by Rory Black
Hume felt as if a weight had been lifted from his powerful shoulders. For the first time since encountering the strange figure, he felt that Iron Eyes had no intention of killing him. He watched as the bounty hunter slowly limped back towards him with the bags over his left forearm.
‘Ya must have seen the golden eagles in my bag?’ Iron Eyes queried before adding: ‘Most men could not have resisted that kinda temptation.’
‘I told ya. I never looked,’ Hume said. ‘I figured that ya would come back for ya goods if’n ya lived long enough. And by the looks of all them bodies that was stacked up on main street, I reckoned you was mighty hard to kill.’
‘I still say that ya honest!’
‘Reckon so!’
Iron Eyes held out his hand and offered two fifty-dollar gold pieces to the blacksmith. They glinted in the lantern-light.
Hume looked at them and shrugged.
‘I ain’t got me any money, Iron Eyes. I can’t break even one gold piece.’
Iron Eyes leaned closer and pushed the coins into the man’s vest-pocket.
‘Keep them. Ya earned the difference.’
Hume’s face lit up.
‘I thought ya was gonna kill me.’ He sighed heavily.
Iron Eyes nodded.
‘I would have killed ya if ya’d stolen my money, Will Hume!’
The blacksmith shuddered.
‘I knew being honest would pay off one day!’
Iron Eyes draped the saddle-bags over the top of the stall rail and ran a hand down the neck of the grey. His mind was racing as he tried to work out how he could get the better of Brewster Fontaine and lay his hands on the reward money that was due to him. He also thought about the information that Ted Cooper had given him about the government man called Carmichael.
Iron Eyes had always tried to stay on the right side of the law, but in this town and territory it was a mighty thin line between right and wrong. He knew that if Carmichael had the full power of the law behind him it might be profitable to locate him and his army escort. This man could get Iron Eyes his bounty money if anyone could.
Iron Eyes watched as the blacksmith released the rope across the stall where the grey stood.
‘Tell me, if someone was headed here by stagecoach, which way would they come, Will?’
‘Ain’t no stages ever comes here, Iron Eyes,’ the blacksmith said as he led the grey out of its stall. ‘This town is just too dangerous for them stagecoach owners to risk it. We got us a town full of outlaws and that don’t sit well with them folks.’
‘But if they did, which route would they take?’ Iron Eyes knew that there had to be a trail for merchant traders to bring goods to Hope and the other towns that fringed the fertile grassland.
Hume paused.
‘East of here Apache Wells has a way station,’ he told the tall figure. ‘I heard that they was thinkin’ of branchin’ down here one day, but so far they ain’t. The Overland Stage Company uses that place to change teams and feed their passengers, I’m told. That’s gotta be the closest route to Hope, I guess.’
‘That’s gotta be it!’ Iron Eyes said.
‘Gotta be what?’ Hume asked as he threw a blanket on the back of the grey and patted it down.
‘The place that Fontaine will be headed toward with his men!’
Hume looked confused.
‘What ya talkin’ about, Iron Eyes? Why would Fontaine head over there?’
Iron Eyes shrugged.
‘It’s a long story. I heard that he was gonna attack some folks. Folks from the East that wanna try and turn this territory into a state.’
‘Ya gonna go help them folks?’ Hume asked. He walked across the livery to the saddle and lifted it up.
‘Nope. I’m gonna warn them. That’s different,’ Iron Eyes corrected as Hume returned with the saddle.
‘Ya don’t seem the sort to go stickin’ ya nose into other folks’ troubles.’ The blacksmith hauled the saddle on top of the blanket on the grey’s back.
‘I ain’t!’ Iron Eyes said bluntly. ‘I’m gonna make sure that the authorities get my side of the story before this Fontaine critter has me branded as a killer!’
Hume reached below the horse’s belly and gathered up the cinch straps. He threaded them through their buckles and looked over the saddle at the bounty hunter.
‘So ya ain’t gonna help them folks at Apache Wells, huh?’
