.44 Caliber Man (15 page)

The intention
paid off. Seeing the man who had killed his brothers running
towards the town, Matteo Flores swung towards him. Followed by the
majority of the attackers, the stocky bandido thundered after
Colin. Matteo drew ahead of the others, holding his fire until sure
that he could not miss.

When lead
started to splatter close around him, Colin knew he must run no
more. If he was to die, he meant to go out as a Highlander, facing
his enemies and fighting. So he slammed to a halt, pivoted around
and snapped the carbine to his shoulder. There would be no time to
take a careful bead. Colin looked along the barrel rather than
making use of the sights, seeing the stocky, villainous shape of
Matteo looming closer at the head of the attackers. An instant
ahead of the Dragoon, the Spencer bellowed. As the carbine spoke,
Matteo’s horse jerked its head up into the line of the shot. A .52
bullet struck the horse’s skull and it started to crumple forward
on its buckling legs. Feeling his horse going down, Matteo also saw
his shot churn up dirt between the Scot’s feet. A born horseman,
Matteo kicked free his feet and quit the falling animal’s back. At
the same moment he realized that the attack was a failure.

Leaving Mark to
take on the four or so men coming their way, Dusty turned his
attention to Colin’s pursuers. Left, right, left right, the small
Texan’s long-barreled Army Colts sent lead at Matteo’s men. One
rider screamed and slid sideways from his horse. Another cried out,
swaying in his saddle. Bursting from the house, the Kid, Shad and
Tex added their volume of fire to their companions’. Mark tumbled a
man over the rump of his mount. Another was aiming at the blond
giant when a flat-nosed .44 Winchester bullet ripped into his
head.

Human flesh
could only stand such treatment for a short time. Showing superb
riding skill, the remaining bandidos spun their horses around and
fled. Matteo was no fool. On foot, he was in great danger, an
easier target than a mounted moving man and with less chance of
escape. So he did not hesitate. There would be other times when
revenge could be had on the man in the skirt. Matteo knew that the
family honor demanded the man should die, but had no intention of
being killed while doing it. Bounding on to the horse of the man
Dusty had shot, Matteo whirled it in a rump-scraping turn. Swinging
over to hang on the flank of the horse farthest from the house,
Matteo followed his fleeing companions towards the bosque.

‘
Head for the house, Ma!’ Dusty snapped. ‘Get after ’em,
Lon!’

‘
Yo!’ the black-dressed youngster replied.

Jeanie came
from the house carrying the Sharps, shotgun and her father’s Henry
rifle. Ignoring the sight of the men moving towards the bosque, she
carried her burden over to where her mother and April had started
to stand up.

‘
What happened?’ the girl asked, handing the weapons
out.

‘
Colin just saved our lives,’ Ma replied. ‘If he hadn’t
run—’

‘
Run?’ Jeanie ejaculated.

‘
Let me finish!’ Ma snapped. ‘If he hadn’t run down there and
drawn them after him, they’d’ve rid clear over us.’

Holding the
Sharps carbine, Jeanie turned to look to where Colin had entered
the bosque with the other men. Maybe there was more to him than she
had first imagined. She gave a sniff. Not that she cared one way or
another, of course. With that point settled, she turned her
attention back to her mother. Ma and April knelt at Temple’s side.
Looking at the wound, they exchanged glances. There was nothing
anybody but the undertaker could do.

Fanning out
among the trees, Dusty’s party advanced. At first they had the
noise of the bandidos’ hurried passage to guide them. Then it
ended, but hooves drummed off across the range beyond the bosque.
For all that, Dusty kept his men moving. In addition to remaining
alert, Dusty took the opportunity to see how Colin reacted. Clearly
the Scot had done considerable hunting. Colin moved carefully and
without undue noise. Carrying the carbine ready for use, he
searched every piece of cover ahead of him. Grim determination
showed on the Scot’s face, along with another emotion Dusty could
not decipher.

The men passed
through the bosque without incident. On its outer side, they saw
the bandidos galloping away in the distance.

‘
You want for us to take out after ’em, Dusty?’ asked the Kid,
and the two cowhands listened hopefully at his side. ‘Not right
now,’ Dusty replied. ‘Was that the full gang?’

