by Rory Black
Skeet Bodine turned on his heels and ran up the dark alley.
Toke Darrow shook the empty cartridges from his guns and then reloaded. He turned to Jade.
‘Get them pack-horses loaded up with our money.’
‘What about Fern?’ Jade asked. ‘His foot is shot off.’
Toke Darrow stared down the alley and then at his brothers again.
‘Put him on a horse, then get our money loaded. I’m gonna kill Bodine and then we ride.’
‘Let’s light out now!’ Jade Darrow shouted. It was a futile suggestion. Toke had already disappeared into the dark alley with his guns cocked and ready.
Chapter Nineteen
Skeet Bodine had lived by the gun and now he knew that he would almost certainly die by it. The narrow alley that led behind the row of buildings was dark, yet the terrified outlaw knew that the man behind him would never quit until he had killed him as he had done with so many others that had stood in his way.
Bodine stopped and leaned against a tall fence and tried to hear the footsteps of his pursuer above the incessant noise of the rain that clattered off the wooden structures all around him.
Thunder still rumbled as the storm headed towards the open range far to the south of Diamond City, but it was the lightning that flashed across the low clouds that bedeviled Bodine.
Every time the sky lit up, it gave Darrow a target.
He was that target.
A bullet came from out of the darkness and punched a hole in the wooden fencing beside the outlaw. The smell of burning splinters filled Bodine’s nostrils as he squeezed his triggers and then started to run again.
More shots rang out around the alley.
The muffled sound of the man behind him kept Bodine moving through the unfamiliar maze of buildings. He tried one locked door after another in a vain attempt to find refuge from the eldest and most deadly of the Darrows.
As a shot tore the sodden hat from his head, Bodine at last found what he sought: a door with a glass panel in it. He used his shoulder, shattered the glass panel, then unlocked the door.
Within seconds, Bodine had made his way through the unlit structure and found himself in what he imagined was a hardware store. The large wall of glass in the store’s front window allowed him to stare out into the street at the bodies of his fellow gang members lying in the still-bright light that cascaded out of the saloon.
He heard the boots behind him crushing the broken glass as Darrow followed his trail.
Desperately, Bodine unlocked the door and ran into the driving rain. The street still stank of gunsmoke as he made his way toward one of the loose horses that stood next to the bodies of their stricken masters, Jonah Clayton and Snake Billow.
The sight of Bodine rushing towards them caused both horses to shy away from the outlaw. The man eventually managed to grab hold of the reins of one of the frightened mounts. He dragged the animal around, held on to the saddle horn, then poked his left boot into the stirrup. He mounted swiftly, then saw the blinding flashes of Toke Darrow’s guns blasting from the doorway of the hardware store as the outlaw emerged into the rain.
Bodine returned fire as he tried to steady the horse.
But Toke Darrow was not a man to fear his fellow outlaws and kept on coming. With every stride, Darrow unleashed the fury of his weaponry.
Skeet Bodine felt the animal beneath him rear up as another flash of lightning crackled across the sky above them. Then he felt the impact of two well-aimed bullets tear into his flesh.
As the horse’s forelegs landed back on the wet sand, another bullet ripped into Bodine. This time the outlaw was lifted over the cantle and slid down the back of the soaked horse.
Skeet Bodine landed in the churned-up ground. He focused through his pain at the shape of Toke Darrow moving at him with both his guns leveled at his prostrate carcass.
Bodine tried to fire the remaining gun in his right hand but another shot tore his hand apart.
Then Darrow was above him with the barrels of his weapons aimed straight at his face.
‘Gonna shoot, Toke?’ Bodine coughed.
A twisted grin traced across Darrow’s face as his thumbs pulled back the hammers of his guns. He was about to squeeze both triggers when he saw Bodine’s head turn and stare into the darkness.
‘Look at me, ya yella bastard!’ Darrow growled.
Blood ran from the corner of Bodine’s mouth.
