Halliday 12 by Adam Brady

Author:Adam Brady
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical thriller, piccadilly publishing, james reasoner, wild west fiction, lawmen and outlaws, best western ebook, gunfighters old west, pulp westerns fiction
Publisher: Piccadilly

Chapter Six – Hand of Fate

SQUATTING BEFORE A small campfire on a high ridge, Buck Halliday cursed under his breath.

Before him stretched many an unknown trail, peace and solitude, while behind him were more troubles than he cared to think about.

So why was he here wasting so much time trying to decide which way to head?

Deep down, he had the feeling that he was running away.

But running from what? A man who had twice tried to kill him and would certainly try a third time? A mean-livered sheriff who wanted to drive him out of town? Or was it Julie Dingwall?

He threw some pine cones onto the fire and watched the sparks ignite them. He pushed his blackened coffeepot into the flames and stared off into the distance.

There’d been many young women like Julie in his past and all had left some mark on him—but not enough to persuade him to give up his drifting. Maybe he’d never find that woman—maybe he didn’t want to.

A small rock dropped over a ledge above him, gathered a little momentum, then came to a halt at the side of the clearing. Halliday didn’t bother to turn or look up, but his hand shifted toward his gun butt, and when he heard a footstep only yards away, he dropped into a crouch and whipped out his gun.

Hap Mooney threw his bony arms in the air and yelled:

“Hold your fire, Buck. It’s me.”

“What the hell do you want, Hap?”

The oldster began to lower his arms but the lift of Halliday’s gun made him keep them there. His shirt was pulled out of his Levi’s to reveal a thin-fleshed, string-muscled belly. Beads of sweat popped onto his yellow-skinned brow and his toothless mouth opened in fright.

“Brought you a message, Buck.”

“From whom?”

“The Nesbitt gal.”

The water in the pot began to bubble, and Halliday dropped a handful of coffee grounds into it.

Mooney remained with his feet planted solidly, making no effort to come closer. His nervousness told Halliday that he was not up to anything, that he had understood Halliday’s message when he’d told him to leave him alone in town. Yet the old man was here, had trailed him without being seen, and had risked getting shot by revealing himself.

“Not so much from the gal, I s’pose, but from Kirk. Seems he came to for a while and managed to speak a few words to her. Nesbitt wants you to come back.”

“They’ve made it plain they don’t want me in that town. Their troubles have nothing to do with me.”

“There’s mention of you bein’ paid, Buck, and with what’s at stake, you can’t walk away from it, can you?”

“I can do what I please, Hap. Which is the same advice I’m givin’ to you now. You’re bringin’ the flies into my camp.”

The oldster looked hurt and his hands lowered a fraction. “Be reasonable, Buck. Hell, you’re a drifter and drifters got to make the most of what comes their way. At your age and with your ability, I’d put up a tent in the main street of that one-horse town and wait for my fortune to roll in.

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