The lonesome gun, p.1
The Lonesome Gun, page 1
LOOK FOR THESE EXCITING WESTERN SERIES
FROM BESTSELLING AUTHORS
WILLIAM W. JOHNSTONE AND J.A. JOHNSTONE
The Mountain Man
Luke Jensen: Bounty Hunter
Brannigan’s Land
The Jensen Brand
Smoke Jensen: The Beginning
Preacher and MacCallister
Fort Misery
The Fighting O’Neils
Perley Gates
MacCoole and Boone
Guns of the Vigilantes
Shotgun Johnny
The Chuckwagon Trail
The Jackals
The Slash and Pecos Westerns
The Texas Moonshiners
Stoneface Finnegan Westerns
Ben Savage: Saloon Ranger
The Buck Trammel Westerns
The Death and Texas Westerns
The Hunter Buchanon Westerns
Will Tanner, Deputy U.S. Marshal
Old Cowboys Never Die
Go West, Young Man
Published by Kensington Publishing Corp.
THE LONESOME GUM
A PERLEY GATES WESTERN
WILLIAM W. JOHNSTONE AND J.A. JOHNSTONE
PINNACLE BOOKS
Kensington Publishing Corp.
www.kensingtonbooks.com
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
Teaser chapter
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Copyright © 2023 by J.A. Johnstone
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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.
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ISBN: 978-0-7860-4979-0
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CHAPTER 1
“Becky, another hungry customer just walked in,” Lucy Tate said. “I’m getting some more coffee for my tables. Can you wait on him? He looks like trouble.” She looked at Beulah Walsh and winked, so Beulah knew she was up to some mischief.
“I was just fixing to wash up some more cups,” Becky said. “We’re about to run out of clean ones. Can he wait a minute?”
“I don’t know,” Lucy answered. “He looks like he’s the impatient kind. He might make a big scene if somebody doesn’t wait on him pretty quick.”
“I don’t want to make a customer mad,” Beulah said as she aimed a mischievous grin in Lucy’s direction. “Maybe I can go get him seated.”
“Oh my goodness, no,” Becky said. “I’ll go take care of him.” She was sure there was no reason why Lucy couldn’t have taken care of a new customer instead of leaving Beulah to do it. Beulah was busy enough as cook and owner. Becky dried her hands on a dishtowel and hurried out into the hotel dining room. Lucy and Beulah hurried right after her as far as the door, where they stopped to watch Becky’s reaction.
“Perley!” Becky exclaimed joyfully, and she ran to meet him. Surprised by her exuberance, he staggered a couple of steps when she locked her arms around his neck. “I thought you were never coming home,” she said. “You didn’t say you were gonna be gone so long.”
“I didn’t think I would be,” Perley said. “We were just supposed to deliver a small herd of horses to a ranch near Texarkana, but we ran into some things we hadn’t counted on, And that held us up, pretty much. I got back as quick as I could. Sonny Rice went with Possum and me, and he ain’t back yet.” She started to ask why, but he said, “I’ll tell you all about it, if you’ll get me something to eat.”
“Sit down, sweetie,” she said, “and I’ll go get you started.” He looked around quickly to see if anyone had heard what she called him, but it was too late. He saw Lucy and Beulah grinning at him from the kitchen door. Becky led him to a table right outside the kitchen door and sat him down while she went to get his coffee. “I was just washing up some cups when you came in. I must have known I needed a nice clean cup for someone special.”
He was both delighted and embarrassed over the attention she gave him. And he wanted to tell her he’d prefer that she didn’t do it in public, but he was afraid he might hurt her feelings if he did. Unfortunately, Lucy and Beulah were not the only witnesses to Becky’s show of affection for the man she had been not-so-secretly in love with for a couple of years. Finding it especially entertaining, two drifters on their way to Indian Territory across the Red River spoke up when Becky came back with Perley’s coffee.
“Hey, darlin’,” Rafer Samson called out, “bring that coffeepot out here. Sweetie ain’t the only one that wants coffee. You’d share some of that coffee, wouldn’t you, sweetie?”
“Dang, Rafer,” his partner joined in. “You’d best watch what you’re sayin’. Ol’ sweetie might not like you callin’ him that. He might send that waitress over here to take care of you.”
That was as far as they got before Lucy stepped in to put a stop to it. “Listen fellows, why don’t you give it a rest? Don’t you like the way I’ve been taking care of you? We’ve got a fresh pot of coffee brewing on the stove right now. I’ll make sure you get the first cups poured out of it, all right?”
“I swear,” Rafer said. “Does he always let you women do the talkin’ for him?”
