Iron Eyes Must Die by Rory Black Page A

into his stirrup and hoisted himself back on to the high saddle.
His deputies mounted their horses and drew alongside the
rider.
    ‘ Some
documents are worth a lot more than any honest man could ever
imagine, boys,’ Layne said, turning the head of his horse away from
the bodies. He glanced up at the vultures that were circling over
their heads. ‘I reckon the men who hired me wanted us to catch
Snake before he got his hands on that piece of paper.’
    ‘ We’re
a tad late, Marshal,’ Donner remarked.
    ‘ Now
we gotta catch up with him before he can make use of it, boys!’
Layne nodded. ‘C’mon. Let’s ride!’
    The three riders spurred and drove their
mounts into the mouth of the canyon.
    ~*~
    Darkness spread over Rio Concho
like a blanket. A million stars sparkled in the black sky like
diamonds. The bounty hunter opened the cabin door and rested his tall
lean body against the wooden frame. Iron Eyes glanced upward for a
fleeting moment and then muttered to the livery man.
    ‘ At
least there ain’t no moon up there, Hanney. It ought to help me get
to where I’m going without being shot again.’
    The livery-stable man pushed his tin plate
across the small table and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. He
glanced at his whiskey bottle. The tall skeletal figure had drunk
half of it during the previous hour or so. Yet it seemed to have
little or no effect on Iron Eyes. It was as if he drank the hard
liquor to kill the pain that constantly tortured him.
    ‘ But
there’s a storm brewing, Iron Eyes,’ Hanney warned, pointing from
his chair at the distant hills. ‘A real bad storm if I’m any
judge.’
    ‘ It
don’t matter none.’
    ‘ I can
still hear them varmints looking for ya down there in the middle of
town.’ Hanney sighed.
    Iron Eyes turned his face briefly to the
smaller man. It was the face of someone who appeared more dead than
alive.
    ‘ This
time they won’t get close, ’cause I know that they ain’t really the
law, old-timer.’ Iron Eyes said bluntly. ‘I’ll kill them all this
time if need be. I’ll add the bounty on their heads to the other
dead outlaws I gunned down yesterday.’
    The bearded man felt uneasy. He stared at the
bounty hunter in his long trail coat. It was a coat that bore the
evidence of countless battles on its bloodstained fabric. Hanney
rose and walked to the side of the tall figure.
    ‘ I
reckon you got ya mind set on going back to Tom’s office to look
for them wanted posters, huh?’
    ‘ Yep!’
Iron Eyes snapped.
    ‘ How
come them posters are so important, boy?’
    ‘ I
told ya,’ Iron Eyes said. ‘I wanna know how much these bastards are
worth. Dollars and cents! I also wanna see if I can recognize their
faces against the pictures on them posters.’
    Hanney inhaled deeply.
    ‘ Then
I’ll go with you, Iron Eyes. You might need someone to cover ya
back.’
    ‘ I
never have!’
    ‘ Maybe
that’s the reason ya bin shot so many times.’
    ‘ Ya
might be right.’
    ‘ I’m
still gonna come with ya anyways,’ Hanney insisted. ‘Ya might as
well get used to the fact.’
    Iron Eyes looked down at the livery man.
    ‘ This
ain’t your fight. Stay here.’
    ‘ I’m
tired of just standing around letting them killers do as they
please,’ Hanney admitted. ‘I should have done something sooner and
maybe they wouldn’t have slaughtered so many law-abiding
folks.’
    ‘ You
couldn’t have done a thing to stop them, old-timer.’ Iron Eyes said
bluntly. ‘They’re professionals, and professionals kill like you
blink them old eyes of yours. It comes natural to them. If you’d
stood up to them, they’d have killed ya faster than
spit.’
    Hanney grinned.
    ‘ I
ain’t always bin a livery man, boy. I was once a pretty good hand
with a gun. Me and Tom was deputies together for a few years. I got
tired of getting shot at and bought the livery stable.’
    Iron Eyes tilted his head.
    ‘ OK,
you stubborn critter. We’ll go together, but when the