Pale Horse, Robert L. Ross [beach read book .TXT] 📗

himself in, fired 6 reloaded shots randomly in the direction of the lawmen, and boldly sprinted towards the giant window, crashing thru it as shards of glass burst around him, receiving a single a bullet in the back of his upper arm on his way to freedom at the expense of the his friend Rooster, who was now cowering behind the piano and outnumbered three to one. Chris ran to the end of the alleyway, and shot the first person he saw on horseback, and just as quick, made his narrow escape from the hell he had just lived through. Rooster, on the other hand, realizing he was alone in the battle, raised both arms and surrendered to the lawmen, who, within seconds, were standing over him with weapons drawn and pointed at him.
Deputy Mack took possession of the prisoner with his gun stuck firmly in his back, and the 4 of them walked to the jail at a hurried pace. “Looks like they winged you,” said Nathan to the Deputy. “Yeah, but its fine, I'll have it looked at by Doc. Corey as soon as we finish the job.” The sheriff, proud of his understudy and nodding his head in agreement, casually pulled his Colt, and taking it by the barrel, firmly hog-slapped Rooster upside his head for the bullet his deputy had received in the gun battle. Grabbing his now ringing ear and bloody face, he shouted, “Hey you ornery old fool, I'm not the one who shot him, I didn't hit anything I was aiming at, if I had, I wouldn't be in the mess I'm in now!” “Without missing a step or even glancing over at the prisoner, the sheriff chuckled and said back, “Makes no difference to me.”
After locking their prisoner up, the 3 men hurried for the whorehouse and when they arrived, Sheriff Holcomb gave them their instructions. “John, you go to the rear of the place and make sure no-one gets away through the backdoor, and Nathan and I will go in the front” “That works for me,” the Deputy replied as he quickly ran through the alley around to the back. “Nathan, we're too old to be foolish, so just shoot first and we'll ask questions later.” “Agreed,” he responded as they walked through the front door with guns at the ready. The clientele, sensing there was something about to happen, quickly walked around and past the lawmen as they made their way through the brothel. As fate would have it, Ricky Lee, the blacksmith, a strong strapping young man was making one of his weekly visits to the charlatans of Alisha's Place walked by, and the Sheriff stopped him on his way out, gave him one of his Colt .45s, and said, “Shoot whomever points a gun or tries to run.” Ricky took the gun, smiled, and followed close on the heels of Nathan. With David in the lead, the other two followed close behind up the narrow staircase that lead up to the single room above. As he reached the landing, a straggly looking fella with his pistol in hand pulled the trigger and sent lead flying just past the head of Sheriff Holcomb, who, in return, put the deadly remedy in the center of the mans forehead and watched him fall, slumping against the wall. David, slow and still cautious while approaching the door, unexpectedly gave way to Nathan, who impatiently stepped around the sheriff and kicked the door in with hells fury in his eyes and both guns drawn.
There, bedraggled, weary, beaten, gagged and bruised, tied to the foot board of the brass bed, were the two women who had no doubt been through one hell of an ordeal. Nathan, still with both pistols aching for some death, kicked in the bathroom door in search of some relief for the two iron companions that accompanied him. To his disappointment, there was nobody inside, and he replaced them in his holsters for another day.
While David tended to the girls, his friend hollered down at John through the filthy, cracked window and told him it was over, that the girls were here, and they were safe. Winter Crow and Temperance began sobbing tears of relief and joy as the sheriff untied them and helped them to their feet. Both of the women hugged him and Nathan and thanked them repeatedly as they made their way past the deceased Donovan Lee and down the staircase to their freedom.
“I need to send a telegram to the sheriff in Denver and Rifle Stock both, to let them know that the two women are alive and well, and are being taken care of”, Sheriff Holcomb told his deputy, “And you need to take a trip down to the Doc. Corey's and have that shoulder looked at, and afterward, go home and take it easy for awhile, and I'll see you back at the office when you feel you're ready to return to work. Deputy Mack said he would, and added, “I'll be back soon, shouldn't take more than a day or two for this to be alright”. Nathan got up out of his chair to shake Deputy Mack's hand as he was leaving the office and told him, “You did a fine job in that ruckus today, son, I'd fight beside you anytime.”. The deputy, realizing what a huge compliment this was coming from such a respected and seasoned lawman, humbly thanked him as he reached out to shake the hand offered and walked out the door.
“Nathan, as ridiculous as this question may seem, May I offer you some whiskey in celebration of two old lawmen walking away from yet another gunfight, unscathed?” “That would be just what the doctor ordered,” returned Nathan, as he pulled his chair closer to the desk and reached for the celebratory whiskey being offered by his good friend of many years.
