The Wrath of Iron Eyes (An Iron Eyes Western #5) (9 page)
Read The Wrath of Iron Eyes (An Iron Eyes Western #5) Online
Authors: Rory Black
Tags: #wild west, #cowboys, #old west, #bounty hunters, #rory black, #western pulp fiction, #iron eyes
‘
And you shall.’
The five bandits’ faces went blank.
He had confused them, if only briefly. They
stared at him as he removed his sombrero and spun it across the
cave.
‘
You have changed your mind
about keeping her for yourself?’
Malverez rubbed the cold gun barrel over his
unshaven cheek and smiled broadly.
‘I was lying when I said that I
would keep
this girl for my own satisfaction, Jose.’
The bandit stepped forward and tilted his
head at the seemingly jovial Malverez.
‘It was a bad joke,
amigo,’
one of the others
commented.
‘Si,
it was a very bad joke. But when you
all lost your tempers, I got angry. I should have said something a
long time ago but the tequila made me stupid.’
‘
So we can have her?’ Jose
asked, rubbing his groin with his pistol.
Malverez nodded.
‘You can all have your way with
her until she dies of happiness or exhaustion,
amigo.
But after I have tasted her
first.’
The eager bandits all nodded as one.
‘When?’
Malverez was trying to buy himself time.
‘
Tomorrow. We are all too
tired to fully enjoy ourselves tonight.’
Carlos holstered his gun first.
‘This is why Malverez is such a
great leader,
amigos’
The bandit leader nodded, holstered his
pistol and watched the men moving to their bedrolls. He had bought
himself a little time but how much and what it would cost, was yet
to be resolved.
Malverez moved back to his own bedroll and
stared down at the hair of Rosie Smith flowing from beneath the
velvet drape she had used as a blanket.
He swallowed hard.
Eighteen
Iron Eyes sat on the cot and dragged the
still blood-soaked mule-ear boot back on to his wounded leg. If he
was in pain, he hid it well from his two companions.
‘
This is plumb loco, Iron
Eyes,’ Black Ben Tucker said loud enough for the entire town of
Sanora to hear.
‘
Reckon so,’ Iron Eyes
agreed, picking up his pair of Navy Colts and tucking them into his
belt. He ran the palms of his hands over the well-used grips and
sighed heavily. ‘It’s time for me to do what I do best.’
‘
You ain’t strong enough,’
Black Ben Tucker said, frowning.
Sheriff Hardin touched the sleeve of the
train-robber and made a face that told the younger man to calm
down.
‘
Ease up, son. Iron Eyes
knows what he’s doing.’
‘
But this man has just
recovered from having poison dug out of his leg, Sheriff,’ Tucker
protested. ‘He ain’t in no fit state to do nothing, let alone
ride.’
‘
I’m OK!’ Iron Eyes
insisted, reaching for a bottle of whiskey on the cot and taking a
long swallow.
‘
You’re as weak as a
kitten, Iron Eyes,’ Tucker insisted.
Hardin nodded.
‘
He knows that,
Tucker.’
‘
Then why ask him for
help?’ Black Ben asked.
‘
Because the life of a
young girl is at stake. I know of only one man who can possibly
track down the bastards who took her. One man who has the skill to
kill anything that’s capable of raising guns in anger. That one man
is Iron Eyes. Rosie Smith has just one chance in hell of being
saved.’
Black Ben rubbed his face in frustration.
‘It’ll kill him, Sheriff. He’s spent most of the night racked with
fever.’
Iron Eyes stood up and pressed his left leg
down hard on to floor as if trying to gauge the pain level he would
have to withstand.
‘
I’ll find her, boys,’ he
said, adjusting the grips of his guns, which jutted from his
belt.
‘
We ain’t got much time
left,’ Hardin said anxiously. ‘I figure whoever abducted Rosie has
no intention of keeping their side of the bargain and returning her
after they get the ransom money from Smith.’
‘
I want to ride with you,
Iron Eyes,’ Black Ben said to the pale bounty hunter. ‘I want to
help you find this girl.’
Iron Eyes nodded. ‘Fine.’
