Delryan's Draw by Terrell Bowers

Author:Terrell Bowers [Bowers, Terrell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Robert Hale
Published: 2014-04-07T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

The fire lit up the dark sky. Flames licked at the towering ceiling of blackness with a leaping yellow-orange tongue. The billowing smoke blotted out the stars that shone overhead.

Delryan stumbled to his knees, gasping for breath. He'd been running for the last mile. His lungs were burning, he was panting like wind-broke horse, and his body refused to obey any further mental commands. The mission was engulfed in flames and he had arrived too late to help.

He heard cries drifting on the midnight air – not of warriors but those of children or women. It brought him to his feet and he staggered ahead as best he could. Another half mile brought him to the mission. He saw the shed was the single structure afire and the women and children were attempting to throw water on the flames. The shed was not much of a loss, other than for a few hand tools and old grain sacks.

Father McLeary was doing the directing, ordering more water, sending children to fetch more buckets. He didn't notice Delryan's approach until he was right behind him. When he saw him his mouth fell open in surprise.

At nearly the same instant, a gun blast came from the shadows. The bullet scorched a path along the front of Delryan's chest. It was followed quickly by a second shot that knocked Delryan off of his feet.

As he hit the ground on his left side, Delryan snaked out his own gun. The shooter was visible from the flickering light of the nearby flames He thumbed back the hammer on his gun, taking a careful aim this time.

Delryan fired from the hip – extending the gun toward the target as he fired again and again, desperate to prevent the man from pulling the trigger a third time and perhaps ending his life. At least one of Delryan's bullets scored a direct hit. The man was driven back a step, yet still managed to squeeze off another round. The slug whistled harmlessly over Delryan's head., but the shooter was momentarily silhouetted by the flash of his muzzle blast. It allowed Delryan a clear shot. This time he did not miss, centering his forth round through the man's chest.

The gunman folded in the middle, sank to the floor on his knees, then toppled off of the porch, landing with his arms flung harmlessly out to either side.

Father McLeary warily approached the man and did a quick examination. When he came over to Delryan he was shaking his head.

“I'd been keeping an eye out for you, hoping to warn you. Sid Crane has been waiting in case you showed up. A bunch of Indians came by a short while ago, along with a friend of yours – Faro Lark. They did this to the mission and left.”

Delryan sat up and assessed his wound. The bullet had gone through his left shoulder, causing it to burn as if someone had shoved a white-hot branding iron right through the hole. He holstered his gun, then accepted the priest's hand to help him to his feet.

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.