THE RIVER DEVIL
Chapter One
Kansas City, April 1872
Hal Lindsay steered the Cherokee Belle with all the ease
of long familiarity. One hand on the wheel and a straw
between his teeth, he glanced out the window to his left, casually
checking the landmarks. His Navy Colt shifted in his
shoulder holster at the movement, but his Arkansas toothpick,
with its eighteen-inch narrow steel blade, rested quietly
against his back.
After weeks spent traveling upriver from St. Louis, he
was almost home. Tonight he'd show off his beloved Kansas
City to his little sister, Viola, and her new husband before
they sailed with him tomorrow to Montana on the Belle.
Only a few clouds darkened his horizon, now that he was
reconciled with his dearest friend from childhood. If the railroads
would disappear, he'd be a happy man.
He scanned the railroad bridge upstream for signs of
trouble. Impossible to guess what those piles of stone concealed-driftwood,
debris, or an unexpected eddy, since railroads
notoriously built their bridges to ruin the water patterns
for riverboats.
Hal double-checked ... read full excerpt from: The River Devil ebook
