Sally fired four times, the shots coming so close together it sounded almost like one sustained roar.
Taggart fell back with one bullet hole in his forehead, one in each cheek, and one in his chin.
The gunshots echoed and reechoed back from the mountain walls, as Sally stood there, holding the pistol in her hand, staring down at Taggart’s body.
She continued to stare as Smoke got down on his knees long enough to untie the rope that had her ankles bound together. Then he stood up and took his pistol from her hand. Because it was empty, he opened the cylinder gate, poked out all the spent cartridges, then reloaded.
Sally had not spoken one word since she killed Taggart.
“What do you say we go home?” Smoke suggested.
“What about him?” Sally pointed to Taggart’s body.
“Leave him for the critters.”
TURN THE PAGE FOR AN EXCITING PREVIEW OF
A LONE STAR CHRISTMAS
by William W. Johnstone with J. A. Johnstone
SMOKE JENSEN. MATT JENSEN. FALCON AND DUFF MACCALLISTER—TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME
They just wanted to get home for Christmas ... but fate had other plans.
The year is 1890. A Texas rancher named Big Jim Conyers has a deal with a Scottish-born, Wyoming cattleman named Duff MacCallister. Along with Smoke and Matt Jensen, the party bears down on Dodge City, Kansas, to make a cattle drive back to Fort Worth. Soon the drive turns into a deadly pursuit, then a staggering series of clashes with bloodthirsty Indians and trigger-happy rustlers. And the worst is yet to come—the party rides into a devastating blizzard, a storm so fierce their very survival is at stake.
From America’s greatest Western author, here is an epic tale of the unforgiving American frontier and how, amidst fierce storms of man and nature, miracles can still happen.
ON SALE NOW, WHEREVER PINNACLE BOOKS ARE SOLD
CHAPTER ONE
It was cold outside, but in the depot waiting room, a wood-burning, potbellied stove roared and popped, glowing red as it pumped out enough heat to make the room comfortable, if one chose the right place to sit. Too close and it was too hot, too far away and it was too cold.
Two weeks earlier, Benjamin Conyers, better known as Big Ben, had taken his twenty-one-year-old daughter Rebecca into Fort Worth to catch the train to visit with his sister in Marshall. It was time for Rebecca to return home, and her aunt Mildred had come to the depot with her to see her off on the evening train.
Everyone agreed that Rebecca Conyers was a beautiful young woman. She had delicate facial bones and a full mouth. She was slender, with long, rich, glowing auburn hair, green eyes, and a slim waist. She was sitting on a bench in the Marshall depot, the wood polished smooth by the many passengers who had sat in the same place over the last several years. Just outside the depot window, she could see the green glowing lamp of the electric railroad signal.
“Rebecca, I have so enjoyed your visit,” Mildred said. “You simply must come again, sometime soon.”
“I would love to. I enjoyed the visit as well.”
“I wish Ben would come with you some time. But I know he is busy.”
“Yes. Pa always seems to be busy.”
“Well, he is an important man. And important men always seem to be busy.” Mildred laughed. “I don’t know if he is busy because he is important, or he is important because he is busy. I imagine it is a little of both.”
“Yes, I would think so as well.” Rebecca turned to her aunt. “Aunt Mildred, did you know my mother?”
“Julia? Of course I know her, dear. Why would you ask such a thing?”
“I don’t mean Julia,” Rebecca said. “I mean my real mother. I think her name is Janie.”
Mildred was quiet for a long moment. “Heavens, child, why would you ask such a thing now? The only mother you have ever known is Julia.”
“I know, and she is my mother in every way,” Rebecca said. “But I know, too, that she isn’t my birth mother, and I would like to know something more about her.”
Mildred sighed. “Well, I guess that is understandable.”
“Did you know her? Do you remember her?”
“I do remember her, yes. I know that when Ben learned that she was pregnant, he brought her out to the house. You were born right there, on the ranch.”
“Pa is my real father though, isn’t he? I mean he is the one who got my real mother pregnant.”
“Oh yes, there was never any question about that,” Mildred replied.
“And yet he never married my mother,” Rebecca said.
“Honey, don’t blame Ben for that. He planned to marry her, but shortly after you were born Janie ran off.”
“Janie was my birth mother?”
“Yes.”
“What was her last name?”
“Garner, I believe it was. Yes, her name was Janie Garner. But, like I said, she ran off and left you behind. That’s when Ben wrote and asked me to come take care of you until he could find someone else to do it.”
