Blaze! Western Series: Six Adult Western Novels

by Stephen Mertz

  “Like the saloon?” Duncan asked.

  “Exactly,” J.D. said. “It’s obviously better cared for than the other buildings.”

  “So what do we do?”

  “We watch for a while,” J.D. said. “I assume at any time there are more than a few of the gang members in that saloon.”

  “Then we go down and take them first?”

  “No,” J.D. said, “not now.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I just assume that’s where they’ll be,” J.D. said.

  “That’s why we watch for a while,” Kate said. “To make sure.”

  “Oh,” Duncan said. “Okay.”

  * * *

  Inside the saloon Dev O’Connor was addressing the six new men. Slim was standing at the bar with a beer.

  “We’ll only have a few days to get you familiar with how we work,” O’Connor said, “and then we have a big job to pull.”

  “We’re ready now,” Dave Tholer said.

  “Does he speak for all of you?”

  “Nobody talks for me,” Oliver Day said.

  The others nodded.

  “Okay, then,” O’Connor said. He looked at Tholer. “You want out?”

  “Naw, naw,” Tholer said. “I’m in. Whatever you say, as long as you’re payin’.”

  “If you do your job,” O’Connor said, “you get paid. Now get yourself some drinks and Slim will fill you in.”

  They all nodded and went to the bar. Slim, in turn, walked over to O’Connor.

  “They better work out,” O’Connor said.

  “They will, Dev.”

  “See that they do, Slim. I’ll be in my cabin.”

  * * *

  “I’m betting the new six are in there,” J.D. said. “The others just seem to be milling about.”

  “Except for the one on watch,” Duncan said.

  “I’m counting” Kate said. “If we put the new six inside with Slim, I’ve seen about seven more on the street.”

  “Thirteen, then,” J.D. said.

  “They must have the stolen cattle somewhere,” Kate said, “gotta have men watching them.”

  “How many?” Duncan asked.

  “I say two,” J.D. said, “maybe three.”

  “So that makes...sixteen.”

  “Wait,” Duncan said, “who’s that?”

  They watched a man come out of the saloon, cross the street and walk to a cabin. He passed several men, who stepped aside to give him room.

  “The leader,” J.D. said. “See how they get out of his way?”

  “Know him?” Kate asked.

  J.D. took out a spy glass, extended it and took a look.

  “Can’t see his face, but he’s big.”

  “Okay,” Kate said, “so we count sixteen. There’s supposed to be what...twenty?”

  “That’s what everybody has said,” J.D. said, “but they could be wrong.”

  “So what do we do?” Duncan asked.

  “We go down,” J.D. said, “take the men in the saloon first. They’re new. They won’t know the drill yet.”

  “What about the others?” Duncan asked. “Won’t they hear?”

  “They might,” J.D. said, “if we do it wrong. Come on. We have a lot to talk about.”

  “Talk?”

  J.D. backed away, and Duncan and Kate followed.

  “We each have to know what the other is going to do,” Kate told the young deputy.

  “But...what if they leave the saloon?”

  “My guess is they’re being instructed,” J.D. said, “just like you are. They’ll be there a while.”

  “If not,” Kate said, “somebody will.”

  “And it’ll be dark soon,” J.D. added. “That’s when we’ll go.”

  “What about the lookout?” Duncan asked.

  “Well take him first.” J.D. looked at Kate. “We didn’t count him. That makes seventeen.”

  “At least.”

  Chapter 32

  “There are two kinds of men in a gang,” J.D. told Duncan when they got back to the horses. “Thieves, and killers.”

  “How can you tell the difference?” Duncan asked.

  “When the shooting starts,” Kate said, “the killers will come right at you.”

  “And the thieves?”

  “They run for cover,” J.D. said.

  “Or they’ll turn and run,” Kate said.

  “So we really won’t have to face all the men.”

  “Not all at once,” J.D. said. “Some will run, some will be with the cattle...”

