by Tim Champlin
“A notorious visitor is more like it…since you wrote up those news stories.”
“Well, what’re friends for?” Scrivener chuckled.
“Speaking of notorious, do you think Tuttle and Slater are in hiding somewhere hereabouts? Tuttle hasn’t showed up at his Carson City mansion for the past few days.”
“I think they’ve gone in different directions far from here. Ben Holladay could be hiding them, who knows?”
“I know men pretty well,” Angeline said. “And Tuttle just doesn’t have it in him to murder anyone. He may be a lot of other things, but he’s no killer.”
“That leaves Slater,” Scrivener said. “Cold and deadly is my calculation. If either of them is ever arrested, you two will have to testify at the trial…along with Fossett.”
“I’ll be looking over my shoulder until that Billy Joe Slater is behind bars,” Angeline said. “He gives me the chills. He’ll haunt my nightmares as long as he’s on the loose.”
Ross nodded. “She’s right. We’re a danger to him at least as witnesses to attempted murder. If he got a chance, he’d think no more of killing us than he would stepping on a couple of bugs.” He looked at Angeline. “That’s why we’re traveling together to San Francisco…mutual protection. We can watch out for each other.”
Scrivener gave him a skeptical look.
“I have his Thirty-Two in my reticule,” she said, catching hold of her broad-brimmed straw hat in a sudden breeze. “Never thought I’d have to take to carrying a gun to protect myself.”
“I’m more worried about you protecting that peaches-and-cream complexion from this summer sun.” Scrivener smiled, leaning over and kissing her on the cheek.
Ross tried to erase from his mind the fact that she made a very good living as a high-priced prostitute. He was probably old-fashioned, but he somehow couldn’t equate her demeanor and her classy bearing with her choice of profession.
“Let’s get aboard, folks!” the stage driver called. “We got a schedule to keep.” The driver swung up to the high box and settled in beside the shotgun messenger.
Ross gripped the editor’s hand warmly. “I might be back sooner than you think,” he said. “In the meantime, watch your back. You could be a target for Slater, too.”
“Hell, who wants to live forever?” Scrivener said gruffly, clearing his throat, apparently trying to keep his emotions in check. “Besides, what’s life without a little excitement? A man can’t live on collecting arrowheads alone.”
“If Clemens is working for one of the San Francisco papers, I’ll give him these last two editions of the Enterprise. He can read about what he missed.”
Ross took Angeline’s arm and helped her up into the waiting coach. Her trunk and Ross’s bag had already been stowed in the rear boot. He had his fully loaded and capped Navy Colt strapped to his hip. He was taking no chances.
They settled onto the leather seat, sharing the coach with only three other passengers. They waved at Scrivener who stepped back as the coach lurched into motion.
Ross smiled at Angeline beside him. She’d removed her wide hat and held it in her lap. They had a long ride ahead of them. He’d seen her at her worst—under duress in the mine. Now he looked forward to seeing her at her best—well, possibly her second best.
About the Author
Tim Champlin, born John Michael Champlin in Fargo, North Dakota, was graduated from Middle Tennessee State University and earned a Master’s degree from Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee. Beginning his career as an author of the Western story with Summer of the Sioux in 1982, the American West represents for him “a huge, ever-changing block of space and time in which an individual had more freedom than the average person has today. For those brave, and sometimes desperate souls who ventured West looking for a better life, it must have been an exciting time to be alive.” Champlin has achieved a notable stature in being able to capture that time in complex, often exciting, and historically accurate fictional narratives. He is the author of two series of Westerns novels, one concerned with Matt Tierney who comes of age in Summer of the Sioux and who begins his professional career as a reporter for the Chicago Times-Herald covering an expeditionary force venturing into the Big Horn country and the Yellowstone, and one with Jay McGraw, a callow youth who is plunged into outlawry at the beginning of Colt Lightning. There are six books in the Matt Tierney series and with Deadly Season a fifth featuring Jay McGraw. In The Last Campaign, Champlin provides a compelling narrative of Gerónimo’s last days as a renegade leader. Swift Thunder is an exciting and compelling story of the Pony Express. Wayfaring Strangers is an extraordinary story of the California Gold Rush. In all of Champlin’s stories there are always unconventional plot ingredients, striking historical details, vivid characterizations of the multitude of ethnic and cultural diversity found on the frontier, and narratives rich and original and surprising. His exuberant tapestries include lumber schooners sailing the West Coast, early-day wet-plate photography, daredevils who thrill crowds with gas balloons and the first parachutes, tong wars in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Basque sheepherders, and the Penitents of the Southwest, and are always highly entertaining.
Critics Praise Tim Champlin!!
THE BLAZE OF NOON
“Hidden gold, dead padres, Apaches, and two of the nastiest villains you’ll ever meet are only some of the exciting elements of one of Champlin’s best stories. Don’t miss this one!”
—Roundup Magazine
THE LAST CAMPAIGN
“As usual, Champlin seamlessly weaves his impeccable historical research into his plot…A fine traditional Western that is more realistic than most.”
—Roundup Magazine
A TRAIL TO WOUNDED KNEE
“Full of suspense…maintains the reader’s interest…[Champlin] has unbelievable knowledge of the Lakota Indians.”
—The Tombstone Epitaph
“Champlin once more demonstrates his skill at blending fiction and history…[He] creates both mood and a sense of place.”
—Roundup Magazine
RAIDERS OF THE WESTERN & ATLANTIC
“No one writes novels with humorous, impossible plots better than Tim Champlin…An absolutely wonderful book.”
—Roundup Magazine
WAYFARING STRANGERS
“Realistic…compelling.”
—Roundup Magazine
“An exceptional frontier story…Purchase it, read it, and find a spot for it in your library.”
—The Tombstone Epitaph
DEADLY SEASON
“Champlin obviously knows his area and the minutiae of his chosen period quite well…good story.”
—The Tombstone Epitaph
THE TOMBSTONE CONSPIRACY
“A nice brew of traditional Western fare, that is to say, juiced up a notch or two.”
—The Historical Novels Review
Other Leisure books by Tim Champlin:
COLD CACHE
DEVILS’ DOMAIN
THE BLAZE OF NOON
TERRITORIAL ROUGH RIDER
THE LAST CAMPAIGN
A TRAIL TO WOUNDED KNEE
RAIDERS OF THE WESTERN & ATLANTIC
WAYFARING STRANGERS
DEADLY SEASON
THE TOMBSTONE CONSPIRACY
THE SURVIVOR
FLYING EAGLE
SWIFT THUNDER
Copyright
A LEISURE BOOK®
June 2010
Published by special arrangement with Golden West Literary Agency.
Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.
200 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
Copyright © 2009 by Tim Champlin
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E-ISBN: 978-1-4285-0883-5
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