‘
I’m pretty good with this
old Colt, boys,’ Hardin said, slapping the holster on his
hip.
Iron Eyes attached his spurs to
his boots and then walked from the room, across the cantina and out
into the street. Tucker and Hardin followed the tall limping bounty
hunter like chicks
trailing a mother hen. Iron Eyes stood and listened to the
sounds of guitars and trumpets echoing all around him. Sanora was
noisy with the Mexicans who had slept throughout the baking-hot
afternoon.
‘
If Smith pays them,
they’ll not get a chance to spend that money, Sheriff.’
Sheriff Hardin and Black Ben Tucker squared
up to the brooding man who was checking his saddle.
‘
What do you mean, son?’
the sheriff asked.
‘’
Cause
they’ll all be dead as soon as I catch up with
them,’ came the grim reply.
The three riders had made
remarkable progress through what remained of the night to reach the
banks of the river. Like a man wearing a death mask, Iron Eyes sat
astride his dapple-
gray staring at the moonlit ground as the water lashed at
the hoofs of their horses.
He had somehow worked out exactly how many
riders had crossed the border since he had ridden through the
shallow water so many hours earlier.
Iron Eyes pulled his left boot
from the stirrup and then raised his right leg over the neck of the
drinking
gray. He slid off his saddle, taking the full impact of the
ground with his good leg.
The eyes of the bounty hunter seemed to
notice things in the dark mud that neither of his companions could
see. The honed skill of the hunter were now coming into play. He
could track anything and it showed.
‘
My tracks are over there.’
Iron Eyes pointed behind them. ‘I can see your horse’s hoof prints
a few feet nearer, Sheriff. Then we have the grooves of a wagon
that turned and headed down river. Five other riders cut through
here between your sorrel and the wagon. They headed on after the
wagon.’
Tucker dismounted and held the
reins to his magnificent black horse in his gloved hands. He walked
to the side
of the tall grim-faced man and rested a hand on the broad
shoulder.
‘
I’m impressed.’
Iron Eyes did not seem to care what either
of the men thought about his skill as a tracker. All that filled
his mind was the fact that the girl that he had met back in Cripple
Creek was probably in more danger than even he could imagine. He
had seen what men could do to innocent females many times and it
turned his guts.
‘
We have to head down
there.’ The bounty hunter aimed his thin index finger in the
direction in which the shallow river was flowing.
Black Ben Tucker pulled up the collar of his
coat and tried to stop the cool breeze from chilling his neck.
‘
Me and Hardin can take it
from here, Iron Eyes,’ Tucker said softly. ‘They must be holed up
darn close.’
Iron Eyes glared at the man’s
face. Even in the light of the moon his anger could be easily seen.
‘I’m not quitting, Black Ben. Without me you two fools
would never find
the girl or the men who have her.’
Sheriff Hardin steered his mount alongside
the two men and stared down at them.
‘
How far do you reckon we
have to go?’
‘Not far. A few miles at most.’
Iron Eyes grabbed the reins of his
gray and pulled it around. He held on to
the saddle horn and threw himself up on to the back of the nervous
animal.
Tucker stepped into his stirrup and mounted
the black horse.
‘
How can you be so damn
certain?’
Iron Eyes pulled his bottle of whiskey from
one of the satchels behind his saddle cantle and removed its cork.
He swallowed two massive shots of the fiery liquid, and then
replaced the cork and dropped the bottle back into the bag behind
him.
‘’
Cause
I can smell the vermin, Black Ben!’
Tucker stared in disbelief at
the bounty
hunter, who was urging his mount to start walking along the
tracks of his prey.
‘
You can smell them? Are
you joshing me?’
Iron Eyes sniffed at the night air. ‘Cougars
leave a scent that a hunter can smell a mile off. All critters have
their own stink. Rosie Smith had perfume on; I can smell that too.
I can smell the bastards who rode down here with her, and I’ll know
them when we meet up.’
‘
And then?’ the sheriff
asked the gaunt rider as he drew his horse level.
‘When my nostrils are filled
with their scent, I’ll kill the whole lot of them,’ Iron Eyes
replied. His eyes were studying the wet ground as he forced his
dapple-
gray
on and on.
