by Rory Black
As he entered the dark room, he closed the door behind him. He felt around for the shelf where he kept his matches and found them. Striking a match, he touched the naked wick of his lantern and watched as the glowing filled every corner of the shack.
Speaking his drunken words of passion he headed for the corner where she huddled under the stinking blanket.
As his soiled hands pulled the blanket off her, his bloated face suddenly went very pale.
The sight that met his puffy eyes made him reel back in a mixture of shock and fear. He had heard of a man who fitted this gringo’s description.
‘Howdy, Snake,’ Iron Eyes grinned, as he held a Navy Colt on the bandit leader. Maria Valdez hid herself behind the seated bounty-hunter.
The Snake dropped the blanket and tried to speak without success. His throat was dry from shock.
Iron Eyes got to his feet, and hauled the shaking Maria up after him. She stayed behind her tall saviour, unable or unwilling to face the man known as the Snake.
‘You look pretty shook up, Snake.’
‘You are Iron Eyes,’ the bandit muttered.
‘You know of me?’ Iron Eyes poked the man in his ample belly with the barrel of his pistol. ‘I’m flattered.’
‘You will die this night, Senor Iron Eyes,’ the Snake snarled at the bounty-hunter.
‘Possibly.’ Iron Eyes felt it was a pretty good bet that this was one game he would not win.
‘Why you do this?’ The Snake was defiant as he swelled up his chest, trying to scare the man who knew no fear.
‘Do what?’
‘Come here?’
‘I got a couple of very good reasons,’ Iron Eyes replied, with a sound in his voice that came from somewhere low in his soul.
‘I heard that you were smart, but to come here is very stupid.’ The Snake was trying to stand his ground, and Iron Eyes admired that.
‘I like being stupid, Snake,’ Iron Eyes growled. ‘It makes killing rats like you more fun.’
‘I think you will not get out of my camp alive.’
The Snake indicated to the door. ‘I have many men and they are all very good with their guns.
We had to kill twenty vaqueros to capture Valdez’s daughter.’
‘I heard it was eight vaqueros, Snake,’ Iron Eyes corrected the bandit. Sand your men are pretty damn drunk.’
‘Maybe it was eight.’ The Snake raised his eyebrows. ‘But you still have not explained why you come here to certain death.’
The bounty-hunter pushed the bandit leader down on to a chair, and rammed the gun into his mouth.
‘This answer your question?’ Iron Eyes asked, as he reached down and pulled out a long stiletto from the inside of his boot.
As the Snake was about to nod he felt something. Something that he had never experienced before. Something being pushed into his guts and forced up into his heart. Before he was able to work out that it was the blade of Iron Eyes’ stiletto, his depraved life ceased with a loud, gushing sound. The face suddenly went blank as it sucked on to the barrel of the pistol.
Iron Eyes pulled his gun barrel out of the lifeless mouth and wiped the spit and dribble off on to his shirt.
Then, putting the long barrel of his Navy Colt into his belt, he tugged hard to remove the knife from the Snake’s torso. Blood squirted over the floor and Iron Eyes’ boots. Both he and the silent Maria watched as the body slid off the hard chair and on to the shack floor.
The bounty-hunter watched the dead man for several seconds before he felt a hand on his shoulder.
‘Who are you?’ Maria whispered.
‘They call me Iron Eyes, Miss,’ Iron Eyes replied, as he went down on one knee and poked the still-bloody blade into the open mouth of the Snake.
There was a cracking sound before the bounty-hunter’s fingers retrieved something covered in blood. Wiping it on the bandit’s clothing, he showed the small object to the young female.
It was the gold tooth.
‘What do you want with that?’ she gasped in horror.
‘Trophy for your pop,’ he replied, getting back to his feet.
Maria Valdez spat on the dead man, before kicking him with all the rage she had been withholding for ten long days. Her prayers had been answered, but she was still in the dirty shack and a long way from freedom and safety. Could this man who had killed the Snake so easily, really get her out of this evil place?
She watched as he moved to the door and peered through the ill-fitting frame. The rain had eased up, but the revelry remained almost as frantic as before.
‘Now what?’ Maria asked in his ear.
‘I’m thinking.’
Chapter Twenty-Four
The vaqueros pointed the way back to the Rio Grande and then rode away, leaving Whit and Tom Hardy alone in their saddles under the black, stormy sky Lightning flashes lit up the distant mountains and spooked their mounts.
‘Well?’ Tom Hardy sat leaning on his horse’s neck.
‘We gonna go back to Texas?’ Whit asked, trying to see in the dark evening gloom.
‘What the hell for?’ Tom sniffed. ‘We came to do a job and we is gonna do it.’
Whit reached into his saddle-bags and withdrew a bottle of wine, pulling the cork out with his teeth. ‘You are still crazy.’
Tom felt angry. ‘I wanna avenge Dan’s murder, boy.’
‘Then I gotta say adios, Tom.’ Whit swigged at his bottle, and gulped down the bitter-sweet fluid.
‘Get killed on your own if you like. I am getting as far away from here as this nag will take me.’
Tom rounded his horse to be face on with his younger brother.
