Bannerman the Enforcer 1 by Kirk Hamilton

Author:Kirk Hamilton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: bannerman, piccadilly publishing, keith hetherington, the us old west, gunfighters and outlaws, kirk hamilton, texas enforcers, us 1800s western ebook, western ebooks online, yancey bannerman
Publisher: Piccadilly Publishing

Five – Gunsmoke and Blood

YANCEY HAD a mild hangover when he awoke the next morning. But after a pitcher of icy water poured over his head and three cups of hot black coffee, he felt more ready to face the world ... providing the world wasn’t going to be too demanding of him. He dressed after shaving carefully. And when he reached for his gunbelt, he discovered that his gun was missing.

He stared at the empty holster, not at first believing his eyes, then looked in the corner where he had placed his new Winchester. The rifle was not there. His headache started up again.

Frowning, he buckled the empty gun rig about his waist, grabbed his hat and went out into the passage to knock on the door of Cato’s room. At the man’s invitation to come on in, Yancey entered and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Cato was working on the missing guns. At least, the Winchester rested on the table, the action open, but the Colt Peacemaker was in pieces on a square of cloth. Cato looked fresh and fit.

“Is that my Colt?” Yancey asked, sitting down.

“Yep. You won’t know it when I get it together again.”

“I don’t know it now. It’s unrecognizable. You sure you can put all those pieces back in the right places, Johnny?”

“Not only that, but the gun’ll be better than ever.” Cato fumbled amongst his tools, picked up a small screwdriver and worked at the trigger mechanism. “You don’t look any too bright this mornin’.”

Yancey looked rueful. “Chuck and me kind of got caught up in a little uproar last night. Plenty of fun.”

Cato nodded, smiling faintly. “Chuck looks a hell of a lot worse than you do. Offered to help him up to his room just as the sun was comin’ up, but he wouldn’t let me. Stubborn cuss. Tried to hide his face from me, but I could see he was bleedin’ plenty.” Cato shook his head slowly. “You Bannermans call gettin’ beat-up fun?”

Yancey frowned. “Chuck wasn’t beat-up bad. In fact, he didn’t stop as many punches as I did. Might’ve been a little blood, but not much ... Wait a minute! Did you say you saw him when the sun was rising?”

Cato stopped work on the gun and looked up, surprised. “Yeah, sure. I was just gettin’ back from my—uh—lady friend at the Gilded Cage. Saw Chuck staggering along the street making for the rear entrance of the Palace. Something wrong?”

Yancey was looking thoughtful. “Seems so. I left Chuck singing ‘Buffalo Gals’ in the Palace lobby not long after midnight. He was laughing his head off.”

Cato shrugged. “Well, he must’ve gone out again and had himself some more fun ... I’m tellin’ you, Yancey, he was beat-up bad. I was gonna insist that I help him to his room or get a sawbones, but he was kinda proddy and told me to get. He’d make out, he said.”

Yancey pursed his lips. “Seems mighty strange. Maybe I better have a talk with him.

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