  “...and we’ll take out the lookout first.”

  “Right.”

  “I think I’ve got it,” Duncan said.

  “I hope you do,” J.D. said, “because we’re going now.”

  Duncan took a deep breath.,

  “We’re too far away from anywhere to go for help,” Kate said. “By the time we get back they could be gone.”

  “Or ready for us,” J.D. said. “They hired these six to take care of us. We have to move in before they’re ready.”

  “Which means,” Kate said, “now.”

  * * *

  J.D. moved in behind the lookout with his knife. He didn’t know if it was the same man they’d seen before, but it didn’t matter. He slid the knife in quickly, placing his hand over the man’s mouth to muffle any sound. When the body went limp he set it down gently, grabbing the man’s rifle before it could fall. Then he went back to where he had left Kate and Duncan.

  “Stick that extra pistol into your belt,” he told the deputy.

  “What about the rifles?” he asked. “The shotguns?”

  “We’ll take the shotguns,” Kate said. “The rifles will stay up here.”

  “But we might need them.”

  “When we do,” J.D. said, “we’ll need them to be right here.”

  He tucked an extra pistol into his old belt, and picked up a shotgun.

  “Ready?” he asked them both.

  “I’m ready,” Duncan said, and Kate nodded.

  “I’ll take the lead,” J.D. said.

  “What else is new?” Kate said to Duncan, and they followed.

  * * *

  They reached the back of the saloon and could hear the voice from inside.

  “Sounds like more than six—“ Duncan started but J.D. silenced him with a curt wave of his hand, then held his fingers to his lips. Duncan nodded. He had already been instructed not to speak.

  Kate and Duncan were to remain in the rear of the saloon while J.D. went in the front. Hopefully, without being seen.

  He made his way along the alley alongside the saloon until he was in front. There were some lights in some of the other buildings, but no one was on the street at the moment. The other thing about three guns taking on twenty was to do it in the dark, and that’s what they had in their favor.

  He stepped out of the alley and walked to the batwing doors, one of which was hanging by one hinge. Peering in over the door he saw that Duncan was right. There were more than six men inside. That was actually good. It would enable them to get rid of more of the gang at one time.

  Most of them were standing at the bar, drinking and listening to the small man, Slim, who was speaking to them in a very animated way. Probably instructing them.

  He pushed the one batwing door in.

  * * *

  “When do we go?” Duncan whispered to Kate.

  “We’ll know,” Kate assured him.

  “But...there’s no back door.”

  “A window will do nicely,” she told him. “Just be ready to move when I say.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She bit her lip. She and J.D. were always attuned to each other. She hoped this would be no different.

  * * *

  “...loyalty,” Slim finished, “is what is most important to Dev O’Connor. Show him loyalty, and—” he stopped short when he realized he’d lost their attention. He turned to see what had distracted them.

  He saw
a man standing just inside the batwing doors. He wore two pistols, one in his holster, and one tucked into his belt, and was holding a shotgun in his left hand, pointing down to the floor.

  “Who the hell—” he said. “Wait.”

  “Hello, Slim,” J.D. said.

  “You’re Blaze.”

  “That’s right.”

  “How do you know my name?”

  “A little bird told me.”

  “A bird name...Connie?”

  “I’ll never tell.”

  “Yeah, well, it don’t matter much,” Slim said. “We were gonna come lookin’ for you, anyway.”

  “Right,” J.D. said, “I knew that. I just figured I’d rather face you when I was ready, not when you were.”

  “Face us?” Slim asked. “All?” He looked around the room. The six new men were at the bar. They stood up straight now, and faced J.D.. There were two more men in the saloon, but they weren’t as anxious to face J.D. Blaze. They were thieves, not killers.

  “Maybe not all,” J.D. said. “Those fellas don’t look too eager to get involved.”

  Slim looked at the seated men, saw the desire in them to run, only to do so they’d have to run past J.D..