Temperance and Winter Crow had already been seen by the town doctor, and were now at the hotel, being looked after by Cynthia Kay, one of the owners of the establishment. Given their own rooms, but choosing to room together after the harrowing adventure they had been through, Cynthia had drawn them a hot bath and set out newly bought clothing for each of them, being that their clothes were torn and ripped to shreds by the men who abused them repeatedly for the entire duration of their ordeal.
“I got the both of you ladies nightgowns for when you get out of your bath's, and jeans, shirts and comfortable shoes, all of your size for you to wear when you're ready to be up and about,” said Cynthia to the two women. “Thank you very much Ma'am, You've been more than generous and kind” answered Temperance as she smiled back at the woman who had gone out of her way to show the two kindness since they were brought to the hotel. “Ma'am?”, said Temperance to her as she was headed out the door to give the ladies their privacy. “”Yes Dear?” she replied, as she stopped and looked back over at Temperance. “It's not that we don't appreciate what you and the Sheriff and his men have done for us, We do, It's just that we have families that are worried about us, and we need to get in touch with them as soon as possible, Do you know if the Sheriff sent out the telegram to the sheriff in Rifle Stock?” “Of course Miss,” answered Cindy, “Sheriff David told me that he's already sent a wire to the Sheriff in Rifle Stock and has informed him of your rescue, health and whereabouts, and he also said that ya'lls brother, and a fella named Colt would be stepping off the 4 o'clock train today to pick the two of you up and take you home.” The two girls, delighted and happier than they've been in a long time, once more began crying as they thanked Cindy and began hugging each other, happy that not only was the nightmare over, but two of the men that meant so much in their lives would be there in just a matter of hours to take them home. Winter Crow asked her sister and friend, “When is 4o'clock, and how long is that from now?”. Temperance, realizing that there probably weren't any timepieces or hanging wall clocks at the reservation that her sister was from, looked up at the one on the wall and told her, “They'll be here in 2 hours, by the time we have our baths, get dressed and have lunch, they will be stepping off the train to take us home.” “That's wonderful”, said Winter Crow, as she looked down at the jeans and other garments that she was supposed to wear. “What is it?” Temperance began to ask, noticing the troubled look on her sister's face, but didn't, when she realized that Winter Crow hadn't ever worn anything but buckskin leather, and was no doubt contemplating wearing the clothes laid out before her. Temperance spoke up with a giggle to ease her sister's doubts by saying, “Hey, those are nice clothes, and I wear them all the time, I don't look odd to you, do I?” “Besides, both of our clothes are barely hanging on to us, we need to put on something, and I'm betting you there's no place around here, or anywhere for all that matters, that sells the clothes you make back home.” Winter Crow knew that she was right, and just as quickly decided it wouldn't be a big deal, that she would wear the clothes so generously given until she could get home and change into her regular clothing.
As the 707 screeched and bellowed it's arrival at the Oklahoma City station, Sheriff Holcomb and his friend Nathan were standing at the platform, awaiting the two bounty hunters that they had been wired previously about, ready to tell them that the girls whom they searched for were here, and they were safe. Many people had gathered already, to congratulate them on their heroism they had shown before, but were quickly asked to give the bounty hunters some privacy due to the very serious matter that brought them to Oklahoma City in the first place. The crowd had taken the word of their beloved sheriff, and slowly dissipated before the 707 had arrived. Pale Horse and Colt stepped off the train, and were approached by the Sheriff and Nathan as they walked towards the rear of the train to the livestock cars to retrieve Biscuit and Spirit. “Mr. Mathews and Mr. Horse, I assume?” asked Sheriff Holcomb as he approached them. “Yes, How can I help you?” asked Colt as he and his friend stopped to answer. “I'm Sheriff Holcomb, David Holcomb, and this is my friend Nathan Shane,” the sheriff replied. “I'm here to tell you that Sheriff Thornton of Denver wired me of your situation and arrival, and we're very glad to tell you that the ladies that you are searching for are in the hotel, safe and sound.” Pale Horse looked at Colt with a huge smile on the face that had shown so much worry in the many days past, and slapped his friend on the back as he asked the Sheriff where the hotel was and how could he get there. Colt and Pale Horse both thanked the two men several times, as he tried to continue with the story of the gunfight that had taken place, who had been killed, who was in custody, and who had escaped. Though very interested in what had transpired beforehand, Pale Horse interrupted the sheriff and said to him, “Excuse me Sheriff, but what we would like to do now is retrieve our horses and make our way to the hotel to see my sisters, if you don't mind.”“Absolutely sir, I more than understand,” Sheriff Holcomb responded, realizing that the two