Straw Men by J. R. Roberts Read Free Book Online

help.”
    â€œWhat’s going on here?” Clint asked.
    â€œDamn Injuns attacked this wagon, just like they’ve been attacking anything else they can find.”
    A shotgun blast drew everyone’s attention back to the wagon. The man who’d fired it was standing up in the driver’s seat and waving frantically. “They’re gonna make another run at us!” the shotgunner hollered.
    â€œLet’s beat them to the punch!” Abigail suggested. Without waiting for word from any of the men, she snapped her reins and led the charge.
    The rider who’d been speaking to Clint looked over to notice one of his men slumped in his saddle and struggling to reload his pistol. That left only one other of his riders to contend with the attackers. Looking to Clint, he cursed under his breath and bolted to catch up with Abigail. His remaining partner quickly fell into step alongside him.
    Clint steered Eclipse into the middle of the group that consisted of Abigail and the other two riders. As they raced past the wagon, Clint could see the shotgunner and the driver were both armed and firing at the Indians. Clint couldn’t do much about those two, but neither man on the wagon seemed to be hitting much of anything anyway.
    The first thing Clint noticed once he, Abigail, and the other two men were riding together was that they were the only ones doing any shooting. Ahead, the Indians seemed to be gathering together and waiting for the other men to make their move. They wouldn’t have to wait long, since Abigail and the other riders were stampeding toward the Indians with their guns blazing.
    Clint kept pace with the others and picked his next targets. Having reloaded his Colt, Clint took careful aim and sent a trio of shots over the Indians’ heads. While he made sure none of them were killing shots, one or two of those bullets may have scraped some skin as they went by. He knew they needed to be close if they were to get those Indians to back down.
    Two of the Indians flattened their bodies against their horses in response to Clint’s shots. Another veered away from the group, and a fourth was twisted around in his saddle as bullets from the others caught him in the chest and stomach. More blood sprayed into the air as another round burned a tunnel through the lead Indian’s shoulder. Even though the wound was big enough for Clint to see, the Indian barely even flinched as he sighted down his rifle barrel and returned fire.
    One of the riders next to Clint let out a pained groan and fell from his saddle. Clint looked down to see where the man landed and when he looked up again, he saw the remaining Indians turn away from the wagon and race for the surrounding rocks.
    â€œAfter them!” the lead rider shouted.
    Clint pulled back on his reins and said, “You’ve got a wounded man! Looks like there’s two of them!”
    Abigail fired at the Indians, but they were already beyond the range of her pistol. Once she saw the rider that had dropped to the ground, she noticed Clint was slowing down to tend to him. Abigail followed Clint’s lead and pulled back on her reins.
    The lead rider glanced at the wounded man as well. When he looked back again, he saw the Indians had already built up a head of steam and were practically flying away. In the space of another couple of seconds, the Indians were long gone. “Dammit,” he snarled as he gripped his pistol in a hand that trembled with rage. “Dammit all to hell!”

ELEVEN
    Clint and Abigail stuck close together and apart from the other men who were gathered around the wagon. As much as he’d wanted to dismount and see what he could do to help, Clint was only waved back by the lead rider and warned to stay put.
    â€œThink we could just get out of here?” Abigail asked.
    Clint nodded slowly and replied, “Perhaps, but then we wouldn’t know what this was all about.”
    â€œIt’s all