Outlaw's Reckoning (15 page)

Matt was firing as well, and he managed to drop one of the riders from his saddle with a pair of shots from his rifle.

As the two groups of horses drew closer together, the firing was coming more and more from Matt and Clint. Ben had saved a few rounds for this spot, but his men were already in dire need of a reload. One of them was forced to holster his pistol and try to take another from his belt while also struggling to keep hold of his reins.

“All right!” Ben shouted. “Break off!”

With that command, all three of the remaining outlaw riders made a sharp turn away from Clint and Matt. No two of them chose the same direction, which created a thick cloud of dust as all three of their horses kicked up clumps of dirt while scrambling to turn.

Although Clint could see what the riders were doing, he was moving too quickly to do anything other than try to steer Eclipse to a spot where he wouldn't smack against another horse or ride straight into a stray round of gunfire.

Where everything had been playing itself out slowly in Clint's mind before, the scene was suddenly launched into a confusing mess of swirling dust, thundering hooves, shouting voices and flying lead.

Shots were still being fired at them, but Clint and Matt could no longer tell where they were coming from.

Just as Clint was beginning to sort through the mess, he saw a man climbing to his feet no more than three steps in front of Eclipse's nose. It was all Clint could do to pull the reins and turn Eclipse away before trampling the other man. Although he did manage to steer around him, Clint was forced to bring the Darley Arabian to a stop.

For a moment, Clint couldn't tell if Matt was nearby or was still on Ben's trail. He put that aside for the moment when he realized that the man he'd almost trampled was one of the riders who'd been shot from his saddle.

The man's left arm was hanging limply from his shoulder, and his clothes were stained by both blood and dirt. “Go to hell!” he shouted as he tried to grab for a gun sticking from his belt. That motion was more than enough to bring a pained wince to his face as he grabbed a bloody wound in his side.

“Your friends left you behind,” Clint said. “How about you tell me where they're headed so I can show them the error of their ways?”

The other man flashed a dirty grin as he said, “They left but we ain't alone.”

Following the man's eyes, Clint looked back toward Lohrens and saw the other group of riders that he'd pegged as lawmen. They weren't quite close enough to make out the whites of their eyes, but they were making steady progress.

“Far as those lawmen know,” the wounded man said, “you and Matt are the ones that shot that bitch in the hotel.”

Clint's eyes narrowed as the image of Laura's dead body was brought back into his mind. “Come on,” he said while extending a hand down to the man. “Unless you want to take your chances with the law.”

“Maybe I will.”

“And maybe they'll hang you once someone from that hotel speaks up about you being there before Matt or I even showed our faces anywhere near that dead woman.”

The smug look on the man's face slowly started to fade as Clint's words sank in. Eventually, he started glancing over his shoulder toward the lawmen as if he was no longer glad to see them coming. “You're just gonna shoot me when you get the chance.”

“I've got my chance right now,” Clint said while holding his gun hand out for the man to take rather than drawing his Colt.

“Careful,” the man grunted. “I got a—”

But the man's warning was cut short as Clint took hold of his arm and hauled him up onto Eclipse's back without so much as a hint of regard for the fresh wounds. The man let out a pained yelp as all of his weight strained against his wounded shoulder while stretching out the bullet wound in his side. By the time Clint lifted him into the saddle, the man dangled unconsciously from his hand.

Clint grunted with the effort of holding the man up. Thankfully, he only needed to do it for another second or two before draping the man across Eclipse's back. Judging by the way the wounded man nearly flopped off the stallion, Clint was certain the guy had passed out from the pain.

Holding the unconscious man in place with one arm, Clint kept hold of his reins in his free hand and snapped them to get Eclipse moving again. Before he could think too long about how he could keep from being shot at by the panicky lawmen, Clint saw another horse ride up to him.

“Anyone send for the cavalry?” Matt asked.

“Where's Ben and the others?”

“I could only follow one for a little bit before losing him in some trees. The others were long gone by the time I doubled back.”

“And you don't think you could have caught up in time?” Clint asked.

Matt shook his head. “They would have each run for miles before meeting up somewhere else they'd picked out beforehand. It's a good move to make an escape and it's damn effective. I should know, since I'm the one who taught it to Ben.”

“Then you know where Ben's going.”

Matt shook his head. “The whole beauty of that move is that nobody knows where it's headed other than the men doing the running. It's different every time. That way, it can be used plenty of times.”

“All right, save me the sales pitch,” Clint said.

“But it looks like you've already got the answer to our little problem,” Matt said while nodding toward the unconscious man laying across Eclipse's back. “I may not know the details of where Ben's headed, but you can sure bet that fella does.”

Clint pulled in a breath and turned to look at the lawmen who were closing in on them. Their horses were only building up more speed now that the riders could tell that Clint and Matt had come to a stop.

“They won't be sitting still for long, Adams,” Matt said. “If you want to be sure to give Ben enough time to make a clean getaway, then just head on over to those lawmen and try to explain what happened.”

All Clint had to do was think once more about Laura's wide, dead eyes and the decision was made. With a snap of the reins, he turned his back once more to Lohrens and rode away from the approaching lawmen. It took a bit of time for Eclipse to build up speed, but the Darley Arabian was soon able to give Marshal Lind a chase.

As he rode, Clint shook the wounded man by the collar. Between that and the motion of Eclipse's strides, the man was quickly rattled awake.

“What the . . . ,” the wounded man groaned. As soon as he saw where he was and what was happening, he grabbed onto the first thing he could reach. Holding onto the lower edge of the saddle wasn't nearly enough to put his mind to rest.

“Tell me where to find Ben or I'll drop you on your fool head,” Clint said once he saw the wounded man start to squirm.

“I don't know, for Christ's sake!”

