But grim old Ironside, a man not much inclined to mercy in the heat of battle, gunned the towhead down right where he stood. He looked around for another enemy, saw none, and trotted back to the stagecoach.
Shamus had dismounted and now, his face troubled, he kneeled beside the shot passenger, who was gasping his last.
Standing over the body of the fourth outlaw was an older, respectable-looking man with iron-gray hair and mustache. His face was ashen and he held a smoking Smith & Wesson .32 caliber sneaky gun in his hand.
Ironside nodded toward the outlaw and said to the gray-haired man, “You do fer him, mister?”
The stage passenger nodded. In a tight voice he said, “I’ve never killed a man before.” Then for some reason he felt the need to add, “My name is Oliver Shaw. I am a merchant in Recoil.”
“Don’t worry, Shaw, your second dead man will be easier.” Ironside turned his attention to the two frightened women who looked like mother and daughter, and touched his hat. “Ladies. Where are you headed?”
The stage driver answered for them. “Recoil. That is, if we ever get there.”
“You’ll get there,” Ironside answered. “Me and my boss are headed to the same place our ownselves.”
“Then God help you,” the driver said. He was a tall, lanky man with sad eyes, as though handling the reins of a stagecoach team made a man downright melancholy.
“Heard you’ve been having trouble around this neck of the woods.” Ironside nodded in the direction of the dead outlaw. “Was this a part of it?”
The driver shook his head. “Hell, no. That there is Jud Slide, and the ranny you gunned was his brother Clay. T’other two I don’t know, but a while back Jud and Clay ran with Billy Bonney and that hard crowd over to Lincoln County way. I reckon they was facing hard times and held up my stage on account of how they was trying to make a few dollars without working for it.”
“Who shot the passenger?” Ironside asked.
“Jud did that, afore the gent over there put a bullet in him.”
“Who was he? The dead passenger, I mean.”
“Him?” the driver asked, as though he was surprised at Ironside’s question. “His name was Banjo Ben Barker. He did a blackface song-and-dance act and juggled Indian clubs.”
“Hell, why did Jud gun him?” Ironside asked.
“Didn’t like how Ben played the banjo, I guess.”
“The passenger’s done for,” Shamus said, stepping beside Ironside’s horse. “He was still alive when I got to him, but he died pretty quick. Who was he?”
“A banjo player,” Ironside replied.
“That’s a good enough reason as any to get shot,” Shamus said. He looked at the driver. “I didn’t get your name.”
“Maybe that’s because I didn’t put it out. It’s Tom Gill.”
“Well, Tom, let’s get the dead man in the stage,” Shamus directed.
“What about the rest of them bandits?” Gill said.
“If the law wants ’em, they can come get them. You’re responsible only for your passengers, dead or alive.”
“All right, folks, back into the stage, and make room for a dead man,” Gill called.
The older of the two woman, her long, angular face outraged, used her rolled-up parasol like a sword and poked it into the driver’s ribs. “Young man, I’m not riding with a corpse, and neither is my daughter.”
“Then you’ll have to walk to Recoil alongside the stage, ma’am.” Gill rubbed his chest.
“Indeed we will not walk, you impertinent thing,” the woman snapped. “We paid for our tickets and we’ll ride in the stage. And your employers will hear of this.”
“The dead man paid for his ticket too, ma’am.” Gill’s remark brought parasol blows raining down on his shoulders. He backed away, his hands up to defend himself from the woman’s attack.
Shamus stepped between them, receiving a few parasol smacks himself before he was able to grab the weapon. “I have a solution.”
“You’d better have,” the woman said, her parasol poised over Shamus’s head. “My late husband wore the blue and I will not be treated in this way.”
“Well, that’s a pity.” Ironside looked at Shamus. “Ain’t it, Colonel?”
“What did you say?” the woman demanded, her eyes bright with anger.
“I said it’s a pity you’re being treated this way,” Ironside lied, “and you the widow of a dead Yankee, an all.”
The woman stared at him, considering that for a few moments, but his face was empty. Finally she said, “I should think it is a pity . . . and an outrage.” She advanced on Gill again, but he backtracked hurriedly away from her.
