Confessions of a Gunfighter (15 page)

Chapter thirty-six

Gunshots erupted simultaneously from all around me. 

I fired my rifle, but right as I did the Injun I was shooting at dropped from sight. A second later I saw him again, and somehow he had slid himself down beside his running pony. The only thing I could see of him was his head and arms from underneath the pony’s neck. 

All the other Injuns had done the same thing, and they looked like a bunch of rider-less Injun ponies running wild. 

They made a big circle out in front of us. Bullets and arrows ricocheted and howled all over us.

I fired twice, but missed both times.   

However, Kinrich dropped two of them, and Lee also scored a hit. 

They circled back out, and after the shooting let up Kinrich spun around and looked at us.

Kinrich’s face was wild and excited, and it looked like he was enjoying himself.

“I’ve seen Injuns fight like this before,” Kinrich said. “They’re going to keep circling, and each time they’re going to come in closer!”

“But I don’t see anything to shoot at!” Palmer hollered, and his voice sounded panicky.

“Shoot the horses, you idiot!” Kinrich yelled roughly. “That’s the only way!”

There wasn’t time to say anything else. 

They circled back in, but this time we had better results.

Our guns boomed loudly, and pony after pony tumbled end over end. The riders were flung off violently, and they hit the ground hard.

Some of the Injuns made it back to safety behind their fallen pony. But we were able to hit the rest before they could recover. 

From behind us we suddenly heard a horse scream out in terror. A stray bullet had hit Cliff’s horse, and he started lunging and thrashing wildly. 

The horse’s movements were spooking the other horses, and Brian Clark was having a hard time keeping them all under control.

“Kill that horse!” Kinrich yelled at Brian Clark.

Brian Clark pulled out his pistol and put the horse down.

The Injuns circled back out, but there were still three or four Comanches that were hiding behind their fallen ponies that we had to contend with. 

Kinrich was focused in on the closest. He fired one shot after another as he left his tree stump and walked towards the pinned down Injun. 

The Injun tried a few desperate shots. But then he gave up, and he got a slug in the back as he tried to retreat. 

Suddenly, my eyes caught a shining flash. I looked again and spotted an Injun taking aim at Kinrich. 

I didn’t think as I swung my rifle over, and a split second later my rifle boomed loudly. There was a loud thump as my bullet hit flesh, and the Injun’s rifle slid to the ground.

“Good shot!” Lee said from beside me.

Everybody else was focused on the other pinned down Injuns, and it wasn’t long until we got them all. 

Or so we thought.

Right before the Injuns circled back in, Valdez raised himself up a little. That was the last thing he would ever do. As soon as Valdez moved an Injun that we hadn’t seen fired, and the slug took Valdez in the face. Valdez dropped instantly.

We all swung our rifles on the Injun, and after a volley of shots the Injun was dead. 

After that they were on top of us again.

This time they came in real close, and they were moving so fast that it was hard to get a good shot. I tried to lead my shots, but I still didn’t hit any. 

Nobody else did much good either, and this time it was Brian Clark that went down. 

Brian Clark got hit in the lower leg with an arrow, and as he fell he lost his grip on the horses. Those horses were spooked, and despite being hobbled they still did a good job of loping off down the hill.

“The horses! Get the horses!” Kinrich yelled.

I took off down the hill in a dead run, and I spotted Slim lunging to the left. I took out after him and reached him just as the Injuns circled back in. 

We were spread out and in no position to make a stand. They came in whooping and hollering, and complete madness broke loose. 

I was bent over getting my hobbles off Slim when an Injun charged straight at me.

I didn’t have the time to straighten back up. Instead, I palmed my six-shooter and fired. 

My aim was true, and as the Injun flew off his pony his limp body struck me hard, and the blow knocked me backwards into Slim. Slim snorted and jumped back, but I somehow managed to keep a-hold of the reins. 

As I was getting up I heard somebody screaming my name. I looked up and saw Lee.

Lee was mounted, and he was running his horse straight towards me. 

“Follow me, Button!” He hollered as he blew by me. 

In one leap I was on Slim. Then, after sliding my rifle into its scabbard, I was right behind Lee. 

Lee was heading towards the herd, and I figured Lee was thinking that we could maybe use the cows as a shield.

Everybody else must have been thinking the same thing, because when I took a quick look around I saw that everybody else was with us. 

That is, all but Kinrich and Brian Clark. I could still hear Kinrich’s guns booming behind us, and it sounded like he was fighting his own little war. 

It was then that I saw Palmer. 

He was directly behind me, and was closing in fast. He had a mean, twisted snarl on his face, and I suddenly realized that he held his six-shooter. 

He was aiming it at me, and suddenly he fired. I ducked, and I heard the sharp whip of a bullet as it flew by ear.

