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

lightly snoring. As he looked around the flickering campfire, he noticed the girls were asleep as well, still he chose to finish the story because of the pride he felt in his heart when doing so. He turned over to his side, and while staring over at Spirit and remembering when, he gently drifted off to sleep.
Pale Horse, not having had as much of the Irish whiskey the night before, was the first to rise with the new day and the golden sun that sweetly beckoned it. He stoked the embers with new brush and coaxed the fire to flame, then taking some of the venison left from the night before, he threw it in the old iron skillet with some of the jalapeno slices he had prepared for this moment. The delicious smell and the familiar sound of kindling popping was all it took to get the others stirring in their beds, and sitting up in anticipation of the breakfast to come.
“Morning Everyone,” he said as they began to stir. The few scant salutations, muddled by the hangovers that be, were less than enthusiastic as the others stood and began preparing for the day. Pale Horse withdrew the blade of ruin from it's leather sheath, and sliced the meat up proportionate to those being served, and after adding a couple of biscuits, passed out the plates to each of them, before sitting down to enjoy his own. Colt spoke up after a few bites, trying to remember the last thing that happened before he went to sleep, “When did I fall asleep last night?” The rest of the party laughed at his forgetfulness, knowing it was because of the vast amount of Irish whiskey he had. “The last thing I remember is, You were telling us the story of how you got your name,” he said as he looked at Pale Horse. “Yeah, that was it,” he said laughing as he reached for another piece of venison. “You never did tell me how you got the name, Pale Horse.” Pale Horse stood to wash his plate with some water from his canteen and replied, “The story made it to the end, it is you my friend that didn't!” The girls chuckled at him chiding Colt over missing the end of the story. “Well, are you going to tell me, or aren't you?”asked Colt. As he walked over to Spirit and Biscuit to give them some of the floured treats, Temperance spoke up and said to him, “I'll tell you all about it after we get back on the trail, I promise.”
The four began loading their supplies onto their horses when Colt and Pale Horse both went for their pistols, turning quickly in the direction of the footsteps heard through snapping twigs and fallen brush. “Easy Gent's,” said the man as he walked into their camp. “I'm Sheriff Michael Osbourne, sheriff of Shattuck, I'm here to pay the reward on that scoundrel I found on the steps of my office this morning. I was told that the one's responsible were camping on the trail headed West, and here you are.”“Morning Sheriff, I'm Colt Mathews, the one you're looking for,” he said as he approached him and shook his hand. “The reward poster I found lodged in his mouth,” he said looking over at Temperance, undoubtedly being told the story by someone who saw the incident, “said $2500, but all we have is $1700, I guess we can owe you Mister.”“No sense in that Sheriff, just owe me a favor down the road somewhere, seeing that we're both on the same side of the law,” Colt replied as he took the cash handed to him. “That works for me,” Sheriff Osbourne answered back as he pulled the reins and left their camp.
Colt walked over to his fellow bounty hunter, and as they had always done in the past, regardless of who did the killing, and handed him half of the bounty collected as he climb atop his horse. “Its a brand new day people, let's go get some payback,” said Pale Horse as he spurred Spirit into gallop. Leaving Oklahoma and Crossing the northeast corner of Texas was 25 miles before they once more found themselves in the Panhandle of Oklahoma. It took the complete day for the party of four to enter and exit the State of Texas. A small tributary of the Canadian River lie in their immediate path, but it was a shallow crossing, nothing more than a stream at this junction of the mighty river. Another moonless night ahead, they forged their fire, had their late night supper, and after discussing the dreary events of the day now behind them, they exchanged their “goodnight's” and slept peaceful through the night.
The following morning, while stopping to water their horses, the two bounty hunters roughly calculated the distance ahead of them and surmised they should come upon the town of Guymon by nightfall. Another day of beautiful wilderness, pleasant conversation among friends, the random shot of Irish Jacks, and an uneventful trail brought them within a mile of the town of Guymon. Pale Horse suggested they all keep riding and “Stay in town this evening, to have a steak and spuds at the local eatery, a nice hot bath, and a night's sleep not spent on the ground listening to the surrounding creatures shuffle about.” “That sounds wonderful,” exclaimed Temperance. Although a true tom-boy at heart and play, she was no doubt a girl and a woman in every sense of the word, and that was the major thing Colt Mathews loved about her. Winter Crow, on the other hand, though she enjoyed a fine meal and a refreshing hot bath, she always felt “cooped-up” when staying in a room with four walls and a roof that hid the face of the heavens and the stars that shone in her eyes.
