Long Shadows

by James, Terry

  Contents

  Title Page

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  By the Same Author

  Copyright

  CHAPTER 1

  ‘You know the horse is worth that much without the saddle.’ Fighting her indignation, Ros West frowned at the forty dollars sitting in the hostler’s calloused palm. ‘Are you sure that’s the best you can do?’

  The wrinkled livery owner looked her over from the toes of her muddy boots to the top of her felt hat then spat a stream of tobacco. ‘Lady, times are hard. Take it or leave it. Either way, I won’t lose any sleep.’

  ‘I bet you won’t,’ she grumbled, snatching the money and fumbling it into her saddle-bags.

  Without another glance at the wily old trader, she slung the bags across her shoulder and left the livery with a dry throat and a short temper. It had been a long day and she hadn’t wanted to arrive in town after dark. The shadows might hold too many surprises, and right now, she could do without any more problems.

  ‘Damn horse,’ she mumbled, limping to ease the ache in her feet.

  The animal had thrown a shoe and she’d had to walk the last three miles through pouring rain over rough terrain. Not only was she wet through to the skin, her boots had rubbed blisters on her heels.

  She struggled to keep her irritation in check and sidestepped a drunk before stumbling off the boardwalk. Besides her cussing, the distinct grunts and thuds of someone being beaten scorched the air. She increased her pace, determined not to let anything interfere with her pursuit of a bath and a bed. Sadly, her feet moved away, but her curiosity strayed towards the trouble.

  ‘Not so big … now … are you … Rudd?’

  ‘Don’t kill him, Sully. The boss said we was to watch him, check him out, that’s all.’

  Sully chuckled. ‘Accidents happen though, right?’

  Ros slowed at the mouth of a passageway running between a hotel and a saloon. Pale light flickering from windows illuminated four men exchanging brutal blows in a dispute the taller one looked likely to lose. Ros pressed against the wall, her sense of injustice fuelling her unvented anger as two of the men caught hold of Rudd and the third punched him in the stomach. When Rudd’s knees finally buckled, a left hook sprayed blood from a gash above his eye.

  ‘You boys are making a mistake. I’m a—’ Rudd gagged, as he sprawled in the dirt.

  Sully yanked him up by his hair. ‘Mr Swain told us what you are. That’s the whole point. Don’t you get it? We don’t want you coming in and interfering. Now stop whining and die.’

  Sully pulled back his knee to ram it in Rudd’s face and Ros backed away, wary of getting involved, yet unable to leave a man to possible death. Damn it! It was none of her business. She should turn around and walk away. That’s what she should do.

  Instead, she shouted gruffly, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’

  Three dirty faces turned, distinct only by their increasing degrees of ugliness.

  ‘Get out of here, kid,’ Sully snarled.

  Rudd groaned, earning himself a kick in the ribs. This time he rolled onto his side and lay quiet.

  ‘He’s had enough.’ Anger boiled inside Ros but she managed to keep her tone conversational. ‘What’s he done?’

  ‘Why, do you want some, boy?’ Sully shouted.

  Obscured by shadows and dressed in dark pants and a range coat there was no way they could tell she was a woman. Her hair shoved up under her hat, and a voice husky from eating dust, strengthened the disguise. If she was lucky, these cowards might run from a man with a gun. Dropping her saddle-bags, she slipped her hand inside her coat, touching the Colt holstered at her waist.

  ‘You’re getting involved in something that doesn’t concern you.’ Sully booted Rudd in the back. ‘We don’t like that.’

  She drew the Colt and cocked the hammer. ‘Well, I don’t like to waste my bullets, but if you don’t walk away from here I’ll drop you where you stand.’

  They laughed. ‘Is that so? Well, we say you won’t ‘cause there’s three of us and one of you.’

  Confidence in her ability surpassed any fear. ‘I think you’re forgetting my six friends.’

  She dived behind a pile of trash, spraying bullets until the pistol clicked. Shots kicked-up dirt around her as she scooped a handful of ammunition from her pocket, emptied the spent shells and refilled the empty chambers. Again, she opened fire.

  ‘I’m hit!’ Sully’s squeal marked the end of the onslaught. ‘Barclay, where are you?’

  ‘I took one in the leg,’ Barclay screamed. ‘Shorty, did you get him? Shorty. Shorty!’

  Ros waited. She hadn’t wanted to kill anybody but what else had she expected sowing bullets like chicken feed?

  ‘Gotcha!’

  Her gun skittered away, jarred out of her hand by a blow that numbed her arm and knocked her further into the shadows. She swiped for her hat as it spun off, but an arm locked around her throat and stopped her with a painful jerk. Like a barroom brawler, she clawed, frantically trying to clear her windpipe as she was dragged through the mud on her knees.

  ‘Well, lookee here. Shorty got himself a female at last.’ Sully stumbled towards her, blood pouring from a shoulder wound. ‘Hell. That means I’ve been shot by a woman. Bitch! You’re gonna pay for this, girly.’

  Ros choked short gasps of air as Shorty released his grip and yanked her elbows behind her back. For a second, she glimpsed knuckles then blood filled her mouth as fog descended over her eyes. She let it consume her but the reprieve was short-lived when Sully’s rank breath shocked reality back into focus.

  ‘I’m going to teach you a lesson you won’t forget,’ he growled.

  She spat in his face, reeling when another blow glanced off her cheek.

  ‘Leave her alone, Sully. It’s me you want.’

  ‘Stay down, Rudd. You’ll get what’s coming to you soon enough.’