‘
You forget there are three
of us, Iron Eyes,’ the train-robber added.
‘
I don’t need either of
you. When I start killing just stay behind my gun barrels.’ Iron
Eyes tapped his spurs into the flesh of his horse and sat bolt
upright as the animal increased its pace.
Nineteen
The morning sun had risen and traced its way
across the deep lake at the foot of the cascade until its golden
rays penetrated the ever-moving curtain of shimmering water. Within
the cave the light of the new day spread quickly over the seven
silent recumbent souls, yet two of their number had not closed
their eyes.
Malverez still lay with his hand on the
handle of one of his prized Colts, watching the five other bandits
who continued to snore.
Rosie Smith lay beneath the heavy velvet
drapes pretending to be asleep. She had not moved for nearly six
hours for fear of arousing her abductors and making them complete
the job they had already started.
She knew that it must already
be dawn. The sound of singing birds had
alerted her to the beginning of the
new day many minutes earlier.
The warmth of the sun had filtered through
the never-ceasing curtain of water, falling from the
hundred-foot-high cliff in front of the cave entrance.
The gentle heat touched Rosie’s exposed
cheek and she felt even more afraid than she had done since the
ruthless bandits had taken her by force from her home.
For her entire life she had wondered what
being able to see might be like. But Rosie had nothing to compare
her blindness with as she had never had the gift of sight. To her
the world was filled with the aromas of things and people. Sounds
came from everywhere and she had learned to evaluate them as only
those denied a vital sense can. Touch had also been another of her
senses which meant more to her than those who had vision to assist
their journey through life.
Lying beneath the makeshift
blanket, Rosie found herself wishing that she
could actually see her enemies,
even if it were for only a fleeting moment.
The sleeping bandits were all around her and
their snores gave her some idea as to their whereabouts but the
crashing noise of the waterfall made everything else confused.
She knew that to escape the clutches of
these men, she had to be able to see. It was obvious to the
intelligent female that she had been carried down a steep slope and
brought into a cave and that it was behind a waterfall. She knew it
was impossible for her to negotiate the return route to the top of
the trail where the men had left their horses and the wagon.
Rosie felt the hand of Malverez on her
shoulder for the umpteenth time and felt her entire being go rigid.
She had not been able to understand a single word that the Mexican
bandits had been saying to each other during the night, but she
knew they were heated.
She had little if no knowledge
of life,
and
had been protected from all who might have shown any interest in
her, but she felt that these men wanted something from her that she
was unwilling to give.
The strong hand of the bandit leader pulled
her shoulder until she felt herself rolling over to face him. Her
heart began to thunder inside her chest.
What did he want? her mind cried out.
‘
Do not make a sound, my
pretty one,’ Malverez whispered into her ear.
Sheriff Tom Hardin had a big decision to
make. It was probably the biggest one of his entire life. Should he
tell Iron Eyes that the girl who had not turned away from his
ghastly scarred features had only not done so because she was
blind? Her beautiful pale blue eyes simply could not see the
hideous vision that made all others shun him.
Or
should he allow the injured bounty
hunter to continue under the delusion that Rosie Smith actually
liked what she had seen when she looked at him?
With a man as unpredictable as
Iron Eyes, either choice might have devastating, if not lethal,
consequences. The sheriff knew that the bounty hunter was not a man
to mess with, even when he was fit. But he was far from fit. He was
like a wounded animal as he silently steered the
gray
mount.
What effect would the truth have on him?
Hardin did not want to take the risk of finding out but he knew
that he would soon have somehow to inform Iron Eyes that the girl
they were seeking was actually totally blind. To fail to do so
would put Rosie Smith in even more danger.
But if Iron Eyes knew that the female he was
attempting to rescue was actually blind, would he continue?
Could Sheriff Hardin and Black
Ben Tucker find her without the undoubted tracking skills of Iron
Eyes? It seemed
doubtful as neither man had any experience at tracking
anything, let alone cold-blooded bandits.
Hardin knew it was cruel to allow the sick
bounty hunter to remain ignorant of the truth, but he was
afraid.
