Hinky Jenks, Madelyn Argent, and me, we could’ve changed the world. Now I’m here alone with the envelope from Maddy’s father, and the priest with the click-clack heel on one of his shoes is walking the cellblock toward me. Damn you, Jenks. My death warrant expires in nine hours. No chance of a reprieve. But …
Clayton Bardell stared at the letter, cursing his good fortune. Five minutes peace they won’t leave me, he told himself. Five minutes—it might be enough, but they won’t give me even that. Already he could hear the creak of Elder Stinson’s buckboard approaching from the main road. Bardell returned to the letter, determined to afford …
The doors are halfway shut when the two young punks clamber on board, distracting me from my search of the dozen or so boxes discarded in the corner. I turn when I hear them come over. Under the guise of nodding hello, I look closely at their faces, reflexively rub my stomach to calm the …
Roger woke after two hours sleep, listening. Footsteps? Engine ticking itself cool? Anything? He let out his breath long and slow. Only a dream. Just to make sure he grabbed his shotgun and removed the black-rubber knothole plug at the front of cabin. The road leading up from Santa Cruz was quiet. Checking peepholes in windowless …
The light in the throne room turned sour, changing gold to brass. At the foot of the dais, angels caught the cue and shifted their praises to a minor key. Jesus turned to his left. “He’s waking up.” “Tell me something I don’t know,” the Father replied—their old joke along with “another day, another ten cents on …
