Bannerman the Enforcer 7 by Kirk Hamilton

Author:Kirk Hamilton [Hamilton, Kirk]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical western fiction, piccadilly publishing, kirk hamilton, bannerman the enforcer, pulp fiction western ebook, gunfighters of the wild west, yancey bannerman and johnny cato
Publisher: Piccadilly Publishing
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Six – Dangerous Boredom

The armed guard had been dismissed by Dukes almost as soon as Cato arrived. He knew the small Enforcer could handle anything that Mercer might try to pull. But the man seemed to be only interested in getting his revenge on Burdin.

He told how Burdin and some others had escaped the raid on the training canyon base and how the rebel leader had killed the wounded man rather than have him tag along and slow them down. He told, too, how Chuck Speers had been killed in the mountains and how he himself had been chased and shot while swimming the river, his body being swept away by the current.

“I was lucky I got washed into a quiet pool just before the rapids,” Mercer added. “Beyond that was the falls, I could hear ’em, and I knew if I went over them it’d be the finish.” He looked around to see if he was getting any sympathy, but both Dukes and Cato regarded him with sober faces. “Well, I figured Sam and the others might come lookin’ for me, so I hid out under a cutbank all night but there weren’t no sign of them. I’d been hit in the chest.”

He paused here to rip open his worn shirt and show the puckered scar on the left side of his chest. “I was bleedin’ a lot and weak and cold. I reckoned I wasn’t gonna make it and I passed out someplace in the woods. Next I knew I was in a shack that belonged to an old sourdough prospector. He’d found me and had cut the lead outa me and nursed me back to health. I’d lost a week of my life somewheres, while I was in fever, but he pulled me through. Soon as I could, I moved on and in a town I picked up some trail gossip, but I figure it’s got a heap of truth in it. About Burdin.”

He paused and looked at the others. “I figured maybe I could make a deal with you, Governor.”

Dukes looked at him coldly. “What kind of deal?”

“My freedom and maybe a reward of some kind; safe passage to Mexico. I know Burdin would never catch up with me there ’cause he hates greasers and wouldn’t set foot on their land if he could help it. What do you say?”

“What do you think you’ve got that’s worth tradin’?” Cato countered. “You said yourself it’s only trail gossip.”

Mercer looked cunning. “Yeah. But since hearin’ it I’ve seen somethin’ that makes it more gospel than gossip.”

“Let’s hear it,” Dukes said crisply. “We’ll talk deals later. And I’m not promising a thing, Mercer. You’re a rebel against my state.”

“No dice! You give me your word we got a deal or I don’t say another word.”

Cato lifted the heavy Manstopper from its holster. As the apprehensive man watched, he pushed the toggle across on the hammer, then pulled it back again. He did it several times, then flicked open the

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