One Man's Fire by Ralph Compton

Author:Ralph Compton [Compton, Ralph]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781101585238
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2012-05-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

“You men are making a big mistake,” Saunders growled. He and Eli had been led about a quarter mile from the trail to a spot where some dusty boulders could hide them from anyone else making their way along the main path. They’d been relieved of their weapons and the robbers were poking through their saddlebags.

There were five robbers in all. At least, that was how many had shown themselves after Saunders was disarmed and trussed up like a steer in a rodeo. They carried an assortment of weapons, all of which could make short work of anyone who gave the bandits a reason to be nervous. The man who’d done most of the talking was clean-shaven and covered in layers of grime that must have come from spending a good portion of the day lying in wait with his belly pressed against the dirt. Judging by the condition of all the others’ clothing, they’d been lying right alongside him.

“Big mistake, huh?” the lead robber asked. “You hear that, Eddie? We’re making a real big mistake.”

Eddie was a tall fellow with a darker complexion than the rest of the men. He displayed an incomplete set of yellowed teeth when he smiled and said, “I hear that, Zack. Big trouble.” He turned to consult with some of the other robbers, the rest of which still had bandannas covering the bottom portions of their faces. His filthy clothes were wrapped just a bit too tightly around his midsection to make a rounded gut stick out even more.

Zack had a round face, framed by a wide-brimmed hat and a bandanna gathered around his neck. His mouth was curled into a twisted grimace that looked as if he were either sneering or had dipped his bandanna into the bottom of an outhouse. “Only real mistake I can see comin’ up is you squirmin’ too much when I search you.”

“You want to find something interesting?” Saunders snarled. “Pull aside my jacket.”

“Don’t,” Eli warned.

Zack immediately went to his right, which was Saunders’s left. “They want to know about their mistake,” Saunders said. “I’m about to show them, is all. Other side, you danged idiot.”

Still sneering, Zack moved his hand to the other lapel and pulled it aside. Raising his eyes at the sight of the badge pinned to Saunders’s chest, the robber let out a slow whistle. “Well, well! What have we here? We got us a genuine law dog, boys! Maybe we did make a mistake.”

The remaining robbers all stopped what they were doing so they could step up and take a gander at the sheriff’s tin star, filing by as if they’d paid to gawk at a sideshow freak and showing the lawman even less respect. Zack stepped up again when the others had backed away and handed his shotgun up to a man with a solid build and more hair on his arms, face, and neck than a bear. Even though the big fellow wasn’t wearing a bandanna, his whiskers were covering an equal portion of his features.

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