Sudden--Strikes Back (A Sudden Western #1) by Frederick H. Christian Read Free Book Online Page A

Green finally
found a full purchase for his hands on the path, and with an aching
gasp of relief, hoisted himself back on to the comparatively level
ground.
    Despite
the pain it caused him, he forced his lacerated feet into the
tight-fitting boots, and, digging the heels firmly into the path,
took the full weight of his companion. Within moments, Dave had
climbed hand over hand up their improvised rope and was safe on the
path where both men sat, bathed in sweat, gasping together in near
exhaustion.
    When
they had recovered their breath somewhat, Dave turned to
Sudden.
    ‘ Jim,’ he vowed, ‘I ain’t forgettin’ this—never.’
    ‘ See yu don’t,’ was the smiling reply. ‘Us old fellers can’t
keep pullin’ yu kids outa trouble all the time. In the first place,
it’s mighty hard work, an’ in the second’—he assumed a quavering
voice—‘it could durn near kill me.’
    A few
more minutes’ rest, and both men were fully recovered from their
ordeal, thanks to their wonderful constitutions, and continued
their way down to the foot of the mesa. Once, Dave glanced over the
side of the path and gulped at the thought of how near to a
dreadful death he had been. If it had not been for this
slow-smiling man … he shook his head. ‘I’d shore be shakin' hands
with Old Nick right now,’ he muttered. When they reached the
horses, he bent down and reverently kissed the ground.
    ‘ Shore am glad I didn’t hit yu no harder than this,’ he
said.
    Green,
limping to his horse, turned, and said over his shoulder, ‘Shucks,
there was on’y a fifty-fifty chance o’ yore gettin’ hurt even if
you’d fell all the way down.’ It was Dave’s turn to be puzzled and
he looked his question at Green.
    ‘ Yu might have landed on yore head,’ explained that worthy. ‘In
which case yu’d have suffered no damage at all.’
    Dave’s
reply to this insult was neither pretty nor printable, but Sudden
only grinned and led the way on to the trail towards the Slash
8.
    Later
that evening, when all the hands were assembled at the supper table
Shorty was the first to draw attention to the multiple scratches
and cuts on Dave’s hands and face, and to Green’s wounded fingers
and limping gait.
    ‘ Yu boys been plowin’, or somethin’ equally repulsive? He
asked.
    ‘ Naw,’ put in Dobbs, ‘they been stringin’ bob-wire.’
    ‘ Or down in the mines, mebbe, diggin’ silver,’ chimed in
Gimpy.
    Only
George Tate did. not join in the general banter, which was accepted
without any attempt at self-defense by the two men. Sudden had
already related to him in the barest detail the events of the day;
afterwards, Tate had wormed the full story out of Dave. It had
taken some doing: Green had enjoined the younger man to secrecy.
Tate surveyed his new hand as Sudden settled back in his chair, his
face crinkling into a grin.
    ‘ Wa—a-a-l, gents, to tell yu the truth, it wasn’t none o’ those
things—although it was no Sunday school outin’.’
    Seeing
that he had the complete attention of the crew, Sudden threw an air
of mystery around his next words, so that the silence brought
Cookie in from the kitchen. So effective was the spell Sudden cast
that he made no move to leave. ‘We was up high in the mesas, Dave
an’ me,’ Sudden was saying. ‘High up, away from the paths an’
trails. Lot of pine forest up there—dark, an’ deep, an’ mighty
spooky. Horses was nervous. Dave was nervous. I was a mite uneasy
myself. Had that feelin’ o’ somethin’ goin’ to happen; didn’t know
what. Anyways, there we was when, without so much as a
by-yore-leave, the biggest mountain lion I ever hope to see jumps
straight out of a tree an’ on to Dave’s back.’ He paused for
effect, then went on, ‘Without even thinkin’, I piled off my bronc
an’ danced around tryin’ to get in a good clean shot. T’warn’t no
use ; him an’ Dave was close to each other as a snake an’ his skin.
All this time, Dave was a-bellerin’ an’