Shotgun Riders by Orrin Russell

Author:Orrin Russell [Russell, Orrin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-03-28T04:00:00+00:00

15

Balum stuffed a fresh gob of chaw in his cheek and leaned back against the top carriage. The Spencer wobbled across his knees. Beside him Joe was half-asleep at the reins. The Bell brothers were nowhere within sight, but Caleb stuck close to the stage anyway, for they knew that at any moment the brothers might show. They also knew that if the Bell brothers somehow got ahold of a good rifle they could pick off anyone who wandered too far from the stage.

Balum spat into the grass and yawned. The constant worrying, along with missing a half night of sleep two out of every three days took its toll. So did Buford’s bellyaching. Ever since his brother’s night attack had ended in spectacular failure he’d ratcheted up his name-calling. Maybe it was a sign of Buford’s lack of confidence in his brothers. He called Caleb a big dumb nigger, Joe a half-breed bitch, and Balum a scared son of a whore. Every few hours he would challenge Caleb to a stand-up fight. In the evening he would do the same until Caleb finally stuffed a rag in his mouth.

When they rolled into the town of Crenshaw, Balum couldn’t rid himself of Buford fast enough. They located the jailhouse and pulled Buford out by his underarms. He started up again with his insults, and Balum popped him in the lips with a clenched fist. Buford’s head jolted backwards. When he raised it again his lip was dribbling blood.

The sheriff came out of the jailhouse to see what the fuss was about. He was thick throughout the torso in the way that older men sometimes get, and he wore a mustache that covered half his mouth. “What’s all this?” he said when he saw Buford bleeding in his chains.

“His name’s Buford Bell,” Balum already had his fingers in his pocket and was taking out the affidavit. “We’re taking him to Texas. It’d be doing us a favor to house him here for the night.”

The sheriff looked Buford over in mild disgust, then glanced at the affidavit Balum handed him. He read it and handed it back. “Bring him in,” he said.

Inside, with Buford locked in the cell, Balum brought up the issue of the brothers.

“How many you say there are?” said the sheriff.

“Five.”

“I’ll be damned. Must’ve been them.”

“Who’s that?” said Balum.

“Couple nights ago a local rancher was shot and killed along with his brother and son. Looked like a matter of a butchered calf. The folks who did it rode to his ranch house afterwards and killed the man’s wife. Stole their money from what I could tell. I figure there to be five of them. That’s what the tracks told me.”

Balum bowed his head. Joe and Caleb did the same. It made sense; no other group of killers was reportedly roaming around this part of the country.

Buford broke the silence. “You bet your asses it was my brothers. And I’ll tell you what-- you let me go right now and they’ll leave you be.

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