knew he was on the train, and had a welcome set up for him. He had no time to think, just to react.
He drew and fired.
Jim Masterson heard the train pull in at the end of town. It didn’t occur to him that Neal Brown might be there until he heard the shots.
“Damn it!” he snarled, and started running.
Fred Singer heard the train and shots, also, from his office. He sat behind his desk. Hands clenched into fists and eyes closed.
Ruger and his men dove for cover, as did Peacock and Updegraff. But Neal Brown came up behind the two brothers-in-law and shouted, “Peacock!”
Updegraff and Peacock turned, saw Brown and raised their guns. Brown fired, and caught Updegraff in the chest. The man immediately went down on his back.
Peacock dropped to one knee and raised his gun to fire.
Butler reached Bat and stood shoulder to shoulder with him.
“Who’re you?” Bat demanded.
“A friend.”
“Ain’t gonna argue with that now,” Bat Masterson said.
They both fired until their guns were empty, then sought cover while they reloaded. Bat got back on the train, and Butler ducked behind a bench, moving it so it afforded him some cover.
“Who’s that at the other end of the platform?” Bat called out.
“Neal Brown!”
“Where’s my brother? Is he alive?”
“He was at the Lady Gay.”
“If I know Jim,” Bat yelled, “he’ll be here any minute and be mad if we don’t save him some action.”
Butler snapped the cylinder closed on his reloaded weapon and said, “Hell, he can have as much of it as he wants, for all I care!”
CHAPTER 56
Bat was wearing two guns, and reloaded both from the cover of the railroad car. From the other end of the platform there was still gunfire.
“I’m gonna jump down from the other side of the train and circle around,” Bat told Butler.
“Go,” Butler said. “I’ll keep them busy from here.”
Bat palmed both guns, moved through to the other side of the train, and dropped down to the ground.
Butler saw Ruger’s men moving toward him, moving from car to car, cover to cover, and knew he’d have to move as well. He fired off two shots, then turned and made his way to the end of the platform again. He was going to circle the depot again, then decided to go around the train and join Bat. He fired off the rest of his shots, then made for the train, once again reloading.
When Jim Masterson reached the train station, lead was flying all over. He saw Neal Brown backing up on the platform, moving toward him, returning fire, and went to join him.
“What the hell is goin’ on?” he shouted.
“Peacock,” Brown said. “He’s tryin’ to kill Bat, him and some gunnies he hired.”
“Bat’s here?”
Brown nodded. “Got off the train.”
Peacock was firing from cover, and behind him Ruger joined him. Jim Masterson saw the hat and vest, and the cut of the man’s figure, and said, “He hired Jason Ruger.”
“Ruger? Is that who it is?”
“How many men with him?”
“He got off the train with three, then there’s Peacock and Updegraff.”
“Updegraff! Where?”
“I put him down.”
“Who’s at the other end of the platform?”
“Bat and Butler.”
“Butler, too? That makes it four to six. Not bad.”
Brown and Jim backed down the steps of the platform to use them for cover. The train station was at the end of Front Street, so behind them some of the buildings were taking lead. Suddenly, Bat appeared from behind the engine, and behind him Butler. The joined Jim and Brown.
“Bat,” Jim said.
“Jim. Got yourself into some trouble, I see.”
“I thought you were the one in trouble.”
“It don’t matter!” Brown said.
“He’s right,” Bat agreed. He turned and looked at Butler. “Who are you?”
“His name’s Butler,” Jim said. “He’s a friend.”
“So he told me.”
The four men conversed while returning fire from up the platform.
“Let’s take this off the platform,” Jim suggested, “and into town.”
“Gonna be some damage,” Bat said.
“Fuck ’em,” Jim said, “they fired us.”
“Let’s go, then. Will they follow?”
“Oh, yeah,” Jim said. “Peacock wants to finish this.”
“Your partner?” Bat asked, confused.
“Not anymore.”
The four men backed away, then turned and headed down Front Street. Making a stand would be easier out in the open.
“They’re runnin’,” Ruger said to Peacock. “Do we let them go?”
“No!” Peacock said. “I brought you here to do some killin’. They’re just takin’ the fight into town.”
“What about the local law?”
“Not a problem,” Peacock said. “Just earn your money.”
“Let’s go after ’em, then.”
He turned and waved for his men to follow. They obeyed, even the one with a bullet in his hip. Peacock let them all go first, and then moved in behind them. He didn’t know if Updegraff was dead on the platform, but he wasn’t worried about it at the moment.
The gun battle spilled onto the street. Jim’s plan at first had been to hit-and-run, move from cover to cover, but suddenly he was cool, not angry.
“Let’s just stand and take ’em,” he said.
“Suits me,” Neal Brown said. “I been wantin’ to put a bullet into your partner for months.”
“Butler?” Jim said.
“I’m with you.”
“Bat?”
“Why the hell not?” Bat said. “I don’t know what the hell is goin’ on, anyway.”
By the time Ruger, his men, and Peacock made their way to Front Street, Bat, Jim, Neal Brown, and Butler were fanned out in the street.
Peacock, Ruger, and his men stopped in their tracks.
“Come and get it,” Jim Masterson said.
The streets were empty. The townspeople had taken cover at the first sound of shots. There was nobody with a badge to be seen anywhere. Dodge City had suddenly become a ghost town, but if you looked closely you’d
