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    An Arizona Christmas
    An Arizona Christmas
    An Arizona Christmas
    Ebook368 pages6 hours

    An Arizona Christmas

    By William W. Johnstone and J. A. Johnstone

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Johnstone Justice. Made in America.
     
    William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone deliver a special holiday gift for devoted fans of the Jensen saga—a warmhearted story of burning revenge, blazing bullets, and other Jensen family traditions . . .
     
    Like most families, the Jensens gather together to celebrate the holidays. This year, since half the clan is scattered across the American West, they’ve decided to split the difference and meet up in Tucson. Matt and Luke will be there, for sure, and maybe Ace and Chance, too. That leaves Sally, Preacher, and Smoke Jensen, who’ve reserved three seats on a westbound stage to make sure they don’t miss out on the festivities. What could possibly go wrong?
     
    The first to strike is a sandstorm as blinding and deadly as any northern blizzard. Then comes an Apache ambush, forcing the passengers and drivers to seek shelter in a cave. Even if Smoke and Preacher manage to shoot their way out of this, they have another big surprise waiting—a ruthless gang of outlaws after the cargo of cash on the stage, happy to slaughter anyone who tries to stop them. If the Jensens hope to save Christmas this year, they’ll need to save their own lives first . . .
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPinnacle Books
    Release dateOct 31, 2017
    ISBN9780786040797
    An Arizona Christmas
    Author

    William W. Johnstone

    William W. Johnstone is the #1 bestselling Western writer in America and the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of hundreds of books, with over 50 million copies sold. Born in southern Missouri, he was raised with strong moral and family values by his minister father and tutored by his schoolteacher mother. He left school at fifteen to work in a carnival and then as a deputy sheriff before becoming a full-time writer. 

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    • 5/5
      Title: An Arizona ChristmasAuthor: William W. Johnstone & J. A. JohnstonePages: 400Year: 2017Publisher: PinnacleMy rating 5 out of 5 stars!Every year I look forward to the newest Johnstone Christmas novel and this year is no exception! I first started reading the yearly stories with the first novel titled A Lone Star Christmas. Each novel is a stand alone with a unique story that brings together some of the most beloved characters in the Johnstone world. What makes this particular novel so adventurous is the use of flashback by the author. The tale beings with being on a battle field in Belgium in December 1944. While the fighting was fierce there came a break where a small group wondered if they would live to see another moment. So, to take their minds off the war, their cold and hunger and descendent of Smoke Jensen tells a story of one Christmas when the Jensen’s were to gather in Arizona.From there the readers are then propelled back into a time when there were still Apache uprisings, people traveling by stage though more by trains as time was moving on, and sandstorms! What a heart pounding, page turner the author writes for us to enjoy and consider sharing with other readers! There is nothing that can take the place of a book and our imagination, as we read and envision all that is being described on the pages!I don’t want to tell you too much of the story as I hope you will read all the Christmas novels by the authors as they are unique, exciting, and filled with gunsmoke when evil runs against those who stand for good. The best part of these books is the heart and desire of the families to gather no matter the danger and how they look out for each other or look for each other should danger be lurking.In case you want to catch up or wonder what books are the Johnstone Christmas novels are: A Lone Star Christmas, Rocky Mountain Christmas, A Big Sky Christmas, A Frontier Christmas, A Texas Hill Country Christmas, A Colorado Christmas and finally An Arizona Christmas. These books make great gifts for the readers you know whether family or friends, consider giving the gift of books this year!
    • 5/5
      Title: An Arizona ChristmasAuthor: William W. Johnstone & J. A. JohnstonePages: 400Year: 2017Publisher: PinnacleMy rating 5 out of 5 stars!Every year I look forward to the newest Johnstone Christmas novel and this year is no exception! I first started reading the yearly stories with the first novel titled A Lone Star Christmas. Each novel is a stand alone with a unique story that brings together some of the most beloved characters in the Johnstone world. What makes this particular novel so adventurous is the use of flashback by the author. The tale beings with being on a battle field in Belgium in December 1944. While the fighting was fierce there came a break where a small group wondered if they would live to see another moment. So, to take their minds off the war, their cold and hunger and descendent of Smoke Jensen tells a story of one Christmas when the Jensen’s were to gather in Arizona.From there the readers are then propelled back into a time when there were still Apache uprisings, people traveling by stage though more by trains as time was moving on, and sandstorms! What a heart pounding, page turner the author writes for us to enjoy and consider sharing with other readers! There is nothing that can take the place of a book and our imagination, as we read and envision all that is being described on the pages!I don’t want to tell you too much of the story as I hope you will read all the Christmas novels by the authors as they are unique, exciting, and filled with gunsmoke when evil runs against those who stand for good. The best part of these books is the heart and desire of the families to gather no matter the danger and how they look out for each other or look for each other should danger be lurking.In case you want to catch up or wonder what books are the Johnstone Christmas novels are: A Lone Star Christmas, Rocky Mountain Christmas, A Big Sky Christmas, A Frontier Christmas, A Texas Hill Country Christmas, A Colorado Christmas and finally An Arizona Christmas. These books make great gifts for the readers you know whether family or friends, consider giving the gift of books this year!

