When the sunset finally played out and the sky grew dark, Longarm tugged down his hat, picked up the shotgun and rifle, then started climbing. Every nerve was tingling and he was very careful where he placed his feet, but after about fifteen minutes he stopped and heard snoring.
“Thanks,” he said, glancing up at the stars as he relaxed and climbed the rest of the way to the rim. There was plenty of moonlight to see the guard; the man was fast asleep. Longarm set his weapons down, unholstered his gun, and then pistol-whipped the sentry hard enough to make sure that he did not awaken for at least twelve hours.
“Consider yourself the lucky one this night,” Longarm said, leaving the unconscious sentry.
He only had to hike about a half mile before he saw a little one-room cabin. The outlaws were sitting outdoors around a blazing campfire. Longarm counted four. He tried but was unable to identify Victoria Hathaway and decided that she might be locked in the cabin.
“So what do you do now?” he asked himself. “Wait until late like you planned, or circle down in behind that cabin and try to sneak inside and rescue the woman? If you could get her out of harm’s way, then you’d have a hell of a lot less to worry about.”
That approach made a lot of sense to Longarm. His main objective was to get the woman to safety. After that, he would deal with the Bass gang. And frankly, with the old ten-gauge double-barreled shotgun coupled with the all-important element of surprise, Longarm figured the odds were yet in his favor.
He hiked about a mile before finding a good trail that would take him down behind the cabin. Thanks to the moonlight, it wasn’t too difficult, and Longarm could plainly hear outlaw laughter. Once, he thought he also heard Victoria’s voice crying out from the cabin, but he was not certain until he reached its back wall and then heard her sobs and the lusting grunts of one of the outlaws. There was a window but it was caked with dust. Longarm used the sleeve of his coat to rub a little clearing in the window so that he could look inside. A candle flickered but it gave off enough light so that Longarm could see one of the outlaws rutting on top of Victoria. The pig hadn’t even bothered to remove his pants but had instead just dragged them down around his boot tops and was now completely lost in his passion.
Rage filled Longarm and he moved swiftly around to the corner of the cabin. The campfire was only about thirty feet from the front door, but Longarm knew he had no choice but to try to get inside. Taking a deep breath and knowing that he could not handle both the Winchester and the shotgun at the same time, Longarm placed his rifle down, then slipped around the corner and into the cabin, almost certain that he would have to shoot the outlaw and then fight his way back outside.
The outlaw was still lost in his passion. Grunting and thrusting powerfully into poor Victoria, he would not have heard a train had it roared right through the cabin. All that Longarm had to do was walk over to the bed and mash his brains with the heavy butt of his shotgun. The man’s entire body quivered and stiffened, then he went limp. Longarm knew that he had killed this one and it didn’t bother him in the least. He grabbed the man by the back of his dirty shirt and dragged him off Victoria Hathaway, then bent down and clamped his hand over her mouth before she could even think about screaming.
“Victoria,” he whispered, “it’s me! Marshal Custis Long. Do you understand?”
The young woman was so battered and shaken that she attempted to claw his eyes out. Longarm had quite a struggle before he got her calmed down enough to think straight.
“Victoria, I’m sorry,” he whispered, leaning close to her ear. “These dirty sons a bitches are going to pay for this, I swear they will! But you’ve got to do as I say or we both may die. There’s still four outside.”
She began to cry again and hugged his neck with all of her strength. Longarm wanted to comfort her, but there wasn’t time. Another outlaw might come in for his turn at any moment.
“Victoria,” he said, holding her tight, “what happened here isn’t your fault—it’s their’s and they’re going to pay for it with their lives. But I need you out of harm’s way before the shooting starts. Do you understand me?”
“Yes,” she said in a hushed voice. “Can I kill them too?”
“No. I want you to try and get out of here. If I am killed, there is a trail behind this cabin that leads up to the canyon’s rim. Once on top, head down canyon and you’ll discover an unconscious guard. Take his weapons and then keep moving as fast as you can. About a mile away, you’ll find my pony. Ride him back to Prescott.”
“I can’t leave you!”
Longarm felt her fingernails bite into his shoulder. “Please! Let me stay and help! I owe them!”
There was so much venom and anger in the woman’s voice that Longarm didn’t have the heart to deny her wish. “All right. Here,” he said, helping Victoria dress before handing her the rifle and saying, “I need to know—have you ever fired one of these before?”
“You bet I have!”
“Good. It’s loaded and ready for action. Just aim and pull the trigger.”
“I’m going to kill Hank Bass!”
Longarm went back to the cabin door and pushed it open a crack. “Can you point him out for me?”
Victoria would have collapsed on her way to the door if Longarm hadn’t caught and supported her. Easing it open a crack, he said, “Which one is he?” She stared for several moments, then said, “I … I don’t think that he’s out there!”
“Are you sure?”
Victoria looked again. “Yes,” she said in a dead voice. “He’s not among them.”
“Where could he have gone?”
“I don’t know. Maybe just to check the horses or relieve himself.”
“We’ll wait a few minutes,” Longarm decided. “I don’t want him to come barging in and put a bullet through us.”
Victoria sagged against Longarm’s chest, and he could feel her shaking. He held her close and smoothed her hair.