I palmed my six-shooter and fired back. 

My shots were wild, but they did scare off Palmer. He slid his horse to a stop, and then, after glaring at me for a second, took off going in the other direction.

Injuns were in fierce pursuit of us when we hit the herd. Those cattle slowed us down, and before I knew it cows, Injuns, and cowboys were running all over the place.

It was a dangerous place to be, so I let Slim have his head as we followed close behind Lee.

Once we got away from the cows we ran our horses wide open.

Finally, we started putting some distance between us and the Injuns. Both our horses could really run, and those Injun ponies just couldn’t keep up.

After a while the shooting and hollering became more scarce. The Injuns that were chasing us finally gave up, and then we were alone, just the two of us.

Lee pulled his horse up to fast trot, and I was glad. Both our horses were breathing hard, and they were all lathered up with sweat.

Lee turned in the saddle and looked at me.

“Rondo? You make it all right?”

“I think so,” I answered with a shaky smile.

“Good,” Lee flashed me a relieved grin. “Well, come on. Let’s find us a hole and hole up for a while.”

That sounded good, and I kicked up Slim and followed along behind Lee.

Chapter thirty-seven

It took us about an hour to leave the flat country. 

The country was rougher now, with deep hills and such. I was glad, because the land offered better cover.

Lee had been in these parts before. 

“I know a good spot up ahead where we can hole up for a while,” Lee told me.

Lee loped along while me and Slim did our best to keep up. By now ol’ Slim was sure getting tired, but finally Lee pulled up.

I looked around, and I had to agree that it was good place to stop.

We were at the base of a high ridge with a little cove, and at the top of the ridge you could see the country for at least a mile in all directions. Our camp was in a low spot in the middle of the ridge, and there were thick trees all around to help hide any smoke from a camp fire. 

“I figure we can take cover here for a day or two and let things blow over,” Lee said as he dismounted.

“Why wait that long?” I asked curiously.

“You’ll probably see before too long,” was all that Lee said.

We unsaddled our horses. Then, while I picketed them Lee started a small fire and put some coffee on.

I joined Lee. Soon as the coffee was ready we filled our cups, and then we mulled over our current situation.

“I told you we weren’t going to make it to Kansas,” Lee smiled as he took a sip of coffee.

“You were right,” I agreed.

“Course, I didn’t figure it would be Injuns,” Lee commented. “But, now that I think on it, it’s probably better that them Injuns showed up instead of Tussle.”

“Why’s that?” I asked as I blew softly into my steaming cup.

“Tussle’s bunch can shoot better,” Lee explained.

“Well, them Injuns sure did nail Valdez,” I said. “And Clark got hit, but I didn’t get to see what became of him.”

“He was with Kinrich,” Lee said. 

“Oh? What happened to Kinrich?” I asked. 

Lee shook his head. 

“There’s no telling. I took a quick look back when we were leaving, and he and Clark were plumb covered up with Injuns. But you know something? It looked like Kinrich was enjoying it!”

“Do you think he snapped, like you said?” I asked.

Lee frowned in thought and nodded.

“Yes, I think he did.”

“Well, if them Injuns did kill him, I reckon it would be a fitting end for him,” I said. “I don’t think I ever saw a feller hate Injuns more than Kinrich did.”

“If my scalp looked like his, I don’t reckon I’d be too cordial to ’em neither,” Lee grinned, but then added, “I wouldn’t count on him being dead just yet. His kind is mighty hard to kill.”

“I’m just glad that we’re clear of him,” I replied. 

Lee nodded in agreement.

After that we sat by the fire and finished our pot of coffee. I reckon we were both real thankful to still be alive, and it felt good just to relax.

After a while Lee got up. 

“I reckon I’d better go take a look around, and make sure that them Injuns ain’t trailing us,” Lee said.

“I’ll go with you,” I grabbed my rifle.

We walked out to the edge of the ridge, and then we squatted on our heels and looked the country over.

We stayed there for a long time, and the only thing that moved were our eyes.

Suddenly, in the far distance, I saw a lone rider.

“I see somebody!” I exclaimed softly.

“Where?”

I pointed him out.

Lee had an eyeglass, and he studied the rider.

“If that don’t beat all!” Lee finally said. 

He lowered his eyeglass and looked at me. 

“It’s Palmer! I know it’s him, ’cause he’s riding that dun horse of his.”

“Palmer!” I blurted angrily. “He tried to kill me!”

“I know; I saw it,” Lee replied, “and it don’t look like he’s given up yet neither.”

I shook my head in disbelief as we watched him.

Palmer was taking his time, and every once in a while he would stop as he studied the ground.

Palmer wasn’t the best tracker around. But his skills were good enough, because he was coming straight towards us.