Iron Eyes wanted to find the lovely Rosie
Smith and there was nothing that could stop him from doing so. He
was like a stick of dynamite with its fuse already lit.
Tom Hardin knew that he had to tell the grim
rider the truth soon, but not quite yet. The sheriff had to wait
until they reached their destination and pray that the bounty
hunter would not turn on him instead of the men who had kidnapped
the innocent Rosie.
The two horsemen followed the
dapple-
gray
mount as its master guided it away from the river’s edge and into
thick lush undergrowth.
Iron Eyes raised his arm and stopped his
horse.
His two companions reined in
their own horses to either side of the
gray and stared at the seemingly
impenetrable mass of trees and brush before them.
‘
What’s wrong, son?’ asked
the sheriff.
Iron Eyes’ head turned, he
looked at the older man. There was no expression on the face that
looked as if it were carved from stone. He reached out and touched
the mouth of the lawman and then threw his right leg over the neck
of the dapple-
gray and slid silently to the ground.
Hardin glanced at Tucker and both men
dismounted as quietly as they could. They knew that the tall hunter
had either seen or heard something that they were not skilled
enough to spot.
Iron Eyes tied his reins tightly to a
tree-branch and indicated to the two men to copy him.
They did.
‘When the shooting starts, I
don’t want our horses to hightail it out of here,’ the bounty
hunter said in a low voice.
‘We’re a long way from the nearest livery stable
and I ain’t gonna walk far on this leg.’
Black Ben moved to the side of the limping
Iron Eyes.
‘
What have you
seen?’
Iron Eyes touched the side of his nose. His
nostrils were flared. ‘I ain’t seen nothing. But I can sure smell
something.’
‘
Smell what?’
‘
Horses. Maybe a dozen of
the critters.’ Iron Eyes began limping through the tall grass; even
handicapped by his injured leg, he still managed to walk without
any sound.
Sheriff Hardin and Black Ben Tucker followed
the man in the long trail-coat through the brush, which was taller
than any of them. They could hear the sound of loose bullets
rolling around against each other inside the deep pockets.
‘
Where we headed?’ Hardin
asked quietly.
Iron Eyes did not reply.
‘What’s
that strange noise, Iron Eyes?’
Black Ben asked as the sound of water crashing into a lake filled
the air all around them.
‘
Waterfall,’ Iron Eyes said
bluntly.
He had no idea where his nose was leading
them but knew that the bandits’ horses were somewhere up ahead of
them. The question was, were their masters also there? If they
were, would they be expecting anyone to be tracking them? So many
questions ran through the mind of the bounty hunter. None of them
had any answer.
The three men walked for a quarter of a mile
with the sound of the waterfall getting louder with every stride.
Suddenly, Iron Eyes stopped walking and the two men almost bumped
into his back.
‘
Look!’
Black Ben rubbed his chin and stared at the
clearing. The sight of the wagon and its team of four horses still
in their traces made him reach for his guns.
Iron Eyes moved silently to
their left, and pulled a leafy branch
aside and held it down for his two
followers to look at the six tethered horses a mere ten feet from
the wagon.
‘
They must be damn close,
Iron Eyes,’ Black Ben said, raising his guns as if expecting to
have the bandits jump out at them from a secret hiding-place at any
time.
The bounty hunter allowed the branch to
return to its place and then stared down at the pair of pistols in
the hands of the train robber.
‘
Holster them irons, Black
Ben,’ he ordered.
‘But them
hombres
must be close,’ Tucker said
nervously. His eyes flashed at every leaf that surrounded
them.
‘
They ain’t here.’ Iron
Eyes limped past the horses with his two skittish followers on his
heels.
‘
They must be. They
couldn’t have gotten out of here without their horses, son,’ the
sheriff commented.
Iron Eyes continued through the
dense undergrowth. It seemed that he did not feel the cruel thorns
that ripped
at his flesh as he forced a path where none had existed
before.
Iron Eyes stood on the very edge of the
sheer drop and stared coldly at the waterfall and the lake below
them.
‘
They’re down
there!’