the Empty Land (1969) (22 page)

There was just one more job for him to do. He had to stop Ike Fletcher and Kingsbury.

Suddenly there was a rush of horses and a loud yell from up the street. A buckboard wheeled around the corner so wildly that it careened against the corner of a building and turned over, spilling its one occupant into the street.

One? No ... there were two. A man fell from the back of the buckboard, and as he rolled the light shone on his face. It was Pike Sides.

The other ... it was Madge Healy, struggling to her feet "Matti Oh, my God! Matt, help me!"

Then they came around the corner in a rush, Ike Fletcher in the lead. He was whirling a rope, and as Pike Sides started to rise, the rope dropped around him and jerked him down. Before Fletcher could start to drag him, Matt sprang into the street "Ike! Stop
it.
"You go to hell!" Fletcher roared, and several riders whipped around past him, ropes whirling.

Matt made a wild dive for the side of the building and turned, firing his Winchester. A rider spilled into the street, and Matt saw Pike stagger to his feet, saw an empty holster.

"Piker he called. The gunman turned, and Matt tossed him his spare pisto
l.

Pike Sides took it out of the air, and emptied a saddle with his first shot Fletcher spurred his horse, and Matt fired as Pike did, and Fletcher reeled in the saddle.

Suddenly armed men were closing in all around Matt, and he heard the hammer of guns. Something slugged him and he felt a wave of sickness go over him. But he was firing, firing, and then he clubbed the Winchester and waded in.

A rope ripped the Winchester from his hands, and a racing rider struck him viciously across the face with a coiled rope. Blinded, Matt grabbed for his six-shooter as another rope dropped around him. A horse rushed past him and he was jerked hard, and with a wild yell the rider started to drag him.

From the side of a building a gun blasted, and the rider above him went out of the saddle. Matt rolled over, fighting clear of the coil of rope.

Then he saw the one who had fired the shot It was Matte!

And then a door burst open and Nathan Bly was on the walk, gun in hand. Standing like a duelist, he was firing, and at every shot a saddle emptied.

Matt shook off the rope and climbed to his feet Something slugged him again and he went down firing. He came part way up, and Kendrick loomed before him, a shotgun aimed at Matt's face. Matt fired, and saw Kendrick's face wiped out in a mask of blood. The shotgun went off with a roar, and the charge hit the earth beside Matt, spewing dirt and sand into his face. Matt lunged to his feet, staggering. He saw Dorset staring at him, white-faced and wide-eyed. "Get out of here," Matt roared, "or I'll kill you!"

Amazingly, Dorset ducked and ran.

The Fletcher riders had turned at the bottom of the street and were coming back. Matt had fallen again, but he staggered up. There was blood in his eyes, blood soaking his shirt. Swaying, he stood there waiting the charge, but something made him turn.

Mattis was beside him, then Madge, holding a pisto
l.

Close by was Joss Ringgold, his face set hard as he waited for the riders; then Nathan Bly and Sturd Fife, and now Felton and Zeller were coming.

The riders started with a rush, and the small group waiting in the street held their fire as if on command; then they all fired as one person, and after that at will. The column of riders melted before them. A horse ran off, dragging a screaming rider.

Matt went down again, and as he fell he caught a glimpse of a white face in a window across the street, the face of a man watching. It was Kingsbury.

Matt rolled over and came up with his gun, but there was no strength in him. But a sudden shot came from above him, and he saw that it was Nathan Bly, and he was pointing across the street Matt tried to get up, and then everything seemed drowned in a thunder of sound that ended with the pop, pop, of guns, seemingly from far away.

It seemed only a moment later that he opened his eyes. He was lying on the floor of the Bon-Ton, and from where he lay he could see Nathan Bly standing in the doorway with a rifle, and Tucker Dolan and Joss Ringgold were at windows. Matt looked up to see that his head was in Madge Healy's lap. Mattie was cutting away his shirt Sturd Fife, Zeller, Dan Cohan, and Felton were all in the room.

