Bounty Hunter (9781101611975) by Bill Yenne Page A

east of here?”
    â€œIf that were to be a fact, it would certainly make a difference. I am not in the business of accepting stolen property . . . certainly not Blackfeet property on Blackfeet land.”
    â€œI hoped that would be your position,” Cole said.
    â€œMason,” the big man said, turning to his companion. “Ask these boys about that.
Is
this a stolen herd?”
    The other man, who looked to be part Blackfeet himself, queried the apparent leader of the horse thieves, who vehemently denied the assertion. However, the opposite message was conveyed by the nervous apprehension of the others when they heard the question asked.
    â€œThere we have it,” the man said. “A denial from the man with whom I am about to consummate a transaction.”
    â€œAnd an admission from the expression of the others,” Cole added.
    â€œWere I to accept the discrepancy that you have pointed out,” said the man, who was certainly not one to use one word when three would do. “Then I would say that we are at a bit of an impasse. For argument’s sake, if I were to accept this discrepancy and agree with your opinion, then I would be faced with refusing the deal being offered and riding away without my friends getting the gold which they desire.”
    â€œThat would probably be the case,” Cole agreed.
    â€œThis would make my friends angry,” McGaugh continued. “I would not want them angry, nor would
you
. May I remind you, sir, that we are several days’ ride inside Blackfeet country and outnumbered. I suggest that our conversation never happened, and you may convey my heartfelt condolences to your friend, Mr. White Calf.”
    â€œIf I had ridden all this way from Mr. White Buffalo Calf’s camp alone,” Cole began, “and if we really
were
outnumbered, I would be strongly inclined to agree with you . . . but that is not the case.”
    Turning toward the hillside, he raised his fist.
    As the eyes of everyone in the valley turned to follow his gesture, Ómahkaatsistawa rode out onto a bluff, raised his rifle over his head and shouted the Siksikáwa greeting “
Oki
!”
    Moments later, Ikutsikakatósi, in a far removed place, repeated the greeting. Cole was pleased that they had moved apart. This suggested that a much larger contingent was present.
    Realizing that the deal was off and their position compromised, the horse thieves immediately moved to secure their assets and get out of their present predicament. The only way to do this was to stampede the herd and make a run for it.
    There was a crackle of rifle fire to spook the horses, and the mass began to move.
    Cole knew that the first volley was meant to stampede the horses, but any second volley would be designed to remove the inconvenient
nápikoan
, so he drew his Colt.
    Almost immediately, he watched the leader of the thieves draw a bead on a startled Benjamin McGaugh.
    Hoping that he had the range to make a difference, Cole aimed and fired.
    He watched the man jerk sideways and tumble off his horse as his rifle flew through the air.
    Mason had pulled a rifle from his scabbard and gotten off a couple of shots, but McGaugh was having too much trouble controlling his spooked horse to draw his gun.
    Another of the renegades rode at Cole firing his rifle.
    Keeping low, Cole ran at him rather than retreating, which seemed to surprise him a little.
    In the split second that the man’s hand was on the lever of his Winchester, Cole aimed and fired. The bullet caught him on the jaw and the lower part of his face exploded upward in a pink cloud.
    It was not so much a running gun battle as a swirling gun battle. The horse herd had been grazing when it all started, with individual horses facing in every direction of the compass. Therefore, when the stampede began, it was a stampede that went nowhere but to turn like a cyclone, folding in upon itself and creating confusion