“Gus,” Blackjack warned. ”Back off, son. This is not the time.”
“Go to hell!” Gus said, without taking his eyes off of Smoke.
“You better do what he says, boy,” Cheyenne told him. “You’re just about to step off into where the waters is deep . and dark.”
“You go to hell, too, old man!”
Cheyenne shrugged his shoulders. “Nobody can ever say I didn’t try to warn you about the currents.”
“You ready, Jensen?” Gus asked.
“I’m not finished with my beer, Gus. I would suggest you get you a cool one and calm down some.”
“You, by God, don’t tell me what to do, Smoke.”
“I’m just trying to save your life, Gus.”
Gus cussed him. 'Here or in the street, Jensen?”
“It doesn’t make a damn bit of difference to me, Gus.” Smoke sat his beer mug down on the plank.
Gus reached for his guns.
5
Smoke’s left-hand Colt roared and bucked as his cross-draw flashed.
The slugs hit Gus in the chest and belly, doubling him over. He stumbled back and grabbed onto a table’s edge for support. He finally managed to drag iron just as Smoke fired again, the .44 slug slamming into his chest. The light began to fade around him as the men in the barroom took on a ghostly appearance, drifting into double images as the sounds of the pale rider grew louder in his ears.
Gus looked down at his hands. What had happened to his guns? His hands were empty. But he had drawn them. He was sure of that.
Gus sat down heavily in a chair and the legs broke under the sudden weight, spilling him to the floor. The last thing he would hear was the sounds of the pale rider’s horse galloping closer. And finally, the feel of that cold and bony hand reaching down to touch his shoulder.
“Did anybody even see Jensen draw?” the drummer asked, his voice filled with awe. “Jesus God, I didn’t.”
The young man whom Cheyenne had bopped on the noggin with the barrel of his Colt finally sat up and moaned, both hands to his head. “What happened?” he asked.
“Gus finally saw the critter,” Blackjack told him.
The young man looked up into the cold eyes of Smoke Jensen. Right then, and unfortunately for him, only for a very brief moment, did the old homeplace farm back in Minnesota pull at him slightly.
The young man who had just recently taken to calling himself the Pecos Kid pushed those thoughts out of his head and began to think about how he could kill Smoke Jensen. Yeah ... the man who killed Smoke Jensen would be famous all over the world. He’d have fame and money and all the women anybody could ever want. So he very wrongly thought.
Smoke stared down at him from the bar. His words momentarily chilled the Pecos Kid. “Put it out of your head, kid. Don’t even think about it.”
Smoke turned and Walt and Cheyenne followed him out of the bar and into the general store.
When Smoke was well out of earshot, Pecos said, “I bet I could take him.”
Blackjack just shook his head in disgust.
It appeared that the bitterly cold and long winter had finally given way to spring as the warming winds began to blow. The syringa began to bloom, as did the balsam and lupine, and the marsh marigold and blue columbine lent their hues and fragrances to the cacophony of color. Harrison had ridden to the store by the lake and came back with bad news.
“That Clint Perkins done struck agin, Mr. Walt. This time he killed a man over on the Little Malad. Some big landowner over thataway.”
Walt kicked at a rock and cussed.
“And that ain’t all. Jud Vale—had to be him—done upped the ante on Smoke’s head. Five thousand dollars to the man who kills him.”
Smoke had walked up, listening. The news came as no surprise to him.
Walt looked at him. “Jud knows that with you out of the picture this whole operation would fold. Me and Cheyenne and Dolittle and Harrison could hold on for a time, but not for long. Maybe it’s time for me to sell out and move on; take Doreen and Mickey with me and the old woman and just get gone.”
“Is that what you want to do, Walt?”
“Hell, no!” There was considerable heat in the man’s voice.
“Then don’t. But here’s what we can do: round up the rest of your herds and sell off the older stuff. That would take some strain off the range. We could use the boys to drive them to the railhead at Preston. Me and Cheyenne would stay here on the place with you to make sure Jud’s men don’t burn the house down.”
Walt thought for a moment, then nodded his head. “All right, let’s do ’er.”
Leaving Cheyenne in charge of the roundup, Smoke saddled up and headed for the nearest telegraph office to find a buyer for the cattle. He did not take the normally traveled roads or trails, but instead cut across country, blazing his own trail.
