Hell's Marshal by Chris Barili

Author:Chris Barili
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Horror, Genre Fiction, Westerns, Dark Fantasy, Literature & Fiction
Publisher: Stealth Publishing
Published: 2016-04-10T14:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

Frank burst into Bridge Square as the first shots split the muggy afternoon air and the sound of horses thundered through the street. A group of men on horseback galloped around the square in front of the bank, firing pistols at the sky and shouting the old rebel yell. Spike slid to a stop beside him, with Curtis panting up behind.

Bystanders were scattering like mice before a cat, ducking for cover or locking themselves inside.

“Get under cover,” Frank told them both, loosening his Colt in the holster. “Use the Winchester and cover me. Time to end this little square dance.”

Spike took off at a run, but the boy remained, staring up at Frank.

“Go on, son!” Frank yelled. “You’re not dead yet, so let’s try to keep it that way.” A bullet whizzed past his ear as if to drive home his point.

“I can help! Just watch me!”

Before Frank could protest, the boy ran off down a side street and out of sight.

“Frank Butcher!” The voice sounded high-pitched and reedy, but that was just the thin layer of ice over a frigid river of power that lurked underneath. Frank turned and found himself looking up at a boy on horseback, the same boy he’d seen at the saloon. Only this time, his eyes were black as death and he pointed his revolvers at Frank.

“Jeb Fisher, I presume?” Frank fingered the lasso under his duster, knowing he was nowhere close enough to use it. His heart climbed into his throat.

The boy’s laugh slithered through the now-empty street like a sidewinder.

“Jeb’s all tied up right now, so you’ll have to deal with me.”

“Jesse James,” Frank spat, as two more gang members rode up beside the boy, guns still smoking as they reloaded. “And I suppose you know why I’m here, too.”

“Might as well let me see it,” Jesse James ordered. “Show me the badge you think gives you authority to take me back.”

Frank peeled back his shirt to show the pink, swollen badge the judges had branded on him. It seemed to react to the presence of the spirit, glowing a dark blue, like steel under his skin.

“That’s real pretty,” said the soul of Jesse James, holstering his guns. “But it don’t mean squat to me, and it shouldn’t to you, either.”

James and his men dismounted, the leader handing his reins to one of his men. He strode up the steps to the hotel porch, two cronies flanking him.

“How ya figure?” Frank asked, keeping the men in front of him.

Jeb-Jesse grinned, a slick, oily expression that seeped onto his face. “Because you know as well as I do those judges are lying. They want something, and you’re just a tool to help them get it. What’d they promise you? Relief from the eternal agony of Hell?”

“Nope,” Frank said. His hand hesitated near the handle of his Colt. Curtis had neglected to mention that Jeb Fisher was just a boy. “But my demands ain’t your business. You can come along with me, or this can get real ugly, real quick.

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.