    Book preview

    An Arizona Christmas - William W. Johnstone

    Look of These Exciting Series from

    W

    ILLIAM

    W. J

    OHNSTONE

    with J. A. Johnstone

    The Mountain Man

    Preacher: The First Mountain Man

    Matt Jensen, the Last Mountain Man

    Luke Jensen, Bounty Hunter

    Those Jensen Boys!

    The Family Jensen

    MacCallister

    Flintlock

    The Brothers O’Brien

    The Kerrigans: A Texas Dynasty

    Sixkiller, U.S. Marshal

    Hell’s Half Acre

    Texas John Slaughter

    Will Tanner, U.S. Deputy Marshal

    Eagles

    The Frontiersman

    AVAILABLE FROM PINNACLE BOOKS

    W

    ILLIAM

    W. J

    OHNSTONE

    with J. A. Johnstone

    AN ARIZONA CHRISTMAS

    PINNACLE BOOKS

    Kensington Publishing Corp.

    www.kensingtonbooks.com

    All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

    Table of Contents

    Also by

    Title Page

    Copyright Page

    CHAPTER 1

    CHAPTER 2

    CHAPTER 3

    CHAPTER 4

    CHAPTER 5

    CHAPTER 6

    CHAPTER 7

    CHAPTER 8

    CHAPTER 9

    CHAPTER 10

    CHAPTER 11

    CHAPTER 12

    CHAPTER 13

    CHAPTER 14

    CHAPTER 15

    CHAPTER 16

    CHAPTER 17

    CHAPTER 18

    CHAPTER 19

    CHAPTER 20

    CHAPTER 21

    CHAPTER 22

    CHAPTER 23

    CHAPTER 24

    CHAPTER 25

    CHAPTER 26

    CHAPTER 27

    CHAPTER 28

    CHAPTER 29

    CHAPTER 30

    CHAPTER 31

    CHAPTER 32

    CHAPTER 33

    CHAPTER 34

    CHAPTER 35

    CHAPTER 36

    CHAPTER 37

    CHAPTER 38

    CHAPTER 39

    CHAPTER 40

    CHAPTER 41

    CHAPTER 42

    CHAPTER 43

    Teaser chapter

    PINNACLE BOOKS are published by

    Kensington Publishing Corp.

    119 West 40th Street

    New York, NY 10018

    Copyright © 2017 J. A. Johnstone

    All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

    PUBLISHER’S NOTE

    Following the death of William W. Johnstone, the Johnstone family is working with a carefully selected writer to organize and complete Mr. Johnstone’s outlines and many unfinished manuscripts to create additional novels in all of his series like The Last Gunfighter, Mountain Man, and Eagles, among others. This novel was inspired by Mr. Johnstone’s superb storytelling.

    If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as unsold and destroyed to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book.

    PINNACLE BOOKS, the Pinnacle logo, and the WWJ steer head logo, are Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

    ISBN: 978-0-7860-4058-2

    First Kensington hardcover printing: July 2017

    First Pinnacle mass market printing: November 2017

    First electronic edition: November 2017

    ISBN-13: 978-0-7860-4079-7

    ISBN-10: 0-7860-4079-3

    Belgium, December 1944

    Gun-thunder filled the forest. Artillery shells screamed overhead, machine guns chattered, and rifles cracked, all punctuated by the occasional boom of a pistol. It was a terrible symphony of death and destruction, accompanied by the near-constant flashing of muzzle flame that made the forest almost as bright as day.