“He sure is determined to kill you,” Lee said.     

“Why?” I asked. “I know we’ve had some problems, but I wouldn’t think that he’d go this far.” 

“It’s personal with him,” Lee explained. “You see, everybody thinks that you’re better than him with a six-shooter.”

“I
am
better,” I said.

Lee grinned.

“You and me know that, but Palmer doesn’t. And, the only way he can prove folks wrong is by killing you. And another thing; you have a big reputation right now as being a feared gunfighter and all. So,
if
Palmer kills you, then he’ll be known as the man who killed Rondo Landon.” 

“He’s a fool,” I replied with disgust.

“Yes, well, that fool is fixing to be here, so you’d better figure out what you want to do about it,” Lee said.

I grabbed my rifle.

“I reckon I’d best scare him off,” I said.

“You ain’t going to kill him?” Lee shot me a surprised look. “You could shoot him real easy from here.”

It was a tempting thought, but I shook my head. 

“It ain’t in me to kill a man like that.”

“If that was you down there, Palmer wouldn’t hesitate to kill you,” Lee speculated.

“I know it,” I replied. “But I ain’t Palmer.”

Lee grinned.

“No, you surely ain’t Palmer.”

Chapter thirty-eight

I took a long, careful aim.

I squeezed off a shot, and the dirt in front of Palmer’s horse exploded. The bullet ricocheted into the rocks while Palmer’s horse squealed and jumped sideways, and then he started bucking.

I waited, and then I fired three more times in rapid fashion all around Palmer.

That made Palmer’s horse start bucking even harder, and Palmer was having a hard time staying on.  

Me and Lee couldn’t help but chuckle as we watched the bronc ride.

Palmer finally managed to get his horse under control, and then he lined his horse out, going the other way. He didn’t look back, and he kept his horse in a dead run until he had disappeared.

“I don’t think we’ll be seeing him for a while,” I grinned as we stood. 

“Don’t count on it,” Lee warned as we walked back to camp.

We holed up for the rest of the day. And, except for some cows that showed up in the far distance, we didn’t see anything else. 

Come nighttime we cooked some supper, and afterwards we sat round the campfire.

“What do you figure on doing now?” I asked Lee as I put a few more branches on the fire.

“I’ve been giving that some thought,” Lee said as he leaned back against his saddle and got comfortable. “Like Kinrich said, there’s fixing to be a big range war blow open around these parts, and I thought I might get in on it.”

“What side do you plan on fighting for?” I asked curiously.

Lee grinned.

“Whoever pays the most, I reckon. You can come with me, if’n you’d like.”

I shook my head.

“No thanks. I’m going to drift south.”     

Lee glanced curiously at me.

“Are you going to join up with some other outfit?”

“No, I’m all through with being an outlaw,” I announced. “Whatever I do next, I’m going to do honest.”

“Good for you,” Lee said, and he looked like he meant it. “You’re a good kid, and I’m sure you’ll do fine. But, since you’re planning on going honest and all, you’d better take my advice on a couple of things.”

“Oh?” I asked. “Like what?”    

“For starters, I’d stay away from Midway. That cousin of yours ain’t going to stop looking for you.”

“Don’t worry,” I replied. “In a few days I plan on being a long ways from here.”

“Good,” Lee said, and continued, “I’d also consider changing your name, and I’d also put away that fancy six-shooter of yours. That pistol is a dead give a-way. Soon as you ride into a town, everybody’s going to know who you are.”

“But I ain’t got another other pistol,” I said, not liking the idea much. “And I’d feel sort-a naked not wearing one.”

“I’ve got an extra six-shooter,” Lee offered. “It’s old, but it still shoots good.”

Lee turned around and dug it out of his saddlebags. 

I took the six-shooter from Lee, and then I handled it some and looked it over. It wasn’t near as impressive as my ivory handled six-shooter, but it would do.

“How much do you want for it?” I asked Lee.

“How much you got?” Lee grinned back.

We haggled a bit over the price in good fun, and then I paid him off. 

After that I went over to my saddlebags and put away my ivory handled six-shooter. Now, it felt odd, wearing a different six-shooter, but I reckoned I’d just have to get used to it.

After that we bedded down.

Sometime during the night another storm built up, and it rained hard. Lightning flashed all around us, and me and Lee huddled underneath our bedroll tarps.  

We were soaked the next morning. 

Soon as it got daylight we got a fire going and dried out our bedrolls and clothes. After that we cooked up some breakfast, and while I cleaned things up Lee walked out to look the country over.

When I was through I went to find Lee, and he was squatting on his heels beside a tree as he looked below us.

“Move slow,” Lee warned me. “We’ve got company.”

“Who is it now?”

“Tussle,” Lee replied with a grim face.