California Crackdown tt-324 Page 16

  Or maybe the man hadn’t been trying to kill him at all, Fargo thought suddenly, at least not at first.

  That kid had been down there too, and the shots had come just about as close to him as they had to Fargo.

  It was time for him to see if he could find out what in blazes this was all about, Fargo told himself.

  First things first. He reloaded the Colt, then slipped it back into leather. Then he went back to the spot where he had shot the rifle out of the bushwhacker’s hands and picked up the weapon with its shattered stock. There might be something unusual about it that would point him toward the owner, he thought.

  The rifle had nothing distinctive about it, however. It was a Henry much like the one Fargo owned, but not as well cared for. And now, of course, it had a broken stock. A gunsmith could replace that, so Fargo took it with him.

  He found a place where the bluff’s slope was gentle enough for him to be able to descend without having to climb down. As he walked toward the deadfall, he called, “All right, son, it’s safe for you to come out now. Whoever that hombre was and whichever one of us he was after, he’s gone now.”

  No answer came from behind the log. Fargo frowned and put his right hand on the butt of his Colt, carrying the broken rifle in his left as he approached. He looked over the rotting log.

  The kid was gone.

  At least there were no bloodstains on the ground to indicate that any of the shots had hit the youngster. He probably had a horse somewhere nearby, and as soon as he’d been able to tell that the fracas between Fargo and the bushwhacker had moved away from the edge of the bluff, more than likely he’d run down the gulch to find his mount and light a shuck out of there.

  Clearly, though, the boy knew Billy Buzzard. His reaction when Fargo had mentioned the name had been one of familiarity. And he had recognized Fargo’s name too, which in all likelihood meant that Billy had told the youngster about him. Fargo had a hunch that if he went on to Billy’s place, he might meet up with that kid again.

  And if he did, he intended to get some answers.

  Then again, he told himself as he whistled for the Ovaro, he had a few questions for Billy Buzzard too.

  The stallion trotted up the gulch toward him. Fargo had left the reins looped around the saddlehorn, preferring that the Ovaro be free to move around in case of trouble, rather than being tied up somewhere. The big black-and-white horse tossed his head angrily as he came up to Fargo, as if telling the Trailsman that he had heard the shots and didn’t cotton to missing out on the action.

  “Take it easy,” Fargo told the stallion as he tied the broken rifle onto the back of the saddle. “Chances are there’ll be more trouble, plenty for both of us.”

  No truer words were ever spoken, he thought, as he retrieved his hat, which the bushwhacker’s hurried shot had missed, and settled it on his head. One thing Fargo’s adventurous career had taught him was that trouble was never long in coming. . . .

  FB2 document info

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  Document creation date: 16.5.2012

  Created using: calibre 0.8.50, FictionBook Editor Release 2.6.6 software

  Document authors :

  Jon Sharpe

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