Raw Land (26 page)

Authors: Luke; Short

Afterward Becky led Will over to the hotel lobby, and the doctor came. While he was bandaging the leg, Charlie Sommers, Sheriff Phipps, and Mary Norman came into the lobby.

Mary, her face stony and bleak, came up to Will and stood before him.

“I don't blame you,” she said softly, bitterly. “But damn you, Will Danning! Damn you, damn you!”

She turned and fled across the lobby and up the stairs, sobbing into the sleeve of her coat.

Phipps came up with the note, after the doctor had stepped away. “If this is his writin', Danning, then I got nothin' on you for Hale's murder.” He turned to Charlie. “And if it's like he says it is, that he let you out to get Broome, then I got nothin' on him.”

Will looked at Charlie Sommers. There was a great pity in the marshal's eyes as he looked at Will, and Will was grateful.

“He let me out to get him, Phipps,” he said in a toneless voice. “I got him.”

Sommers motioned Phipps aside. The doctor picked up his kit, said, “Get to bed as soon as you can, young fellow,” and left.

Becky slipped down beside him and looked up at him.

“Will, I'll make up for all this. The world isn't like this. You can't believe it is!”

Will stroked her hair and said, “No, I know that, Becky. Remember what I told you that night out at the Nine X? All the fightin' and the killin' that stood between us is gone now. And I mean it more than ever.”

“I know you do, Will. I'll make up for it all.”

Later, Becky lifted her head from Will's shoulder and said, “Will.”

“What?”

“Do you know what Murray and Pres and Dad were after, there on your place?”

“No. Do you?”

“No. Let's don't ever try to find out! Let's leave it! We have everything we want now, haven't we?”

Will smiled into the darkness and nodded.

About the Author

Luke Short is the pen name of Frederick Dilley Glidden (1908â1975), the bestselling, award-winning author of over fifty classic western novels and hundreds of short stories. Renowned for their action-packed story lines, multidimensional characters, and vibrant dialogue, Glidden's novels sold over thirty million copies. Ten of his novels, including
Blood on the Moon
,
Coroner Creek
, and
Ramrod
, were adapted for the screen. Glidden was the winner of a special Western Heritage Trustees Award and the Levi Strauss Golden Saddleman Award from the Western Writers of America.

Born in Kewanee, Illinois, Glidden graduated in 1930 from the University of Missouri where he studied journalism. After working for several newspapers, he became a trapper in Canada and, later, an archaeologist's assistant in New Mexico. His first story, “Six-Gun Lawyer,” was published in
Cowboy Stories
magazine in 1935 under the name F. D. Glidden. At the suggestion of his publisher, he used the pseudonym Luke Short, not realizing it was the name of a real gunman and gambler who was a friend of Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. In addition to his prolific writing career, Glidden worked for the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. He moved to Aspen, Colorado, in 1946, and became an active member of the Aspen Town Council, where he initiated the zoning laws that helped preserve the town.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This story was first published in
Western Story Magazine
under the title “Gunsmoke Graze.”

Cover design by Andy Ross

ISBN: 978-1-5040-4089-1

This edition published in 2016 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

180 Maiden Lane

New York, NY 10038

www.openroadmedia.com