  “I don’t need them,” he said. “That’s what I have these men for.”

  “Seven of you?” J.D. said. “Against me?”

  “That’s right,” Dave Tholer said, wanting to assert himself. “Seven against one.”

  J.D. smiled, which disconcerted more than a few men in the room.

  “I think that puts the odds squarely in my favor, gents,” he said.

  Chapter 33

  J.D. turned to face the seven met at the bar. The bartender hurriedly vacated his place behind it. He was unarmed, and did not appear to be a threat.

  There were nine men in the saloon. That was almost half of the gang. A few more than they’d figured, but they could still make this work.

  “Now,” he said, “I’d advise you all to remove your guns from their holsters and drop them to the floor.”

  “Not a chance,” Slim said.

  “You six haven’t killed anybody that I know of,” J.D. said. “In fact, you haven’t done anything yet that I know of. You’re new to this gang. You can walk out the door, saddle your horses and ride out. I’m only interested in rustlers and killers.”

  “Th-that go for us, too, Mister Blaze?” one of the seated men asked, hopefully. “Can we ride out?”

  “Afraid not,” J.D. said. “You boys have been in the gang a while, haven’t you? I’m afraid you’re going to have to pay the price.”

  “He’s gonna kill you boys,” Slim said, “whether you stand with us or not.”

  “We ain’t gunmen, Slim.”

  “That don’t matter to the likes of him.”

  J.D. looked at the window at the back of the room. Kate and the deputy should have come through already. If all nine men drew down on him, he was going to have a problem. Armed as he was, he thought he could take six of them with minimal injury to himself. Nine ...

  “Make up your minds,” he said.

  * * *

  “It’s time,” Kate said. She could barely see through the grime on the window, but she was sure J.D. was inside already.

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure,” she said. “Break the window.”

  “With what?”

  “What does it matter?” she asked. “Find something to break it with.”

  Duncan looked around, saw a sturdy enough board for the job. He picked it up, swung it and shattered the window. Before he could move, Kate was crawling through ...

  * * *

  The breaking of the window attracted everyone’s attention. As Kate came through the opening J.D. took the opportunity to draw his pistol and raise the shotgun. By the time the men at the bar looked at him, his guns were pointed at them.

  “You call that a fair fight?” Slim asked.

  J.D. laughed.

  “Why not? You call nine against one a fair fight.”

  “So now it’s nine against two?” Slim asked.

  “Try three,” Deputy Duncan said, as he came in the room from the window. He had a gun in both hands, as did Kate.

  “Okay,” J.D. said, “time to make a decision.”

  “There are more men,” Slim said, “out there.” He jerked his head toward the street.

  “By the time they hear the shots and get in here, you’ll be dead.”

  “So will you,” Slim said.

  “I might be dead, Slim,” J.D. said, “but you surely will be, because my first shot will kill you.”

  Slim licked his lips nervously.

  * * *

  Dev O’Connor needed a drink.

  By now, Slim should have had the men informed on what they should and should not do. It was time to gather all the men at the saloon and tell them about the next job.

  He left his cabin, still wishing he’d told Slim to bring Connie back with him.

  * * *

  “Come on, come on,” J.D. said to Slim and the other men.

  “I think,” Kate said loudly, “that you should all drop your guns.”

  Half of the men looked at her, the other half kept staring at J.D.

  Duncan fidgeted nervously. Could that work? Would they take half the gang without firing a shot?

  They might have, if the batwing doors hadn’t swung in at that moment.

  * * *

  Dev O’Connor pushed the batwings, the only things on his mind getting a drink and sending Slim around to gather the other men. But he saw the woman and the man standing by the broken window with their guns out, and he saw the man standing with his back to him. He quickly assessed the situation.

  “Goddamn it,” he shouted, “take them!”

  As the shooting started he drew his own gun, but backed quickly out the doors.