    When the shooting stopped, as it always did sooner or later, an eerie, echoing silence settled down over the war-torn landscape, along with the thick gloom of the cold night.

    Corporal Wallace leaned back from the M1919A4. 30 caliber machine gun and breathed heavily as he tried to calm his galloping pulse. Beside him, Private Bexley, the assistant gunner, cursed softly, over and over.

    He finally eased up on the profanity The Krauts nearly settled our hash that time, didn’t they?

    Before Wallace could answer, a deep, calm, steady voice came from behind the two machine gunners. Wasn’t even close. We’ve got the bastards right where we want ’em.

    Wallace glanced over his shoulder. That’s right, Sarge. When there’s so many of them and so few of us, and they’re all around us, you don’t even have to worry about aimin’. Just point a gun and shoot, and you’re bound to hit a German.

    Sarge moved up beside the .30 cal, hunkered on his heels, and chuckled. Now you’re thinkin’, Wallace.

    Thorp, a private from Indiana, called from behind the tree where he had taken cover. If we’ve got ’em on the run, Sarge, how come we ain’t out there chasin’ after ’em?

    Well, we’re tryin’ not to take advantage of them. Wouldn’t hardly be fair. No, we’ll stay here and let ’em come visitin’ again when they’re good and ready.

    They’re gonna kill us all, another voice said.

    Sarge’s head swung around sharply toward the private who had spoken. "Can that talk, Mitchell! Our orders are to hold this position, and that’s what we’re gonna do. That means stayin’ alive. Nobody in my squad is gonna disobey orders, so get this through your head right now. The Krauts are not gonna kill you, and they’re not gettin’ through here! Sarge blew out his breath in a dismissive sound. Simple as that."

    Silence hung over the woods for a moment, then the squad’s sixth and final man, Hogan, said, Sarge is right. We don’t have to worry about the Krauts. Now, starvin’ or freezin’ to death, that’s a whole other matter entirely, right, Sarge?

    The noncom had to laugh at Hogan’s dry tone. I can’t argue with you there, Private.

    The half-dozen men were quiet. It was unlikely the Germans would attack again in the night, but it was a good idea to keep an ear open since it was hard for men to move through the woods in the dark without making some noise. The thin layer of snow on the ground could muffle their steps.

    After a while, Wallace said quietly, It sure is cold. From Florida, he wasn’t accustomed to frigid weather.

    That’s the way it gets in December in this part of the world, Sarge said. For what it’s worth, I don’t much cotton to it either, Wallace. Back in the part of Arizona where I grew up, we usually don’t get weather like this, even in December. Hardly ever even got down to freezin’.

    Must not have seemed much like Christmas, Thorp said. Hell, back home in Indiana, nearly a foot of snow was always on the ground when Christmastime rolled around.

    Yeah, at least here we’ve got snow on the ground for Christmas, Hogan said. And lots of little Santa Clauses waitin’ out there in the woods to deliver presents to us.

    Mitchell said, We’ll never live to see Christmas.

    Damn it, Sarge rasped. What’d I tell you about talk like that, Mitchell? Stow it!

    Mitchell was stretched out behind a deadfall where he had kicked some snow out of the way. Propped up on his elbows, he could shoot over the log. He twisted around and said, There are too many of them, Sarge, and they’ve got us surrounded! You can joke about it all you want, but that’s the truth! We’re almost out of rations and ammo, and as long as this overcast holds, they can’t drop in any more to us. It’s only a matter of time until the Germans overrun us and slaughter us all.

    Sarge let him spew the words. Dogfaces had to bitch. That was just the way it was. He was hearing more than the usual griping, though. Mitchell’s near-hysterics could ruin morale. When the private fell silent, Sarge said in scathing tones, You got it all out of your system now, Mitchell?

    I don’t see why the brass doesn’t just surrender, Mitchell said bleakly.

