Longarm and the Border Wildcat by Tabor Evans

Author:Tabor Evans [Evans, Tabor]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Westerns, Action & Adventure, General
ISBN: 9780515122091
Publisher: Jove
Published: 1998-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Any hopes that Longarm and Coffin had harbored of catching up quickly to El Aguila’s gang had faded by morning. The rising of the sun found them many miles deep into Mexico. Lack of sleep had made both men bone weary, and when Longarm suggested they call a short halt, Coffin made no objection.

“Leastways they ain’t tryin’ to hide their trail,” said Coffin as he lowered his canteen from his mouth. He gestured at the tracks they were following, which were plainly visible in the reddish glare of the rising sun.

“I guess they figure they’re not in much danger over here on this side of the border,” Longarm replied. He pulled the cork from his own canteen, lifted it to his mouth, and took a short sip of the tepid liquid inside. While this part of the country wasn’t exactly a desert, water holes weren’t very common either. A man who wasted water around here might pay a very high price for such foolishness.

Horses had to drink too, so Longarm and Coffin dismounted and used their hats to water their mounts. Both Longarm’s bay and Coffin’s steel-dust gelding stuck their muzzles in the head-gear and appreciatively sucked up the liquid.

“El Aguila and his men probably aren’t very afraid of the rurales,” Longarm went on, picking up the thread of their earlier comments, “and they know you and me ain’t supposed to be over here chasing after them.”

Coffin snorted in contempt. “I wouldn’t be scared of rurales neither.

That bunch is the sorriest excuse for lawmen-“

“They’re not all bad,” Longarm pointed out. “It’s just that a lot of their officers are corrupt, and they’re spread way too thin. True, most of ‘em don’t really give a damn, but some of them try to do their job.”

Coffin looked like he would just as soon believe that a fella could flap his arms and fly to the moon. He took up the reins of the steel-dust and started walking so that the horse could rest. Longarm followed suit with the bay mare.

After a few minutes, Coffin said, “I done told you how come I’m wearin’ this badge, Long. How’d you come to be a lawman?”

“It’s something I sort of just drifted into,” Longarm replied. That wasn’t completely the truth, but it would do. “I came out West after the war and did some cowboying for a while, then figured out that was a good way to wind up old, stove up, and broke.”

A grin spread across Coffin’s bearded face. “So you took up a nice, safe, high-payin’ job like man-huntin’.”

“Yep, and wound up breaking a few bones and wearing out a few saddles anyway. But I’m pretty good at it, if I do say so myself. I’ve lived this long anyway.”

“I had no notion I’d ever be a lawman. Hell, if anything, I figured I’d be ridin’ the other side of the trail.” Coffin shrugged his massive shoulders. “But I’m wearin’ the badge now, and I plan to be the best Ranger I can be.

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