“Fine. I don't need the extra weight anyway.” When Clint slapped his hand on the man's back, he thought he heard whimpering coming from the wounded outlaw.

“Head south!” the wounded man shouted. “There's a camp by a lake! I'll take you right to it!”

“That's more like it,” Clint replied.

Even with the extra weight on his back, Eclipse was able to put the lawmen behind him and keep them there until Clint was able to find a way to shake them. After a few sharp turns through some trees and a quick circle around a lake, Clint was no longer able to see or hear a trace of the posse. Before too long, Matt joined up with him once again.

“They're headed back to town,” Matt said as he brought his horse to a stop. “A pretty sorry excuse for a posse if you ask me.”

“Nobody asked you,” Clint replied.

While Matt knew well enough to keep quiet, the wounded man wasn't so smart.

“Ain't much more than a lawdog yourself, huh?” the wounded man grunted. “That figures.”

Without a word to announce his intentions, Clint pushed the wounded man over Eclipse's back until he began sliding to the hard earth below. At the last second, Clint tightened his grip on the man's belt to keep him from falling all the way.

“What was that you were saying?” Clint asked.

All the wounded man could get out was a couple of gurgling moans.

Matt shook his head as he climbed down from his saddleand walked over to Eclipse. “All right, big man,” he said as he reached out to get ahold of the outlaw dangling from Eclipse's back. “Let's get you down from there before you talk yourself into a cracked skull.”

Clint leaned down so he could work with Matt to get the wounded man off of Eclipse and onto the ground. Once that was done, Clint swung down himself and fished the spyglass from his saddlebag. He held the spyglass to one eye and pointed it toward the direction from which they'd come.

“See anyone?” Matt asked.

Swinging the spyglass back and forth, Clint finally replied, “Nope.”

“I suppose we're out of that marshal's jurisdiction. Either that, or he's too damn lazy to ride for more than a few minutes to catch a killer.”

“Or maybe he knows we're not the killers,” Clint added. “There's always the possibility that he caught Ben's trail and is after him right now.”

The wounded outlaw let out a grunting laugh. “Yeah. And maybe their horses sprouted wings and flew off.”

“Shut up,” Matt said.

Clint didn't show it, but he figured the wounded man was more or less on the right track. He put away the spyglass and took the rope that hung from his saddle. “Time for you to earn your keep,” Clint said. “Where do we head now?”

“First I need to see a doctor,” the wounded man snapped. “If'n I don't stop bleeding, I can't say shit.”

“We're not making camp,” Clint said. “The only reason we stopped was to get our bearings and sit you up properly. Oh, and one more thing.” With that, Clint slapped his free hand against the wounded man's side and belt, to find and toss away two more pistols. After that, he gathered up the man's hands and started looping rope around them.

The wounded man gritted his teeth and locked eyes with Matt. “You thieving son of a bitch.”

Matt chuckled under his breath before replying, “So that's what it means for the pot to call the kettle black.”

“We may steal from everyone else, but we don't steal from each other. That's just plain cowardly.”

“You know what's cowardly?” Clint asked as he cinched in the knot to keep the man's wrists bound together. “Shooting an unarmed woman in cold blood. A man doesn't get much more yellow than that.”

The wounded man grumbled and looked away. His shoulder was still misaligned, but his eyes were glazed over. After all that pain, Clint figured the man probably wasn't feeling much of anything at the moment. Just to wake him up, Clint gave the man's wounded shoulder a gentle pat. When the wounded man's eyes snapped open and he pulled in a quick breath, Clint motioned for Matt to come over and help him.

“Let's get our friend into the saddle so he can ride like a man instead of a bedroll,” Clint said.

Between the two of them, Clint and Matt were able to get the man onto Eclipse's back. Clint climbed up next so that the wounded man was behind him.

“You want to tell me your name?” Clint asked.

The man held his tongue.

“His name's Dell,” Matt said. “At least, that's what everyone calls him.”

“All right, Dell. Where's this camp you were talking about?”

Clint wasn't sure if it was the pain from his wounds, the loss of blood, or just a general feeling of hopelessness, but Dell lost his attitude and slumped like a scarecrow on a post.

“Due south,” Dell said. “But they may not even be there anymore. We were just supposed to meet up and ride out again.”

“I guess we'll have to take our chances. You ready, Matt?”

Already in his saddle, Matt nodded. “As I'll ever be. You still want me to tag along?”

“Why wouldn't I? You've come this far. Are you done handing out that money?”

“What?” Dell grunted. “You gave away that money? It don't belong to you!”

“It doesn't belong to you,” Matt said. “And it doesn't belong to Ben, either.”

Dell shook his head and muttered, “Fucking bastard.”

Wearing a wide smile on his face, Matt rode up next to Eclipse. When he patted Dell on the back, it wasn't with any more force than he would use to greet a friend. That small impact on Dell's wounds, however, was enough to drain all the color from his face.

“You just keep flapping those lips, Dell,” Matt said. “It'll make me feel better about shooting you in the first place.”

Clint laughed at the pitiful squeaks coming from the outlaw behind him. “All right, Dell,” he said before Matt got any more ideas. “Lead on so we can get you to that doctor you wanted.”

The spot Clint wound up at was pretty much as Dell had described it. There were some winding trails and a lake. There was even a flat stretch of ground that would have made a real good place to bed down for the night. After taking a look around, Clint looked over his shoulder at Dell's pale face.

“Is this the spot?” Clint asked.

Dell looked around and nodded. “I told you they wouldn't be here. You'd better still hold up your end of this deal.”

Matt had already climbed from his saddle so he could get a closer look at the ground. “These tracks are still pretty fresh,” he said while staring at a cluster of imprints in the dirt. “No way of knowing where they lead, though.”