‘Riders comin’, Toke.’
Darrow turned his own head and stared down the long street to where the dying Bodine was looking. For a moment he thought the outlaw beneath him was bluffing.
Then the truth dawned on him.
Thunder shook Diamond City for the umpteenth time before lightning illuminated the line of five horsemen who were galloping straight at him.
Toke Darrow raised himself up and stared in disbelief at the lead rider. He felt his heart pound as he focused on the one man he feared above all others.
A man whom he had truly believed was dead.
‘Iron Eyes?’ Darrow gasped.
Then he saw the Navy Colt in the skeletal hand of the bounty hunter as Iron Eyes led the lawmen through the rain towards him. It was the most chilling sight Darrow had ever seen. The long hair flapped like the wings of a bat on the wide shoulders of the gruesome rider as Iron Eyes got closer and closer.
Few men could have remained as calm as the outlaw did as he watched the strange vision bearing down on him. Darrow holstered his guns, grabbed at the reins of the nearest horse and hauled the scattergun from its saddle scabbard.
He pulled back both large hammers of the twin-barreled weapon and balanced it on the top of the saddle. As the street lit up again with light from the heavens, he pulled back on both triggers simultaneously.
The massive weapon almost kicked Darrow off his feet as it blasted both barrels of deadly buckshot at the five horsemen. He watched as the massive lead shot tore into the galloping animals’ flesh.
A blood-curdling noise came from the riders and their mounts.
All five horses crashed headlong into the wet sand. The riders were discarded like rag-dolls.
Darrow tossed the scattergun away and mounted fast.
He turned the horse and glared down at Bodine. He drew a gun and fired a shot into the outlaw’s head. The ruthless outlaw then spurred hard and galloped towards the bank and his waiting brothers. Within seconds all three outlaws and their two pack-horses laden down with cash and gold had ridden out of Diamond City up into the uncharted crags.
Marshal Lane Clark rolled over on the wet sand. He knew his right leg was busted and his prized stallion was dead. His eyes sought and found his three deputies.
Only Col Drake was moving.
‘Pete? Tom?’ Clark groaned. There was no reply. Then the marshal saw the long thin frame of the bounty hunter move a few feet ahead of him.
With the wrath of unseen gods sending forks of deadly lightning bolts all around the remote settlement, Iron Eyes rose off the ground and defiantly screamed at the top of his lungs at the fleeing Darrow brothers.
‘You’re all dead men! You hear me? There ain’t no place to hide from Iron Eyes!’
Marshal Lane Clark watched in amazement as Iron Eyes checked his Navy Colts. Then he ran through the rain towards Jonah Clayton’s horse.
The bounty hunter leapt on to the saddle, hauled the reins hard to his right and sank his razor-sharp spurs into the stunned animal.
Like a man possessed by demons, Iron Eyes galloped after the three horsemen. He had the scent of his prey in his nostrils.
Finale
Having used the last hour of darkness to their advantage, the Darrow brothers had forced their mounts up through the crags and then turned to head along the trail that led to the desert. By the time the horsemen had cleared the jagged rocks that fringed the line of small towns, the violent storm had moved south and the sun had risen once more.
The vast expanse of sand that lay beyond the rolling hills and deep
canyons seemed to stretch on forever to the eyes of Toke Darrow and his kin. Even though it was only an hour since sunrise, the heat haze was already blurring whatever lay beyond the desert from their prying eyes.
When they reached a high plateau, the three riders stopped their mounts and checked the pack-animals.
Fern Darrow looked down at what was left of his foot. It had been almost severed and hung limply next to his stirrup. Only the leather of his boot kept it in place.
‘I needs me a sawbones darn bad, Toke!’
Toke Darrow was about to speak when he saw dust rising from the crags behind them far below their high vantage point. He tapped Jade’s arm and then pointed.
‘Look! He’s still coming!’ Toke Darrow growled.
