Silver Creek - G.L. Snodgrass Page 0,7
she raised the pot just the slightest, letting him know she’d use it if necessary.
His eyes narrowed as he stopped pulling at her but instead tightened his hold. “You know Rebecca,. A pretty woman like you. There are easier ways to make money.”
“Here, that looks heavy,” Troy Cooper said as he stood and pulled the coffee pot from her hand before she could think to stop him.
Rebecca felt her world grow cold as her only weapon was lost to her.
Her insides shook with shock. She pulled at Felton’s grip, desperate to get away when the front door opened again.
She turned to see a soldier step in. She turned back, still trying to pull her arm free. Felton smiled up at her, obviously enjoying the distress he was causing.
Desperate to find some kind of weapon. She grabbed the china sugar bowl off the table. The bowl was barely off the table when a new feeling of shock filled her.
The soldier, no, it couldn’t be. Turning back, she stared, unable to believe her eyes.
The man stood there, a cavalryman’s deep blue hat with gold braid. A double-breasted blue army shirt without insignia tight across a broad chest and wide shoulders. Denim pants and polished boots with a sheen of dust.
No, it couldn’t be she thought as she slowly looked into his eyes.
“Hello Becky,” he said with a tip of his hat.
The sugar bowl dropped from her hand to crash into a thousand pieces.
“Luke?” she whispered as her world slammed to a halt.
Chapter Four
Luke Parker’s gut tightened as he looked down at the hand gripping Becky’s wrist. A cold feeling of hate-filled him as he stepped forward.
“The lady ain’t enjoying your attention,” he said to the cowboy.
The man frowned then laughed. “You don’t know where you're messing about, soldier boy.”
Luke ground his teeth as he stepped towards the man. Something finally registered in the cowboy’s eyes as he let Becky’s hand go and pushed back his chair. Both he and his friend stood to confront their new threat.
A coldness settled over the room as men behind the pair backed away, unwilling to be caught in a crossfire. As it always did just before battle, Luke’s awareness sharpened. Narrowed down to only that which was important. The second cowboy was the true threat he realized. This idiot in front of him was a puffed-up braggart without the sense God gave a goat.
From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Becky. Her mouth, open in shock, staring at him as if she’d found a ghost.
The thought that these men had been bothering her, sent a coldness through his body. The girl was too special. She deserved to be treated like a lady, not some common harlot. And the fact that these men couldn’t see that was something that couldn’t be allowed to continue.
Luke focused on the man in front of him. “Are all you cowboys dumb? Or, are you a special case? A lady like Miss Rebecca Johnson isn’t for the likes of you.”
The color drained from the man’s face as he kicked back at his chair and reached for his gun. But his friend behind him was even faster, his gun clearing leather only to find Luke standing before them with his .44 Army colt drawn and cocked.”
Both cowboys froze as a slow awareness settled over them when they realized that he had every right to shoot them where they stood. Their eyes grew big as they stared down at the revolver in his hand. He could see it on their faces. No man was that fast. But then they hadn’t been taught by Zion Campbell.
“Now then,” Luke said with a dry tone that couldn’t be ignored. “Why don’t we leave those guns where they belong. You say your apologies to the lady and then be on your way.”
Both men remained rock still, afraid to move less he take it as the wrong move and fire.
Luke nodded at their guns, encouraging them to do what he had said. Finally, after a long awkward moment, both men allowed their guns to fall back into their holsters.
“Now the apology,” he said as he stared into the eyes of the first cowboy.
The man stared back with a burning hate. Luke could see it was obvious the man despised the idea of saying he was wrong. In fact, he wouldn’t be surprised to learn he’d never done it before.
The second cowboy, the one behind, glanced at his finger on the trigger then back up into his