Riders Of the Dawn (1980) by L'amour Louis

Author:L'amour, Louis [L'amour, Louis]
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2010-12-12T06:26:51.781000+00:00

Chapter 8

Strangely, the morning was cool with a hint of rain. Mulvaney , at my request, had gone to the Bar M to tell Canaval of th e killing, and it was up to Canaval to tell Olga. I did not like t o think of that. My luck held in one sense, for Jolly Benara s came riding up the wash, and I asked him to ride to Hattan's to report to Key Chapin.

Covering the body with a tarp, I mounted and began t o scout the area. How much time I had, I did not know, but i t could not be much. Soon they would be arriving from Hattan's , and even sooner from the Bar M. One thing puzzled me.

There had been but one shot fired, but there were two bulle t holes in Maclaren's skull.

Carefully, I examined the sand under the body . And was struck by a curious thing. There was no blood! None on th e sand, that is. There was plenty of blood on Rud himself, bu t all of it, strangely enough, seemed to come from one bulle t hole!

* There was a confusion of tracks where his horse ha d moved about while he lay there on the ground, but at thi s point the wash was sandy, and no definite track could b e distinguished. Then horses' hoofs sounded, and I looked u p to see five riders coming toward me. The nearest was Canaval , and beside him, Olga. The others were all Bar M riders, an d from one glance at their faces I knew there was no doubt i n their minds and little reason for speculation that I had kille d Rud Maclaren.

Canaval drew up, and his eyes pierced mine, cold, calculating, and shrewd. Olga threw herself from her horse an d ran to the still form on the ground. She had refused to mee t my eyes or to notice me.

"This looks bad, Canaval. When did he leave the ranch?"

He studied me carefully, as if he were seeing me for th e first time. "I don't know, exactly," he said. "No one hear d him go. He must have pulled out sometime after two thi s morning."

"The shot I heard was close to four."

"One shot?"

"Only one--but he's been shot twice." Hesitating a little, I asked, "Who was with him when you last saw him?"

"He was alone. If it's Morgan Park, you are thinkin' of , forget it. He left right after you did. When I last saw Rud h e was goin' to his room, feelin mighty sleepy."

The Bar M riders were circling around. Their faces wer e cold, and they started an icy chill coming up my spine. Thes e men were utterly loyal, utterly ruthless when aroused. Th e night before, they had given me the benefit of the doubt, bu t now they saw no reason to think of any other solution but th e obvious one.

Tom Fox, a lean, hard-bitten Bar M man, was staring a t me.

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