The Black Widow by John J. McLaglen Read Free Book Online Page A

eye-sockets, above
cheeks chiseled from ivory, and teeth bared in a sinister smile.
Topped by the mane of white hair, floating about the broad
shoulders like a spectral veil.
    Whitey Coburn.
    ‘ I was only going to tell you
Jed was close behind me and for you not to take fright. Didn’t do
too well at that, I guess.’
    C oburn laughed, and Becky huddled deeper in
her clothes, trying not to show the fear she still felt for the
albino. As soon as Jed had appeared, Whitey had handed her over to
him, bundled up in his arms like a bag of dirty laundry. She had
blushed to the roots of her hair with shame at the way Coburn
treated her like a little girl, and she now sat silent while the
two men talked.
    Although the earth was hard as stone,
Herne and Whitey had succeeded in gouging out enough for a
primitive wickiup, along similar lines to the one used by the
Apaches. Setting the shelter against the bole of the largest tree
and tethering the horses by it. Coburn’s own stallion was still
down near the lake, in a small cave that they’d found. There was
little point in trying to move in the present weather conditions,
and they had decided to stay put until the next day.
    The hut, of stone and branches, was
surprisingly snug, and Becky actually felt warm for the first time
in days. The fire blazed away in the entrance, safely shielded from
any prying eyes across the valley. Not that anyone would be fool
enough to be out in the blizzard. Coburn had brought up more jerky
and their food supply, unappetizing though it was, was now ample
for the next few days.
    ‘ Guess the boys down there won’t
be needing any of this,’ was the albino’s only comment.
    Jed had told the girl the story of
what had happened, omitting nothing. Letting her know just what the
position was between Coburn and himself.
    ‘ Whitey’s got his job to do,
same as I have. And you to help me. I see that, and I don’t hold it
against him. Time’ll come, if’n we both get through this, when he
and me are going to have to face up to it, and there’s goin’ to be
but one of us rides on.’
    Coburn nodded, the firelight catching his
eyes, making them even redder. ‘That’s right, Rebecca. Me and
Jedediah both play the same games, and we play the same sort of
rules. When we’re for each other, then there’s nothing we wouldn’t
do for each other. When we’re out huntin’, like I’m after him, then
there isn’t nothin’ at all we wouldn’t do against each other. You
see that?’
    She nodded.
‘ Yes. I
think so, Mister Coburn. But why are you going to help him
now?’
    ‘ Well. That’s a real fair
question. I’m hired out to take Jed in. And that’s still what I aim
to do. But he’s got him a plateful of trouble with these Stanwycks,
and when I took on this job I didn’t rightly know what lay back of
it. Now I know, and it makes me sick to my guts that I’m on the
wrong side. So I aim to help old Jed out, and try and get us a
couple of brothers. That’ll finish his contract, if that’s what you
like to call it. And then he and me’ll carry on our own private
argument.’
    ‘ You can’t just forget what this
Senator Nolan’s paying you and help us and then all ride away
friends ?’
    ‘ No, little lady. That’s
not the way it goes, is it, Jed?’
    Herne looked up. ‘No. That’s right,
Whitey.’
    Coburn leaned nearer to Becky who
steeled herself not to recoil from him. It almost seemed as though
he was aware of that and he smiled at her.
    ‘ Things like this are for
menfolk, Rebecca, and me and Jed wouldn’t rightly expect a woman to
understand that.’
    She sniffed. She understood a lot more
than they might think. Content with this thought, Becky prepared to
wrap herself in a couple of blankets and get to sleep. The wind
seemed to be dropping and she guessed that the men might want to
make a good early start in the morning. The girl now saw herself
with the responsibilities of having two men to look
after.
    ‘ Bed down, Becky.