    Because they don’t have any backup in ’em, Sarge said, and neither do I. I learned a long time ago, listening to my grandpa talk, that you don’t give up, no matter how bad the odds may seem. As long as you’re drawing breath, you keep fightin’, because you never know what’s gonna happen. Things can take a turn you never expect.

    Your damn grandpa never had to fight off thousands of Nazis!

    Sarge straightened and took a quick step toward Mitchell, but he stopped himself before he completely lost control of his temper. The tension in his voice revealed how he was trying to rein in his anger. Maybe not, but he was in a few mighty tight spots in his time, and he got out of every one of ’em because he never gave up. Sure, he had some help from his friends, but none of us are alone here, either. If we stick together and keep fightin’ and never give up, we’ll come through this just like Gramps did back in Arizona one Christmas when all hell broke loose.

    Sounds like a good story, Sarge, Wallace said. Why don’t you tell it?

    Yeah, Hogan chimed in. Maybe it’ll keep us from thinkin’ about how cold and hungry we are.

    Sarge thought for a moment and then nodded. It just might. It all happened a long time ago. Almost sixty years ago, when Arizona was still a pretty wild and woolly place.

    Were there cowboys and Indians? Bexley asked. Back in Brooklyn, I went to the movies every Saturday, and I always loved them cowboy pictures.

    Yeah, there were cowboys and Indians and a bunch of other folks, Sarge said, moving over to sit on another log. An artillery shell had landed a few yards away, back in the opening days of the German offensive, and knocked quite a few trees over. The whole thing actually got started before Christmas, and it wasn’t in Arizona, either. That was in Colorado, in a settlement called Big Rock . . .

    CHAPTER 1

    Smoke Jensen dropped to one knee and fired twice. Flame licked from the muzzle of the Colt in his hand.

    On the other side of the main street in Big Rock, Colorado, the man Smoke had just shot staggered back toward the plate-glass window of a store. He pressed his hand to his chest. The palm was big enough to cover both bullet holes. Blood welled from the wounds and dripped between his splayed fingers.

    He went over backwards in a crash of shattering glass.

    That didn’t mean the danger was over. A slug whipped through the air only inches from Smoke’s left ear. He dived forward, off the boardwalk, and landed behind a water trough. Bullets thudded against the other side of the trough. A few plunked into the water.

    Smoke had seen four other outlaws besides the man he had shot. From the sound of the guns going off, all of them were trying to fill him full of lead.

    Hoofbeats pounded in the street. A man yelled, I got the horses! Come on!

    They believed they had him pinned down, Smoke thought. They figured if they kept throwing lead at him, he couldn’t do a thing to stop them from getting away.

    They were about to find out how wrong they were.

    No doubt spooked by all the gunfire, the horses stomped around in the street, making it more difficult for the outlaws to mount up.

    Smoke thumbed more cartridges from his shell belt into the .45’s empty chambers. Then he rolled out into the open again, tipped the Colt’s barrel up, and fired.

    The outlaws had managed to swing up into their saddles. Smoke’s slug ripped into the chest of the man leading the gang’s attempt at a getaway. He jerked back in the saddle and hauled so hard on the reins that his horse reared up wildly.

    The man right behind him tried to avoid the rearing horse but was too close. The two mounts collided and went down, spilling their riders.

    Smoke pushed himself up and triggered again. His bullet shattered the shoulder of the third man in line and caused him to pitch out of the saddle with his left foot caught in the stirrup. As the horse continued galloping down the street, the wounded outlaw was dragged through the dirt past Smoke.

    The fourth man fired wildly, several shots exploding from the gun in his hand. Smoke didn’t know where the bullets landed, but he hoped no innocent bystanders were hurt. To lessen the chances of that happening, he took a second to line up his shot and coolly put a bullet in the outlaw’s head.

    That left one man in the gang who wasn’t wounded or dead, the one who had been thrown when the two horses rammed into each other. He scrambled to his feet as soon as he got his wits back about him, but as Smoke’s gun swung toward him, his hands shot in the air, as high above his head as he could reach.

    Don’t shoot! he begged. For God’s sake, mister, don’t kill me!

    Smoke came smoothly to his feet. He was only medium height, but his powerfully muscled body, including exceptionally broad shoulders, made him seem bigger. His ruggedly handsome face was topped by ash blond hair, uncovered because his brown Stetson had flown off when he threw himself behind the water trough.

