Circulation returning brought needles of pain to his hands and fingers and he turned, still kneeling, picking up the knife and sawing hard at the rawhide binding the girl. Even in this position it was tough work but he had her free in a few minutes and she moaned again as he rubbed her wrists briskly to get the blood circulating, his eyes on the Slades all the time.
She winced and grimaced as the little hot pains shot through her arms and then indicated that she could manage now. Yancey nodded and gave her shoulder a quick pat of encouragement, leaving her still kneeling in the same position as he turned and moved slowly around the coals of the campfire. Reno had both their guns somewhere over there and he figured he would have only one chance to get them.
Reno was the nearer of the brothers and he stirred under his blankets. Yancey froze in mid-step, crouching. But the outlaw was only turning over and he muttered something unintelligible before settling down again. Still, Yancey waited, hardly daring to breathe, making sure the man had gone back to sleep before sliding his foot forward and stepping a little closer. He glanced at the girl and saw she was still kneeling, tense, one hand near her face. Yancey took another step and his boot crunched down on a small patch of gravel. He lifted it again as if was red hot, holding it in mid-air as Reno stirred again. Lem didn’t move.
Reno Slade moaned, coughed a couple of times, then his breathing settled down to an even rhythm. Yancey slowly released his own breath and lowered his boot again, moving it slightly to the side. No gravel crunched this time and he could see the guns now, between the sleepers.
He was preparing to take another step forward when Reno sat up abruptly, throwing aside the blankets, a six-gun in his hand as he swung it to cover Yancey. Anya gave a little gasp and Yancey stopped dead. Reno’s teeth flashed as he bared them in a grin.
“I reckon that’s about far enough, Banner! I been lyin’ here watchin’ and listenin’ to you two for the past two hours. Was gonna get up right away but figured it’d be more fun if I let you think you were about to get away with it before I made my move.” He raised his voice abruptly, startling the girl again. “Hey, Lem! Wake up!”
Lem stirred but needed three more calls before he started to throw the blankets aside and sat up, blinking. As he was doing so, Reno gestured with the gun.
“Stir up the fire, Banner ... And careful! Or I shoot the gal!”
He moved the gun barrel to cover Anya as Yancey stooped to stir the coals around with a small stick, pushing some more kindling onto the fire until they flared. Lem was fully awake now but only just starting to pick up his gun: he saw that Reno had things under control pretty good.
Then, from out of the darkness came the sound of a horse walking slowly and both Lem and Reno instinctively turned their heads. It was all Yancey needed. His boot swept through the newly-kindled fire and sent a cascade of hot coals and blazing twigs into Reno’s face. The man screamed, throwing his arms across his burned face. Yancey was already on the move, diving across Reno, twisting to kick the man in the head, then twisting again to snatch up his Colt from where it lay on the ground. Lem swung back, triggering, but his shot was wild and then Yancey rolled into Lem kicking him away and bringing down his six-gun across his body and dropping hammer. The Colt blasted almost in Lem’s face and he smashed back with the top of his head blown off.
Yancey dimly heard the girl scream a warning as he spun back and fired wild. He caught a glimpse of Reno, face raw from the blazing coals, bringing his gun around for the killing shot. Yancey started to lift his own gun but the foresight snagged in Lem’s vest and almost pulled it from his hand. It was a fatal delay and he knew he had only a second to live.
Then there was a flurry of movement behind Reno and when the man fired, his shot went into the air. He stumbled forward, eyes wide, mouth working, falling to his knees in front of Yancey and then spilling onto his face.
The buckle knife protruded from his back, buried to the hilt.
Startled Yancey looked across at Anya. She was regarding Reno’s body with horror, looking back at her own hands, knowing she was responsible for the man’s death. She turned and was violently ill and Yancey got to his feet and went to her, putting an arm about her shoulders as she began to cry. Just as he remembered the horse that had given him the chance he needed, Anya turned and clung to him, sobbing brokenly against his chest. He held her there as the rider walked his mount slowly into the camp and Yancey lowered his gun as he recognized Johnny Cato, slumping in the saddle, one arm inside his bloodstained shirt and looking like hell, but very much alive.
“Need a hand?” Cato slurred. “Only got one good one to lend you but it’s all yours if you need it.”
Yancey smiled faintly. “Step down and welcome, pard.”
“More like I’ll fall down,” Cato muttered, sliding awkwardly out of the saddle and leaning against his horse gratefully. He looked at the dead men and whistled softly.
“Well, that’s all of ’em, I guess.” He dropped onto a rock, his legs weak.
After a while the girl stopped sobbing and she sat down beside Cato while Yancey brewed coffee. She kept her eyes averted from the dead men even though Yancey had removed his buckle knife from Reno’s back.
“It—it’s the first time I’ve been able to cry since I learned my parents were dead,” Anya said softly, taking the coffee.
“You’ll be better now,” Yancey told her. “And you killed the ringleader yourself. Incidentally saving my life at the same time.”
“I—I think I’d rather forget all about—well, everything. Oh, I mean, I don’t know how to thank you both for all you’ve done for me, all the risks you’ve run, the way you’ve stuck by me when I was pretty mean to you ... I must apologize to Governor Dukes, too ... I forgot everything they ever taught me at college. Revenge seemed the only thing worth going after … ”
Her voice trailed off.
“And was it?” Yancey asked quietly. She looked at him quizzically and he added: “Worth it?”
Anya sighed, shaking her head immediately. “I suppose not. It hasn’t really accomplished anything. I feel sort of ... drained.”
“Me, too,” Cato said, “but I think it’s hunger. In two days I’ve only had a handful of coffee grounds and a corn dodger that tasted of saddle soap.”
Anya smiled. “I think that’s a hint for me to cook up some of that bacon!”
“More like a plea,” Cato said, winking at Yancey.
They watched as the girl went to the fire and began to prepare a meal. Yancey built up a cigarette and handed the tobacco to Cato, remembering as he did so that the man had only one hand. He gave him the made cigarette instead and began making another for himself, thinking that, after they had eaten, they could mount up and start back to Texas.
No doubt Governor Dukes would have another mission waiting for them. He sure hoped so, anyway.
The Bannerman Series by Kirk Hamilton
The Enforcer
Ride the Lawless Land
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