Death Comes Easy by Will Black

Author:Will Black [Black, Will]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Robert Hale
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Parry called a halt as they neared the scene of frantic buzzards fighting over two carcasses in the dying rays of the sun.

‘Goddamnit,’ Parry muttered under his breath as he recognized one of the horses, still ground-hitched.

He wasn’t in the slightest bit bothered about the loss of another two men; in fact he was angry that they, too, had failed to stop the buckboard getting to Calvary.

His crew had different thoughts. Four of their men had now been killed. Were they chasing a gunny? They all knew Cal, and he was no shootist. They’d already heard of Clancy’s death, they’d left Haystack back on the trail, more dead than alive, and now Jones and Wilmington – or what was left of them – lay dead in the dirt.

Burning down the Evans’s place had been bad enough, but now it looked like they were being led into a gunfight.

They were cowhands, not gunfighters.

‘We better get these two buried, boss,’ one of the men said.

‘We ain’t got time and I ain’t got the inclination. We ride on,’ Parry growled. ‘You can take care of ’em on the way back,’ he added. ‘Now, let’s ride.’

The red mist that had filled Latham Parry’s eyes was fading away as his scheming brain began to function once more.

Reaching a crest in the trail, Parry called a halt. From here, he could look down into the valley where Calvary nestled peacefully amid a fertile plain.

The sun had disappeared behind the western horizon and, although it would be a full moon, for now the moon was clouded out. Parry took his old army field glasses out and focused on the twinkling lights that shone on Main Street, Calvary.

Parry was no fool. He felt like riding into town, guns blazing, but caution prevailed.

Evans’s brother and that scumbag Cal Morgan must have made it to town and, given that Morgan knew Haystack and the two line riders, surely they’d put two and two together.

Parry vowed that, come hell or high water, Cal Morgan would be the first to die.

Something wasn’t right down there, Parry thought as he scanned the town. It was quiet – too quiet. The only lights showing were the street ones. Every building was shrouded in darkness.

‘They know we’re comin’,’ Parry said to no one in particular.

‘What’s the plan, boss?’ one of the men asked.

Parry was unsure of the next step. He’d been hoping to have the element of surprise on his side, but now that possibility had evaporated. He thought for a few moments, then said,

‘We split up. I’ll ride in from the west, you four men from the east. But keep your eyes wide open. I figure they’ll be in the surgery. Douse some o’ them streetlights as you pass.’

‘What then?’ another asked.

‘Get them arrows ready; we’ll smoke ’em out. Be careful, though. They might have men posted out on Main.’

‘Hell, boss, that could mean a shoot-out!’

‘So?’

‘So, none of us is a shootist. We signed on as cowhands, not killers.’

‘Bit late for that, now,’ Parry said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

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.