Hanging in Wild Wind by Ralph Cotton

Author:Ralph Cotton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2010-07-26T04:00:00+00:00

Ten miles from Wild Wind, after a hard ride across the flatlands and up onto a steep hill trail, Kitty and the Cullen brothers stopped for a few minutes to rest their horses and drink water from a thin runoff stream. Upset and grumbling under his breath, Cadden sipped a mouthful of cool water from his cupped hand. He swished the water around and spit it back out.

“I say we should have stayed and looked for it longer,” he said. He and his brother, Price, had been bickering about searching for the money ever since they’d left Wild Wind.

Kitty sighed and turned her eyes upward as if praying for patience. “Christ, we turned the place upside down before we left. If there’s money there, Longworth and Bell did a damn good job hiding it. Far as I can see, neither one of them are all that smart.”

“We gave up too easy,” Cadden said. “We should have stayed and kept looking.”

“Brother, if you keep it up with your grousing, I’ll be forced to box your jaws,” said Price.

“You won’t be boxing my jaws, Price,” answered Cadden. He sprang to his feet. “I’ve put up with you thinking you know everything long enough—”

“Hold it. Shut up,” said Kitty with urgency in her voice. She stood with her ear turned to the trail behind them. “Hear that? Did you hear it?” she said, her voice dropping to a hushed tone.

The two fell silent and listened alongside her. “I heard it,” said Cadden.

“Yeah, me too,” said Price.

“Horses . . . ,” Kitty said.

“Yep, horses,” said Price.

“Coming this way,” said Cadden.

“Sounds like they’re coming fast,” said Price.

“I’ve never seen a town get a posse together this quick in my life.”

“You have now,” said Kitty. She reached down and picked her rifle off the ground where he’d laid it. “Get above the trail on the moonlight side. As fast as they’re coming, they’ll ride right into our gunfire,” she said. “We’ll pick out their eyes in this darkness.”

“How does she know so much about ambushing?” Cadden asked Price in a whisper.

“I don’t know,” said Price, “but she’s right.” He grabbed his horse’s reins and began leading the animal away from the runoff stream.

“Get out of sight, Cadden,” Kitty said. The three climbed up above the trail and took position on a rock-strewn hillside.

After a moment of listening and hearing nothing, Cadden said in a whisper, “They’ve stopped.”

“Just long enough to get down and make sure they’re still following our tracks,” Price whispered in reply. The three sat frozen, listening intently.

“Maybe we ought to try to make a run for it,” Cadden said, the tension getting to him first.

Kitty remained cool and calm. “And risk breaking a horse’s leg on these rock trails? No, thanks. I’ve done that, and I didn’t like it one bit. If anybody breaks a horse’s leg, let it be these jakes.” She cradled her rifle in her arm and sat quietly, her finger in place on the trigger.

Less than a mile back, Huey Buckles stood up in the middle of the rocky trail, brushed himself off and staggered in place.

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