‘I’m gonna make sure that I get my bounty money!’ Iron Eyes explained. ‘I’m owed, Will. I’m owed a lot!’
The blacksmith’s strong arms tightened and secured the cinch straps. For some reason he did not believe the bounty hunter. It seemed to him that Iron Eyes just could not prevent himself from finding new battles to fight.
‘What if Fontaine does attack them Eastern folks?’ he asked. ‘Are ya tryin’ to tell me that ya won’t help kill Fontaine and his gang?’
Iron Eyes gave a slight grin.
‘Come to think of it, killin’ Fontaine and that bunch of killers might be profitable at that, Will.’ The bounty hunter sighed.
‘Ya a mighty strange man, Iron Eyes!’ Hume declared. ‘Ain’t killin’ just killin’?’
‘Nope! I never kill anyone who ain’t got bounty on their heads!’ Iron Eyes answered. ‘Killin’ folks who ain’t wanted dead or alive is just a waste of bullets, and I hate wasting bullets! There ain’t no profit in that!’
Hume watched Iron Eyes drape the saddle-bags behind the cantle and secure them with leather laces. Then the bounty hunter carefully mounted the grey and gathered up the reins.
‘Where ya headed first? To Apache Wells?’
‘First I have to see what Fontaine and his boys are doing! I have to make sure that they are gonna head for Apache Wells and that Carmichael varmint! If they are, then I have to ride and warn them people!’
‘What ya think will happen, Iron Eyes?’
Iron Eyes gave a wry smile.
‘Well, Will, if things stack up the way they usually do, I’m headed straight into the jaws of death! The question is, will it be mine or the bastards that keep shootin’ at me?’
Before the blacksmith could respond the spurs jabbed into the flesh of the grey. The startled animal leapt into action. Iron Eyes rode out into the dark street. Hume ran to the large, open stable doors, but there was no sign of either the horse or its new master.
Like the mythical phantoms he so resembled, Iron Eyes had vanished into the blackness of the night.
‘I’d hate to be any of the folks loco enough to try and stop that critter!’ Hume whispered to himself. ‘That hombre’s a sack of rattlers!’
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Like a bat out of hell Iron Eyes thundered along the back streets towards the large building which lay on the outskirts of Hope. The building which he knew was Brewster Fontaine’s magnificent home. The grey was as good as the blacksmith had claimed. Its hoofs ate up the ground in response to the bounty hunter’s silent commands.
Iron Eyes whipped the animal’s shoulders with the long ends of his reins and spurred. There was no time to lose. He had to find out whether Ted Cooper had heard correctly. The bounty hunter had to find out if Fontaine and what remained of his army of outlaws were going to masquerade as Indians and attack the way station at Apache Wells.
The injured bounty hunter knew that there was only one certain way to discover the truth. He had somehow to get into the house or its grounds and find out the truth for himself.
But there was no way that he could approach the house from the front. That would be suicidal if all of Fontaine’s henchmen were there. This was a job which could only be done by using the shadows.
The narrow street came to an abrupt end. Iron Eyes hauled on his reins and stopped the powerful animal beneath his saddle. The grey spun around as its master studied the fences and backs of buildings. Then he saw a lane. Instinctively Iron Eyes knew that it must lead to the rear of the house that he had seen as he approached the remote town earlier that day.
For more than 300 yards there seemed to be nothing but trees neatly fenced off. Then he saw it.
Again Iron Eyes reined in hard. This time he drew the reins up to his chest. The horse stopped as the bounty hunter balanced and peered over the fence.
The house was well-illuminated.
At least forty men were milling in and around the substantial building as Fontaine waved his arms around conducting their every move.
Iron Eyes pulled his reins up and tied them to an overhead branch. He then leaned from his horse until his hands gripped the top of the fence. Ignoring the pain in his leg, he shook his left boot free of its stirrup and placed it on top of the saddle. He pushed until his thin body cleared the wooden obstacle.