“Listen, you two boneheads,” Lucy warned, “I’m trying to save you from going too far with what you might think is fun. Don’t force Perley Gates into something that you don’t wanna be any part of.”
“Ha!” Rafer barked. “Who’d you say? Pearly somethin’?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Lucy said, realizing she shouldn’t have spoken Perley’s name. “You two look old enough to know how to behave. Don’t start any trouble. Just eat your dinner, and I’ll see that you get fresh coffee as soon as it’s ready.”
But Rafer was sure he had touched a sensitive spot the women in the dining room held for the mild-looking young man. “What did she call him, Deke? Pearly somethin’?”
“Sounded like she said Pearly Gates,” Deke answered. “I swear it did.”
“Pearly Gates!” Rafer blurted loud enough for everyone in the dining room to hear. “His mama named him Pearly Gates!”
Lucy made one more try. “All right, you’ve had your fun. He’s got an unusual name. How about dropping it now, outta respect for the rest of the folks eating their dinner in here?”
“To hell with the rest of the folks in here,” Rafe responded, seeming to take offense. “I’ll say what I damn well please. It ain’t up to you, nohow. If he don’t like it, he knows where I’m settin’.”
Lucy could see she was getting nowhere. “You keep it up, and you’re liable to find out a secret that only the folks in Paris, Texas, know. And you ain’t gonna like it.”
“Thanks for the warnin’, darlin’. I surely don’t want to learn his secret. Now go get us some more coffee.” As soon as she walked away, he called out, “Hey, tater, is your name Pearly Gates?”
Knowing he could ignore the two no longer, Perley answered. “That’s right,” he said. “I was named after my grandpa. Perley was his name. It sounds like the Pearly Gates up in heaven, but it ain’t spelt the same.”
“Well, you gotta be some kinda sweet little girlie-boy to walk around with a name like that,” Rafer declared. “Ain’t that right, Deke?”
“That’s right, Rafer,” Deke responded like a puppet. “A real man wouldn’t have a name like that.”
“I know you fellows are just havin’ a little fun with my name, but I’d appr eciate it if you’d stop now. I don’t mind it all that much, but I think it upsets my fiancée.”
Perley’s request caused both his antagonists to pause for a moment. “It upsets his what?” Deke asked.
“I don’t know,” Rafer answered, “his fi-ant-cee, whatever that is. Maybe it’s a fancy French word for his behind. We upset his behind.” He turned to look at the few other customers in the dining room, none of whom would meet his eye. “We upset his fancy behind.”
“I’m sorry, Becky,” Perley said. “I sure didn’t mean to cause all this trouble. Tell Beulah I’ll leave, and they oughta calm down after I’m gone.”
Beulah was standing just inside the kitchen door, about ready to put an end to the disturbance, and she heard what Perley said. “You’ll do no such thing,” she told him. “Lucy shouldn’t have told ’em your name. You sit right there and let Becky get your dinner.” She walked out of the kitchen then and went to the table by the front door, where customers deposited their firearms while they ate. She picked up the two gun belts that Rafer and Deke had left there, took them outside, and dropped them on the steps. When she came back inside, she went directly to their table and informed them. “I’m gonna have to ask you to leave now, since your mamas didn’t teach you how to behave in public. I put your firearms outside the door. There won’t be any charge for what you ate if you get up and go right now.”
“The hell you say,” Rafer replied. “We’ll leave when we’re good and ready.”
“I can’t have you upsettin’ my other customers,” Beulah said. “So do us all the courtesy of leaving peacefully and, like I said, I won’t charge you nothin’ for what you ate.”
“You threw our guns out the door?” Deke responded in disbelief. He thought about what she said for only a brief moment, then grabbed his fork and started shoveling huge forkfuls of food in his mouth as fast as he could. He washed it all down with the remainder of his coffee, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and belched loudly. “Let’s go, Rafer.”
“I ain’t goin’ nowhere till I’m ready, and I ain’t ready right now,” Rafer said, and remained seated at the table. “If you’re through, go out there and get our guns offa them steps.”
“Lucy,” Beulah said, “step in the hotel lobby and tell David we need the sheriff.”
“Why, you ol’ witch!” Rafer spat. “I oughta give you somethin’ to call the sheriff about!” He stood up and pushed his chair back, knocking it over in the process.
That was as far as Perley could permit it to go. He got up and walked over to face Rafer. “You heard the lady,” he said. “This is her place of business, and she don’t want you and your friend in here. So why don’t you two just go on out like she said, and there won’t be any need to call the sheriff up here.”
Rafer looked at him in total disbelief. Then a sly smile spread slowly across his face. “Why don’t you go outside with me?”
“What for?” Perley asked, even though he knew full well the reason for the invitation.