There was a long silence between the two men as they stared at one another in the darkness. A partial moon and a few stars were all that lit up the scene. It was enough.
‘What about heading north?’ Tom suggested reluctantly.
‘We could go straight.’ Whit grinned as he offered what was left of his bottle to his sibling.
‘Pigs might fly.’ Tom grabbed the bottle and downed what was left of the wine, before tossing the bottle away.
The two men steered their horses north at a pace that was slow enough to guarantee an easy, painless ride.
Neither man believed the other that their business with Iron Eyes was truly finished. They just rode away from the vaqueros and Dwan José Valdez.
They had plenty of time.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Iron Eyes had managed to get the weak, beaten Maria Valdez out of the filthy shack, leaving the very dead Snake behind and picking up his Winchester. He checked that the repeating carbine was still operational before donning his long heavy coat once more. His icy glare froze the situation before them. There were just too many people around that damn campfire. Tapping her small shoulder, exposed by the tear across her dress where it had been torn from her body by the evil bandit, Iron Eyes moved his head in a gesture that told her to follow him. It was a long way around the back of the shacks to the corral, but it was a journey that they both had to endure.
As she followed the silent man she wondered who or what he was, to risk his life for a total stranger. His lank, wet hair covered his face most of the time, as he moved holding his rifle firmly across him, ready to use it at a split-second’s notice.
Briefly, he had thought that they might retrace his route into the camp, but the rain still fell and the mountain slopes that surrounded the canyon were running with fresh rain-water and impossible to climb.
Iron Eyes knew that they had but one chance, and that was to get to the horses.
Whether they would be able to ride out of the hell-hole without being killed was doubtful. Yet it was his only plan, and he could not see any other option open to them.
She followed the tall, thin, ghostlike creature as he silently moved behind the small wooden dwellings. She had never been so tired as she was at this moment.
The days of being abused and kept a prisoner had taken their toll upon her frail, br
uised body.
Sensing that she was weaker than he had at first thought, Iron Eyes stopped and returned to her. He put an arm under her shoulder and lifted her off her feet, then continued with her hanging off him.
She was lighter than he had at first thought.
There seemed to be no excess flesh upon her entire body. He wondered if she were like himself; one of those people who seldom ate and seemed able to exist upon fresh air and liquor. Then he remembered who she was and what her pedigree was.
Iron Eyes had never been so close to a real lady before, and felt angry that she was hurt.
She had been starved and beaten by the Snake for ten days, and in the heat of the shack, in the blistering Mexican climate, she had just sweated off all her body fat.
Maria felt as if she were floating as they moved to the edge of the last shack before stopping. Her eyes stared at the side of his face, and wondered why he was so cold..It was a scarred face, which had seen many battles.
Iron Eyes put a thin finger to her lips as if ordering her to remain silent. She watched as he strained to hear every sound that came from the surrounding area. He sniffed the cool breeze as if he could detect things by their sheer scent alone.
Iron Eyes was a hunter.
He knew things that most men never learn. He did not have to rely upon what his incredible vision could see. He used all his senses. It was said of Iron Eyes that he had the ability to smell danger. It might have just been a legend, but he was almost that good at what he did.
The rain continued to fall as they waited at the edge of the last shack. He held her up with one arm as his hand gripped the trigger of his Winchester in the other.
Maria was getting concerned as he released his grip on her and gently rested her against the wooden wall. He put his finger to his own lips and sank down in a crouching position.
She watched as the rain beat off his head, sending his long, limp hair hanging like damp string over his face. Yet his face remained frozen as he concentrated upon something.
Maria wondered how he could let the rain hit his eyes without ever blinking. Then she became aware of what he had been expecting.
A drunken bandit staggered around the corner into the black shadows, stood with his sombrero over his eyes and pulled down the front of his loose pants to get rid of some of the wine he had been consuming. The man was totally unaware of either Maria or Iron Eyes’ proximity.
Iron Eyes moved like a wild puma at the man, bringing him down quickly and silently The rifle butt was used and then the stiletto. The tall bounty-hunter dragged the body through the mud before dumping it behind the shack.
Maria watched as he returned to her side as if nothing had happened. This was a man who killed without any guilt. It was a natural reflex to Iron Eyes. However much it frightened her she owed her life to him. Loyalty and trust now consumed her, taking away some of the heartbreak that the Snake had inflicted upon her body and soul during the past ten days.
‘Can we get out of this place?’ she whispered softly. ‘Can we ever escape?’
His grey eyes seemed to radiate as he looked down at her for a brief moment. ‘We just might.’
Then he concentrated upon the small structure to the side of the crudely constructed corral, and pointed at it.
‘Any idea what they got in there?’
She shook her head. ‘I do not know.’
He slid his arm under her shoulder once more, lifted her off the ground and ran across to the fence rails that held the horses back. They both clambered through the poles and moved to the small, three-sided building. It was a dark place, filled with saddles and bridles. At the far end two boxes were stacked, one on top of another.
Iron Eyes moved quickly and used his knife to prise off the nailed-down lid of the top box. Maria Valdez watched in confusion as he removed the top box and then opened the bottom box.
