Montana by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone [Johnstone, William W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
Published: 2023-12-27T00:00:00+00:00

She stared into the almost colorless eyes and the gaunt face of a man suffering from consumption and shaded by a flat-brimmed black hat. She gasped. Couldn’t stop herself. She even had to grab the frame of the door to keep from falling.

Which caused Lat Carson to laugh. Though she knew not his name at that time.

“Thanks for the kind welcome, Missus Ashton.”

“I—” She lost the ability to speak English.

“Is your husband around, ma’am?”

“No.” Wrong answer. Artie had warned her more than once about that. “Yes. He’s—” But lying had never been something she could master.

The man, more corpse than alive, laughed, and stifled a cough.

“Which is it, ma’am? Have no fear in your answer. I seek neither pleasure nor displeasure from you. Just the truth.”

“He’s just over the hill,” she said, and pointed to the farthest rise.

He nodded, and gathered the reins. “But a lie will work just as well, Missus Ashton.” He tipped his hat again. “I’ll take my leave. Just tell your good husband that Lat Carson of the Southeastern Montana Stockgrowers Association came by to pay him a visit.” He eased the horse away from the shanty and turned it northeast—the opposite of where Jeannie had pointed. “But I’ll see him some other time.” His back was to her as he rode off.

“Maybe he’ll see me.” He gave another cold, emotionless laugh. “Or maybe he won’t.”

She heard his last words, and sunk to her knees.

When Artie returned, they packed what little they had—even left the milch cow—crossed the Musselshell, and hardly stopped until they reached Butte, where Artie went to work for a mine. He wouldn’t try working for himself, on his own land again until he heard about the fine, good country up north at a settlement called Basin Creek.

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