Read Online Those Jensen Boys! by William W. Johnstone - Free Book Online

think it would have done much good. Kaiser was dead set on arresting us. He would have thrown us behind bars and promised to look into the jurisdictional issues, then left us there to rot.”
    â€œYou’re probably right about that. Why was he being so mule-headed, do you reckon?”
    â€œProbably because he wants to stay in the good graces of that fella Tanner. Bess said he works for the railroad. That makes him an important man. Bleak Creek wouldn’t amount to much of anything without that spur line.”
    â€œTanner’s the fella who was waiting to ambush those gals when they took the stagecoach through this gap.”
    Ace rubbed his chin and frowned in thought. After a moment, he said, “That’s what I figured, but maybe not. He could have been out here earlier and seen the ambush, but not been the one who was doing the shooting.”
    â€œYeah, I suppose,” Chance said grudgingly, “but either way, he lied to the marshal about what happened, and damn if I can see why.”
    â€œIt doesn’t make any sense to me, either, unless there’s some connection between Tanner and Samuel Eagleton, and he doesn’t want us helping the Corcoran girls.”
    Chance shook his head and sighed. “It’s too damn complicated for me. Let’s get out of here, just in case the marshal decides to come looking for us after all.”
    After everything that had happened, they were wary as they rode through the gap and into the valley beyond, giving them a good view of the mountains on the other side of the valley, as well as Timberline Pass where the stage road ran.
    â€œLook at the way those cliffs jut up,” Ace said as he pointed them out to his brother. “They look a little like a stockade fence, don’t they?”
    â€œYou think that’s how come the town got the name Palisade?”
    â€œIt wouldn’t surprise me.”
    â€œWhat are we going to do, Ace? I don’t know about you, but I reckon it’d rub me the wrong way to just ride away from this whole mess.”
    â€œWhat would rub you the wrong way is to ride away from a couple good-looking girls in trouble,” Ace said.
    Chance grinned. “Well, there’s that to consider, too. If we could give Bess and Emily a hand, there’s a good chance they’d be grateful to us, don’t you think?”
    â€œAnd you wouldn’t mind that.”
    â€œI wouldn’t mind getting to know that blonde a mite better, that’s for sure.”
    â€œEmily’s got about much fondness for you as she would a rattlesnake.”
    â€œYes, but I have a charming personality,” Chance insisted. “I can win her over.”
    â€œI think I’d like to see you try,” Ace said. “Might be pretty entertaining. I suppose that’s as good a reason as any to hang around here for a while.” He glanced at the sky. “It’ll be dark before too much longer. Let’s find a place to camp where that marshal won’t find us if he comes looking. The stagecoach ought to be coming along here again by the middle of the morning tomorrow.”

C HAPTER S EVEN
    They found a spot well off the stage road to make camp and took turns standing guard during the night, after making a cold, scanty supper out of some biscuits left over from a couple days earlier. Coffee would have been good, even though they were running low on it, but they didn’t want to risk a fire. The chances of Kaiser leading a posse into the valley to search for them during the night were so small as to be almost nonexistent, but there was no point in being careless.
    Just as both brothers expected, the night passed peacefully.
    In the morning, they risked a fire to boil some coffee. They could buy more when they got to Palisade.
    As they got ready to break camp, Ace said, “I think I’ll ride back into the gap and make sure Tanner—or whoever it was—doesn’t try to ambush