Way of the Gun (9781101597804) (27 page)

Reading their thoughts, Bass said, “You wouldn't make it halfway there before we cut you down.” Getting back to the business that prompted the holdup, he ordered, “Get yourself outta that coach!” When Travis Grant placed a trembling foot on the step, Bass grabbed him by the sleeve and yanked the terrified man out of the coach to land on his hands and knees. “Cotton,” Bass called, “you got that box open yet?”

“Yeah, I got it, but we got some more folks in here.”

“Well, tell 'em to get on out here,” Bass said. He stood by the door then and politely helped Grace and her sister down from the coach. He then extended his hand to offer Mary Bishop his assistance, but she ignored it.

“I can manage myself,” she commented curtly, and climbed down to join her daughters.

“Yes, ma'am,” Sam said with a wide grin, “you surely can.”

At that moment, Cotton Roach sang out from inside the coach. “It's all here, just like Ike said. I ain't counted it yet, but it sure looks like as much as we thought.”

It was then that Wilbur Bean made his decision. Standing closer to the coach than Bob and Larry, he could see the barrel of his rifle on the floor where he had been forced to drop it. With the bandits distracted for the moment by Roach's announcement, he suddenly dove for the rifle. It was a brave but futile effort. The gunman still on top of the stage cut him down before he could reach the door. The reaction of the outlaws was immediate, with guns trained on Bob and Larry before they could even think about making a move. The two young girls screamed and pressed closer to their mother. The frightened Mr. Grant shrieked almost as loudly as the girls.

“I had a feelin' he was gonna try somethin' like that,” the shooter said nonchalantly. He glanced up then to catch a scalding look from Sam Bass. “Hell, Sam, I didn't have no choice. I couldn't let him get to that rifle.”