The night was drawing quick to a close and the trail ahead all but disappeared as the two men fashioned their makeshift torches and lead the last half a mile into town. Stopping at the outskirts of town, even though they knew their guns were fully loaded, they once more routinely checked the chambers in each of their weapons before entering. It was a habit of the trade and the mark of a smart man who made his living by the gun. After returning their guns to their holsters, they proceeded for a night on the town and the various indoor amenities desired by all. They could hear the local piano man as he played a song of the Confederacy, and all of those sworn to her were swaying and spillin' swill as they sang from their hearts just down the street at the Read 'em and Weep saloon. “That sounds like a good place to start,” said Colt as he looked over at Pale Horse and smiled. “Honey, are you gonna go with me?” he asked Temperance. “No, not this time, I want to take a hot bath and eat something before I even think about doing anything else.” “I'm not gonna ask you Winter Crow, I know you're going to want a hot bath too,” he chuckled. “That's right, I'm going to soak for as long as the water is warm.” Colt looked over at Pale Horse, who was now stepping off his horse and about to make his way into the hotel. “I'll get us all a room and walk our horses down to the livery, you ladies see about your baths, and we'll all meet at the cafe for dinner afterward, does that sound alright with ya'll?” The girls said yes, and they walked up the stairs beside him. Colt, as he was turning Biscuit away from the hotel and towards the saloon across from it said, “I'm gonna see what kind of mischief I can get into, I guess I'll see the rest of you either later, or in the morning!”
As Colt was walking into the saloon, he couldn't help but notice a couple of showgirls dancing on a makeshift stage at the rear of the saloon, and he immediately reminded himself of his dear Temperance July, and how much she seemed to enjoy shooting that fella back in Shattuck for doing her wrong ! “I ain't doing nothing but looking, and that's all I'm gonna do, so help me God,” he said to himself. He wasn't finished with half a beer when the pretty blonde girl with the beautiful assets that stood proud upon her chest come over and did everything but sit on his lap. “Miss, as much as I appreciate a beautiful and finely built woman such as yourself sharing her time and attention with me, and I do, one thing you must understand Ma'am, I'm on a long trail with the girl I'm going to marry, and she's no further than a stones throw from here, right across the street in that hotel, and she told me she may drop in to have a beer with me, and Missy, If she catches me and you cavorting and carrying' on, well, she'd be of the mind to shoot the both of us dead right then and there !” The pretty girl smiled at him and turned and walked away. There was a time in his life where he would've spent the rest of the night and every cent he had entertaining and swapping' lies with her and all of her friends, but that all stopped when he started seeing Temperance. He'd be the first to admit that she was everything to him, and in the very same breath, tell you how much fun he use to have and how much he misses it to this day.
While sitting at the table as close to the back as he could get, observing everyone milling about in the saloon, he pulled out the wanted posters that were inside his jacket and took a good look at them.“William Russell and Shane Walters,” he said out loud as he laid them on the table and reached for his mug. Just as he was finishing the last swallow of his beer, One of the local saloon girls saw him sitting alone at the table, and sauntered over to make her acquaintance.
“Hello Handsome,” she said in a very sexy southern drawl as she pulled up the chair closest to him. “Would you like to buy me a drink?” Like Eve shouldve done on that fateful day in beautiful Garden of Eden, he resisted the temptation great and scooting his chair and himself just out of reach of this divine harlot, he said, “I'll make you a deal Miss, I'll buy you a bottle of the finest whiskey in the place if you'll do two things for me.” As he pulled his leather wallet out of his pocket, She leaned in real close to him and started kissing him on his ear and whispering sweet nothings to entice him further. He immediately leaned away from her and said, “As much as I would love to oblige you on that naughty little request, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to pass,” “Now, as for the two favors I need from you.” He paused as he was pulling the money needed for the request out of his wallet, and when he did, the woman spoke up and shouted, “Well I'll be,!” Colt, noticing that she was looking at the posters he had lying in front of him asked her, “Well I'll be, what, Ma'am,?” She excitedly pointed at the reward poster for Shane Walters and said, “That fella right there with the hateful look in his eye was in here three days ago” and that one there with the long hair and that scarred up nose was in here just the night before last!” “Are you sure