‘That can’t be Iron Eyes, Toke.’ Jade shrugged. ‘We all know that he’s dead.’
Toke grabbed his brother’s bandanna and twisted it until he saw Jade’s eyes bulge.
‘It’s him, I tell ya. Iron Eyes ain’t dead and he’s after our bounty.’
Fern moved his mount forward.
‘Whoever he is, he’s getting closer, Toke,’ he shouted.
Toke Darrow released his grip and stared back at the dust that trailed up into the blue sky from the crags. He bit his lip and then looked all around them for a safe route away from the man that hunted them.
‘We can’t go nowhere without being in that critter’s rifle sights. Once he gets here, he’ll be able to use a Winchester and just pick us off. It’ll be like a turkey-shoot.’
Fern screwed up his eyes in agony as his foot touched the side of one of their pack-horses.
‘Let’s just find a place to bushwhack him, boys. We gotta kill him fast and then we can head back to Diamond City. I gotta get my leg tended by a doctor,’ he groaned.
Toke and Jade looked at their brother and then back at the dust which rose from the hoofs of their pursuer’s mount.
‘He’s right,’ Jade said. ‘We have to kill Iron Eyes so we can get him to a sawbones.’
Toke swung his horse full circle, studying the area below them. He looked down into the nearest canyon where it narrowed between high-sided sand-colored rocks. Dried brush masked the approach.
‘C’mon. We’ll bushwhack him down there. When we’re finished with Iron Eyes, he really will be dead.’
All three riders slapped their reins and started the steep descent into the canyon below them.
~*~
Iron Eyes had driven the horse as hard as he could after the fleeing outlaws. There was no mercy in the heart of the bounty hunter, even after the animal had thrown a shoe climbing the steep route its new master had chosen for it.
As at last the lame animal reached the highest point on the long trail, Iron Eyes dropped from its back and studied the dry ground.
His keen hunting instincts saw the hoof-tracks in the sand; he knew exactly where the outlaws had headed only thirty or so minutes earlier.
Iron Eyes gritted his teeth and knelt down to study the trail that led down into the canyon below him. He pulled a cigar remnant from his deep coat-pockets and put it into his mouth. He struck a match and inhaled the smoke.
There seemed to be no sign of the riders beyond the canyons out on the desert. Yet he knew that they ought to have reached the almost white sand by now.
He sucked the last of the smoke from his cigar and then pushed it into the sand beside his right boot.
The tall emaciated figure rose to his full height and walked back to his horse. The animal was totally lame but could still prove useful to him.
Iron Eyes removed the canteen from the saddle horn and took a long swallow of the still-cold liquid. The outlaws were still in the canyon waiting for him, he thought. He could almost read their minds.
The bounty hunter returned the canteen to the saddle horn and then threw himself up on to the injured horse. He forced the limping animal to the edge of the slope and spurred. The horse obeyed and rode through its own pain down the steep incline.
Iron Eyes used the long lengths of his reins to whip the shoulders of the animal to greater and greater pace as they quickly approached the mouth of the canyon.
As the horse rode under the overhanging brush, Iron Eyes released his grip on the reins and then dragged both his Navy Colts from his deep pockets. He stood in his stirrups and then jumped off the back of the animal.
No sooner had Iron Eyes landed on the ground than the air suddenly erupted with rifle-fire from three directions. The horse staggered as bullets cut into it.
Iron Eyes rolled over and fired two shots at the trail of gunsmoke that still hung on the hot air above him. Jade Darrow fell from his lofty hiding-place and crashed into the ground. A cloud of dust rose around the lifeless body as the bounty hunter moved up the rocks.
More shots skimmed off the rockface all around him.
Then he spotted the injured Fern crouching behind a massive boulder, fanning his gun-hammer. Iron Eyes raised his left gun and fired three deadly shots into the outlaw. A rifle barrel gleamed in the sunlight to his left as it was pushed from a wall of brush.
