A. J. Smith by C. J. Petit

Author:C. J. Petit [Petit, C. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-10-03T05:00:00+00:00

“He’s dead, Ed,” said Carl.

Ed had been watching the rise where that rider had gone and didn’t like the situation. The hoofbeats had faded and gone after he had passed over to the other side. It might be that the sound couldn’t get past the hill or he could be on the other side, waiting for them to come over the top. Then he heard Carl’s unnecessary announcement.

“Go through his pockets,” he replied as he kept his gaze at the crest of the rise but didn’t see AJ buried in the grass.

“He only had eighteen dollars on him.”

Without averting his eyes, he shouted, “Keep it.”

Carl grinned and jammed the bills into his pocket.

Ed finally turned to the other three and said, “I don’t like this. That stranger might be on the other side with his Winchester, waiting for us to clear the rise.”

“Want to head back and then cut him off?” asked Chance, “He’s probably got the woman.”

Ed wasn’t sure where she was. His primary concern was the unknown shooter. He just didn’t like having someone with a gun at his back and he could worry about the woman later because she had to be around here somewhere.

“Tell you what we’ll do. Carl, I want you to just take your rifle to the top of the rise. When you get near the top, just keep low then stick your head over the crest and see if you can spot him.”

Carl nodded, pulled his Winchester from its scabbard and began walking up the gradual ascent.

AJ saw him coming and waited like the hunter he was. This was almost unfair, but fair was the last thing he was worried about as he watched the man coming closer. He’d hold fire until he was within guaranteed kill range.

Carl wasn’t the least bit nervous as his feet propelled him up the slope. He almost felt like whistling because he knew the rider had already gone. Who would be stupid enough to wait when there were four armed men so close? Even he would have high-tailed it out of there.

He was within fifty yards of the crest and preparing to crouch down when AJ squeezed the trigger. His shot smashed into Carl’s chest dead center, shattering his breastbone and blowing apart his heart, sending him flying backwards before he flipped over twice as he tumbled back down the rise, his hat flying from his head and floating three feet away.

A startled Ed jerked with the report and quickly reached for his rifle, then rapidly dismounted to get behind his horse. Chance and Big Joe followed suit and soon, all three were hidden behind their horses with Winchesters pointed up the slope. Big Joe fired a few rounds at the smoke, but it was out of range.

AJ slipped back down to the other side of the rise, grabbed his Stetson then trotted to Coal and took his reins from Hannah before donning his hat and mounting.

She stepped up on her horse and looked at him.

“At a nice quiet walk, Hannah,” he said conversationally.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.