The Taylor County War (17 page)

“Drunkards and reprobates, that’s
what you are,” she said. “If my husband Seth were still alive and
running this town he wouldn’t stand for it, I assure you. You’ll
both die on these streets, no doubt of that, but I shudder to think
how many decent people will perish before you. Good day.”

She stalked away, and the lawmen
stood silently in her wake for a long moment. Then Satterlee broke
the silence.

“She ain’t far wrong, for a
change,” he said. “Seems like this place is gettin’ worse instead
of better.”

Sam nodded. “I’m tempted to ride
out to Rogers’ place and just blow his brains out. Then come back
to town and plug Ira Breedlove and Dab Henry, just on principle,
before they stir up more trouble, too.”

The sheriff sighed. “Yeah, I know,”
he said.

Sam stared hard at his friend. “I
ain’t joking, G. W.”

“I know you’re not. But that would
just make things worse all the way around.”

“Maybe, but it would feel good to
start with.”

“Rogers may think he got away with
what he did,” Satterlee said, “but he’s wrong. We’ll find a way to
make him pay. From the right side of the law. I aim to watch him
like a hawk –he’s bound to slip up, and when he does we’ll be right
there to bring him down. I swear it.”

Sam clapped his friend on the
shoulder. “Deal,” he said. “Until then, I promise I’ll try to keep
my righteous sword of fury under control. For now, why don’t we go
get a drink and see if we can wash this taste out of our
mouths.”

“All right,” Satterlee said, and
they walked back into town.

But they both knew it wouldn’t wash
out.

THE END

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

DOUGLAS HIRT

Taking to heart the admonition of Horace
Greeley, I headed west to New Mexico back in the days when the
Beatles were singing about Lucy and the Beach Boys about Little
Deuce Coupes. There I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at the
College of Santa Fe, and later a Master of Science Degree at
Eastern New Mexico University. It was just about this time that I
decided I’d rather write books for a living than work a 9-5
job.

I started out spinning western yarns for
Doubleday, and then for Dell, Berkley/Jove, and later Leisure and
RiverOak. Lately I’ve been poking a stick at this new monster
called e-books. Over the years I’ve written historical novels,
westerns, science fiction, Christian fantasy, and a bit of
nonfiction. When I’m not writing, you’ll likely find me tinkering
with an old MG or Triumph, or daydreaming about a cabin on a lake
in the North Woods with a stack of vintage Clifford Simak novels at
my elbow.

A partial list of my works can be found at
www.DouglasHirt.com
.

CLAY MORE

My real name is Keith Souter and I was born
in St Andrews in Scotland. I studied Medicine at Dundee University
and then practiced as a family doctor in the city of Wakefield in
England for thirty years. While I was at medical school I started
to write children’s stories for a family magazine, but after
qualifying as a doctor the exigencies of the job were such that the
focus of my writing was on medicine. I have also been a health
columnist for almost thirty years and have written about a dozen
medical and health books
.
In addition I write non-fiction
books including
Schoolboy Science Remembered; The Pocket Guide
to Dice and Dice Games; The Little Book of Genius; The Little Book
of Golf; Medical Meddlers, Mediums and Magicians – the Victorian
Age of Credulity
and
The Classic Guide to King Arthur.
Using the pen-name of Clay More I write traditional westerns with
the Black Horse Westerns imprint of Hale of London:
Raw Deal at
Pasco Springs; Nemesis for the Judge; Double-Dealing at Dirtville;
A Rope for Scudder
and
Stampede at Rattlesnake Pass.
I
also write Scottish-based crime novels as Keith Moray for Hale:
The Gathering Murders; Deathly Wind; Murder Solstice
and
Flotsam and Jestsam.
In 2006 I won a Fish Prize for my short
historical story
A Villain’s Tale
and writing as Keith
Souter started a series of historical mysteries set around Sandal
Castle, the ruined medieval castle that I live within arrowshot of:
The Pardoner’s Crime
and
The Fool’s Folly
. In the
summer of 2012 the first in my series of Victorian children’s
adventures begins with
The Curse of the Body Snatchers
by
G-Press. My website is
www.keithsouter.co.uk
and my blog is
http://west-uist-chronicle.blogspot.co.uk

[I am a member of the Society of Authors, The
Crime Writers’ Association, Medical Journalists’ Association,
International Thriller Writers, Western Writers of America and
Western Fictioneers.]

