Fool's Gold by Brent Larssen & 9780719824111

Author:Brent Larssen & 9780719824111 [Larssen, Brent]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780719824111
Publisher: Robert Hale Fiction
Published: 2023-01-18T00:00:00+00:00

Arkwright didn’t usually invite his foreman into the house, preferring to keep his relations with Stone as a business kind of thing, rather than acting like they were bosom friends. There was something about having a fellow in your home which made it harder to maintain that master and servant atmosphere which was so necessary for good order. This afternoon was different though. They had to talk things over, examine equipment and generally arrange matters in a private fashion; not under the eyes of any casual passer-by.

‘Set yourself down there,’ Arkwright said, indicating a sofa. ‘I’ll go and fetch the rifle.’

The room in which he left Stone was well furnished without being vulgar and extravagant. Everything in the room was expensive, but didn’t look so at first glance. It was a far cry indeed from Stone’s modest little place, up near the bunkhouses. One day, he thought, I shall have just such a room as this in which to spend the evening. Don’t I deserve it just as much as the boss does? Maybe more. His reverie was interrupted by Arkwright’s return.

Arkwright had in his hands a rifle of most unusual design. It looked as though somebody had taken into their heads to marry a telescope to a musket. A long, brass tube ran the whole length of the weapon’s barrel, terminating level with the hammer, on the left hand side. Stone said, ‘It’s a while since I laid eyes on one of those and that’s a fact.’

‘It sights up to eight hundred yards, which is a shade under a half mile. You reckon you can shoot straight at that range?’

Jed Stone laughed out loud. ‘I killed men at greater distances than that, lemme tell you.’

‘You use one of these before?’

‘A Whitworth? Sure. Let me hold it and remind myself of the feel of the thing.’ Stone stood up and took the rifle from his boss’s hands. ‘Heavier than I recollect. That’s good, it’ll help damp down the kick.’

‘Take it over to the window there and sight through the telescope. Mind nobody sees you though.’

Jed Stone carried the long weapon over to the window and then fiddled with the sights and the telescope; adjusting them both to his own satisfaction. Then he squinted down the brass tube and, while doing so, pointed the gun at the hills visible from the parlour window.

‘Remember,’ said Arkwright, ‘You’ll be resting it on a rock tonight, which will make for easier aiming. It’s a muzzle loader, you know. That means you’re only going to get one shot. You have to take your man first time and be sure that he’s dead into the bargain. You sure you’re up to the job?’

Stone turned a cold eye on the owner of the Double D. ‘I’ve killed heaps o’ men in my time. I’m up to it,’ he said briefly.

‘Let’s run through it again,’ said Arkwright.

‘We been through it a dozen times.’

‘Yeah, well let’s make it a baker’s dozen. Tell me how you’ll play it.’

Like a child

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