Iron Eyes turned and fired just as the Winchester blasted.
The rifle bullet came close. Too close for comfort.
The tall figure felt the tail of his long trail coat being lifted as the bullet ripped through its fabric. Iron Eyes leapt down to the canyon floor and stumbled as another shot skimmed off the rocks next to his head.
An excruciating pain blinded him as fine stone-dust filled his eyes. Iron Eyes turned as blood and tears streamed from his eyes. Then another bullet came so close that it burned the skin on his already scarred face.
The tall man dropped to the ground and squeezed both the triggers of his guns. His bullets went wildly into the air. He had no idea where the last of his enemies was.
All he knew for sure was that he was in trouble.
Big trouble.
‘You’re gonna pay, Iron Eyes!’ Toke Darrow screamed out as he made his way from cover towards the stricken bounty hunter, his cocked rifle gripped firmly in his hands. ‘You’re gonna pay for killing my brothers!’
Iron Eyes rolled over and over until he was stopped by the canyon wall. Then another bullet blasted at him. The bounty hunter felt the warmth of blood as it trickled down his left thigh. He knew that Darrow’s bullet had ripped through the back of his leg.
‘So you’re the famous Iron Eyes, huh?’ Toke Darrow asked as he reached the man who still could not see. The outlaw kicked one gun from the bony hands and then the other. Darrow then pushed the barrel of his rifle into the face of Iron Eyes. ‘You ain’t so big now, are you.’
Iron Eyes lay motionless. The barrel was hot and smoking.
‘Who are you, mister?’
‘Why? Do you want to know who killed you?’ Darrow snarled.
‘Nope. I wanna know how much bounty you’re worth,’ Iron Eyes replied defiantly.
Darrow could not control his rage any longer. He spat at the man at his feet and then curled his finger around the trigger of the Winchester.
The sound of a shot echoed all around the canyon.
Iron Eyes felt the ground shudder beneath his belly as Toke Darrow fell beside him. The bounty hunter raised himself up on his elbow and rubbed the dust from his eyes until he was able to see once more. He stared at the body and then looked around the canyon until he saw his savior.
The small Texas Ranger led his horse towards Iron Eyes with the smoking pistol in his shaking hand.
The tall thin bounty hunter managed to get up off the ground. He looked at Johnny Cooper.
‘My name’s Johnny. I’m a Texas Ranger. You wouldn’t happen to know where I could find me a doctor, would you?’
Before Iron Eyes could reply, the youngster fell into his arms. Iron Eyes gently lowered Johnny on to the sand and stared at the hole in the side of his head. He pressed his fingers against the neck of the boy. There was a faint pulse.
‘I don’t know who you are, but you sure saved my bacon, lit
tle man.’ Iron Eyes scooped the youngster up and carefully placed him on the saddle of his horse. He used the cutting-rope to secure the unconscious Ranger. ‘I’ll take you to a doctor and I’ll pay the varmint’s fee. I owe you.’
Less than ten minutes later, Iron Eyes led the strange caravan of animals out of the narrow canyon. He had the bodies of three valuable outlaws and two heavily laden pack-horses in tow.
A fortune tied to the backs of four horses.
But the most valuable thing to Iron Eyes as he rode up into the blistering hot morning sun, was little Johnny Cooper. A Texas Ranger with a bullet in his shattered skull.
‘You’ll be OK, little man,’ Iron Eyes vowed as he stabbed his spurs into the flesh of Toke Darrow’s horse. ‘I ain’t gonna let nothing else happen to you. You got Iron Eyes lookin’ after you now.’
The Iron Eyes Series
By Rory Black
Iron Eyes
Iron Eyes the Avenger
The Spurs of Iron Eyes
The Fury of Iron Eyes
The Wrath of Iron Eyes
The Curse of Iron Eyes
The Spirit of Iron Eyes
The Ghost of Iron Eyes
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