The Man from Misery by David C. Noonan

Author:David C. Noonan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gale, Cengage Learning
Published: 2019-05-05T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 21 CHANCE ENCOUNTER

Emmet watched with rage as Salazar’s goons beat his former commander and dragged him behind the back wall of the hacienda out of sight. He remembered the man in the yellow sash from the day he and the twins first arrived in town. Emmet figured Salazar was on to them, and it was critical to warn the others. He scrambled from the overlook and down to Ruby Red. Spurring the horse, he hurtled down the southern trail at a spanking speed.

After four miles of hard riding, Emmet canted Ruby Red onto the Black Angel Trail. The route was more popular and an hour shorter than the remote one he and Kingston had taken earlier that morning. After twenty minutes of level riding, Emmet noted the path descended for two hundred yards before rising again. The tree canopy thinned out, affording more views along the trail. Emmet swallowed hard when he saw four riders approaching from the second rise. He pulled up with a sharp tug on the reins, causing Ruby Red’s forelegs to spray dirt and stones in a wide circle. After reining the horse towards a small draw, he dismounted and tied her up behind a copse of scrub pine.

He slid Big Betty from her sling, snatched the spyglass from the saddlebag, and positioned himself behind a large granite boulder. He focused the small telescope on each of the riders in turn. Leading the pack was a Mexican soldier riding an Appaloosa. Behind him was a young Mexican girl in ragged clothing. Two more men brought up the rear, and Emmet’s blood began to simmer. He recognized them as Diego and Paco—the brothers he had saved from the Comanches that moonlit night on his way to Sabo Canyon. He whispered to himself, “Ah, hermanos, we meet again.”

Emmet crept along the draw until the trail flattened out. No time to gain higher ground; a level plane was the best he could do. He curled his long frame behind an enormous pine. Holding Big Betty under his arm, he laid the spyglass on the ground and unsheathed the sidearm from its holster—and waited.

The clopping of hooves grew louder, as did the riders’ voices, so that now Emmet could make out what they were saying.

“We can deliver your message and save you the time,” Diego said. “We have our own information to relay to him.”

“My orders are to speak with Señor Salazar personally and tell him Captain Ortega will arrive a day early,” the soldier said.

“How many men does Ortega have?”

“Two dozen,” the soldier replied.

“How many bidders?”

“Seven.”

Paco cackled and looked at the girl. “Hear that, Princess? You might end up with any one of seven different men.”

Emmet waited until they all had passed and then slipped onto the trail behind them. “Stop. Don’t move,” he commanded. “I’ve got two guns on you.”

The group halted.

“Hold your hands high, and don’t turn around,” Emmet said.

The men complied.

“What’s your name, Señorita?” Emmet asked.

“Lucita.”

“Where are you going, Lucita?”

“They said they are taking me to Señor Salazar’s hacienda.

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