Sudden--Troubleshooter (A Sudden Western) #5 (25 page)

Inside the ranch house he
found Gunnison and his newfound son glaring at each other like
sworn enemies. He pushed back his Stetson with a thumb, eyeing them
in consternation.

‘Hey!’ he protested. ‘What
happened to the fam’ly gatherin’?’

‘I just told him that no
son o’ mine is marryin’ any nester’s spawn,’ rasped Lafe Gunnison.
‘I’ve had my bellyful o’ Harris an’ his breed. I didn’t find my son
to lose him to some dirt-farmer’s daughter!’

Philadelphia glared at the old man, his face
white and set.

‘If yu was a well man I’d
thrash yu for them words!’ he ground out. ‘I aim to marry her if
she’ll have me. An’ to hell with yu an’ yore lousy
ranch!’

‘Then marry her an’ be
damned! I’ll see yu don’t get a cent o’ my money!’ Gunnison flung
at the youngster.

‘Keep it!’ Henry said
through clenched teeth. ‘Keep yore ranch an’ yore money! I got
along fine without yu all these years – I guess I’ll manage to
survive another few without yore help!’

Red with suppressed rage,
he wheeled and pushed past Sudden towards the door, only to be
stopped in mid-stride by the sound of Lafe Gunnison’s hearty bellow
of laughter. He turned in amazement to face the old man, surprise
in every line of his features.

‘Jest wanted to be shore yu
knowed yore mind, boy!’ chortled Gunnison. ‘Come here an’ sit
yoreself down. Damme, I’d be right proud to have Jake Harris’s girl
as a daughter-in-law.’

‘Yu – yu ol’ pirut!’
managed Henry. ‘Yu win: I buy the drinks next time we hit Yavapai!’
He turned to his friend, who had smilingly watched the exchange
between the two. ‘Jim, yu reckon I can train this old mustang over,
an’ house break him?’

Sudden shook his head.
‘Mighty hard row to hoe,’ he told the boy, smiling.

‘What I figgered,’ Henry
said. ‘Mebbe my … my Dad’ll second my idea I got.’

‘Go ahead, boy,’ rumbled
Gunnison. ‘Yo’re goin’ to be runnin’ Saber soon enough. Now’s as
good a time as any to get started.’

He stood up, and placed his
burly arm around his son’s shoulder.

‘We’d be mighty glad if yu
could stay on here as ramrod, Jim,’ Henry said. ‘I ain’t up to it,
yet, an’ we’re goin’ to need someone to run things.’

‘I got a hunch Henry’s
goin’ to be busy for a while,’ smiled his father mischievously.
‘What d’yu say, Jim?’

‘It’s a mighty temptin’
offer, seh,’ replied Sudden, ‘but I got to turn her down. I’ll be
movin’ on, I reckon.’

‘Yu ain’t stayin’?’ blurted
Henry, dismay in his voice.

‘It’s somethin’ I got to
do, Philadelphia,’ Sudden told him. ‘I got to find a couple o’ men.
Mebbe yu’ve heard o’ them, seh? Names are Webb an’ Peterson.’ He
directed his question at the rancher.

Gunnison shook his head.
‘Can’t say I ever heard the names,’ he admitted. ‘What yu want ’em
for?’

‘We got some unfinished
business together,’ was all Sudden would say. They were to recall
his words when, some years later, the news filtered into the
Yavapai valley of how he had found the men he was seeking. His
young face was cold and hard as he spoke.

Sudden thrust out his hand, and Gunnison
took it.

‘I’m wishin’ yu success,’
the puncher told him. ‘Yu don’t need wishin’ happiness.’ He turned
and left before the old rancher could find the words he wanted to
say. Henry followed his friend out on the porch. He could see
Midnight patiently awaiting his master at the hitching-rail. Sudden
turned to face his young protégé.

‘Philadelphia, I got one
more favor to ask yu,’ he said slowly.

The boy nodded eagerly.
‘Shore, Jim – anythin’.’

‘Yu say goodbye to Harris
and the rest o’ them for me. I never was much of a hand at it.’ His
voice was gruff as they clasped hands.

‘Any time yu feel like it,
yu come back here,’ Henry said, awkwardly. ‘I got a lot to thank yu
for.’

Sudden swung into the saddle.

‘Same here,’ he told the
boy. ‘Don’t yu fret none; I’ll be back one o’ these
days.’

He pulled Midnight’s head
around and moved easily down the trail, the great black stallion
cantering almost silently towards Yavapai. Henry watched the rider
until he was swallowed by the darkness, and then, with a sniff,
pawed angrily at his eyes.

‘Durned night air,’ he
grumbled. ‘Makes a feller’s eyes water.’

Frederick Nolan, a.k.a. ‘Frederick H.
Christian’, was born in Liverpool, England and was educated there
and at
Aberavon in Wales. He decided early in life to become a
writer, but it was some thirty years before he got around to
achieving his ambition. His first book was
The Life and Death of John Henry
Tunstall,
and it established him as an authority on the history of
the American frontier. Later he founded The English Westerners’
Society. In addition to the much-loved Angel westerns, Fred also
wrote five entries in the popular Sudden series.

Among his numerous non-western novels
is the best-selling
The Oshawa Project
(published as
The Algonquin Project
in the US) which was later
filmed by MGM as
Brass Target
. A leading authority on the outlaws and gunfighters of the
Old West, Fred has scripted and appeared in many television
programs both in England and in the United States, and authored
numerous articles in historical and other academic
publications.

Visit the author’s
website

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SUDDEN - APACHE FIGHTER

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