Six-gun crossroads

Lauran Paine

Large print - 2016

The small town of Ballester owes its prosperity to the confluence of three big ranches -- Snowshoe, Mexican Hat, and Rainbow. It has a single lawman, Deputy Sheriff Percy Whittaker, known as Perc. Other than the occasional drunk on a Saturday night, there wasn't much law breaking. Then a drifter named Sam Logan rode into town, looking for work. Forrest Banning, a Snowshoe rider, provoked a gunfight with Sam Logan. Banning went for his gun first, but Logan beat him to the draw. Then Vestal Johnson, also from the Snowshoe, came to town to even the score for Forrest Banning, and Johnson, too, was beaten to the draw. Both killings were deemed self-defense, but the townspeople felt Sam Logan should be told to leave town. Then Jonah Reeves s...hows up, a giant of a man, accompanied by his daughter, Abigail. Reeves claims to be a preacher who has come to save the soul of Ballester, and he starts his conversion efforts at the Golden Slipper Saloon by knocking out three cowboys. Everyone wants Jonah Reeves to be told to leave town, and expects Perc to do it. When it is discovered that Reeves is an ex-convict with a reputation as a gang leader, Perc wonders if Logan and Reeves are actually plotting something together. more