Eight Hours to Die (Sixkiller, U.S. Marshal, Band 3) - Softcover

Johnstone, William W.; Johnstone, J.A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0786039701 ISBN 13: 9780786039708

Verlag: Pinnacle, 2016

Inhaltsangabe

THE GREATEST WESTERN WRITERS OF THE 21ST CENTURY
 
William W. Johnstone, the beloved, bestselling frontier chronicler, brings to life the story based on the historical lawman born and bred in Cherokee Nation: Sixkiller. In the wild, wild west there is no man more dangerous—on either side of the law.
 
THREE MEN DEAD. AND SIXKILLER MIGHT BE NEXT

The territorial governor has sent three lawmen to clean up the mess that is Chico, New Mexico—and not one of those lawmen has made it out alive. A crooked sheriff has the terrified denizens of Chico under his boot heel, so the governor turns to John Henry Sixkiller, sending him undercover as a gunman for hire. So far, Sixkiller has bloodied his opponents in every battle he’s fought in the Southwest. But this one could affect the entire country: A group of merciless land pirates have been hiding behind Chico’s brutal sheriff. Their goal: to take the entire territory hostage and sell it lock, stock and barrel to Mexico—gleefully slaughtering anyone who gets in the way...

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

William W. Johnstone is the USA Today and New York Times bestselling author of over 220 books, including PREACHER, , THE LAST MOUNTAIN MAN, BLOOD BOND, EAGLES, A TOWN CALLED FURY, SAVAGE TEXAS, MATT JENSEN, THE LAST MOUNTAIN MAN; THE FAMILY JENSEN, SIDEWINDERS, and the upcoming BUTCH CASSIDY: THE EARLY YEARS. His thrillers include Phoenix Rising, Jackknife, Home Invasion, The Blood of Patriots, and The Bleeding Edge.  Visit his website at www.williamjohnstone.net or by email at dogcia2006@aol.com.
 
Being the all around assistant, typist, researcher, and fact checker to one of the most popular western authors of all time, J.A. Johnstone learned from the master, Uncle William W. Johnstone. 
He began tutoring J.A. at an early age. After-school hours were often spent retyping manuscripts or researching his massive American Western History library as well as the more modern wars and conflicts. J.A. worked hard—and learned.
 
“Every day with Bill was an adventure story in itself. Bill taught me all he could about the art of storytelling. ‘Keep the historical facts accurate,’  he would say. ‘Remember the readers, and as your grandfather once told me, I am telling you now: be the best J.A. Johnstone you can be.’”

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Sixkiller, U.S. Marshal: Eight Hours To Die

By William W. Johnstone, J. A. Johnstone

KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

Copyright © 2012 William W. Johnstone
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-7860-3970-8

CHAPTER 1

A telegram was waiting for Deputy United States Marshal John Henry Sixkiller when he got to El Paso. It was from his boss, Judge Isaac Parker in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

John Henry was on his way back to Arkansas from an assignment in the western part of New Mexico Territory. Before leading his horse, Iron Heart, into a stable car and boarding the Southern Pacific train in Lordsburg, he had wired Judge Parker to let the judge know that he was on his way home.

Parker must have immediately sent his telegram to the railroad station in El Paso, along with a request that when the train John Henry was on arrived, someone there should find the deputy marshal and pass along the message.

The porter who brought the telegram came along the aisle of the passenger car where John Henry sat, calling, "Lookin' for John Henry Sixkiller! John Henry Sixkiller!"

"I'm Sixkiller," John Henry said as he stood up from the bench seat. He was in the first of the passenger cars, which had saved the red-jacketed porter from having to search all of them. "Is something wrong?"

"No, sir, just got a wire for you."

The uniformed man held out a yellow telegraph flimsy. John Henry took it and gave the porter a half dollar. Then he sat down, thumbed back his hat, and unfolded the message to read it.

URGENT YOU MEET WITH LEW WALLACE GOVERNOR NMT IN SANTA FE STOP RENDER ALL DUE ASSISTANCE WALLACE REQUESTS STOP PARKER.

You couldn't get much plainer than that, John Henry thought.

The porter was still standing there, probably in the hope of getting another half dollar if John Henry wanted to send a reply, which was indeed the case.

First, though, John Henry asked, "When's the next train leaving for Santa Fe?"

The porter took out his watch and checked it.

"'Bout an hour and a half from now," he replied as he snapped the timepiece closed. "You need a ticket on it, sir?"

"I do. And I need to send a reply to this wire, as well."

"The Western Union office is on the other side of the depot lobby. If you'd like, I can get the ticket while you send your telegram, Mr. Sixkiller."

John Henry nodded and gave the man money for the ticket. He reached down to pick up his carpetbag.

