Skinwalkers (8 page)

“Fucking unbelievable is what it is!“ Hank said. “His guts were lying out all over the table, and now he’s sitting up—?“

Doc Howard wiped his bloodied hands with his apron. “Just goes to show you, never underestimate the Irish!“

Hank cursed under his breath as he stomped off.

The doc placed his hand on his patient’s shoulder. “But I must admit I’ve never seen anything like you, lad.“

The patient—Private Hector Sanchez—lay upon the saloon table propped up on one elbow. He absent-mindedly stroked the blood-stained bandages wrapped around his midsection with his free hand.

“Like the wounds was healing up faster than I could
sow
,“ the doc said.

“It
ain’t
natural.“ Hank stood beside Gertrude and Reverend Phillips at the piano, Lacey’s arms encircling his neck.

“Fucking right it
ain’t
natural.“ Robby joined at the others by the piano. “
Goddamnest
thing I ever did see.“

“Mr. Garrett,“ Captain Arrington said, his voice a knife’s edge. “If you have any modicum of influence over these men, I suggest you tell them to keep their opinions to themselves.“

“Hush,“ Garrett whispered through gritted teeth. Hank shot a bird at both men’s backs.

The bounty hunter lay propped up against the bar, his rifle held within the crook of an arm, Maxine at his side. He surveyed the captain.

“You still
ain’t
told us what you’re doing here—“

“You’ll address me as
Captain
,“ Arrington said without looking in the bounty
hunter’s
direction.

“
Captain
Arrington,“ the bounty hunter said. “Or what happened to you and your men. Or why you got them at the door and windows looking out at the night like Santa Anna himself going to come marching down Main Street any moment—?“

“I don’t have to explain myself to any murdering
monkey-child
like you.“

The bounty hunter rose to his full height.

“Yeah,“ Arrington said, finally turning to look the bounty hunter in his eye, “I seen your ilk before. Lincoln trains you niggers to shoot and now that the war’s over, you put a bullet in the back of the very white men who fought to free you. Tell me it
ain’t
true!“

The bounty hunter gently pushed Maxine away from him. He stood straight and moved his Henry rifle into one of his ham-sized fists. “Captain,
apologize
.“

“Men,“ the captain said. Muskets whirled to train themselves on the bounty hunter. Arrington looked to either side, smiling at the firepower he’d just called forth.

“You’re yellow!“ The bounty hunter spat in a gesture of disgust.

The captain motioned for two of his soldiers to approach the bounty hunter.

“Bravery is a notion for children and idiots,
assassin
.“

The two soldiers reached for the bounty
hunter’s
weapons. In the blink of an eye, the bounty hunter drew a revolver with his free hand.

“Ah, ah, ah!“

The bounty hunter looked to see the captain aiming his pistol directly at Maxine’s head. If Maxine’s eyes could’ve fired bullets, she would’ve killed Arrington where he stood.

“Any trouble out of you, assassin, and not only will you go down in a blaze of glory, but the whore, too. Let’s have them.“

Having little choice, the bounty hunter holstered his revolver and handed his rifle to one of the soldiers. He raised his hands above his head and the other soldier relieved him of his gun belt.

“That’s better.“ Arrington holstered his gun. He strode up to the bounty hunter, a jackal’s grin on his face. “Now, I believe it is
you
who owes
me
an apology, nigger.“

The captain punched the bounty hunter in his gut. The bounty hunter grunted, his knees bending for a second before he was able to upright himself.

“Well, hell’s bells!“ The captain snatched the bounty
hunter’s
rifle and slammed its stock into the black man’s stomach. This time the bounty hunter dropped to his knees. The two soldiers on either side of him took hold of his arms. Arrington brought the rifle-butt back up and across the black man’s sharp, whiskered chin. The bounty hunter turned his head with the blow, blood spewing from his mouth.

“A little more reasonable now, I suspect.“ The captain hunched over so that he looked the bounty hunter directly in the face. Arrington passed the bounty
hunter’s
rifle behind him, trusting one of his men to take it. “Now, how about that apology—?“

“Fuck you,“ the bounty hunter said.

“Fuck you!“ Pablo rocked on his haunches by the bar. “Fuck you! Fuck you!“

Arrington backhanded the bounty hunter. The impact of fist against jaw made a popping noise audible throughout the room.

“This
ain’t
right,“ Wilson whispered to
Jimbo
. “I know he’s just a colored, but this
ain’t
right.“

A few of the soldiers, their rifles sagging in their hands, traded questioning glances with one another.

“Last time I’m going to tell you,
nigger
: apologize!“ The captain didn’t wait for a reply. He struck the bounty hunter twice with his fists.

“God damn it!“ Maxine screamed as she charged toward them. “You leave him alone!“ A soldier grabbed her before she could reach the captain. Maxine squirmed and cursed, but failed to free herself from his grasp.

Captain Arrington drew his pistol and pointed it at the bounty
hunter’s
head.

