Billy the Kid by Theodore Taylor Read Free Book Online Page B

Very good."
    Pine was thoughtful a moment, then nodded at the Winchester. "What'll happen when you get a sight on him? Kinda hard to shoot family, I imagine."
    "
Them
, dammit!" Willie stormed, losing his temper for the second time in the afternoon.
    "Them," Sam repeated, realizing the pressure.
    Willie cooled off instantly. "I don't know. He's unpredictable Who'd think he'd ever stop a train? Anyway, he just won't roll over."
    Sam nodded reflectively, then asked, "What can I do?"
    "Load me four days of supplies on a mule. I'll get some trackers from Kumquikit. No dogs this time. I'll ride back this way."
    Sam nodded again and put on his specs to spend ten minutes reading the witness statements out loud while Willie moved restlessly around the office, listening and frowning. He noticed there wasn't much difference in any of the descriptions of Billy. The husky, shackled robber on the train with Billy didn't ring a bell from past robberies. Neither did the two masked men. They were likely from outside of Arizona.
    Sam finished by asking, "That sound like Billy?"
    "Yeh."
    "Any guesses why he did it?"
    "Not for kicks. Grayson said they got over twelve thousand. Split that four ways. Not bad for an hour's work."
    Sam watched as the tall man dropped two extra boxes of the .70 grain loads into the flap of his saddlebag, lifted a worn and scarred leather jacket off a chair—the Verdes night would be chill—and then scooped the Winchester up.
    He went out without further talk.
    ***
    IN PETE WILSON'S OFFICE a little later, Earl Cole said, "This ought to do Monroe in."
    Wilson replied, "That's what you said last time."
    "People around here aren't going to stand for three train robberies. Two were one too many. Monroe's a goner, I tell you, Pete."
    The prosecuting attorney stared at the big rancher. "You couldn't beat him in the election. I think you tried to have him killed. Your man, Dobbs. That's just a guess, Earl..."
    "You guessed wrong. I'll get him out of that office fair an' square."
    Wilson laughed. "How do you intend to do that?"
    "I'm organizing a freelance posse tonight to find and kill Billy Bonney. We'll ride early in the morning."
    "Good luck," Wilson said.

6
    THE FOUR RIDERS, Billy now in the lead, picked their way down the narrow old Apache trail as the sun began to turn the pines into long dark fingers. The sky was deepening to the east. They'd stopped to count the loot, twelve thousand in cash and maybe a thousand in jewelry.
    Billy felt good. It was over and he'd never do it again. Never. No one had been shot. He felt no particular guilt. His share would come to about three thousand plus a few hundred in jewelry, enough to buy some grazing land.
    The late afternoon high-country breeze was sailing across the slopes, cooling rapidly, holding sweat down on men and horses. After they left Dunbar's Rocks, it would be hot riding through the rugged mesa and desert land, and he was all for tackling it at night. But he thought he'd bring that up when they got to the rocks.
    Letting his big bay feel its own way down the little-used trail, Billy viewed the countryside with deep pleasure. He'd missed it very much in Mexico and along the heat-lashed border. He swayed with the forward motion of the saddle, sitting liquid, listening to the jingles and creak of leather behind him, the harsh breathing of the horses.
    The mountains undulated ahead, growing hazy where they dipped into valleys. Head bobbing, he gazed at the mesquite ridges and flats, the sharp canyons that stretched almost endlessly to the horizon, which was becoming shadowy. It was land to make a man humble, he thought.
    Earlier, Billy had been uncomfortable about riding the lead, his back an easy target for either Joe or Perry. Or the old man, for that matter; he seemed to favor shotguns.
    But then he reasoned they'd never find Dunbar's, where the fresh horses were waiting, without him. The massive rocks were a good two miles off the trail, pretty much hidden