Free Bloody Sunday by William W. Johnstone Page B

biscuit or two they would take with them from breakfast and stash in their saddlebags. So while they had the chance, they packed away the food to keep their strength up.
    Luke didn’t have that much work waiting for him today, as far as he knew, but he ate heartily anyway, because it was good and because there had been plenty of times in his life when he’d been hungry. Gut-wrenchingly, soul-crushingly hungry a few times. No one who had ever gone through that passed up the opportunity to enjoy some good food.
    The eastern sky was starting to turn gold with the approach of the sun as the men left the mess hall and started drifting toward the barns and corrals to pick out their mounts for the day and get saddled up. The early morning air had a crisp, cool tang to it. Luke wondered if Glory was up yet.
    He didn’t have to wonder long. She came out of the house dressed in her riding clothes again and strode straight toward him. Getting right down to business as usual, she greeted him by saying, “Good morning, Luke. I’m on my way to Painted Post, and I’d like for you to come with me.”

CHAPTER 8
    Before Luke could respond, Gabe Pendleton said, “I can have one of the boys go into town with you, Mrs. MacCrae.”
    Glory shook her head.
    â€œNo, I don’t want to take any of the men away from their work,” she said. “Unless, of course, Mr. Jensen doesn’t want to come with me.”
    â€œI’d be glad to accompany you, Mrs. MacCrae,” Luke said. He and Glory had been using their first names with each other the night before, but since she had referred to him as “Mister” this morning he figured she wanted to maintain a certain level of formality in front of the crew. He didn’t mind playing along with that.
    Pendleton didn’t look happy about the decision, but he didn’t argue. Glory asked him, “Did you find out if anyone bothered the herds last night?”
    â€œIt was quiet out on the range,” Pendleton reported. “No run-ins with rustlers.”
    â€œSo the raid was just a blatant attack on us after all, not a distraction.”
    Pendleton shrugged and said, “That’s the way it looks.”
    â€œDid you find the bodies of any other night riders?”
    â€œNo, ma’am. Either we didn’t kill any more of them, or they took the rest of their dead with them.”
    Luke said, “Some of them were hit. I’m certain of that.”
    â€œYeah, so am I,” Pendleton said. “We didn’t knock anybody out of the saddle, though, so I don’t see what good it does us.”
    â€œYou might keep your eyes and ears open in case there’s any news of Elston’s men suffering gunshot wounds.”
    Pendleton grunted.
    â€œElston’s not gonna let word of that get out,” he declared. “He’ll make sure he’s covered in the eyes of the law.”
    â€œWe’ll see about that,” Glory said. “Where’s the body of the man I killed?”
    Pendleton jerked a thumb over his shoulder and said, “We put him in the barn. He’s wrapped up in a horse blanket.”
    â€œPut him in the back of the wagon. I’m going to deliver him to Sheriff Whittaker’s office myself.”
    â€œAre you sure that’s a good idea, ma’am?” Pendleton asked with a frown.
    â€œMr. Jensen is going with me,” Glory replied as she nodded toward Luke. “I’m sure that between us we can handle any trouble we run into.”
    Again Pendleton looked like he wanted to argue but didn’t. He just nodded and said, “I’ll take care of it.” He turned and started off toward the barn.
    Luke told Glory, “I’ll go get my horse saddled.”
    â€œYou don’t want to ride on the wagon with me?” she asked.
    â€œIf you can handle the team—and to be honest, you seem so capable I’ll be surprised if you