"How is it?" Matt asked. "What's happened?"

"It's quiet," Fife said. "Seem to me she's over. Somebody shot Kingsbury, killed him dead ... stray bullet, more'n likely."

Matt looked down at himself. Mattie was washing the blood away, and he could see a hole where a bullet had gone in.

"How bad am I?"

"You caught four slugs, Matt, and you've lost a lot of blood."

He closed his eyes, feeling no pain, just weakness and the stiffness in his sore hands and face. Mattie was as good as most doctors, he knew that, and she'd had a lot of experience with gunshot wounds.

There was no sound in the room but the occasional creak of a board as somebody shifted his weight, or moved about And for a long time there was no sound from the street outside. He could feel Mattie probing for a bullet now, and it was no longer just the stiffness that he felt Suddenly he heard a call from the street The voice was unfamiliar.

"You in there! We want to pick up Fletcher. Is it all right?"

"You can pick him up if you want to ride right out of town," Fife bellowed. "We want none of you here." "Who's that talkin'? Ain't Matt Coburn in there?" "Malt's out scoutin' for you boys," Dolan said, speaking loud enough for them to hear. "My guess is he'll pick up a couple of scalps before mornin'."

There was a sound of whispers, then the speaker said. 'Hell, we're not fightin' no more. We're fresh out of work. Somebody shot Kingsbury."

"He's had it cumin'," Fife said, "and I'll print that" 'We're pullin' out," the speaker said. "You call off Coburn, d'you hear?"

They rode away down the street, and there was silence again. After a while a cock crowed somewhere down the valley, and Madge spoke quietly. "If one of you boys will round up a buckboard we can take Matt to my ranch."

Suddenly Matt gasped and Mattie exclaimed: "I got it! I got the slug!"

"We'd best keep him in town, ma'am," Felton said. "There's too many around still who don't like him."

It was morning when Matt opened his eyes again. Somebody had brought a bed into the Bon-Ton and he was lying near the window.

Madge Healy was asleep in a chair nearby, and Joss Ringgold sat in the doorway with a shotgun across his knees.

Matt raised his head, and the effort turned him giddy. He let his head fall back, but Joss had seen his movement. He tiptoed over. |Don't want to wake her," he whispered. "She's stayed right by you all night."

"What's happening?"

"It's quiet. Some of the mines have gone back to work. Jim Gage has his store open. I think most of the rough crowd are gone." Joss dropped to his heels. "I think you done it, Matt. I think you cleaned her up."

"What happened?" He indicated Madge. 'To her, I mean?"

"Fletcher used ropes. He snared the guards up there, dragged one of them to death, another almost. Madge, she broke loose and came down here in her buckboard and smashed it up, like you know.

"'They roped Pike. Last thing he was
lookin
' for, an it was just the way Fletch planned it. They dragged him down here. He broke loose, swung into the back of the buckboard just before she crashed. Then you threw down on them.

"Fletch was killed, Kendrick is dead, and Smoke is dead. Scarf is badly shot up, but he may pull through. A few more of those boys caught some lead, but they pulled out fast after Kingsbury was killed. Those boys fight for money, and when he went down and they found out about it, why, they just scattered."

Matt closed his eyes. Outside, he could hear people passing along the street, and the sound of people working. It was all over, then ... it was finished. He lay still, having no desire to move or to talk, only to rest, in that strange lethargy that had came over him.

But he opened his eyes. "What about the restaurant?" he asked. "I've got to get out of here, Joss."

Even as he said it, he knew he did not want to move, and he closed his eyes again. At this moment he felt as if he never wanted to move again.

Yet after a few minutes he opened his eyes and looked out into the sunlit street. It wasn't much of a street, and it wasn't much of a town. Fifty years from now there probably would be nothing here ... maybe a foundation or two, some holes in the hillside, and markers up there on the graves of the men who had died.

