Read Straw Men for Free Online

better about taking this ride with you.”
    â€œWhat in the hell were you doing in there?”
    Looking over her shoulder as if she didn’t know what Clint could be referring to, she replied, “Checking my horse. I could’a asked who you were talking to, but I didn’t.”
    Clint took a few more steps toward Abigail’s stall so he could get a better look inside. The horse in that stall was a white mustang with a few large brown spots on its flank. There was also a saddle buckled in place on its back. “Leaving so soon?” Clint asked.
    Once more, Abigail looked around. This time, she didn’t pretend to wonder what Clint was talking about. “I just thought I could scout ahead to night to see if there were any Injun camps nearby. I got a nose for sniffing them out and it’d help us get a good start tomorrow.”
    â€œYou don’t have to guide me. Simple directions to Fort Winstead would suffice. I could even get those from someone else.”
    â€œI wasn’t gonna leave. I swear!”
    Clint nodded and turned to walk away. “Come or go as you please. If you’re here in the morning, we can ride together. If not, have a safe trip.”
    As he walked away, Clint heard an aggravated sigh. He left the livery and walked to the hotel where he’d walked in on Abigail’s bath. Even before he approached the front desk, he was being greeted by a prim old lady with a high-collared dress who was now working there.
    â€œHello, there,” she said. Suddenly, her face soured as she glared at Clint through thick spectacles. “Oh. It’s you again.”
    â€œHave we met?” Clint asked in a friendly tone.
    â€œI meant to bring some more bath salts to the woman upstairs after you went up. I knocked, but you seemed to be…busy in there.”
    Clint shrugged, but he wasn’t about to blush. “Oh, well, did that woman check out already?”
    â€œI had her removed,” the old lady snapped. “I will not tolerate such lewd behavior in my hotel. And if you see that…woman, tell her she still owes me for the water damage done to my throw rug.”
    While Clint might not be the sort to blush, he did give a little wince when he realized the woman was deadly serious about some rugs getting wet due to some creatively splashed water. Removing some money from his pocket, he slapped it on the desk and asked, “Will that cover the damages?”
    Obviously flustered, the old woman said, “Yes, I suppose, but—”
    â€œThat’s settled, then,” Clint interrupted. “You have a good evening, ma’am.”
    The old woman sputtered a few words and then tried to toss out a few halfhearted thank-yous, but Clint didn’t bother looking back as he headed for the door. In fact, after he heard the disgust in the old woman’s tone when she’d referred to Abigail, Clint wished a bit more damage had been done to the coot’s precious room.
    When he got back to the livery, Clint snuck in and found Abigail in the stall with her horse, situating a bedroll in a pile of hay in one corner. “Come on,” he said while she was still trying to cover up her blanket. “You’re coming with me.”
    â€œWhere to?” she asked.
    â€œTo the most expensive hotel I can find.”

NINE
    Clint and Abigail woke up fairly early, wrapped in silk sheets. The hotel was actually one town over, but it had been a short ride and was worth every step. They had some sort of fancy omelets for breakfast and washed it down with some ridiculously expensive coffee. Even after taking their time in getting ready, they were in the saddle ahead of schedule. It helped that both of them already had everything stuffed into saddlebags and ready to go.
    â€œYou really shouldn’t have done all that,” Abigail said later that afternoon.
    â€œYou mean the breakfast?”
    â€œThe breakfast, the hotel, all of it. I