    The gun in his hand was rock steady as he covered the remaining outlaw. From the corner of his eye, he saw his old friend Sheriff Monte Carson running along the street toward him. Monte had a shotgun in his capable hands.

    One in the store over there, Smoke said, nodding toward the building with the broken front window. The others are all here close by, except for the one whose horse dragged him off down the street.

    I’ll check on them while you cover that hombre, Monte said. Not much doubt that they’re all dead, though.

    How do you figure that? Smoke asked.

    You shot ’em, didn’t you? A grim smile appeared on the lawman’s weathered face.

    Smoke knew the question was rhetorical so he didn’t answer. He told the man he had captured, Take that gun out of your holster and toss it away. Slow and careful-like. You wouldn’t want to make me nervous.

    The idea of the famous gunfighter Smoke Jensen ever being nervous about anything was pretty farfetched, but not impossible. He had loved ones, and like anybody else, sometimes he feared for their safety.

    Not his own, though. He had confidence in his own abilities. Anyway, he had already lived such an adventurous life, he figured he was on borrowed time, so a fatalistic streak ran through him. If there was a bullet out there somewhere with his name on it, it would find him one of these days. Until then, he wasn’t going to waste time worrying about it.

    The surviving outlaw followed Smoke’s orders, using his left hand to reach across his body and take out the iron he had pouched when he mounted up to flee. With just a couple fingers, he slid the gun from leather, tossed it aside, and thrust his hands high in the air again. Then he swallowed hard. No need to shoot me, Mr. Jensen. I done what you told me.

    How do you know who I am? Smoke asked with a slight frown. Although he had spent quite a few years with a reputation, first as a notorious outlaw—totally unjustified charges, by the way—and then as one of the fastest men with a Colt ever to buckle on a gunbelt, he was still naturally modest enough to be surprised sometimes when folks knew who he was.

    Who the hell else could you be? the captured outlaw asked. "You shot four fellas in less time than it takes to tell the tale. I warned Gallagher we shouldn’t try it right here in town. I told him. I said, Monte Carson’s a pretty tough law dog to start with, and Smoke Jensen lives near Big Rock and we’d be liable to run into him . . . into you, that is, Mr. Jensen . . . and I said that’s just too big a risk to run, and sure enough—"

    What’s this varmint babbling about? Monte asked as he walked back up to Smoke with the scattergun tucked under his arm.

    Claims he didn’t want to pull this job and warned the boss they shouldn’t do it, Smoke explained with a trace of amusement in his voice.

    Well, he must not have argued too hard. He’s here, ain’t he?

    In the flesh, Smoke agreed.

    The frightened outlaw looked at both men. You reckon I could put my arms down? They’re getting’ sort of tired.

    Monte shifted the Greener and covered him. All right, but if you try anything funny, this buckshot’ll splatter you all over the street.

    No tricks, Sheriff. You got my word on that. The man licked his lips. I just want to take what I got comin’ and get outta this without bein’ hung or shot.

    Behave yourself and you won’t get shot. As for being strung up, well, that’s up to a judge and jury, not me. Monte glanced over at Smoke. The other four are dead, by the way, just like I figured. The one you shot in the shoulder might’ve lived if he hadn’t gotten dragged down the street with his head bouncing until it busted open.

    Smoke was reloading the Colt. He left an empty chamber for the hammer to rest on then slid the gun back into its holster. Bad luck tends to dog a fella’s trail when he starts riding the owlhoot.

    What were these varmints after, anyway?

    Don’t know, Smoke replied with a shake of his head. I saw them come running out of the freight company office while I was on my way down to the train station. He nodded toward several canvas bags the outlaws had slung on their saddles as they tried to make their getaway. I’d check those bags.

    Monte squinted over the shotgun’s barrels at the prisoner.

    Or I could just ask this varmint, and if he knows what’s good for him, he’ll answer.

    Money, of course, the outlaw volunteered quickly. We got a tip that a fella named Reilly was having a payroll brought in by freight wagon, rather than on the train. He figured it’d be safer that way, since nobody would know the money was hidden in some sacks of flour.