Iron Eyes landed silently inside the fenced-off garden. He lay on his belly and spied on the almost frantic activity twenty yards ahead of him. The gunslingers were stripped to the waist. Their faces and torsos were being covered in some sort of coloured grease. Fontaine had a pile of ragged wigs and crude bandannas as well as a bag of long feathers. The men were indeed being made to look like Indians, Iron Eyes thought. Just as Ted Cooper had said.
None of the gunslingers would pass for any kind of Indian in daylight, but in the dark it was possible that they would fool the Easterner and his military escort.
Iron Eyes could not hear what Fontaine or his men were saying. He knew that he had to get closer if he were to overhear the details of the man’s plans.
The bounty hunter looked all around him.
He saw that a handful of trees fringed the right-hand side of the yard. A few of the gunslingers were standing guard at various points. One was less than twenty feet away from him, leaning against a tree, sipping on a bottle of whiskey.
Iron Eyes wondered why Fontaine had to have any guards at all in his own back yard?
What did someone as powerful as Fontaine certainly was have to fear in this town? A town which he practically owned. Then it occurred to him.
Fontaine had only one man to fear in Hope.
He was that man!
Fontaine was afraid that Iron Eyes might spoil his play!
That had to be it!
The most powerful man in Hope was scared of Iron Eyes!
With his eyes still on the nearby guards, Iron Eyes rolled over and pulled both his guns from his belt. He pushed them down into his deep coat-pockets and then hauled out his long Bowie knife from his right boot neck. He placed the blade between his teeth and bit down upon it.
It tasted of rust and the blood of countless victims.
Then he started to crawl.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Iron Eyes moved silently. Like a snake, he seemed to slither along the dark edge of the large fenced-in yard, Even needle-sharp brambles could not slow his determined progress. The large trees had been there long before any men had found this remote place. Their stout trunks supported hefty branches and large leaves. This was all the cover the infamous bounty hunter required to reach his goal unseen. The nearby guard was between him and the men he wished to overhear.
The shadows which gave Iron Eyes protection also masked any clear view of the gunslinger whom Fontaine had placed on sentry duty.
Iron Eyes shifted his weight from one elbow to another as his long thin body reached the back of the tree upon which the guard was leaning.
The bounty hunter stopped and stared up from behind the tall lush grass that fringed the entire boundary of the extensive enclosed area. The smell of the whiskey that the armed guard was drinking from the bottle drifted down into the flared nostrils of Iron Eyes.
His bullet-coloured eyes studied the man as if he were a mere animal just about to be slaughtered. To Iron Eyes, every one of the men who accepted Fontaine’s blood-money was less than vermin.
They deserved whatever fate he was about to dish out to them.
With the Bowie knife still firmly gripped in his teeth, Iron Eyes placed his hands on the trunk of the tree and slowly rose to his feet. Only the broad-girthed tree separated the two men. Iron Eyes did not require his knife for this kill, he drew it from his teeth and returned it to the neck of his boot.
When the bounty hunter had reached his full height he pressed his body against the bark and listened. He still had to get closer to Fontaine to hear what the man was saying. Only the sentry sipping on the whiskey bottle lay between himself and that goal.
All pain was forgotten.
Now he was the hunter again.
The hunter driven by a single thought, every sinew in his body tuned for one action: to kill the guard who stood between himself and the group of men close to the rear of the large house.
Iron Eyes took a step around the tree. He was closer now. A mere few feet from the shoulder of the man on sentry duty. The bounty hunter was close enough to strike.
He raised his hands.
The gunman returned the bottle to his lips. The hands of Iron Eyes struck out like a rattler. One hand went around the front of the man’s throat as the other grabbed the bottle and pushed its neck into his mouth.
Then Iron Eyes hauled the gunslinger off his feet and smashed him into the ground. Faster than the blink of an eye, the lean bounty hunter jumped on to the chest of his prey. He continued to hold the bottle and jerked it until its entire contents flowed into his victim’s mouth.
