Smoky Valley by Donald Hamilton

Author:Donald Hamilton [Hamilton, Donald]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

PRESENTLY McCloud came out of the bunkhouse with Joe DeRosa. “Ride like hell, Joe,” the foreman said. “Tell Doc Kinsman it looks bad. Captain, he wants you.”

Parrish looked up, slapped the pony on the rump, and walked quickly over to where McCloud was waiting. They looked at each other for a moment. Parrish wanted to say, “They gave me twenty-hour hours; how could I know?” But he did not say it; this was not a time for self- justification. He went in and walked slowly down the long, cluttered room to the bunk where the other men were standing. They made way for him. The sight of Bud Hinkleman’s face in the yellow lamplight was a double shock to Parrish; outside it had not been apparent that the boy had taken a bad beating, nor had it been obvious that he was dying. Parrish, who had seen men die before, knew instantly that DeRosa was riding on a fruitless errand. He tried to keep the knowledge out of his face and voice.

“How’s it coming. Bud?” he asked.

The boy opened his eyes. “My fault,” he whispered. “Slept too heavy. All around the cabin before I could get my boots and gun—got the drop on me— didn’t expect—didn’t expect—”

Parrish said, “It’s all right. Nothing could have helped, Bud. Don’t worry about it.”

“They said”—Bud Hinkleman licked his lips weakly—“said to tell you it was to—to help you make up your mind.”

“Who said that?”

“Fellow was running things, young fellow, fancy clothes, two guns, they called him Kid. He beat me up while two of them held me. Then—then they started to fire the cabin. I—I kicked this Kid fellow.” A faint smile came to Bud Hinkleman’s lips. “I kicked like hell, but the others caught me and the Kid fellow straightened up and he shot me. While they was holding me.” He licked his lips again. “One of the others, he didn’t like that much. Heard them arguing and carrying on. Cabin was burning. One of them—saddled my pony and lifted me on—didn’t think I was going to—make it—”

Parrish said gently, “You made it, Bud.” Then he saw that the boy was dead.

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.