by Neil Hunter
His concern for Kate was a driving force that pushed him on, kept him going when his resistance began to weaken. A couple of times the wound in his side opened up and he lost more blood, but he ignored the burning pain, forced back the sick feeling that rose in him, and rode on.
Somewhere ahead was a small, anonymous-looking town where a man was waiting to kill him and he was riding straight in. Right at this particular time he wasn’t doing it for a man named Murdoch. Or for Matthew Cord. He was doing it for a red-haired girl called Kate.
Heat waves danced before them, laying a shimmering curtain across the burning land. The very rocks seemed to tremble in the heat. Dust rose in fine clouds from beneath the plodding hooves of the weary ponies. Beside Cord the girl slumped over her mount’s neck. He reached out and shook her until she sat up, staring round. Her eyes were wide with shock, red-rimmed. She moved her heat-cracked lips.
‘I fell asleep,’ she said. Her voice was a low croak. They had little water left now. That second night they had slept like the dead, bodies drained, sucked dry by the savage heat of the day.
‘Don’t worry,’ Cord told her. ‘In a while you can sleep for as long as you want.’
Madge Brenner stared at him, not understanding. Cord pointed. Ahead of them, hazy in the distance, were the low buildings of a town. A town they both knew.
Eighteen
The place seemed to be as deserted as it had been the first time he’d visited it. They rode on down the dusty main street without seeing a soul. Cord noticed how quiet it was. He pulled the ponies to a hitch rail outside a store. When he slid off the back of his pony he felt his legs give for a moment. Madge Brenner fell into his arms and he carried her into the store. After the brightness of the sun the interior of the store seemed pitch-black at first.
‘Hey, anybody around.’
A man appeared from behind the counter. He was slender, pale-faced and balding. He peered at Cord through thick spectacles.
‘You know this girl’s folks?’ Cord asked.
A plump, pleasant-faced woman pushed by the man. ‘Madge Brenner. Lord, what a state she’s in. Poor child.’
‘She’s been through a rough time, ma’am,’ Cord said.
‘Bring her through to the parlor,’ the woman said. As she followed Cord she spoke sharply to the man.
‘Mortimer, you go and fetch Angie and George Brenner. Go out the back door. Now scat!’
In the lacy, pot-planted parlor Cord lay Madge Brenner down on a couch. He felt the woman watching him. He glanced at her.
‘You the man they call Cord?’ she asked.
He nodded. ‘Where is he?’
‘In the Calico Restaurant. Been there a couple of days now. He’s got Kate and Margie – that’s her aunt—in there with him. That man is crazy, Mister Cord.’
‘Is Kate all right?’
‘Far as we know.’
‘Has Shelby hurt anyone since he came back?’
The woman shook her head. ‘He rode straight in, took Kate into the place and ordered the customers out at gunpoint.’
‘Waiting for me,’ Cord said, more to himself than to the woman.
‘Kate and Madge—are they the only ones to...?’
Cord could feel her reluctance to finish the question. ‘Yes, ma’am. The other two didn’t make it. I’m sorry.’
‘And the rest of Shelby’s gang?’
‘All dead, ma’am.’
‘Not before time either.’
‘Ma’am, will you excuse me. I know you’ll look after Madge. I got me something to do that won’t wait a deal longer!’
Cord walked back through the store. He stood in the doorway and looked up the street to the Calico Restaurant. It had the appearance of being completely deserted. Cord knew otherwise. He took out his Colt and checked it, then dropped it back into his holster.
He stepped outside, onto the street and walked up to the restaurant. He stood in the middle of the street, facing the building, his hands at his sides.
‘Waiting’s over, Ben. I’m here, so show yourself.’
Nothing happened at first.
Suddenly the doors of the restaurant were flung open and Ben Shelby stood framed in the opening. He stared at Cord, eyeing the tall, broad-shouldered man who stood before him.
‘By God, I knew you’d come!’ Shelby said. A mirthless smile touched his lips. ‘You’re like me, Cord. Know that? I’d have done the same in your place. Just couldn’t have kept away.’
‘Ben, you talk too damn much,’ Cord said.
Shelby grinned again. ‘Hey, that’s what Kate keeps telling me. Now there is some woman? You want to see her before I kill you, Cord, you want to say goodbye?’ He was getting cocky now and Cord didn’t stop it. He wanted Shelby to make the mistakes.
Cord took a short step forward. ‘Kate?’ he called.
‘No, let me do it,’ Shelby grinned, and he turned his head slightly to call back over his shoulder.
In that split second when Shelby’s attention was diverted Cord launched himself forward. He put everything he had into a dive that took him onto the boardwalk and drove him shoulder-first into Ben Shelby. The impact smashed Shelby up against the door-post. Before he could recover Cord had snatched the outlaw’s gun from his holster, tossing it far out into the street. Shelby’s eyes followed its flight, then flickered back to Cord’s angry face.
‘I’ll give you your chance to use it,’ he said, ‘but not yet!’
