Stage raider

the long version

The regular stage out of Harper's Town bound for Rainwater was late leaving, a bad omen in driver Charlie Deakin's opinion. It only added to doubts he already had on scanning the passenger list that included troublesome banker Willard Pierce and his provocative wife Madelaine; the salacious storekeeper, Lemuel Buthnott; the stranger called Holden, a man with no past he cared to speak of, and the roughneck Mr Jones, an ice-eyed gambler and gunslinger. Then there was the desert route through lands Charlie hated and the very real prospect of unwelcome riders coming up fast in a cloud of dust. Bad omens could sometimes only get darker.