Only when the clear-glass bottle was empty did Iron Eyes remove it from the mouth and cast it aside. He grabbed the throat of the choking man and glared down at him.
The gunslinger tried to pull the hand away.
He could not.
With not one ounce of mercy, Iron Eyes watched as his victim’s eyeballs rolled up under the lids. He could feel the body shudder beneath him as it suffocated. Then the hands fell from the bony grip and landed limply on to the grass.
Iron Eyes knew when death had claimed another victim.
He got off the corpse, rose to his feet and stepped back to use the tree for cover. He stared across at the group of men who were now actually beginning to resemble Indians.
Iron Eyes dropped down and started to crawl again. This time he headed straight for Fontaine. He had covered half the distance between them when he began to understand the words that spewed from the well-liquored group.
‘We gonna strike at night, boss?’ Riley shouted out from behind a half-dozen half-naked men who were smothering each other with coloured grease. ‘I thought that Injuns don’t attack at night. Ain’t that gonna be a mite suspicious?’
‘Injuns ain’t all superstitious, Riley!’ Fontaine boomed.
‘We gonna wait for them to head out from Apache Wells or are we attacking the way station itself?’ Keno queried.
Fontaine removed his own fancy shirt and dipped his hands into the tub of coloured grease. He started to cover his own face and body with the vile concoction.
‘It’d be a lot easier if we could wait until they headed out from the way station, boys,’ he answered. ‘Trouble is, they won’t leave there until after sunrise. I reckon they’d cotton on to us not being Indians damn fast in the light of day. No, we have to attack at night!’
‘Mighty risky!’ Keno was quick to note. ‘That place is like a small fort! It can be defended!’
Fontaine laughed.
‘It sure can be defended if the folks there know they’re gonna be attacked, Keno. But them folks ain’t got that kind of information, have they? We’ll be able to ride straight in through their gates and start slaughtering before they have any idea what’s happening! Right?’
Iron Eyes heard the unanimous roar of approval. The gunslingers were in a frenzied mood. A killing mood, fuelled by hard liquor and money.
The bounty hunter had heard enough.
Ted Cooper had been right.
Now all Iron Eyes had to do was get out of this place and ride
to warn the soldiers and Carmichael at Apache Wells.
It was not quite as straightforward as it sounded.
He turned and started to crawl across the ground back to where he had left the dead body between the trees. He was almost there when his keen instincts heard something. He stopped and turned his head. He stared through his long limp hair and saw another of the guards. He was walking beside the fence towards the very spot where Iron Eyes had left the body.
Iron Eyes glanced behind him.
Fontaine and the others were still laughing, totally unaware of anything apart from the task of making themselves look like Indians. The bounty hunter pushed himself up off the ground. He ran low and fast. The guard had just cleared the second of the trees when Iron Eyes hit hard and high.
The impact winded the gunfighter.
They both fell.
They wrestled furiously in the ditch beside the fence. Fists flew in both directions until the bounty hunter managed to force his adversary down. Iron Eyes balanced with one hand over the mouth of the startled guard as fingers clawed at his face.
Then Iron Eyes felt the gunman reach down for one of his holstered guns. Iron Eyes raised a knee and pressed it down on the man’s gun hand. Without any hesitation the bounty hunter grabbed the knife from his teeth and went to ram it into the man’s chest. The gunslinger used his left hand to grab Iron Eyes’ wrist.
Both men glared at one another.
It was now a battle of willpower as well as strength.
The Bowie knife hovered above the chest of Fontaine’s henchman as Iron Eyes strained to force it down. He knew that he dare not allow this man to call out and alert the others. The arms of both men shook violently. The tip of the blade touched the guard’s shirt, then it was forced up again. Then Iron Eyes felt the powerful knee of his opponent hit him in the middle of his back.
He rocked but retained his position.
The man kneed him once more. Pain ripped through every muscle in the lean body but Iron Eyes would not allow any weakness to show in his scarred features.
Iron Eyes head-butted the man beneath him. He could tell that his foe was dazed.
