Read Online The Reckoning by Len Levinson - Free Book Online

living room was silent, with a few embers glowing dully beneath fireplace ashes. He made his way down the corridor and knocked lightly on a door.
    â€œCome in,” said the voice on the other side.
    Raybart entered a small, smelly room, where Jay Krenshaw lay fully clothed on a bed. The boss's son rolled over, his eyes half open, and looked at Raybart. “What'd you find out?”
    Raybart sat on the wooden chair in the corner.An empty bottle stood on the dresser, and the odor of stale whiskey hung mournfully in the air. “I talked to Mr. Gibson, like you said. He told me that Braddock came from Titusville, and his woman is the new schoolmarm.”
    Jay Krenshaw sat up in bed. “He's got a woman? ” The boss's son reached for the whiskey bottle, saw that it was empty, and threw it across the room, where it crashed into the wall, sending shards of glass flying in all directions. Raybart had to raise his arm to protect his eyes.
    Jay had slept fitfully since going to bed, because the embarrassment still rankled. And if that wasn't enough, he had to sleep alone while Braddock had his own woman. “What'd she look like?”
    â€œDin't see her.”
    Jay couldn't forget the horrible incident, which smoldered in his mind like burning rags. I'll never be able to head up this ranch, if I get the reputation that any filthy cowboy can throw me out've my saddle.
    â€œGo to Titusville,” Jay said. “Find out all you can about Braddock.” He reached into his pocket, and pulled out money. “Don't come back until you know who he is, and what he's done. I think he's an owlhoot, and maybe we can get the law to string him up. Otherwise we'll have to do it. Are you still here?”
    Lieutenant Dawes walked down the deserted street, on his way back to the encampment. Hishands were clasped behind his back, head bowed to the ground in deep thought. Miss Fontaine is in difficult straits, he ruminated. The collar of her dress was frayed, and she had a worried expression in her eyes.
    Lieutenant Dawes could converse endlessly on topics intellectual or spiritual, but seldom felt warmth for other people. He was basically a lonely soldier boy, but now, after dinner with Vanessa Fontaine, he saw new hope for the happiness that he'd long ago despaired of ever finding. Somehow, I must make sure she doesn't marry, he thought darkly.
    Lieutenant Dawes wanted to be an honorable man, and a credit to the officer corps, but needed a wife desperately. He knew that many women married the wrong men out of financial desperation, and wondered if that was driving her into the arms of her cowboy husband-to-be. She probably thinks I'm just another tin soldier, and a damn Yankee to boot.
    He pulled aside the tent flap, and Corporal Hazelwood sat at the desk, writing a letter home. Lieutenant Dawes removed his cavalry gloves, as Corporal Hazelwood made his report. Then the corporal departed, leaving Lieutenant Dawes alone in his tent. He looked at the logbook, sat heavily on the canvas cot, and stared into the middle distance. I can't put in twenty years on the frontier without a wife, but if I had Vanessa Fontaine waiting for me at the end of every day, it wouldn't be so bad. How can I broach the subject without making a fool of myself?

    Less than three hundred yards away, Vanessa Fontaine lay in bed with her own romantic notions. She was at the crossroads of life, and could go up or down, according to decisions of the next few days. She'd noted the lovesick glaze in Lieutenant Dawes's eyes, and he'd appeared uncomfortable in his uniform. Moreover, she knew that women were scarce in Texas, and men generally considered her attractive. I'm still a desirable commodity, but how much longer can it last?
    I'll be an old lady soon, and Duane will start looking for someone his own age. He'll weep and moan, but he'll abandon me nonetheless. On the other hand, a West Point officer closer to my age would be less likely to create a