The Tylers 2 by Neil Hunter

Author:Neil Hunter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: wild west, cowboys, old west, western fiction, piccadilly publishing, neil hunter, tylers
Publisher: Piccadilly Publishing

Chapter Fourteen

Alvin LeRoy followed Seth towards the corral. He watched silently while Seth put the wary animals into the enclosure, unsaddled and fed them, brought them water.

‘What’s this trouble between your brother and my deputy?’ LeRoy asked eventually. ‘I want to know, Tyler. I can’t have friction lousing up the works when the Retfords get here.’

Seth closed the corral. He wiped sweat from his face. ‘Goes back to the War,’ he said. ‘Something that happened between Jacob and Virgil Boone at the Battle of Shiloh. Jacob swears that Boone caused the death of six men through his own cowardice. They’d always had bad blood between them. Ever since Boone joined our unit. All we know is that six men did die. There were no witnesses. Just Jacob and Boone. After it happened we had to spend most of our time keeping them apart. If we’d let them they would have killed each other.’

‘If you don’t mind me saying so, Tyler, your brother seems to have a natural instinct for getting into trouble.’

Seth turned sharply, his face angry. ‘You hinting that maybe Jacob started all this mess with the Retfords? Maybe you think he’s gun-happy? Kill-crazy or something?’

‘I ain’t hinting anything. Just making an observation is all.’

Seth walked slowly back towards the cabin. The others were all inside, save for Virgil Boone. He was leaning against the cabin wall, a long thin cigar between his narrow lips. As Seth approached he eased away from the wall. There was a faint smile on his face. His coat was pulled back to show the short-barrelled Colt that was worn low in a plain, black holster. There was something in the way he wore it that said it was there for much more than just show.

‘I’d walk easy with LeRoy,’ Boone said softly. ‘He’s got a reputation that marks him as a real hard hombre. Get on his wrong side and you’ll wish you’d stayed out there with the Retfords.’

‘You think that badge he wears is big enough to hide you as well as that yellow-streak you carry?’

Boone’s face turned ashen, then burned fiercely with anger. ‘Now look, Tyler, no two-bit town lawman’s going to talk to me like that.’

‘You going to do something about it, Boone? Like maybe shoot me in the back?’ Seth tipped his stained hat to the back of his head. ‘You weren’t man enough to carry those sergeants stripes back at Shiloh. I don’t figure a U.S. marshal’s badge is going to make much difference.’

Boone took a hard step forward. For a moment Seth thought he’d pushed Boone too far. The deputy’s right hand was hovering over the smooth-worn butt of his Colt. A muscle trembled tautly in the drawn, pale skin of his left cheek.

‘Boone!’

LeRoy’s voice was a harsh whip crack against the still silence. He was still standing by the corral.

‘Over here, Boone, I want you now.’ It was an order, not a request, and it worked like a release spring on Virgil Boone’s taut nerves. He relaxed visibly, his breath coming from him slowly as he straightened up.

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