Felton would have his church and his school, and for a few years the town would have a life, and then it would fade, and the coyotes would howl on Boot Hill, the buzzards would swing idly above, and maybe a chipmunk would dig where the miners had been and gone.

"Joss, it isn't much of a town, is it?" he said.

"They never are, not when they're startin'. But this one's a better place today than it was yesterday."

Matt turned to look at him. "You got away from the wild life, Joss. Do you ever get the feeling you'd like to go back to it?"

'Who doesn't, sometimes? The wild night rides, the sudden raids oh, it was excitin' and all, but mostly it was hidin' out in some place unfit for man or beast, goin' without proper food or drink, never goin to sleep without expectin' to jump up and run for it if a posse came. No, Matt, I'm a comfort-lovin' man today."

"Are you going back to the ranch?"

Joss stirred uneasily. "I ain't sure. Miss Shannon, she came over here to help we all did. But somehow ... well, she don't hold with killin' and it sort of got to her. Folks like that, they just figure there's got to be something wrong with you if you've killed that many men. They never seem to figure that those men were tryin' to kill you, an' you just happened to be faster or luckier, or something. Anyway, she got upset and went back to the ranch."

When Matt woke again, it was already night, and lights had begun to appear in the buildings along the street Madge was beside his bed.

Tm worried about the Bon-Ton," Matt said "They're losing business."

"Don't worry about it," Madge said bought it. All you have to do is get well."

"What about the town? They'll need some law." `They've got it. I told them what you said about Dolan. Oh, I know! You didn't really tell me, but you muttered about it, and I told them and they've hired him."

"Where's Joss?"

"He rode out to the ranch to pick up his gear. He will be back tonight."

"Pike?"

"He's coming along. He'd been wounded before we left the mine, and then they dragged him. He's in bad shape, but he'll pull through."

For a while they sat silent Matt felt better, although he was
weak
. "Where's my gun?" he asked suddenly. "Hanging right beside you." Madge pointed to the gunbelt and holster hanging on the bedpost 'Tucker put it there. And incidentally, Pike sent you back your spare ... with thanks. You've no idea how impressed he was at your tossing him that gun. He's a strange man, Matt, and I doubt if anybody ever helped him out in his life before. He's mentioned that gun five or six times. Can't seem to get it out of his head."

Matt shrugged.
"He needed it, I had it, it was as simple as that."

She went to the table and picked up the gun and brought it to him. "It's loaded, Matt. Pike said you'd want it that way."

Madge turned away. "I'll make coffee, Matt You just rest a little and try to sleep."

Matt took the spare gun and pushed it down under the covers beside his leg. He had lived too long with a gun not to feel helpless without one. He closed his eyes and rested.

He could hear vague sounds from the kitchen, and occasionally somebody passed along the boardwalk. It was very quiet here, and he dozed. Only a few minutes could have passed, he supposed, for Madge Healy was still in the kitchen.

She would be coming back soon. He heard a soft, ever so soft footstep. Vaguely he felt a strange disquiet, a restlessness, but not enough to bring him awake. That step sounded again, very gently.

Out on the street somebody was running. He heard a heavy fall, a cry, and then a scrambling of feet.

Then came a cry: "Matt! Matti Look out!"

Suddenly Matt was wide awake, his fist closed on the gun butt Had he been dreaming?

He heard another, more feeble cry: 'Matti It's Cal ..." The voice faded, and Matt lay wide-eyed in the dark room. A board creaked, and Matt turned slightly to his right side to face the door in the back wall. One door led to the kitchen, and the other, in the back wall, opened into a hallway that led to two rooms of living quarters and to a back door.

Matt passed the pistol from his left side over to his right, taking it in his right hand and easing back the blankets a little.

Where was Madge? He found himself praying that something would keep her in the kitchen.

But who had warned him? Who could have called out, and what had happened out there?

He waited, his mouth dry. He felt as weak as a cat. Turning on his side had been an effort.