Wes Crowley by Harvey Stanbrough

Author:Harvey Stanbrough
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: StoneThread Publishing
Published: 2023-01-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

That was six years ago. Since then there had been no more torture and no more mutilation except that one really mouthy cotton farmer on the plains of the Llano Estacado in the southeast corner of the territory. Two months after the incident with the stagecoach, Simon and Race had set out to see what they could find.

They had found a man who threatened them with a shotgun. For no reason.

When the man stepped out on the low front porch of his probably two-room wood shack in his dungarees and socks with a shotgun in his hands, Simon said, “Afternoon. Mind if we water our horses?” He pointed at the low trough that protruded from the side of the stone water tank.

In the background, the blades on the windmill creaked as they turned and the sucker rod sluiced upward and water plunged from the end of a horizontal one-inch pipe into the tank.

And the man said, “No, you can’t.” He gestured with the shotgun. “You can’t water your horses at my trough, and you can’t get down and come in. What you can do, the two of you, is move on. You have the slightest clue what’s good for you, you’ll do that now.”

He cocked both barrels of the shotgun, then spat a stream of tobacco juice to one side. It didn’t quite make it off the porch. Filthy, worn-out yellow suspenders with two thin blue lines running up the center of them stretched up over the shoulders of his sweat-stained white long johns. A light breeze wafted a few strands of brown hair atop his mostly bald head.

Simon sighed and shook his head. He touched his horse on the left flank and the horse sidestepped several feet. Then he calmly drew his revolver, cocked it, and pointed it. “Mister, all we wanted was some water for these animals. Now, you lower that shotgun or you will die. Understand? I will kill you where you stand, and if I don’t, my brother will. You might get one of us, but you most certainly will die.”

The man only eyed him.

Quietly, Race said, “Simon?”

Simon said, “Shut up, Race. He shoots me, you kill him, understand? Then kill whoever’s in the house.” That was the first time he’d ever said that.

Race said, “Yes sir.”

The man eyed Simon for another moment, then bent slightly and leaned the shotgun against the wall next to the front door.

Simon dismounted and shot him in the right ankle.

As the man screamed and went down, he pulled up his right leg to reach for his ankle.

Simon shot the left ankle and took another step or two closer.

When the man stretched back and to his right for the shotgun, Simon shot him in the right knee. He grabbed the shotgun, opened it, and dumped out the shells, then shot the man in the left knee.

Simon returned to his horse and mounted, then looked at the man. “Sit up or I’ll shoot you again.”

The man struggled to sit up. “God, mister, it’s enough.

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.