    Monte frowned. Jackson Reilly, the rancher? He’s sort of an oddball. That sounds like something he’d do. You know him, Smoke?

    Met him once or twice, Smoke said in his usual laconic fashion. Wouldn’t say I know him all that well. He’s been in these parts less than a year.

    I’ve heard him say he doesn’t trust banks. Appears he doesn’t trust the railroad, either.

    Now that the shooting was over, quite a few of the citizens who had scrambled for cover earlier were coming back out to gawk at the sprawled bodies of the outlaws and stare at Smoke, Monte, and the prisoner. A ripple of laughter suddenly went through them. The man walking toward them was covered in white powder that clung to his clothes, his hair, and his mustache.

    Smoke recognized Angus Mullen, one of the clerks from the freight office. He smiled and said, Angus, you look like you got caught in a snowstorm.

    There’ll be snow soon enough, Mullen said as he slapped at himself and raised a little floating cloud of white. This is flour! Those scoundrels were cutting bags open and throwing them around the office.

    Smoke nodded. Now that he took a closer look, he could see that some of the bandits were dusted with flour as well, although not nearly to the extent that Mullen was.

    Who the hell had the bright idea of hiding money in flour sacks? the clerk went on.

    You should check your manifests, Smoke suggested. I’ll bet those sacks were being held for Jackson Reilly.

    Mullen grimaced and scratched his jaw. Yeah, now that you mention it, I reckon that’s right, he admitted. I’ll have to have a talk with Mr. Reilly. The freight company has rules about this sorta thing, you know!

    You do that, Angus. Monte jerked the shotgun’s barrels in a curt gesture to the prisoner. You march on down to the jail now. Smoke, thanks like always for lending a hand. You sure keep the undertaker busy.

    Not by choice, Smoke said. I’m a peaceable man.

    Monte just snorted and prodded the prisoner into marching toward the jail. Smoke returned to the errand that had brought him to Big Rock. He had come to meet the westbound train, which would soon be delivering his wife Sally to him.

    He’d been early, so he had parked the buckboard at the station and walked back up to Longmont’s Saloon for a cup of coffee and a visit with his old friend Louis Longmont. As the time for the train to arrive had approached, Smoke had said his good-byes and started for the depot again.

    He had spotted the outlaws and recognized trouble in the making right away. When he’d called out for them to hold it, a man across the street, who had probably been posted as a lookout, opened fire on him.

    Smoke hadn’t wasted time asking any questions. Anybody shot at him, he regarded it as a declaration of war and proceeded accordingly.

    And anybody not prepared to back it up hadn’t ought to slap leather in the first place, as far as Smoke Jensen was concerned.

    A thin overcast hung in the sky, thickening into darker clouds over the mountains. Avery Mullen was right. There would be snow soon enough. But that was expected in the fall in the Colorado high country. Smoke had seen plenty of snow and never minded it. The brisk nip in the air felt pretty doggoned good, in fact.

    The shoot-out with the would-be thieves had delayed him some, but the train still hadn’t rolled in. As he walked out onto the platform after crossing the station lobby, he heard the locomotive’s shrill whistle in the distance, heralding the train’s arrival.

    A few people on the platform were waiting to board, others looked more like they were there to meet someone . . . like Smoke was. He smiled and nodded pleasantly to several he knew.

    It was impossible not to notice a few folks whispering to each other behind their hands. Smoke wasn’t so full of himself that he assumed they were talking about him, but given the recent ruckus, it made sense if they were.

    Smoke knew he was famous—or infamous, depending on how you looked at it—but it wasn’t anything he had ever set out to be. All those years ago, in the hardscrabble days right after the war, when he and his pa Emmett had left the farm in Missouri and headed west, all young Kirby Jensen had been interested in was getting by from day to day. That was before he’d met the old mountain man called Preacher, who had dubbed him Smoke because of his speed with a gun, and before he’d set out on the vengeance quest that had changed the course of his life forever.

    Smoke preferred not to dwell on that.

    Anyway, the train was pulling in, with smoke puffing from the diamond-shaped stack on the big Baldwin locomotive, and as it came to a stop he looked toward the passenger cars, eager to catch a glimpse of the woman he loved.