"I've got a horse in the stable car, too, along with my saddle and rifle. They'll need to go on the train bound for Santa Fe."

"I'll take care of it."

John Henry gave the porter an extra dollar this time. He left the train and headed through the lobby toward the Western Union window.

When he got there he picked up a telegraph form and a stub of pencil and printed his reply to Parker, which was a simple one:

UNDERSTOOD STOP WILL COMPLY STOP SIXKILLER.

By the time he'd sent the message, the porter was there with his ticket for the train to Santa Fe, which appropriately enough would be an Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe train.

"I'll have your things brought to you here," the porter said. "You can wait in the lobby. Your horse will be tied up just outside."

"I'm obliged," John Henry told him.

He sat down on one of the hard benches to wait. It was a shame he hadn't gotten that telegram a few minutes earlier, he thought. His traveling companion from Lordsburg, Miss Sophie Clear water, had already left the train, saying that she planned to stay here in El Paso for a few days on business.

If John Henry had known he was going to have more than an hour to kill, he might have tried to prevail on Sophie to linger and keep him company until he left for Santa Fe. The time would have passed more pleasantly with her around, that was for sure, he told himself with a sigh.

But there was nothing that could be done about it now. He had said his good-byes to Sophie, and that was that. Someone had left a newspaper on the bench, so John Henry picked it up and began leafing through it instead.

He hadn't been looking at the paper for long when three young men came into the depot from the street entrance. They were dressed like cowboys, and the well-worn saddles they carried on their shoulders were further evidence that was their profession.

John Henry barely glanced at them when they came in, and that was only because they were talking loudly among themselves and laughing. Even though it was the middle of the afternoon, they seemed to have been drinking.

He would have ignored them as they walked on past the bench where he sat, if not for the fact that one of the men stopped short and the other two then followed suit. All three of them set their saddles on the floor at their feet.

The one who had stopped first stared at John Henry for a moment and then said, "Look at that, boys. Unless I miss my guess, that there's an Injun in white man's duds."

John Henry heard the words but pretended to ignore them. He didn't want any trouble. These cowhands could say whatever they wanted to as long as they moved on.

"You sure about that, Wiley?" one of the other young men asked. "He don't really look like an Injun to me."

"You ever see anybody with red skin like that who wasn't?"

The third man laughed and said, "Yeah, me when I was blistered by the sun."

"And I think his eyes are blue, too," the second cowboy put in.

"That don't mean nothin' except that he's a stinkin' breed," Wiley insisted. He moved a step closer to John Henry and went on, "Hey, mister. You a stinkin' breed? Your mama get carried off by some Comanche or Apache buck?"

John Henry sighed. The young cowboy called Wiley was drunk, stubborn, and obnoxious ... a bad combination. John Henry folded the newspaper in fourths longwise, set it in his lap, and said, "I'm half Cherokee, and I don't appreciate your comments. I'd take it kindly if you wouldn't say anything else about my mother."

"Cherokee, eh?" Wiley said. "Hell, from what I've heard they ain't even real Injuns. Of course, they ain't white, neither. I don't know what that makes you, mister. Some sort of mongrel dog, I reckon."

Wiley's companions must have gotten the idea that harassing this calm, powerfully built, gun-toting stranger probably wasn't a very smart thing to do. One of them tugged at his friend's arm and said, "Come on, Wiley, we got a train to catch."

Wiley pulled free with a violent shrug.

"Hell with that," he snapped. "Did you hear the way this redskin talked to me? Like he thought he was better than me? I ain't gonna stand for that!"

John Henry thought about pushing back the lapel of his coat to reveal the badge pinned to his shirt. He had concealed his true identity as a federal lawman for much of his just-concluded assignment, but there was no reason for him to do so here in El Paso. Usually the sight of a tin star would make even a drunk think twice about raising a ruckus.

Before he could do that, however, Wiley kicked at the sole of John Henry's boot and said, "Get up on your feet, you son of a bitch. You're wearin' a gun like a white man, so we'll settle this like white men! I'm callin' you out!"

"Wiley, you damned fool —" one of his companions began.

John Henry stood up, still holding the folded newspaper in his left hand.

"Mister, please don't kill him," the other young cowhand pleaded. "He's just drunker'n a skunk."

"I know that," John Henry said. "You should take him somewhere and let him sober up."

"Damn your red hide!" Wiley howled, drawing the attention of everybody in the lobby now. "Stop talkin' about...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Pinnacle
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2016
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0786039701
• ISBN 13: 9780786039708
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 352
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: eucomplyOÜ; hello@eucompliancepartner.com; ; Pärnu mnt. 139b-14; Tallinn; 11317; Estland