Authors: William W. Johnstone

The Forbidden (22 page)

BOOK: The Forbidden

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Chapter Five

While the woman were locked inside the wagon, Flintlock dragged away Poke Murray's body and laid it in the brush beside the bushwhacker he'd killed in the first exchange of fire. The Hawken's .50 caliber ball had blown a fist-sized hole in the man's chest and Flintlock figured he'd died instantly.

“Admiring your handiwork, Sammy?”

Flintlock followed the sound of the voice and saw wicked old Barnabas, the old mountain man who'd raised him from a child, perched among the topmost branches of a wild oak.

“This is an unpleasant surprise. I thought I was finally rid of your,” Flintlock sad.”

“Boy, you won't get shot of me until you find your ma in the Arizony Territory and she tells you your rightful name,” Barnabas said. “I know you're an idiot, Sam, but try to wrap your mind around this fact. You can't spend the rest of your life called fer a rifle.”

“I'll find her. Don't you worry about that,” Flintlock said, irritated. He pointed to an object in the old man's hand. “What the hell is that thing you're holding?”

Barnabas held up the object that glinted in the sun. “This is an old-timey helmet, boy. See, you put it on your head like this.” He lowered the helmet onto his head. His voice sounding hollow, he added, “Then you lift the visor.” It was shaped like the bow of an iron steamship. He raised it and said, “There, now I can see you just fine.”

“What are you doing with that thing?” Flintlock said.

“Polishing it up for a feller.”

“What feller?”

“Not that it's any of your business, Sammy, but I'll tell you anyway. This here hat belongs to Baron Boris Von Baggenheim. Back, oh, four hundred years ago, ol' Boris made a career of galloping around the countryside slaughtering peasants and dragging maidens back to his castle to have his way with them.” Barnabas sighed. “Boris sure misses them good old days.”

“And that's why he's in hell?” Flintlock said.

Barnabas said, “Yeah, that and something to do with burning some holy man or other. But what you say is true, boy.” He nodded and the helmet visor clanged shut. He opened it again. “Boris's corner of hell is reserved for them as You-know-who calls naughty noblemen, including that little puke the Marquis de Sade. Spends all his time talking about his female conquests, like anybody cares.” Barnabas lifted the helmet off his head. “Damn, this thing is heavy and hot. Of course, in hell it's red hot, but Boris doesn't seem to mind.”

“Barnabas, why are you here?” Flintlock said.

The old mountain man looked over his shoulder and then his voice dropped to a confidential whisper. “You-know-who has advice for you about them uppity females. He says you should tip the wagon over again and then set it on fire. Burn them four harridans alive and you'll be rid of them.”

“Yeah, that's the kind of advice he would give. Tell him it's not going to happen.”

Barnabas polished the helmet with his buckskin sleeve. “Well, Sam'l, he's smart and you're a dunderhead, but suit yourself. Now I got to go. Hey, you ever hear of a bird they call a kingfisher?”

“Can't say as I have,” Flintlock said.

“You will,” Barnabas said.

He vanished in a puff of smoke that smelled of brimstone. Only the sound of his cackle lingered and then it too was gone.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

W
ILLIAM
W. J
OHNSTONE
was the author of over 220
USA Today
and
New York Times
bestselling books, including
The First Mountain Man, MacCallister, Eagles, Savage Texas, Matt Jensen, The Last Mountain Man, The Family Jensen, and The Kerrigans: A Texas Dynasty,
as well as the stand-alone thrillers
Suicide Mission, The Bleeding Edge, Home Invasion, Stand Your Ground,
and
Tyranny.

Visit his website at
www.williamjohnstone.net
.

NEW YORK TIMES
AND
USA TODAY
BESTSELLING AUTHORS
W
ILLIAM
W. J
OHNSTONE
with J. A. Johnstone

BLACK FRIDAY

From the bestselling authors of
Tyranny
and
Stand Your Ground
comes the explosively charged story
of a full-scale terrorist attack on American soil
â
on the biggest shopping day of the year . . .

DAY OF RECKONING

Black Friday. The American Way Mall is packed with
holiday shoppers and bargain seekers. Machine-gun fire
rings out, and within minutes hundreds are dead and
dying. Others are taken hostage by an army of fanatical
Middle Eastern terrorists ready to blast the American
Way Mall into a pile of rubble. But one manâIraq War
vet Tobey Lanningârefuses to go down without a fight.
Separated from his fiancÃ©e, Lanning finds himself on the
frontlines of a new war against terror. The FBI and the
local police are helpless. The battle is going to be lost or
won inside the mall. With thousands of innocent lives at
stake, Lanning assembles a makeshift platoon of Black
Friday shoppers. A teenage security guard. A retired
Chicago cop. A schoolteacher who's never fired a gun.
A young ex-con who has. A soccer mom. A priest.
A wheelchair-bound World War II vet . . .

These brave everyday Americans will stand up
and meet the enemy face to face. Defend their land,
their values, their honorâand if necessary pay the
ultimate price for freedom ...

Visit us at
www.kensingtonbooks.com