High Valley Manhunt: Laramie Davies #1 by B. S. Dunn Read Free Book Online Page A

gun. Just
didn't think it would be a damn Redskin on the other end of it.”
    “Perhaps
you would like me to shoot you?” Lone Wolf asked, a smile on
his face.
    “Damn,”
said Cato who shook his head in bewilderment, “now you smile.
You who've never smiled in your life, pick when we are about to die,
to start.”
    A
short while later, the Blackfeet came again, but this time the Harbin
gang came out to meet them.
    With
Blackie in the lead, the gang emerged from the way station, all guns
fired as fast as they could. The Indians were taken aback at such a
foolhardy move and hesitated, which gave the outlaws a short lived
reprieve.
    The
Blackfeet increased their rate of fire but still the gang's luck
held. Bullets kicked dirt up, like mini eruptions at their feet while
others whizzed past, close enough for them to feel the displaced air.
An arrow opened a thin cut on Lone Wolf's thigh while another gouged
flesh from Cato's rib cage.
    Things
changed rapidly when Blackie Harbin went down.

    *

    The
Posse came off the trail at full gallop, men yelled at the top of
their voices while they fired their guns at the Indian Braves.
Warriors scattered as the posse men cut a path between them and the
outlaws. The increased amount of fire, set the Blackfeet back on
their heels. In the first pass, the posse put down four Indians and
as they turned to come back, the attack broke and the warriors
scattered.
    The
posse men, however, didn't escape unscathed. When they turned to ride
back through the yard, a lucky shot took Grover Yates in the chest
and caused his bright red blood to spray across Orson Blake, then he
slowly slid from the saddle, dead before he hit the earth.
    Jim
Clancy was wounded as well. An arrow burrowed into the fleshy part of
his thigh, but unable to do anything about it, the unwanted intrusion
remained in place for the time being.
    Sheriff
Jeb Coltrain sighted down the barrel of his Colt and fired a shot at
the back of a retreating warrior. The gun bucked in his hand and he
smiled as the bullet smashed into the Brave's head, spraying crimson.
The Indian flopped to the ground, a lifeless heap amidst the carnage
of battle. A shrill, almost human scream filled the air. Coltrain
turned to look and saw the Judge's mule go down, which threw the
heavy man to the hard packed yard. He tried to rise but the dead
animal had him pinned by the leg.
    The
sheriff came out of his saddle and rushed to his brother's side, “Are
you okay Zeb?”
    “Help
me out,” the Judge bleated, “the damn mule has my leg
pinned.”
    Jeb
Coltrain holstered his gun, bent down and took his brother under the
arms and heaved with all his strength. The Judge slid out and Jeb let
him flop on the ground.
    The
sheriff drew his gun again and looked around the swing station yard.
The gunfire had ceased and the Indians were gone. Men started to get
together to make sure they were all fine.
    A dry
triple click of a gun hammer caused the Sheriff to turn slowly, and
he came face to face with Blackie Harbin.
    “Nice
of you to turn up law dog,” Blackie said through gritted teeth,
“Now how about you toss that gun of yours.”
    Jeb
noticed that Harbin had taken a shot to the left shoulder. Blood ran
down his arm and dripped from the tips of his fingers. His face was a
mask of pain and he was unsteady on his feet, but the six-gun he held
in his right fist was rock steady.
    The
sheriff lowered his gun, “Now hold on there stranger. You'd
best think about it before you go and pull that trigger.”
    “I
said, lose the gun,” Harbin repeated the order.
    Coltrain
looked around the yard and noticed that posse men and outlaws alike,
still had their weapons drawn but had them pointed at each other.
    “What's
your name?” he asked Harbin.
    Harbin
looked at him as if he were stupid, “Don't you know? Hell
Sheriff, I'm the notorious Blackie Harbin.”
    The
sheriff nodded, “I heard of you. Mean son of a bitch, and low
down murderer.”
    Harbin
smiled through the