you happen to cross the line? I never expected—'
'One of the prisoners we took in Onyxton knew what Webster intended. He wanted to save his own skin. So I gambled,' the colonel explained stiffly, 'that Washington and the Mexican Government will give their approval to my operating without orders. We started as soon as the prisoner confessed what was under way.'
'God, I'm glad to see you—we all are.'
I glanced around. Dead men and horses were scattered everywhere, it seemed. I asked if Webster had been captured. The colonel didn't know yet. I began to search among the bodies, but couldn't find trace of Webster. I went farther afield, and was just passing a tall cottonwood when I heard a voice:
'Cardinal, you bastard, I'll get you anyway!' Webster's voice! The tones were shaking with rage, as he stepped from behind the tree-trunk, an orange stream of powder and flame spurting from his gun-barrel.
It was his voice that saved me. At the sound, I swung around, causing him to miss his intended aim. The slug caught me in the shoulder, spinning me off balance, causing him to miss a second shot.
Even as I went down, I was reaching for my .44, my first shot thrown almost at random. I missed, but it caused him to hesitate just long enough for me to roll over and trigger another shot from the ground. I saw him stagger back, clutching his stomach as the gun slipped from nerveless fingers. As he struck the earth, I fired again. I saw his body twitch as the bullet sent up a puff of dust from his vest, but that was the only movement he made.
Struggling for breath, I tried to get to my feet, made it halfway and suddenly dropped again. I guess I passed out for a minute or so, before Mike found me. And Topaz was at his side. Through a haze of blood and sweat I felt Mike fumbling around my shoulder. He muttered something about a nice clean wound that would heal fast. Then men were lifting me to carry me to the house, and I felt Topaz's cool fingers holding my hand. I muttered, 'Keep on doing that. It feels wonderful.'
And then her soft voice: 'I have no intention of doing otherwise, Johnny—for all the rest of our lives…'
