Bad Men Die by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2015-05-18T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

Luke and the men going with him had no time to waste. They had to have the element of surprise on their side if they were going to stand any chance against the outlaws. They needed to appear at the rendezvous point before Burroughs started to wonder why his men hadn’t shown up.

Not only that, but the outlaws on the boat would have heard the gunfire and had to be curious what the ruckus had been about. Luckily, only a few shots had gone off, so Burroughs wouldn’t likely think that the guards he’d left behind had decided to massacre the prisoners.

Wearing the outlaws’ hats and vests and armed with weapons they had taken, Luke and his companions mounted up and headed northwest along the river. He figured the stream must have a name, but he’d never heard it. They might as well call it Blood River, he thought grimly. That was likely to be running in it before the day was over.

The engineer, who’d introduced himself as Kermit Winslow, asked as they rode, “Do you really think we can get close enough to jump those hombres without them recognizing us?”

“I hope so,” Luke said. “Otherwise, they’ll just sit there on that boat and pick us off at their leisure.”

The other two volunteers were Craig Bolden, a mining engineer, and Ray Stinson, an unemployed cowboy currently riding the grub line. Both had handled themselves well during the fight with the guards, and Luke hoped that would continue. The odds would be at least two to one against them, so they would need some luck on their side, too.

The going wasn’t easy as they rode upriver. In some places the steep slope went down almost to the water, leaving only a narrow trail they could follow. At times, the path was blocked by rocks, and they had to ride into the river a short distance. Fortunately, the stream was fairly shallow despite having a strong, steady current, so the horses didn’t have to swim.

Finally, Luke spotted smoke rising into the sky around a bend in the river. He motioned for the others to stop. “I want to go ahead on foot and have a look. We need to know what we’re getting into.”

He dismounted and left Winslow, Bolden, and Stinson. He used the brush growing close to the water for cover as he slipped forward to reconnoiter.

Reaching the bend, he parted some branches and peered through the gap he’d made. The riverboat was pulled up next to a grassy bank about two hundred yards upstream, and a gangplank had been placed between the deck and the shore so the guards could ride their horses over it when they arrived.

Only those guards weren’t coming, Luke thought. One man was dead, and the other three were prisoners, tied up back at the train.

That gave Luke an idea. He faded back along the bank to the spot where he’d left the volunteers.

He explained what he’d seen and what his plan was. “You three are going to ride up to the boat leading the other horse.

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