    There she was! Sally stepped down from one of the cars, graceful as always. She looked up as Smoke came toward her, and a smile appeared on her face, making her more beautiful than ever.

    Then she was in Smoke’s arms and his lips were on hers, and he wasn’t going to waste one bit of time or energy thinking about anything else for a while.

    CHAPTER 2

    I’ve had an idea, Sally said a few minutes later, turning in her seat as Smoke lifted her valise and carpetbag into the back of the buckboard.

    Some men might feel uneasy when their wives said something like that, but not Smoke. Sally was as intelligent as she was lovely, and any idea she had was liable to be a good one.

    He swung up beside her and reached for the reins hitched to the pair of horses. What’s your idea?

    Where are Matt and Luke these days?

    Smoke thought about the question. His brothers tended to travel around quite a bit. Luke was a bounty hunter, so his work took him all over. Matt was a drifter as well, holding a variety of jobs in as many places.

    Last I heard, Matt was in Nevada, working as a guard on shipments from a silver mine in the Comstock Lode. Luke was in northern California, on the trail of some outlaw, I suppose. Why? What did you have in mind?

    Well, Christmas is coming up in a couple months . . .

    Smoke tried not to wince. Christmas had become sort of a sore spot with the Jensen clan. Every time it rolled around, so did all sorts of trouble. Gun trouble, usually, and often accompanied by some sort of natural disaster.

    You think we ought to ask them to come to the Sugarloaf again? Smoke asked as he twitched the reins and got the team moving. That didn’t work out too well last time.

    On the contrary, we’re all still alive, and we did some good for those orphans. Anyway, I wasn’t thinking about having them come to the ranch. To be honest, I’m not sure I’m up to throwing a big Christmas fandango again.

    So what did you have in mind?

    I thought maybe we could take a holiday trip and meet Matt and Luke somewhere. And Preacher, too, of course.

    I have no idea where that old pelican is. You know Preacher. He’s not much for staying in touch. So he might be anywhere. Smoke paused. I suppose I could send letters to most of his old haunts, though. Saloons and trading posts and, uh, certain other places where he always stops in whenever he’s passing through the different areas.

    Certain other places, Sally repeated as a smile played around her mouth. Houses of ill repute, you mean.

    He says he enjoys the piano music most of ’em provide in their parlors. Or so I’ve heard tell.

    Sally laughed. You don’t have to dance around the subject with me, Smoke. I know you had a life before you met me.

    Smoke sobered, and so did Sally. Their banter had led them into memories of a dark time in Smoke’s life when he’d had a wife and a son, both murdered by brutal enemies.

    Having left Big Rock behind, Smoke flicked the reins and got the team moving a little faster. The wind had picked up, and he wanted to get back to the ranch before it started to rain.

    To lighten the mood, he turned the conversation back to the idea Sally had proposed. Just where would this Christmas trip take us? Where would we meet Matt and Luke and Preacher, if we can get word to them in time?

    What about somewhere in Arizona? If they’re in California and Nevada, and we’re in Colorado, that’s sort of a central meeting place, don’t you think?

    Smoke considered the suggestion and nodded. Tucson, maybe. Been awhile since I’ve been there. He chuckled. Wouldn’t have to worry about getting caught in a blizzard or an avalanche.

    See, you’re warming up to the idea.

    Pearlie and Cal and the rest of the crew would be able to take care of things at the Sugarloaf.

    Of course they would.

    I kind of like it, Smoke admitted. I reckon I’ll sit down tonight after supper and write some letters, see if I can round up the boys in time.

    Sally squeezed his arm and leaned against him. I think we’ll have a fine time.

    Any time I’m with you, darlin’, it’s always a fine time, Smoke said as he slipped an arm around his wife’s shoulders and held her.

    * * *

    He was getting too old for this, Luke Jensen thought as he ducked lower behind the overturned table and listened to the bullets thudding into it.

    Almost a quarter of a century had gone by since he had ridden off from the Missouri farm to join the army and send the Yankee invaders back where they came from. That hadn’t worked out too well, and ever since, violence had dogged his trail.

    Of course, a lot of that was his own fault. Nobody had forced him to take up bounty hunting after the war. Some might say fate had led him to

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