MATTHEW PIZZOLATO

I've been both a reader and a writer all of
my life.  My love for writing grew from my love of reading.
 I've written in several genres, but Westerns are my
preference.  I write them primarily because I was born in the
wrong century.  I grew up reading Louis L'Amour and he remains
by biggest influence.  

My work has appeared in
numerous publications both online and in print.  I am the
author of the Western short story collection,
The Wanted Man,
and of the
novella,
Outlaw
,
both of which feature my antihero character Wesley
Quaid.
  
My home on the web is www.matthew-pizzolato.com and I can be
found on Twitter @mattpizzolato.  When I'm not writing, I work
as the editor and webmaster of
The Western
Online
, an online magazine dedicated to
the Old West. 

JAMES REASONER

I write novels and short stories for money
(although I'll occasionally write a short story for a non-paying
market if it's something I really want to do) and book and movie
reviews for fun on my blog, which can be found at
http://jamesreasoner.blogspot.com
. 
I started out as a mystery writer nearly 35 years ago and still
work in that genre and others, but I've done more Westerns than
anything else.  I've been married to best-selling,
award-winning author, uncredited collaborator, editor,
and plotter Livia J. Washburn for nearly 35 years.  (Note
the similarity between the length of my marriage and the length of
my writing career.  Coincidence?  I don't think
so.)  We live in the same small town in Texas where we both
grew up, although it's not so small anymore.  (We have a
Wal-Mart now!)  After all these years, I still love to write
and can't imagine doing anything else.  My website is
www.jamesreasoner.net
. 

TROY D. SMITH

I am from the Upper Cumberland region of
Tennessee. My work has appeared in many anthologies, and in
journals such as
Louis L'Amour Western Magazine, Civil War
Times,
and
Wild West.
In addition, I’ve written novels
in several genres—from mysteries like
Cross Road Blues
to
the Civil War epic
Good Rebel Soil
. My other Civil War epic,
Bound for the Promise-Land,
won a Spur Award in 2001 and I
was a finalist on two other occasions. Two of my short stories are
finalists for this year's Peacemaker Award for western fiction. In
a massive lapse of collective judgment, the membership of Western
Fictioneers elected me president for 2012. I received my Ph.D. from
the University of Illinois, and teach American Indian history at
Tennessee Tech. My motto is: “I don’t write about things that
happen to people, I write about people that things happen to.” My
website is
www.troyduanesmith.com
, and my blog is
http://tnwordsmith.blogspot.com
.

CHUCK TYRELL

I was born and raised in Arizona and worked
stock and farmed until I ran away to college and never went back. I
decided I wanted to make my living as a writer in 1975. Up until
that time, I’d been a marketing and advertising person. I took a
correspondence course on writing for magazines, and sold my first
article in 1976, when I was working at a newspaper and DJ-ing on
nighttime radio at the same time. Since that first sale, I’ve had
very few articles turned down. Now, of course, I write them only on
assignment. Also in 1976, I won the Editor and Publisher Magazine
award for the best direct mail campaign for a small newspaper in
the United States.By 1977, I earned my entire living with my
typewriter, writing ads, annual reports, newsletters, magazine
articles, and sometimes a newspaper article.

I’ve read westerns all my life. The first one I
remember was Smokey, by Will James. I read everything I could find,
living far away from the west in Japan. In 1979, I wrote a western
novel for a Louis L’Amour write-alike contest. Didn’t win. Decided
I could not write fiction. The typewritten manuscript occupied a
bottom desk drawer until 2000. I dusted it off and edited it as I
input it into a computer file. Sent it off to a publisher, Robert
Hale Ltd., in London. They bought it providing I’d cut it down to
40,000 words. The novel is now known as
Vulture Gold
, the
first of the Havelock novels.

Besides awards in advertising and article writing, a
short story won the 2010 Oaxaca International Literature
Competition and my novel
The Snake Den
won the 2011 Global
eBook Award for western fiction. Other than that, I just write
westerns and fantasy. My home is in Japan, where I live with one
wife and one dog and one father-in-law, visited quite often by
daughters and grandkids. I write most of my fiction by longhand,
usually at Starbucks. Other writing I do on the laptop. My website
is
www.chucktyrell.com
and my blog is
www.chucktyrell-outlawjournal.blogspot.com
I
have a number of short stories lying around in various
anthologies.

The Wolf Creek series:

Book 1: Bloody Trail

Book 2: Kiowa Vengeance

Book 3: Dogleg City

Book 4: The Taylor County War

Coming Soon:
Book 5: Showdown at Demon’s
Drop

Also from Western Fictioneers:

www.westernfictioneers.com