Paint the Hills Red

by Ron Schwab

  Then a rifle cracked from near the ponderosa, and Keaton’s horse reared and struck at air. The sheriff’s eyes leaped wildly as they sought the possessor of the rifle that had whistled the bullet past his head. The rifle cracked again, and Keaton grunted but barely flinched as crimson oozed through the waist of his torn shirt. But the assailant had bought Dan his break. His fingers closed on the service revolver now. With the sheriff’s attention diverted just long enough, Dan took unhurried aim and squeezed the trigger. The bullet that smashed through the sheriff’s jaw and exited at the base of his skull lifted him out of his saddle and dropped him stone dead on the ground.

  The horses had raced away by the time Dan stood up, his pistol dangling loosely in his hand. He looked back over his shoulder to see Megan step out from behind the pinto with the rifle, his Winchester, cradled in her arms. She walked slowly toward him as he stared at her in disbelief.

  Then he heard Liz moan behind him, and he turned away to where she lay supine on the ground not far from where the sheriff stared skyward with blank, sightless eyes that seemed frozen in his blood-smeared twisted face.

  He hesitated and turned back to Megan. “Meg, are—”

  “I’m fine,” she said. “You’d better see to Liz.”

  He knelt down and placed a hand on Liz’s cheek, caressing it gently as he might a piece of delicate china. She was alive, her bosom rising and falling steadily as she slept there. Her eyes fluttered and then opened, and she looked up at him, her eyes uncomprehending.

  “Dan?”

  “Yes.”

  “Keaton? Where?”

  “Dead.”

  “I’m glad. I didn’t want him to kill you, Dan. Please believe that much.”

  “I do. You stopped him from it.”

  Dan bolted upright, and his grip tightened instinctively on the pistol as a horse’s hooves thudded again in the yard. It was Clay Sutherly, who appeared to rein in and dismount in a single motion before he rushed to Liz Dunkirk’s side, panic written on his ashen face. “Liz, is she—”

  “She’ll be all right,” Dan said. “She took a blow on her head from Keaton’s gun barrel.”

  Sutherly glanced over at Sheriff Keaton’s prone form where droning flies were beginning to feast now. “It looks like somebody ended it before I did,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “Clay,” Liz said, her voice drifting, “what are you doing here?”

  “I came here to find you. I didn’t know where you were, but I thought you might be here like you were the other times. I didn’t expect to ride into this.”

  “Leave me alone, Clay.”

  Sutherly placed a hand behind her back and helped Liz into a sitting position. “Just sit here a minute,” he said. “I want to talk to Mr. McClure a spell, and then we’ll head home.”

  Sutherly stood up and motioned Dan to join him some distance away from Liz. “What is it?” Dan asked.

  “There won’t be any more raids,” Sutherly said, nodding toward Keaton. “The man who was responsible is dead.”

  “But Keaton and Liz were partners of sorts,” Dan said.

  “Can you prove that?”

  “They admitted it to me. My testimony to that would be some proof.”

  “That wouldn’t be enough.”

  “It might be,” Dan said.

  “What would it accomplish? It won’t bring back the dead.”

  “No, but it would carry out justice, and if she’s not brought to trial, what’s to say she won’t do something like this again?”

  “I’m to say,” Sutherly said.

  “You sound quite positive.”

  “Mr. Dunkirk’s dead. We found him this morning; he died in his sleep. That’s why I was looking for Liz . . . to tell her about her father.”

  “I see.”

  “I’m sole trustee of the Dunkirk enterprises now. It’s up to me whether Liz ever owns the Diamond D or any part of it in her own right.”

  “That’s a lot of power.”

  “You're damned right it is. And I’ll use it, but within the boundaries of the law.”

  Dan still did not like Sutherly, but he found himself respecting the man. If anybody could handle Liz Dunkirk—and that was doubtful—Sutherly could.

  “I’ll have to think on it,” Dan said noncommittally. But he knew now that the bloodshed was over, he would not turn against Liz Dunkirk. She had claimed a part of him that would not let him do it.

  Only after Clay Sutherly had turned away and moved to Liz’s side, had Dan searched out Megan who stood quietly near the building site, gazing, so it seemed, at the stakes and strings that outlined the foundation. He walked over to his gun belt, holstered his revolver, left it lying in the dust, and walked up the gentle slope to join Megan.

  “Meg?” he said as he came up behind her.

  She turned and faced him, and he could see that her eyes were drinking in his image. He took her into his arms and pulled her supple body close, stroking her silky black hair as she pressed her face against his chest.

  “When did it happen?” he asked.

  “It started on the way over. At first everything was a blur, but it kept getting better. I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t sure. Things are still a little fuzzy.”

  “You saw well enough to put a bullet in Keaton.”

  “But it took two shots,” she said apologetically, “and I was aiming for his chest. I can shoot better than that.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “I’m sure you can.”

  “Dan, Liz Dunkirk . . . what’s going to become of her?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I know you cared for her, though,” Megan said.

  “Once. But does it matter?”

  She was silent for a moment. “No, it doesn’t matter . . . not now.” She pulled away and looked up at him with clear, moist eyes and smiled hesitantly. “Do you want to show me where our room is?” she asked motioning toward the home site.

  “I’d be delighted. Come with me, and I’ll give you the grand tour of our new home.”

  He took Megan’s hand in his and led her along the perimeter of the stakes. Then they stopped and looked over the stretched string. “This is the front entrance,” he announced. “Double doors, wide enough for us to enter together.”

  Afterword

  Thank you for purchasing this ebook. If you enjoyed reading it, please consider leaving a review at your favorite online retailer or Goodreads. For more information about Ron Schwab and his books, you may visit the author’s website at www.RonSchwabBooks.com.

  Available on Amazon in October 2016, Deal with the Devil is the first book in Ron Schwab’s The Law Wranglers series. To learn more, please visit the author’s website or Amazon.com.