his throat. The thought of a rope around it gave him a chill.
    Farley said, “It would’ve been better for him if he’d made a break along the way. We would’ve shot him, and it would already be over with. Now he’ll sit in that jail cell broodin’ about it. He’ll die a thousand times before he ever feels the rope.”
    They ate a mediocre supper. A good one would have had no more appeal to Andy under the circumstances. He asked, “Doesn’t it bother you that we brought Dick Landon’s brother here to die?”
    “Jayce put the rope around his own neck when he took aim on Ned Hopper. He tripped the trapdoor when he walked up and shot him a second time. It wasn’t none of my doin’, nor yours.”
    The stable keeper was a small man with a flushed face that indicated he was a favored customer at some bar up the street. He seemed to fancy the sound of his own voice. “You-all are the Rangers that brought Jayce in, ain’t you? Bet you didn’t know what a hornet’s nest you was fixin’ to stir up. Soon as it gets dark and some of the Hoppers get enough liquor in them, you’ll see the biggest fireworks we’ve had around here since the Yankee war.”
    Farley said, “It’s nothin’ to us. We just want to get some sleep and head out in the mornin’.”
    “May not be much sleepin’ done in this town tonight. Me, I ain’t takin’ sides. Their money all looks the same to me. I’ll still be here when it’s over.”
    Farley scowled. “It’s a smart man who knows how to mind his own business.”
    “But ain’t you Rangers supposed to keep the peace? Looks to me like you’d be out there amongst them, holdin’ the lid down.”
    “Our orders were to deliver Jayce to the sheriff. From now on it’s up to him and the court.”
    “The sheriff’s married to a Hopper. He’s got some inlaws he ain’t real fond of, like Big’un and the judge, but they come with the deal.”
    Andy said, “It’s a cinch there won’t be anything fair about Jayce’s trial.”
    The stableman looked around to see if anyone else could hear. “Ain’t goin’ to be no trial. Talk is that they’re goin’ to stage a fight and draw the sheriff away after dark. The jailer is a Hopper