‘
Not more’n half I’d say,’ the Kid answered. ‘Fifteen at most.
Didn’t see Tiburcio along, or Matteo comes to that.’

Remembering the
appearance of the other two brothers, Colin did not connect the
stocky, poorly dressed Matteo with them and so said nothing.

‘
Don’t seem likely the gang’d come without one of ’em along,’
Mark objected.

‘
You boys’d best search this bosque extra careful,’ Dusty
decided, for he agreed with Mark. ‘Go to it. You’d best come back
to the house with me, Colin. There could be another try and the
women-folk’re alone.’

‘
Aye,’ Colin answered.

Leaving Mark,
the Kid, Shad and Tex to conduct the search, Dusty returned with
Colin through the bosque. As they walked, Colin turned his face
towards Dusty and let out a long sigh.

‘
I should never have come to Texas,’ the Scot announced. ‘None
of this would be happening then.’

‘
Maybe,’ Dusty replied.

‘
Kenny wouldn’t have been wounded,’ Colin continued. ‘And Lou
Temple would still be alive. Lou was killed because of
me.’

‘
How’d you figure that out?’ Dusty asked.

‘
That bullet was meant for me, the one that hit
him.’

‘
Nope,’ contradicted Dusty. ‘It was fired from a rifle and
aimed at Lou.’

‘
How can you be sure?’

‘
Lou was toting that Spencer. So he was the biggest danger to
’em when they first showed from here in the trees. Figuring that,
they took him out of the game first.’

‘
Do you think that’s true?’ Colin asked eagerly.

‘
I’d bet on it,’ Dusty assured him. ‘And what you did was
mighty brave. Going away from us like that took guts.’

‘
Or I was in a panic,’ Colin suggested.

‘
The hell you were!’ Dusty replied. ‘You didn’t run scared, you
was thinking all the time.’

The droop left
Colin’s shoulders and he seemed much relieved at Dusty’s answer. Up
until that moment, Colin had assumed that Dusty and the others
would hold him responsible for Temple’s death or think he had fled
in fright.

Leaving the
bosque, Colin came to a halt and stared ahead of him. Jeanie and
April stood by Temple’s body, each holding a weapon. Five bandidos
sprawled limp and motionless before the house, along with the horse
Colin had killed. People were coming from the town, with Lansing
and two of his deputies in the lead. Hearing the sound of
approaching horses, Colin turned and saw a party of soldiers coming
towards them.

‘
Lou’s dead,’ April said in a dull voice as the two young men
came up.

‘
They paid dear for it,’ Dusty answered, glancing at the
bodies. ‘Where’s Ma at?’

‘
Gone in to settle Kenny down,’ Jeanie replied.

Before any more
could be said, the soldiers arrived. Led by a young lieutenant,
they were armed with Springfield carbines, revolvers and sabers and
looked to be about twenty strong. Halting his men, the lieutenant
rode to where Dusty’s party stood by Temple’s body.

‘
Was it the Flores gang?’ the officer demanded.

‘
Sure,’ Dusty replied. ‘They took off through the bosque and
were still running when we got to the other side.’

‘
We’ll keep them running, unless they’re foolish enough to show
fight,’ the lieutenant stated. ‘Troop—’

‘
I’ve got a feller who can read sign real good, mister,’ Dusty
put in, seeing that the soldiers did not have a scout along. ‘If
you’d like for hi—’

‘
That won’t be necessary. We can handle it,’ the officer
answered and started to swing his horse away.

‘
Mister!’ Dusty barked and something in his tone brought the
soldier to an instant halt. ‘I’ve got men searching the woods.
Watch out for them.’

For a moment
the lieutenant stared down, wondering how he had come to think of
Dusty as a small, insignificant man. There was an air of command, a
hard-bitten do-it-or-else air about the big Texan gained only by a
few of the best combat-tried captains and senior ranks. The word
‘mister’ had cracked out in the manner of such an officer giving a
warning to a junior and expecting it to be obeyed. Discipline
prevented the lieutenant from raising objections.

‘
We’ll go around the bosque and take up the trail at the other
side,’ he announced. ‘Troops, left in threes, ho!’

‘
Damned shave tail!’ Dusty snorted, watching the soldiers
depart. ‘No scout and he still allows to run the Flores gang
down.’

‘
Will they fight?’ Colin asked.

