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Authors: Matt Chisholm

Gunsmoke for McAllister (23 page)

BOOK: Gunsmoke for McAllister
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Where was the girl's horse? he asked himself. Where was Rawley? Rawley must have struck the girl. He realized that he was sweating and was steadily working himself into a scare. It wasn't pleasant walking around here waiting to be shot at.

He searched.

It wasn't long before he found the last thing that he expected.

He found Rawley.

The man lay between two large rocks with one leg twisted under him. It must have been broken to have attained such a position. He was dead. He had been stabbed several times in the chest and his throat had been cut. The blood from his wounds was still fresh and he was covered with it. His eyes were open and they stared sightlessly at McAllister.

Somebody had killed him in the last few minutes and they were still near.

An ice-cold hand ran itself slowly down McAllister's spine.

Slowly he turned, eye and gun seeking out the killer. Death stood within an arm's length knife-thrust of him.

He almost fired as soon as his eyes took in the figure standing there, motionless, dripping knife in hand. Recognition held him back.

It was Gato.

For a moment, neither man spoke. Then the Apache made a cutting motion with his left hand. He spoke –

‘Finido,' he said.
Finished.

McAllister drew in his breath, knowing that he had been allowed to live. He didn't doubt that the rocks around him were full of Indians and that if he made a wrong move they would kill him.

The Indian went on: ‘Take the girl. Go back to Spur. Go home. Now.'

McAllister took his gun off cock and walked past the chief. He was tired to the bone. He was at the end of the line. He looked around him and could see no sign of an Indian. When he reached the girl, she was sitting up with a dazed expression on her face. She looked at him as if she didn't recognize him.

‘It's all over,' he told her.

Her eyes seemed to clear a little. She put a hand tentatively to her face where Rawley had struck her and whimpered a bit.

‘Sam?' she said.

‘He'll be all right,' McAllister said and reckoned he lied.

He helped her to her feet and she fell heavily against him, too weak to stand. He lifted her in his arms and started walking. Going back the way he had come, he thought about what had happened, about the gold and the men who had died for it. He was going to be busy in the next few days. That gold was going to the men who remained, the men who had dug it. A horse whinnied softly and, lifting his eyes, he saw the canelo. McAllister stopped, amazed. He laid the girl gently on the ground and approached the animal. It pushed its soft muzzle affectionately into his face. Examining it, he found that it had been creased. A miracle. That stroke of luck cheered him. He patted the great head. The animal looked a little uncertain, but it seemed none the worse for its experience. He went back to the girl, lifted her and placed her in the saddle, then led the horse on down onto the saddle.

The train still stood as he had left it. Diaz was crouched over the still form of Sam and for one terrible moment McAllister thought his friend must be dead. Diaz turned and straightened at the sound of the horse and came grinning toward them.

‘This Sam,' he said and laughed. ‘He has the luck,
por Dios.

The bullet hit a rib. It went out of his back and left a clean hole. Sam will be all right, I think.'

The girl smiled wanly and slipped from the horse's back, running to Sam and throwing herself down by him, her arms around him.

McAllister said: ‘Some fellers have all the luck. All we have is
gold. Let's get outa here.' He walked up to Sam and looked down at him. His friend looked pale, but otherwise all right. Diaz had patched him up.

‘Rawley's dead,' McAllister told Sam. ‘Gato cut his throat.'

Sam said: ‘We can go home then.' His arm tightened around Carlita.

McAllister walked away and mounted the canelo. He was tired and hungry, but he felt good. He was thinking about the first cold beer he'd have when he reached Euly.

1
Sam Spur appeared in SPUR by Matt Chisholm and THE GUN IS MY BROTHER by Cy James, both in Panther Books.

This electronic edition published in 2011 by Bloomsbury Reader

Bloomsbury Reader is a division of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 50 Bedford Square, London WC1B 3DP

Copyright © P. C. Watts

First published by Panther Books

The moral right of author has been asserted

All rights reserved
You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication
(or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital,
optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written
permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages

ISBN: 9781448203918
eISBN: 9781448203321

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BOOK: Gunsmoke for McAllister
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