“I have an answer, Mrs., ah . . . ,” Shamus said.
“My name is Mrs. Edith Ludsthorpe, of the Boston Ludsthorpes, and this is my daughter Chastity.”
Ironside suddenly had a coughing fit and put his hand over his mouth.
Shamus gave him a look. “We’ll put the dead man on the roof and that way, dear lady, you won’t be made uncomfortable by his presence.”
“And who are you, sir?” Edith Ludsthorpe demanded.
“Colonel Shamus O’Brien of the Dromore O’Briens.” He bowed. “At your service, madam.”
“You have the lineaments of a gentleman, Colonel.” Edith glared at the cringing Tom Gill. “A quality most singularly lacking in this territory, I’ll be bound.”
“Indeed, madam.” Shamus tipped his hat. “Now if you and your daughter can enter the stage, we can be on our way.”
“And the deceased gentleman?”
“We’ll get him on top of the coach directly, ma’am.”
Edith shook her head. “The very idea,” she huffed as she shepherded the pretty but silent Chastity into her seat.
Chapter Two
Recoil lay a couple miles west of Hatchet Gap, surrounded by the Playas Valley, a vast, dry ocean of sand, scrub, cactus, rock, and lava beds. The town seemed to have no reason for being there, as though it had wandered across the Continental Divide from the east and lost its way in that hot, brutal annex of hell. It looked raw and new, a town thrown together from rough-sawn timber and boundless optimism. The settlement’s single street was lined on both sides with buildings, some still under construction, but a few of the grander structures boasted false fronts while others were still roofed with canvas.
As Shamus and Ironside escorted the stage into town, its grim burden sprawled on the roof, Shamus saw a couple saloons, stores, and a livery stable and corrals at the far end of the street. Some shacks and a few grander, gingerbread houses, the residences of the town’s merchants, lay scattered around the town’s center.
A false-fronted, two-story building, the queen of Recoil, sported a painted canvas banner above the door.
THE REST AND BE THANKFUL HOTEL
We stock only the finest liquors & cigars
The stage, followed by a billowing dust cloud, jolted to a halt outside a narrow shack with a warped roof and rough timber door. But what caught Shamus’s eye was the incongruous sight of a polished brass plaque, screwed to the door, that bore the word SHERIFF in gold lettering.
After the dust cloud caught up to the stage, sifted over the passengers, and moved on, Tom Gill cupped his gloved hand to his mouth and yelled from the driver’s seat, “Hey, Sheriff, we got trouble here.”
The few people who’d braved the afternoon heat of the boardwalk stopped and watched as the lawman’s door opened and a tall, slender man with the face of a warrior poet and a star on his vest stepped outside. His eyes went directly to the dead man. “What happened, Tom?”
“Four holdup men jumped us south of the dry lake,” Gill explained. “They done fer Banjo Ben and then one of the passengers and these gents”—he jerked a thumb over his shoulder—“done for them.”
Jim Clitherow’s stare flicked at Shamus and Ironside, but showed no sign of recognition. “Any idea who the holdup men were, Tom?”
“Sure I know. Well, I recognized t
wo of them at least, Jud Slide and his brother Clay.”
“And they’re dead? All four of them?” Clitherow asked.
“Dead as they’re ever gonna be, Sheriff. Like I said, a passenger done for one of them and these gents gunned t’other three, including Jud and Clay.”
The lawman frowned. “I thought the Slide brothers had headed out Missouri way.”
“You thought wrong, Sheriff, and their bodies are lying out in the desert to prove it,” Gill said.
Clitherow nodded. “See to your passengers, Tom.”
He looked around at the growing crowd of gawkers. “One of you men get Elijah Doddle. Tell him I’ve got work for him.” He waved at Shamus and Ironside, his eyes neither friendly nor hostile. “You two come inside, and I want the passenger who did the shooting.”
Ironside angled a glance at Shamus. “I’ve had warmer welcomes.”
“Me, too. You sure we got the right Clitherow?”
“You clearly acted in self-defense, Mr. Shaw. I see no need to detain you further.”
