protect Elizabeth.
They were almost at the mouth of the canyon now. Matt wasn’t surprised when shots rang out from the sentries posted there.
Wilbur yelped in pain. Stovepipe turned to him and called, “How bad is it, pard?”
“Just nicked me, the varmint!” Wilbur replied. “Keep goin’, Stovepipe. Don’t slow down!”
“Wasn’t intendin’ to,” Stovepipe said. “But you holler if you need any help, hear?”
Matt knew he was operating purely on the excitement of battle and the urgent need to escape from this canyon. He drew his right-hand Colt and triggered a few shots toward the places where he had seen the flare of the sentries’ guns.
He wasn’t really trying to hit anything. He just wanted to give them something to think about and make them duck.
From the back of the group, Sam’s revolver roared, too. Matt knew he was trying to do the same thing.
The effort seemed to work. The running horses flashed past the sentries and through the entrance to the canyon. Now they were out in the open, with the cliffs rapidly falling behind them.
“Will ... will they come after us?” Elizabeth gasped.
“I don’t know,” Sam said as he pulled his mount up even with hers. “Juan Pablo left some of his followers behind to guard us and keep an eye on Caballo Rojo and the men who don’t want a war. I don’t know if they would risk leaving the canyon completely unguarded.”
“Some of them might come after us, though,” Matt said as the riders slowed slightly and grouped up again. “They won’t want us to interfere with Juan Pablo gettin’ his hands on those guns.”
“But that’s dang sure what we need to do,” Stovepipe put in. “Think you can find the place where the gang was gonna turn ’em over before?”
“I believe I can,” Sam said. “Matt was unconscious for a lot of that time, so he doesn’t know exactly where it is.”
“I trust you, though,” Matt said. “I—Whoa!”
He swayed suddenly in his saddle as a wave of dizziness washed over him. Wilbur was close enough to reach out and grab his arm in a steadying grip.
“You’re in no shape for this, Matt,” Sam said. “We need to find a place where we can leave you and Elizabeth before we go after Juan Pablo and the rifles.”
“Not hardly!” Matt shook his arm free from Wilbur’s hand. “I’m obliged for your help,” he told the redhead, “but I’m fine now. And I’m comin’ along to help you stop Juan Pablo, Sam. You can get any other ideas out of your head right now.”
“I see that being wounded hasn’t kept you from being as stubborn as ever.”
Elizabeth said, “Well, I’m stubborn, too, and you’re not leaving me behind, either. You can’t afford to take the time to find a safe place for Matt and me. The lives of too many innocent people are at stake.”
“The lady’s right about that,” Stovepipe drawled. “But if you can’t keep up, Matt, we may have to leave you behind.”
“I’ll keep up,” Matt promised grimly. “Come on. We’re burnin’ starlight.”
Stovepipe laughed.
“First time I’ve heard that one,” he admitted.
With Sam in the lead now, they pushed on, stopping occasionally to rest the horses when it became obvious that none of the Navajo from the canyon were pursuing them. Without Juan Pablo there to tell them what to do, uncertainty probably reigned.
The stars wheeled through the dark heavens overhead. Matt figured it was well after midnight by now. The rush of blood that had kept him going earlier was wearing off now, and weariness gripped him.
As Sam had said, though, he was too blasted stubborn to give up. His iron will kept him in the saddle.
Then, finally, Sam held up a hand to signal a halt. As the others gathered around him, he said quietly, “That bluff where Matt and I were bushwhacked the first time is maybe half a mile away. We’d better dismount and go the rest of the way on foot. Elizabeth, can you hold the horses?”
“Of course,” she said. “But what about Matt?”
He drew his Colt and replaced the shells he had fired earlier when they were escaping from the canyon.
“I’m going,” he said as he snapped the revolver’s cylinder closed. He looked at Sam. “And don’t try to stop me.”
“Wouldn’t think of it,” his blood brother said. “Even with you in bad shape, there’s nobody I’d rather have siding my play than you, Matt.”
Stovepipe said, “All right, fellas, let’s go see if we can catch us some gun-runners.”
Chapter 35
Jardine hauled back on the lines and brought the wagon to a stop. Around him, his men reined in as well.
The dark, looming bulk of the bluff told Jardine that they were in the right place. He had been confident in his ability to find his way out here, even at night, but it was nice to know that he’d been right.
Now all they had to do was wait for Juan Pablo to show up.
The man was a damn fool, Jardine thought with a wry smile. Juan Pablo actually believed he could rouse the whole Navajo nation against the whites and lead his people to victory. He had no idea how doomed to failure they really were.
