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    Five for the Trail
    Five for the Trail
    Five for the Trail
    Ebook60 pages53 minutes

    Five for the Trail

    By Mark L Redmond

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    About this ebook

    For nearly twenty years, Mark L. Redmond had been telling stories about the old West to young readers. Finally hes turning his attention to big kids. Heres a collection of some of his best stories, including three that were unpublished until now. Redmonds stories are not typical tales of shootouts and quick draws. In his unique way, he has created some delightful characters who choose to outsmart their opponents instead of out-shooting them. Redmond is the author of the six-book middle grade series, The Adventures of Arty Anderson (Sword of the Lord Publishers, Murfreesboro, Tennessee). His story The Spittoon was a finalist in the 2010 Moonlight Mesa competition; The Switch appeared in a storytellers edition of Grit magazine; and The Reward was published in Elbow Creek. Mark and his wife Susie are workampers. They live in a motor home and work in camp resort parks from Indiana to Arizona. Together they have six children and nine grandchildren.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateJul 7, 2014
    ISBN9781490819518
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      Book preview

      Five for the Trail - Mark L Redmond

      Copyright © 2014 Mark Redmond.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

      Author Credits: Author of the Arty Anderson series.

      WestBow Press

      A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.westbowpress.com

      1 (866) 928-1240

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      ISBN: 978-1-4908-1950-1 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4908-1951-8 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2013922448

      WestBow Press rev. date: 7/3/2014

      Contents

      Crawl Off and Die

      The Reward

      The Spittoon

      The Switch

      The Edge

      Uninvited Guests

      Chapter 1

      Although the cowboy’s side-arm was commonly called a six-shooter, a careful cowboy only loaded five chambers most of the time. By leaving an empty chamber under the hammer, he eliminated the risk of shooting himself or his horse if his gun was bumped, dropped, or snagged by the brush through which he was riding. The title of this collection of short stories comes from that old West safety measure. When a cowboy sensed or saw trouble coming, he thumbed a cartridge into the empty chamber and faced the situation with his six-shooter fully loaded. With that practice in mind, I thumbed a sixth story into this collection—just for fun. I hope you enjoy all six stories.

      M.L.R.

      Crawl Off and Die

      Bailey O’Toole sat leaning against a boulder and watched his back trail. Sweat trickled down both cheeks and dripped from his stubble-covered chin onto his damp shirt. A fly buzzed around his head several times before landing on the brim of Bailey’s Stetson, but he seemed not to notice. His full attention was fixed on the trail he had followed to the top of the butte. He swore softly when he spotted the small cloud of dust half a mile from its base. Whoever was after him was not only good at reading sign but also tenacious on a trail.

      Closing his eyes, Bailey lifted his work-hardened hands to his face and pressed his fingertips against his eyelids. The excruciating pain lessened ever so slightly for a moment, and he tried desperately to focus his thoughts on the events of the past six months.

      Six months ago Bailey had been enjoying what he had believed to be the best life possible. He had sat at the table, celebrating his twentieth birthday with the three people he loved most. At the close of the meal, Bailey’s father had struggled to stand behind his chair.

      He had smiled across the table, swallowed hard, and then spoken.

      Son, there’s not a prouder father in all of Tucson—or for that matter, in all of Arizona—than me. I know that folks tend to brag on me for coming home from the war minus a leg and then starting the mercantile. But that was nothing. I started the mercantile because your ma and I couldn’t think of much else I was good for. Then when the cholera took your ma and your sister twelve years ago—

      Bailey’s father had stopped to wipe his eyes with a thumb and forefinger before continuing.

      Well, you and me kept working that mercantile, which was already doing pretty well. Folks bragged on me for not quitting then, too, but that was nothing. What folks didn’t know is that I had one of the finest young assistants on God’s earth working for me. What folks didn’t know is that my little Bailey didn’t just work himself half to death during the daytime; he— his father had stopped and wiped his eyes again. He had waited a moment to regain his composure. Bailey had looked at his father and had been surprised to see that

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