Iron Eyes Must Die by Rory Black Read Free Book Online Page A

nodded.
    ‘ We
gonna kill these varmints, Snake?’ Buck Harris asked as he jumped
down from the closest passenger car. ‘C’mon! Let me kill
someone!’
    Adams stared at his bloodthirsty
companion.
    ‘ Maybe
later! You keep ya guns on them.’
    Harris smiled. It was the smile
of a man who liked nothing better than killing. He had killed all
sorts of people in his time. Men, women and children of every
known color
and creed. It had become a thirst which could never be quenched. An
addiction which could never be satisfied.
    ‘ Get
here, Coop!’ Adams shouted at Coop Starr. Starr had been an
explosives expert years earlier when the railroad companies had
wanted mountains removed so they could lay their tracks on level
ground wherever possible. His skill with dynamite had proved
invaluable to Adams over the years. There had never been a bank or
safe that Starr could not get into.
    ‘ You
figurin’ on letting me blow the door off that end car, Snake?’
Starr asked with a glint in his eyes.
    ‘ Only
if the guard inside it don’t open up peaceable like.’ Adams
replied.
    Both outlaws walked the entire length of the
locomotive at a brisk pace. Both were eager to get there, each for
a very different reason. They did not slow up until they reached
the last of the cars.
    The outlaw leader reached up and hammered on
the green sliding door with the grip of his gun.
    ‘ Open
up or we’ll surely kill your pals out here, boy!’ Adams yelled at
the locked door. ‘Open up now and we’ll spare ya miserable
hide.’
    A muffled voice came from inside the car.
    ‘ Who
are ya?’
    Snake Adams looked at Starr and raised his
eyebrows. He could not believe his ears.
    ‘ I’m
the loco bastard that’ll kill the rest of the folks workin’ on this
train if you don’t unlock this damn door! Open up!’
    ‘ I’m
armed!’ the voice shouted out defiantly. ‘I got me a scattergun and
plenty of shells. You try and get in here and I’ll blow you all to
hell!’
    Adams rubbed his chin and turned away from
the car.
    ‘ We
got us a plucky little rooster in there, Coop.’
    ‘ I
could use a stick or two of dynamite to encourage him to open that
door, Snake,’ Coop said.
    ‘ No,
not just yet.’ Adams took a few steps and waved his arm at Parker.
‘Get that engineer down here, boys.’
    Kyle Parker grabbed the neck of the engineer
and hauled him away from his unconscious stoker and the conductors.
He pushed him along the length of train until he was standing
before Adams.
    ‘ W . .
. what you want of me?’ the terrified driver stammered.
    ‘ You
know the guard inside there?’ Adams asked.
    The driver nodded hard.
    ‘ Sure
do. His name’s John Parsons. He’s a stubborn little critter and no
mistake. Nobody likes him. He’s a real company man. You know the
sort?’
    Adams pulled out a cigar, bit off its tip and
spat.
    ‘ I
know the sort!’ he said in a cold voice. ‘I never did like that
kinda person.’
    ‘ He’ll
not open up willingly, mister,’ the engineer added.
    Adams struck a match and lit
his cigar. He blew out the flame and tossed the match away. He returned his
attention to the car and inhaled the smoke deeply.
    ‘ You
go and tell him that there are seven of us out here and we’ll kill
the whole bunch of you railroad boys if he don’t unlock that door
and toss out his scattergun.’
    The driver nodded. He walked up to the
car.
    ‘ Hey,
John! There are seven bandits out here and they say they’ll shoot
me and the rest of the boys if n ya don’t open that door! You hear
me, John?’
    There was a long silence before the voice
inside the locked car replied.
    ‘ I
hear you,’ Parsons said in a cold tone. ‘I figure you and the rest
of the boys are gonna die, Herb! Damn shame!’
    The two outlaws could hardly believe their
ears. The stunned engineer staggered back from the car.
    ‘ He’s
willing for you to kill us all!’
    ‘ You
were right about him being a damn company man.’ Adams shook his
head in