Read Reprisal for Free Online Page B

It’s that obvious, hey?”
    â€œSomewhat. New to this country?”
    â€œNew to the West,” Jeff admitted with a smile. “Tell you the truth, Frank, I’m sort of lost.”
    Frank chuckled. “Heading for the goldfields?”
    â€œYes. You?”
    â€œI’m going that way. But I’m no miner. Doesn’t interest me.”
    Jeff looked at him. “Gold doesn’t interest you?”
    â€œNot unless I can find it laying on top of the ground, within easy reach. I guess the gold bug never bit me. Where did you get your horse?”
    â€œMy horse? Oh ... in Denver. Something wrong with him?”
    â€œIt isn’t a him, it’s a mare. Where are you from?”
    â€œNew York City. I, ah, don’t know much about horses. But I did know it was a mare. I guess I’m what you Westerners call a tenderfoot.”
    Dog walked over and smelled the newcomer, then backed away and lay back down beside Frank.
    â€œDo I pass inspection?” Jeff asked.
    â€œHe didn’t bite you.”
    â€œI see. Why did you ask about my horse?”
    â€œShe’s a very tired animal. Needs a day or two of rest. That’s an awful lot of stuff you had hanging off of her.”
    â€œOh. Well . . . I’ll just do that then.”
    â€œNeed to get you a packhorse.”
    â€œI wonder why the livery man in Denver didn’t tell me that.”
    â€œDid you ask about one?”
    â€œAh . . . no.”
    â€œHave some coffee. It’ll cheer you up. You hungry?”
    â€œCome to think of it, I am.”
    â€œI’m going to have bacon and beans and pan bread. How’s that sound?”
    â€œSounds very good. I’m not much of a cook.”
    Or much of a horseman, Frank thought, eyeballing the piece-of-crap saddle Jeff had stripped from his horse. Somebody saw you coming, boy.
    Frank put the beans on to cook and settled back with his cup of coffee. “You know anything about mining, Jeff?”
    â€œI read some books on the subject.”
    â€œWell, that’s a start, I reckon.”
    â€œI really wanted to get out of New York and start over here in the West.”
    â€œYou’re not wanted by the law, are you?” Frank asked with a smile.
    â€œOh, no!” Jeff said quickly, then realized that Frank was kidding him. “My fiancée decided she didn’t want me either.”
    â€œAhh, I see. Affairs of the heart. I can certainly understand that.”
    â€œI was devastated.”
    â€œDrink your coffee, you’ll feel better.”
    â€œIt’s amazing, really. But in the weeks I’ve been gone, her face is becoming dimmer in my mind.”
    Then it wasn’t love, boy, Frank thought. Vivian’s face is as fresh in my mind now as it was twenty years ago.
    â€œIf you don’t mind me saying so, Frank, you look familiar to me. I could swear I’ve seen you somewhere. Have you ever been to New York?”
    â€œNever have, Jeff.”
    â€œYou certainly remind me of someone.” Jeff stared at Frank for a moment, then softly exclaimed, “Oh, my God!”
    â€œWhat’s wrong?”
    â€œYou’re Frank Morgan!”
    â€œThat’s my name, boy.”
    â€œI saw a likeness of you on the cover of a book I read. You’re the gunfighter!”
    â€œI been called that, Jeff.”
    â€œYou’ve killed five hundred white men and a thousand Indians! Good Lord! I’m actually sitting here conversing with the most famous gunfighter in all the West.”
    Frank chuckled as he poured another cup of coffee. “Those figures are a tad high, Jeff. Don’t believe everything you read in those dime novels.”
    â€œI thought you would be a lot older, Mr. Morgan.”
    â€œI do sometimes feel a lot older, for a fact.”
    â€œI did not mean that as a slur, sir.”
    â€œI know it. And stop calling me sir. My name is Frank. How’s your coffee?”
    â€œWhat?