“What say you, boy?“

“You leave him the fuck alone, Captain!“

All but the captain turned to see Private Sanchez off the saloon table and on his feet. He cradled his bandaged torso, favoring his right side.

Arrington called over his shoulder. “You are out of line,
Priv
—!“

“Oh, don’t hand me that horse shit!“ Sanchez said. “If anyone’s out of line here, it’s you—It’s all of us. Oh, God, forgive us.“

The captain spun on his heels to face Sanchez.

“That’s enough, Private. Stand down!“

“Fuck you, Captain! After what we seen, I
ain’t
scared of you, or any other man no more!

“Not after what happened back there—“ Sanchez’s words caught in his throat.

Arrington trained his pistol on the soldier.

“Shut your goddamn mouth, right now, Private.“ The captain cocked the hammer on his pistol.

“Fuck you!“ Pablo said, still rocking. “Fuck you!“

“The captain gave you an order, Private,“ Corporal Martinez said. He stepped between Sanchez and Arrington. “Stand down, Sanchez,“ Martinez whispered. “Haven’t we seen enough death?“

Sanchez turned his gaze to the corporal. His face went soft and pleading and he locked his left foreman over Martinez’s right.

“Oh, sweet Jesus, Julio, what are we going to do?“

“Oh, God. Those things! Did you fucking see what they did to the
sarge
? Oh, God! Oh, Jesus!“

“Shut him up, Corporal,“ Arrington commanded. “I want that man in
ir
—!“

A gust of frigid air blew through the saloon entrance, shoving the batwing doors inward and extinguishing the candles and oil lamps that had been supplying the room’s light. Several coyotes howled in the distance.

“It’s them!“ Sanchez shouted. “Oh, God! It’s them!“

Making use of the darkness, the bounty hunter acted. He ripped his arms free of the soldiers’ grasp. He kicked one of his would-be jailer’s legs while he
clotheslined
the other in the back of his knees. Both soldiers went tumbling to floor.

Two shots flashed and then shouts sliced through the darkness.

“Hold your fire! Hold your fire!“

“Nobody fucking move!“

“Fuck you! Fuck you!“

Arrington struck a match and all saw the bounty
hunter’s
huge, brown fist coming at him through the shadows. The sound of cracking bone echoed throughout the room as the punch connected. The captain was lifted into the air. He came crashing down on a table, knocking it over and finally landing among his men. Other matches took fire across the room. Within moments, the lamps along the walls were relit. Amazingly, no one had been shot.

Maxine wrenched herself free of her captor and bolted to her son. She enveloped Pablo in her arms and then scurried to the back of the room. Maxine crouched there and petted him, trying to calm him down.

The soldiers lifted their dazed and confused captain to his feet.

“Unhand me!“ Arrington commanded. The captain’s words were nasal and distorted thanks to the bounty
hunter’s
rearranging of the officer’s face.
 
Arrington looked down and saw his pistol being lifted from his hand.

“I’m relieving you of your command, sir,“ Martinez said.

“The hell you are, Corporal! I’m in command, here!“ The captain writhed and struggled to free himself, but the soldiers held fast.

Martinze
sneered. “We’ve all seen how you command—
sir.
“
Martinez took the bounty
hunter’s
Henry rifle from one of his men, turned, and held it out to its owner. “I believe this belongs to you,“ Martinez said.

The bounty hunter paused in the act of fastening his reclaimed gun belt, looked at his rifle, and then back up at Martinez.

“Much obliged.“ The bounty hunter nodded as he took his rifle.

Martinez nodded back and then gestured to the captain.

“Tie him up.“

“I’ll have you executed for treason, Corporal!“ Arrington said. He all but frothed at the mouth with rage. “They’ll line you up before a firing squad and—!“

The loud, violent sound of a dog barking outside echoed throughout the saloon.

“Oh, shit!“ one of the soldiers guarding the saloon doors said. His voice was full of desperation. “Something’s coming, Corporal! Oh, shit! Oh, shit!“

“Oh, shit! Oh, shit!“ Pablo mumbled. Maxine hugged him tighter, shushing him.

Private Sanchez cringed. Tears began to stream from his eyes his face contorted into a panicked grimace. “Not again. Dear God, not again!“

Martinez slapped him. “Get hold of yourself, Hector!“

Sanchez’s cries softened into whimpers.

Martinez marched to the saloon entrance and peeked outside. The dog that had occupied the saloon’s porch was on its feet. It barked incessantly at something unseen in the darkness. The horses outside whinnied and bucked, also insane with terror over something in the night. They struggled to free themselves from the hitching post. Most were successful. As though he knew any other action was futile, Martinez walked out and freed the few remaining stragglers. They galloped off, heading out of Perdition as fast as their legs would take them.

The
dog’s
barking increased to a fever-pitch. Martinez looked up. A boiling green fog bank steamrolled down the main thoroughfare, eclipsing the town from view.

Martinez jumped, startled by the dog as it shot off the porch to charge headlong into the fog. For a moment the animal’s enraged barks continued. Then there was a high yelp and all fell silent.