‘What is it?’ she asked, as her attention was drawn to the fire and the dancing people a hundred yards away.
‘Dynamite and fuses,’ he replied, filling one of his coat pockets with the deadly sticks of explosives and the other with the fuses.
As he moved toward her she stepped nervously back, as if afraid that they would both be blown up.
‘It’s safe,’ he said, bluntly pushing her down on to a small stool to rest, whilst he grabbed two saddles and bridles off the large stack.
‘What are you going to do?’ she asked, feeling even weaker than earlier.
Iron Eyes had no time to answer. He busied himself with two of the less timid horses, saddling them for their escape. The man who looked closer to death than any other human being she had ever encountered led the creatures to the front rail and tied their reins firmly He had hatched a crude plan that had all the elements required for success, yet was unlikely to work given their situation.
For the first time, Iron Eyes stopped and leaned over her and talked straight and true.
He had to give her information about what he was going to attempt. She had her part to play, although he doubted that she could play any part at all given her state.
Slowly he spoke to her as the rain beat down upon his long hair. Maria Valdez was using every ounce of her inner strength to listen and remember his instructions.
All she could think about was the long fuses that were sticking out from his coat pocket and the steam that was rising from him.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Like a human cat, Iron Eyes had spent the next hour using the cover of every shadow he could find in the canyon to move around without being spotted by any of the bandits or their women. It had taken nearly sixty minutes to plant every stick of dynamite and insert various lengths of fuse wire into them.
Now he had placed the final primed stick under the end shack where the dead body of the Snake lay.
It was all guess-work now, as Iron Eyes reached inside to his shirt pocket and pulled out his dry box of matches and a long, thin cigar.
He lit his cigar and inhaled the strong blue smoke. Then he removed it from his mouth and blew the ash until it glowed red.
The guess-work was how long each and every fuse would take to reach the dynamite sticks. He had no idea whether they were slow or fast fuses.
All he knew was that they were each three feet long.
Touching the burning tip of the cigar to the first fuse wire, he waited until it started to hiss and burn before he rushed to the next planted stick and lit that too. Iron Eyes repeated this action ten times before he was standing at the end shack opposite the corral where the injured Maria Valdez and the two saddled horses awaited.
Just as he was about to run across the gap to them, a door opened behind him. Iron Eyes span around on his heels and moved instinctively at the figure in the darkened doorway.
To his utter surprise as he grabbed at the figure, he realized that this was a small, round woman. She was naked from the waist up and had breasts that seemed to reach her navel.
It was too late to stop himself, and he found himself tackling the creature to the ground. She was pretty drunk and her breath hit him as hard as a good left hook.
As they hit the ground he could see that she seemed to be quite enjoying this wrestling match and was clinging at his collar with her small strong fingers.
Casting his eyes across at the edge of the shack where he had planted the final dynamite stick he could see that the fuse was half gone which meant that the first must be almost ready to explode.
Iron Eyes clenched his fist and hit the woman as hard as he could, squarely upon the tip of her chin. As his knuckles met her jaw he heard and felt the bone break inside her skull. Her arms fell on to the ground as he gathered himself up and started running toward the corral.
Maria was mounted upon the smallest horse as he had instructed her earlier. When he got there, he quickly pulled the poles away from the edge of the simple corral.
Rushing to the other saddled horse, Iron Eyes mounted by leaping on to it. Grabbing not only his own reins but M
aria’s as well, he rode behind the herd of nervous horses and started to force them out into the canyon. The horses raced through the rain toward the now small glowing campfire and the few remaining bandits, with Iron Eyes and Maria in close pursuit.
The horses could smell freedom and were heading for it. Then as the first few horses passed the end shack, the first stick of dynamite exploded in furious horror.
The bandits were totally confused, and they rushed around, seeking out their weapons. The second and third sticks exploded almost five seconds after the first. Bodies and parts of bodies flew up into the night sky as more horses stampeded in terror around the scene. Iron Eyes shot feverishly at any bandits who dared to raise their weapons in his direction. When his first Navy Colt was empty he pushed it into his deep pocket and drew his other gun. Then three more explosions went off behind Iron Eyes and his young companion. Some of the bandits were shooting at anything and everything, whilst further blasts rocked the area, sending their kinsmen to hell.
As Iron Eyes rode he used his Navy Colt to shoot any remaining bandits that were still standing. His aim was still as deadly as ever, even when upon a galloping horse frightened by the noise and blinding explosions.
Their mounts followed the few loose horses that were heading out of the box canyon. Then behind them the shock waves of the last dynamite blasts almost drove their horses’ noses into the muddy ground as they pressed onward.
Iron Eyes rode as he had never ridden before after the stray horses. He knew they would lead them out of this maze and into the flat prairie where he had left the large black stallion.
As the sun was starting to rise before them and its bright light swept across the desert, they emerged from out of the mountain range.
Iron Eyes pulled his mount to a halt and held up his arm holding the reins of Maria’s mount. The two horses cantered to a stop as the long shadows caused by the morning sun warmed their bones.
She was lying with her head almost next to her mount’s mane as she felt his strong hands lifting her from the saddle.