Shaw stood before the sheriff, looking worried. “I never killed a man before. I’m not a gunman. I own a dry goods store, for God’s sake.”
“You did well, Ollie,” Clitherow said. “No one is blaming you for what happened.”
“But what will Mrs. Shaw think? I can only imagine—”
“I’m sure she’ll be proud of you, as we all are in Recoil.”
Shaw looked at Ironside and Shamus sitting in the visitors’ chairs in front of the desk, “I had no choice. I mean, no choice at all.”
Ironside nodded. “Happens that way sometimes.”
“It’s a hard, hard thing to kill a man.” Shaw shook his head. “Take away his life and his past, present, and future.”
“No, it ain’t hard,” Ironside disagreed. “All you do is point your iron at his belly and squeeze the trigger.”
Shaw was aghast. “Have you killed a man like that?”
“Hell, sure I have. But not so many that you’d notice. Call it a baker’s dozen.”
Shaw took a step back, his hands trembling. “Oh, Lord help me, I’ve joined the company of gunmen.”
“You got that right, Shaw.” Ironside smiled. “Now every tinhorn pistolero and wild kid hunting a rep will come lookin’ for you. Hell, Shaw, you’re the man who shot Jud Slide.”
A look of sheer horror crossed Shaw’s face. His eyes wild, he stumbled to the door and fumbled with the handle. “Martha!” he hollered.
Ironside rose lazily and stepped to the door, smiling at Shaw as he opened it. “Call it professional courtesy. One gunman to another.”
Shaw ran outside and his feet pounded on the boardwalk. “Martha!” he shrieked. “Marthaaa . . .”
Ironside closed the door, his face split in a wide, delighted grin. “Sure spooked ol’ Silas, didn’t I?”
“You certainly did, you old Johnny Reb.” Clitherow said, rose to his feet, and extended his hand. “How are you, Luther?”
“Hell, Jim, so it is you.” Ironside shook the lawman’s hand. “I thought fer sure you didn’t recognize me.”
“Well, you’ve changed some, but I recognized you straight off. You’re not a man easily forgotten. And come to that, neither are you, Colonel O’Brien.”
Shamus and Clitherow clasped hands. “It’s been long years since the war, Jim. We’ve grown older, but probably no wiser.”
Clitherow nodded. “It’s been long for the South, Colonel.”
“Amen to that,” Shamus agreed. “Long and mighty hard.”
“Three old comrades in arms together again. This calls for a drink.” The sheriff produced a bottle and glasses from a drawer in his desk and poured whiskey for his guests.
“If you don’t mind me saying so, I see you walk with a limp, Colonel. Is that a souvenir of the war?”
Shamus smiled. “No, Captain Clitherow—”
“Call me Jim, please.”
“Then you’ll call me Shamus.”
Clitherow bowed his head. “I am honored.” “The limp is a souvenir all right, but from an Apache war lance. Landed me in a wheelchair for years until a young surgeon operated on me.” Shamus tried his Old Crow and nodded. “Now I can get around just fine.”
“Riding a long distance pains him some,” Ironside put in.
Clitherow smiled. “At our age even riding a short distance pains us some.”
“How come you pretended not to know us when we brought the stage in, Cap’n?” Ironside asked.
The sheriff frowned. “The war’s over and we lost, Luther. Please call me Jim.”
“All right, Jim. Same question. How come?”
“I think it would be safer for both of you if you weren’t associated with me. At least for the time being.”
“You’re talking about the night riders?” Shamus asked.
“Yes. I think I told you in my letter that they shot up the town about two weeks ago and killed a storekeeper named Fred Rawlings, another man who wore the gray.”
“Are they targeting only Confederate veterans?” Shamus questioned.
Clitherow shook his head. “No. Hell, they’ve killed and robbed miners, travelers, and a few days ago a puncher for the D-Bar Ranch over to the Hachita Valley way was murdered and the cattle he was driving were shot. At least some of those dead men were true-blue Yankees and Republicans.”
“I don’t see a motive, Jim,” Shamus said. “There isn’t much profit in robbing a tinpan for his poke and a drover for his horse and saddle.”