‘
Not unless they’re cornered,’ Dusty guessed. ‘More likely
they’ll hide up someplace and let the soldiers hunt for them. Let’s
see what the sheriff aims to do.’

It quickly
became obvious that the sheriff meant to do as little as possible.
Using the army’s participation as an excuse not to take out a
posse, he arranged for the removal of the bodies. Only the local
undertaker of the gathered citizens came forward with the sheriff.
The other people hovered in the background, talking among
themselves. After conferring with the undertaker, Lansing darted a
worried glance in Dusty’s direction, then turned to April and
Colin.

‘
How much longer will you be in town?’ the sheriff
asked.

‘
Until they can leave safely,’ Dusty put in. ‘Or are you fixing
to run them out?’

‘
Naw!’ Lansing stated hurriedly. ‘It’s only that folk’re
getting concerned about all this gun-play. Somebody could get
hurt’

‘
Somebody did!’ April snapped, pointing to Temple’s
body.

‘
It might be some harmless by-stander next time,’ Lansing
croaked. ‘The Flores bunch won’t give up on you.’

Standing at the
door of the house, Ma had caught the last part of the conversation
and guessed at the rest. Stalking forward, she faced Lansing with
grim annoyance on her face.

‘
Don’t let it worry you, sheriff!’ she hissed. ‘We’ll be out of
your town afore sundown tomorrow.’

‘
I ain’t pressing you to go, mind!’ Lansing whined, flashing
worried looks at Dusty. ‘Only—’

‘
You don’t have to go, Ma,’ Colin put in. ‘I will.’

‘
We’re all going!’ Ma insisted. ‘Even if I have to take a
hickory bar to make you come along. Can I have that word with you
now, Dusty?’

‘
My pleasure, ma’am,’ Dusty replied. ‘That satisfy you,
sheriff?’

‘
Sure. Well, if Ma’s set on going I’ll not stop
her.’

A harsh guffaw
broke from the undertaker, who harbored few illusions about
Lansing. ‘I bet you won’t,’ he said. ‘Reckon I’ll tend to Lou first
and move the rest of ’em on the buckboard there.’

Sensing that
her mother wanted to speak privately to Dusty, Jeanie suggested
that April and Colin should accompany her into the house.

‘
Best give Colin some of your pa’s pick-up medicine, gal,’ Ma
said. ‘He could likely use it.’

‘
I’m feeling a mite peaked myself,’ April commented. ‘So I’ll
try some while you’re at it, Jeanie.’

Walking away
from the sheriff and undertaker, Ma wondered how she should word
her request. The need did not arise.

‘
How much do you need, Ma?’ Dusty asked quietly.

‘
You knew, huh?’ she said.

‘
I guessed. You’ll need supplies if you get the remount
contract and Hoffer’s having to ask for cash for them.’

‘
That’s about the size of it,’ Ma admitted. ‘I reckon I can’t
blame him.’

‘
Tell me how much you need,’ Dusty said, ‘and I’ll make you out
a draft against the Polveroso City bank. I reckon Hoffer’ll take
it.’

‘
I—I—’ Ma began huskily.

‘
Uncle Devil’d have my hide if I didn’t,’ Dusty smiled. ‘Don’t
forget that we need hosses as well as the Army and we’d sooner deal
with you Schells than any other mustangers.’

‘
Th—Thanks, Dusty,’ Ma said, blinking her eyes. ‘Must’ve caught
a chill.’

‘
Trader’s pick-up medicine’s good for that,’ Dusty told her,
then saw a familiar figure approaching. ‘Here’s that desk-warming
Yankee Colonel. Let’s see what he’s got to say.’

Coming up,
Monaltrie studied the scene and then turned his attention to Ma.
‘Are they the Flores gang?’

‘
Sure,’ Dusty answered.

‘
The whole gang?’ Monaltrie said.

‘
Nope, some of them got away.’

‘
Did you get the brothers?’

‘
We didn’t even see them,’ Dusty admitted.

‘
Then they’ll try again,’ Monaltrie remarked.

‘
It’s likely, colonel,’ Dusty admitted. ‘They can’t quit now or
they’ll never get men to follow them.’

‘
Damn it!’ Monaltrie barked. ‘That means they’d be after you
when you leave to catch the horses, Mrs. Schell.’