“Oh, I don’t know. Just to see what happens, I reckon.” Finding a game that amused him now, he continued. “Do you wear a gun, Perley?”
“I’ve got a gun on the table with the others,” Perley answered. “I don’t wear it in here.”
“Are you fast with that gun?” When Perley reacted as if he didn’t understand, Rafer said, “When you draw it outta your holster, can you draw it real fast?” Because of Perley’s general air of innocence, Rafer assumed he was slow of wit as well.
“Yes,” Perley answered honestly, “but I would only do so in an emergency.”
“That’s good,” Rafer said, “because this is an emergency. You wanna know what the emergency is? When I step outside and strap my gun on, if you ain’t outside with me, I’m gonna come back inside and shoot this place to pieces. That’s the emergency. You see, I don’t cotton to nobody tellin’ me to get outta here.”
“All right,” Perley said. “I understand why you’re upset. I’ll come outside with you, and we’ll talk about this like reasonable men should.”
“Two minutes!” Rafer blurted. “Then if you ain’t outside, I’m comin’ in after you.” He walked out the door with Deke right behind him.
Becky rushed to Perley’s side as he went to the table to get his gun belt. “Perley, don’t go out there. You’re not going to let that monster draw you into a gunfight, are you?”
“I really hope not,” Perley told her. “I think maybe I can talk some sense into him and his friend. But I had to get him out of here. He was gettin’ too abusive. Don’t worry, I’ll be all right. He oughta be easier to talk to when he doesn’t have an audience.”
He strapped his Colt .44 on and walked outside to find Rafer and Deke waiting. Seeing the expressions of gleeful anticipation on both faces, Perley could not help a feeling of uncertainty. If he had looked behind him, he would have seen everyone in the dining room gathered at the two windows on that side of the building. Everyone, that is, except Becky and Beulah. All the spectators were confident of the unassuming young man’s gift of speed with a handgun. As far as Perley was concerned, his lightning-fast reactions were just that: a gift. He never practiced with a weapon, and he honestly had no idea why his brain and body reacted with no conscious direction from himself. Because of that, he was of the opinion that the talent could just as easily leave him with no warning. That was one reason he tried to avoid pistol duels whenever possible.
He took a deep breath and hoped for the best.
“I gotta admit, I had my doubts if you had the guts to walk out that door,” Rafer said when Perley came toward them. In an aside to Deke, he said, “If this sucker beats me, shoot him.” Deke nodded.
“Why do you wanna shoot me?” Perley asked him. “You’ve never seen me before today. I’ve done you no wrong. It doesn’t make any sense for you and me to try to kill each other.”
“The hell you ain’t done me no wrong,” Rafer responded. “You walked up to my table and told me to get outta there. I don’t take that from any man.”
“If you’re honest with yourself, you have to admit that you started all the trouble when you started makin’ fun of my name. I was willin’ to call that just some innocent fun, and I still am. So we could just forget this whole idea to shoot each other and get on with the things that matter—and that’s just to get along with strangers on a courteous basis. I’m willing to forget the whole trouble if you are. Whaddaya say? It’s not worth shootin’ somebody over.”
“I swear, the more I hear comin’ outta your mouth, the more I feel like I gotta puke. I think I’ll shoot you just like I’d shoot a dog that’s gone crazy. One thing I can’t stand is a man too yellow to stand up for himself. I’m gonna count to three, and you’d better be ready to draw your weapon when I say three, ’cause I’m gonna cut you down.”
“This doesn’t make any sense at all,” Perley said. “I don’t have any reason to kill you.”
“One!” Rafer counted.
“Don’t do this,” Perley pleaded, and turned to walk away.
“Two!” Rafer counted.
“I’m warnin’ you, don’t say three.”
“Three!” Rafer exclaimed defiantly. His six-gun was already halfway out when he said it—and he staggered backward from the impact of the bullet in his chest. Deke, shocked by Perley’s instant response, was a second slow in reacting and dropped his weapon when Perley’s second shot caught him in his right shoulder. He stood, helplessly waiting for Perley’s fatal shot, and almost sinking to his knees when Perley released the hammer and returned his pistol to his holster.
“There wasn’t any sense to that,” Perley said. “Your friend is dead because of that foolishness, and you better go see Bill Simmons about your shoulder. He’s the barber, but he also does some doctorin’. We ain’t got a doctor in town yet. You’d best just stand there for a minute, though, ’cause I see the sheriff runnin’ this way.”
Deke remained where he was, his eyes still glazed with the shock of seeing Rafer cut down so swiftly. Perley walked over and picked up Deke’s gun, broke the cylinder open, and extracted all the cartridges. Then he dropped it into Deke’s holster.