“And why shoot up Recoil, a one-hoss town in the middle of a wilderness that God started and forgot to finish?” Ironside asked. “Beggin’ your pardon, Jim, you being the law here an’ all.”
“No offense taken, Luther. I’ve asked myself that same question a thousand times and still haven’t come up with an answer.” Clitherow refilled the glasses. “Some say the riders are skeleton men. They have skulls for faces.”
He read the disbelief on Shamus’s face and nodded that he was telling the truth. “That’s what they say.”
“Skeletons don’t ride horses, men do,” Shamus pointed out. “They’re wearing some kind of masks to frighten folks.”
“If that’s the case, they’re succeeding,” Clitherow said.
“You scared, Jim?” Ironside asked.
“Luther! What kind of question is that to ask a man?” Shamus glared at his segundo.
Clitherow smiled. “I don’t mind. To answer your question, Luther, yeah, I’m scared. But not just for myself. I’m scared for the whole damned town.”
Chapter Three
Ironside sat on the corner of the creaking bed in room 22 of the Rest And Be Thankful Hotel. “The cap’n asked for our help, Colonel, but he doesn’t know how we can help him. Now that’s confusing for a man.”
Shamus laid a folded clean shirt into the dresser drawer, then turned toward his friend. “He may know better when his deputy and the posse get back into town.”
“I didn’t say nothin’ when Jim told us about the posse, but Stutterin’ Steve Sparrow is a friend of Jacob’s. At least, I’ve heard Jake talk about him.”
“If he’s a friend of Jacob’s, I shudder to think what kind of deputy sheriff he is,” Shamus drawled.
Ironside didn’t look up from the cigarette he was building. “Way Jake tells it, ol’ Steve rode with Jesse and them for a spell, then went into the bank robbing business for his ownself.”
Ironside licked his cigarette closed and lit it. Behind a cloud of blue smoke he said, “But he never made a go of it. See, with the stutter an’ all, by the time he could get out, ‘This is a holdup,’ the law had already arrived. He did two years in Yuma and then took up the lawman’s profession.”
“Are you sure it’s the same ranny?” Shamus asked.
“How many Stutterin’ Steve Sparrows could there be, Colonel?”
“Well, if it’s the same man, I’m sure Jesse and Frank taught him the outlaw trade well. He could be in cahoots with the Night R
iders, or Bone Men, or whatever you want to call them.”
“He could be, Colonel. He could be at that.” Ironside thought for a few moments. “Jake said Steve is mighty fast with the iron, faster than Jesse or any of them boys.”
“If Jacob says he’s fast, then that’s bound to be the case. For some reason my son studies on such things.”
“Of course, ol’ Stutterin’ Steve could’ve got religion and now all he wants is to stay on the right side of the law.
“It’s possible,” Shamus agreed. “It’s not for us to prejudge a man.”
“Damn right, Colonel. When you take the measure of a man, take the whole measure. That’s what I say.”
“You’re a paragon of virtue, Luther.”
“Damn right. Whatever the hell paragon means.”
Shamus settled his hat on his head and buckled on his gun belt. “I’ve been eating trail grub for a week. Let’s go get an early breakfast. I’ve got a hankering for eggs.”
Ironside rose to his feet. “Suits me just fine.”
Shamus opened his mouth to say something but never uttered a word. At that moment room 22 exploded.
The shattering, earsplitting blast knocked Shamus off his feet. Ironside landed on the bed and it collapsed under his crashing weight.
Plaster and roof slats showered down and the partition wall separating the room from the hallway was blown clear across the floor. Dust and smoke drifted like a thick gray fog and the acrid smell of gunpowder hung in the air.
Ironside shoved debris off his body, his curses turning the air blue. Somewhere a woman screamed and kept on screaming and a man’s voice rose in frightened outrage.
To his surprise, Ironside saw right into the room across the hall. The blast had taken out the wall on that side, too. A naked blond woman sat upright in a brass bed, shrieking in terror, and a gray-haired, potbellied man, just as naked, ran around squawking like a chicken, black powder burns on his jiggling posterior.
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