Cord’s big fist drove deep into Shelby’s stomach. Shelby grunted and lurched away from the doorway. As he tried to straighten up Cord smashed a hard fist into his face, a blow that knocked Shelby off the edge of the boardwalk and into the street. Shelby slammed face down in the dirt and as he tried to get up Cord drove a heavy boot into his side, spinning him over onto his back. He bent and grabbed Shelby’s shirt, dragging him to his feet, then lashed out again with hard punches that drew blood from the outlaw’s mouth and nose. Shelby fell back, shaking his head.
‘All right, you bastard, if it’s a fight you want,’ Shelby yelled. He leaned into Cord’s next punch and slammed home a couple of his own, one catching Cord across the cheek, splitting the flesh.
They stood there, in the middle of the dusty street, trading hard, brutal blows. They were men with a burning hate and that hate showed in every punch, in every drop of blood that coursed down their battered faces.
Shelby went down. He was on his hands and knees, his head hanging, blood dripping into the dust. Cord moved in close and suddenly Shelby reached out with both hands and grabbed Cord’s legs. He jerked savagely, pulling Cord to the ground. As the ex-lawman fell Shelby rolled away from him, half-rising to his feet, his right hand reaching for the gun that lay nearby.
Realizing Shelby’s intention Cord went for his own gun. He saw that Shelby already had his Colt in his fist. The outlaw twisted his body, swinging his gun hand under his left arm, eager to get in the first shot.
Cord let him do it. He was still leveling his own Colt when Ben Shelby fired. His bullet hit the ground inches away from Cord’s body. And then Cord’s own gun smashed out a shot. The bullet caught Shelby in the left side, driving him forward onto his face in the dust. As Cord climbed to his feet he saw Shelby lurch upright, turn, and bring up his gun again. It was a fast move. Shelby shot twice. His first bullet gouged a bloody wound across Cord’s left upper arm, his second went wild, for in the second before that shot, Cord aimed and fired himself. His bullet took the outlaw in the chest, ripping a bloody hole as it exited between Shelby’s shoulders. Shelby spun round, spraying blood, his mouth open wide in a silent scream. He fell forward onto his face and as he hit the ground his Colt slipped from his fingers and spun across the empty street.
Matthew Cord put away his gun. He turned towards the Calico Restaurant in time to see Kate coming through the door. He went forward to meet her, leaving a trail of blood behind him from the wound in his arm.
Kate came down off the boardwalk and threw herself at him. He
r warm, soft mouth closed over his and she kissed him hard. When they finally did pause she looked at him for a time.
‘I thought you were never coming,’ she said. ‘What took you so long?’
Cord shrugged. That girl. Madge. Pretty little thing. I guess we just took the long way back.’
Kate’s eyes flashed for a moment. Then she smiled. ‘If I thought you were telling the truth.’
‘Let’s talk about it over a cup of coffee,’ Cord suggested. He wanted to sit down before he fell down.
Kate suddenly seemed to realize he was bleeding. ‘For heaven’s sake, Matthew Cord. You stand here chatting about nothing and all the time you’re bleeding like mad. Come on inside and I’ll get Margie to fetch the doctor.’
It took Cord a few seconds to realize that it was all over. This time anyhow. He doubted that his association with Murdoch was over, not that he wanted it to be over. Murdoch would have other assignments and Cord would take them. It was the way of the world. Supply and demand. He wondered what the next job would be. Where it might be? No matter. He’d hear soon enough. Once Murdoch learned that the Shelby bunch were out of the way he’d find Cord and hand him another assignment. Cord just hoped that Murdoch didn’t find out too soon. He wanted a little time to let his wounds heal, and he figured that Gray’s Creek, despite its outward appearance, offered certain pleasures.
He felt Kate’s eyes on him. ‘God, you look a mess,’ she said. She jerked his arm suddenly. ‘And what on earth was all that brawling about? Shelby could have killed you. The state you’re in even I could knock you down.’
She probably could at that, he thought, and he felt the anger that had been in him ebb away. Satisfaction had been the reason why he’d tried to beat the hell out of Shelby. He’d known that it was destined to end by the gun but there had been a need in him to hurt the man. A need to...Cord shook himself mentally. He knew why he’d done it. Because Ben Shelby had taken Kate, put her through a hard time. It had only just dawned on him that she meant a damn sight more to him than he’d been willing to admit before and he didn’t want to lose her. He’d go away, Murdoch would see to that, but Matthew Cord knew deep down that he’d come back to her.
‘Come on,’ Kate said. ‘You’re dripping blood all over the front step.’
Cord looked at her and she smiled at him, the look in her eyes promising more than just devotion to nursing him back to health. He had a feeling he was going to recover quickly. He’d need to. With a girl like Kate Hanna around a man was liable to have both hands full, and for a one-armed man, even if it was only temporary, that state could prove somewhat awkward. Awkward. But damned interesting.
The End of
A Piccadilly Publishing Western
By Neil Hunter
But the adventure doesn’t end here …
Join us for more first-class, action-packed books.
Regular updates feature on our website and blog
The Adventures continue…
Issuing new and classic fiction from Yesterday and Today!
More on Piccadilly Publishing Westerns
