The Lawless by William W. Johnstone Read Free Book Online Page B

care of my hoss. Throw that damned brat off your skirts before I do it.”
    Kate was suddenly frightened. Quinn and Moses were out hunting and Frank Cobb . . . well, she didn’t know where he was. He often just wandered off to be by himself.
    â€œMa . . .” Shannon said.
    Kate’s fear turned to anger. “Get back on that horse, mister, and ride out of here. I have nothing for you.”
    â€œSure, sure. I’ll ride on come next spring and maybe I’ll take you with me if you’ve been nice, and I mean real nice, to me.” Rivette held out the reins. “Now take my hoss if you don’t want to feel the back of my hand.”
    â€œThe lady told you to move on, mister.”
    Frank Cobb’s voice cracked like a whip in the silence of the afternoon. He stood at the corner of the cabin, his lean, ready frame and the guns on his hips telling the world that there stood somebody .
    Rivette jutted his slab of a chin in Kate’s direction. “Is that yours?”
    â€œThe lady’s name is Mrs. Kate Kerrigan and she owns the ranch you’re trespassing on. Now get back up in the saddle and ride on out.”
    â€œIf that’s yours, I want it,” Rivette said to Cobb. “And everything that goes with it. Now you get the hell out of here and don’t come back. I see your ugly face around here one more time I’ll put a bullet in it.”
    Rivette had intimidated many weak and timid men and had killed a few of them, but he quickly realized that Frank Cobb didn’t intimidate worth a damn. That meant a gunfight. The tall, lean man with the quiet eyes, steady hands, and twin Colts looked as though he’d been in shooting scrapes before.
    â€œI won’t tell you again, mister,” Rivette said, but a coward and bully at heart, he knew he’d lost the gunfight without a shot being fired.
    Cobb stepped away from the cabin, the ivory handles of his revolvers yellow as old bone. “You got a clear choice, mister. Pull those pistols or shuck the gun belt. But know that I’m not a patient man.”
    His heart thumping, Rivette considered his next move. Damn, he was in a bind. Draw fighter. The tall man was a draw fighter, had to be. He didn’t want any truck with them Texas fast guns. He saw something that made him sick to his stomach.
    Kate had stepped inside the door and come back with a Henry rifle. The child was no longer with her. She pointed the rifle at him. “Mister, if he doesn’t shoot you, I will.”
    â€œI’ll ride out and be damned to both of ye,” Rivette said.
    â€œShuck the guns first,” Cobb said. “I don’t want a lowlife like you coming back here armed.”
    â€œDamn you!” Rivette squealed as a bullet from Kate’s rifle clipped a neat half-moon out of the top of his left ear. He put his hand to his head and it came away bloody.
    His reactions were remarkably swift and Kate decided later that he might have been sudden enough on the draw and shoot. But the man’s hands didn’t go for his guns. They went to the buckles of his gun belts and he dropped both of them as though they were poisonous snakes.
    â€œStep away from the iron,” Cobb said. “Yes, that’s it. There’s a good fellow.” He stepped to the man’s horse and slid the Henry out of the boot and tossed it onto the gun belts. “Now we’re all perfect friends again.”
    â€œWhat’s your name, mister?” Kate said. “Next time the Rangers pass this way, I’ll be sure to let them know.”
    â€œName’s Hack Rivette.”
    â€œHow very unfortunate for you.”
    â€œMrs. Kerrigan, may we have coffee? I’m sure dear Mr. Rivette would like a cup.”
    â€œYou go to hell,” Rivette said.
    â€œAnd bear sign would be nice if there’s any left,” Cobb said.
    Kate was puzzled. She lowered her rifle and stared at him.
    He winked.