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

the stagecoach again.”
    â€œI was thinking the same thing,” Chance agreed. “Let’s go.”
    They spent an hour combing through the gap, checking every boulder and clump of trees for hidden gunmen, but the place was deserted. By the time they had assured themselves that Bess and Emily wouldn’t be driving into a trap, they could see a column of dust rising from the stage road in the distance.
    â€œHere they come,” Chance said. “I’m looking forward to seeing those gals again.”
    â€œI’m not so sure how happy they’ll be to see us. We’re probably wanted fugitives. Even if we didn’t ambush Tanner, we assaulted a town marshal.”
    Chance laughed. “ You’re the one who punched that law dog, brother, not me.”
    â€œI was trying to get both of us out of that mess.”
    â€œYeah, but I’m innocent of that much, anyway.”
    â€œYou haven’t been innocent since the day you were born,” Ace muttered as they sat their horses at the entrance to Shoshone Gap, waiting for the stagecoach to arrive.
    When it did, Bess began slowing the horses as soon as she saw the Jensen brothers. Dust swirled around the coach as she brought it to a stop.
    â€œWhat are you two doing here?” Emily asked. “I figured you’d be headed back where you came from, or at least putting some miles between you and Bleak Creek.”
    Chance frowned. “Why, we want to make sure that you ladies get back home safely. What sort of gentlemen would we be if we didn’t?”
    â€œI wasn’t aware that gentlemen went around punching peace officers,” Emily said with a pointed look at Ace.
    â€œThat so-called peace officer was going to lock us up for something we didn’t do.” Ace wondered when people were going to start getting that through their heads. “Why’d he take Tanner’s word over ours? Is Tanner some sort of important man around here?”
    â€œHe got the railroad to build that spur,” Bess said. “Bleak Creek was barely a wide place in the trail before that.”
    Ace nodded. “I thought it must be something like that. Everybody in town wants to stay on his good side, even the marshal. But here’s another question. Why would Tanner lie about us trying to kill him? We’ve never even met the man, unless you want to count seeing him on the back of his horse trying to get away after his ambush failed.”
    Emily said, “We can’t just sit here hashing all this out. We have to get back to Palisade. It’ll take most of the day.”
    â€œDo you want to come with us?” Bess asked.
    â€œThat’s the idea,” Chance answered. “Eagleton might send his men to make another try for you.”
    Bess slapped the lines against the backs of the team, and the horses leaned into their harness and got the stagecoach rolling again.
    As Ace and Chance fell in alongside it, Ace glanced into the coach. “No passengers again today, eh?”
    â€œWe don’t carry a lot of passengers,” Bess said. “Sometimes some miners going to work in the Golden Dome. That’s Mr. Eagleton’s mine. Or some drummers who sell merchandise to the stores. But that’s about all.”
    â€œThat’s why the mail contract is so important to us,” Emily elaborated. “The line probably couldn’t survive just on carrying passengers. The mail keeps us afloat.”
    Ace thought for a few seconds, then asked, “How does Eagleton get the ore from his mine out? Does he ship it on the stage?”
    Emily laughed. “Ha. He wouldn’t do business with us, except for sending and receiving mail, and he doesn’t have any choice about that.”
    â€œHe has his own wagons to carry the gold,” Bess explained. “And they’re heavily guarded.”
    â€œAny problems with outlaws trying to hold up those gold wagons?” Chance