  Chapter 34

  When Dev O’Connor shouted Slim drew his gun. The other men were watching him, and as he made the move so did they.

  J.D. let go with both barrels of the shotgun first, then tossed it away and filled his fist with the other gun from his belt.

  The shotgun blast riddled two of the men standing at the bar, as well as the bar around and behind them. The other four men and Slim fired, all in haste. The four seated men—thieves, as J.D. had explained to Duncan—all dropped to the floor, looking for cover.

  Two bullets found their mark. One tore through the sleeve of J.D.’s shirt, the other hit him a glancing blow in the thigh.

  From the window Kate fired both of her guns, and a third man at the bar fell to the floor. Duncan fired several times, all in haste, and a lucky shot struck a man in the shoulder, spinning him around. As he righted himself and straightened, another shot from Kate’s gun took him in the chest.

  Four men were down in front of the bar. The fifth had dropped to one knee, while Slim was still upright, but unsure about where to fire next.

  “Kate!” J.D. shouted.

  “Go! We’ve got this!”

  J.D. turned and ran out the door. The man who had shouted was obviously the leader, and he’d be running to gather his other men.

  The street was dark. He heard shots from inside the saloon, but tried to ignore them. Looking both ways he crossed the street, tucking one gun back into his belt but keeping the other in his hand to reload.

  Across the street he stopped to listen. He couldn’t hear anyone running, but he did hear someone shouting. That, and the occasional shot from the saloon. He was confident that Kate had things in hand.

  * * *

  Kate had things in hand.

  The four men who had taken cover were not willing to enter the fight. Duncan fired two more times, and the last remaining man at the bar went down.

  Slim, seeing that he was alone, quickly turned and leaped behind the bar for cover.

  “Damn it,” Kate said. “Take cover, Deputy.”

  “What?”

  “Duck!”

  Slim came up an
d fired at them.

  * * *

  Dev O’Connor ran from the saloon to a building down the street and just about kicked the front door down. It used to be a hotel, and it was where most of the men slept.

  “Everybody up! Get up, damn it!”

  He ran up the stairs, yelling, started pounding on doors.

  “What the hell—” somebody yelled.

  “Whattsmatta, Boss?” somebody else asked.

  “Bounty hunters,” O’Connor said. “Get your guns...now!”

  The men began to scramble for their guns and clothes.

  * * *

  J.D. followed the sound of the shouting, found himself standing in front of an old hotel. He could now hear men shouting, and the sound of footsteps. Any moment the rest of the gang—eight or ten men, maybe more—would come flooding out onto the street.

  He looked around quickly, then crossed the street, took cover behind an old empty horse trough, and reloaded the second gun while he waited.

  Chapter 35

  The two men who had taken cover hurriedly dropped their guns to the floor, then skittered off into a corner to be out of the line of fire.

  “Slim,” Kate said, “come on. Your men are gone. You’re all alone.”

  “Not for long,” Slim called back. “The others will be here soon.”

  “If they get by my husband,” she said.

  “I don’t think that’ll be a problem,” Slim said. “There’s more men out there than there were in here, and he’s all alone.”

  He was right about that. Kate wondered if she should send Duncan back out the window to help J.D., but in the dark J.D. might end up shooting the deputy.

  The best thing to do was take care of Slim as soon as possible and get out there.

  “Sean,” she said, “cover me.”

  “But ma’am—” Before he could say anything else she broke cover and headed for the bar.

  “Shit!” he snapped.

  * * *

  Slim stood up again to fire and saw what looked like a crazy woman charging toward him. He raised his gun but then the deputy fired at him. He ducked, and when he came up seconds later the woman had actually leaped onto the bar and was sliding at him on her belly. When she slammed into him they both went through the front window.

  * * *

  J.D. heard the breaking glass from down the street as the man came running out the door of the old hotel. They also heard the sound of glass and turned that way. That gave J.D. a chance to fire shots at them before they even knew he was there.