  ‘Help me….’ Ros’s throat burned.

  ‘Get down,’ Rudd shouted.

  Boom! Sully lifted like a puppet on strings. Shorty’s grip faltered. Ros dived, covering her ears as one roar, then another, deafened her. She lay still, waiting, afraid to breathe, powerless to move, as voices echoed beyond the passageway – people shouting, running, shooting.

  Panic gripped her. What if they were coming, too?

  She scrambled, helped by somebody grabbing her under the arm, then recognized Rudd’s voice. ‘Come on, let’s get out of here.’

  ‘My gun,’ she said, raking the ground.

  Already people were flooding in behind them. Someone shouted ‘Murder’ and called for the sheriff. The Colt touched her palm and her fingers closed around it as Rudd pulled her into deeper cover.

  ‘Wait, my gear’s back there.’

  She tried to go back but Rudd yanked her elbow.

  ‘Forget it. Those three probably have friends in that crowd and I don’t want to end up with a bullet in my back or a rope around my neck.’

  She hesitated. Her money was in those bags. Oh, what the hell. It wasn’t worth her life. She ran blindly until he shoved her into a hotel lobby where the glow of a lantern hid none of the décor’s shabbiness or years of neglect that had left the wooden floor scarred and dirty.

  Rudd wrapped his arm around her waist. ‘Let me do
the talking.’

  She ducked her head, spraying hair across her face just as the thin clerk peered up from the book he was reading.

  ‘Looks like you had a good night, Mr Rudd.’

  Coins clinked as they landed on the high desk. ‘You should see the other feller.’

  Laughter followed them as they mounted a flight of stairs then hurried along a dimly lit passage. At the end, Rudd unlocked a door, and disappeared into darkness. Ros waited outside, rubbing her throat where the imprint of Shorty’s fingers still burned. A moment later, a flame sputtered, illuminating Rudd.

  ‘Are you coming?’

  Ros glanced inside, noticing the garish wallpaper and the stale air a second before Rudd tugged her in. Before she could argue, he slammed the door, wrapped her in his arms and kissed her.

  ‘I don’t know where you came from and I don’t care,’ he muttered. ‘You’re alive. I still can’t believe it, but here you are, Ros.’

  She played along, long enough to slip the Colt out. Firmly, she pressed the muzzle into his ribs. ‘Hold it right there, mister, or I’ll finish what Sully started.’

  CHAPTER 2

  She slipped his gun out of its holster and jabbed him in the side until he moved back. ‘How do you know me?’

  Rudd smiled. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Answer the question.’

  He sat down on the edge of the bed, looking more uncertain than worried. ‘You are Ros, aren’t you?’

  ‘Maybe. Let’s just find out who you are before we get too friendly.’

  ‘You’re kidding me.’

  She held the weapon steady, aiming at his chest. ‘I see your mouth moving, Mr Rudd, but you’re not making any sense. Maybe them fellers hit you harder than you thought.’

  ‘All right, let’s start again. My name’s Jake. Jake Rudd. Can you at least lower the gun?’ He smiled disarmingly. ‘Even if you don’t recognize me, I promise you, I never touched any woman who didn’t want me to.’

  She searched her memory for the name as she looked him over. He was tall, at least six feet, and his big hands hanging loose at his sides had felt soft and supple, not rough like a cowboy or a farmer’s. She thought about the gun in her hand. An 1873 Colt with a seven-and-a-half inch barrel – not an obvious gunfighter’s choice, although the handle was smooth against her palm, well used.

  ‘Do you like what you see?’ he asked.

  She wetted her lips, playing out her blatant consideration like the seasoned whore she imagined he thought she must be. ‘Tall, dark, eyes the colour of whiskey, and wearing a handmade suit…’ Whatever the reason for her madness, she tossed him the six-shooter. ‘What’s not to like?’

  He caught the gun and slid it back in its holster, replacing the thong. ‘You’re direct. I’m not sure I approve.’

  She was too tired to argue. ‘Makes no difference to me.’

  His breath whistled as he sucked it in. ‘Ros, is that any way to greet an old friend? Have you really forgotten me, or are you just as surprised to see me standing here, breathing, as I am to see you?’

  For a split second, she wondered if he’d been a friend of the sisters, but he’d talked about being surprised to see her alive and that meant he had to have known her from a time before she joined the mission.

  ‘Nothing much surprises me, Mr Rudd,’ she said, keeping a tight rein on her curiosity.

  ‘Sure seems that way. Look, I don’t blame you for shooting me, if that’s what you’re worried about. Knowing what you and me had, there was no way you would have sold me out.’

  He made no sense but she wasn’t in the mood for an explanation. ‘You don’t look shot and I don’t know what you’re talking about and I don’t want to know. If you’re so ready to forgive and forget, let’s just say I don’t have a good head for names or faces and leave it at that.’

  She tossed her coat onto the only chair in the room and stalked to the window. Peering through a gap in the tattered curtains, she studied the saloon opposite where two men played cards at a table by the door. Nearby, someone banged a lively tune on a piano and a chorus of drunken voices joined in. Looking further along the street, she noted the sheriff’s office where a light glowed between closed shutters.

  ‘It doesn’t look like we were followed,’ she said, bumping into Rudd as she turned.

  He seemed anxious to be close to her, but he stepped aside. ‘I doubt anybody saw us come in here. We should be safe until I can straighten things out.’

  She wondered how he intended to ‘straighten out’ three dead bodies but a wave of tiredness washed over her before she could draw a conclusion. Irritably, she rubbed her eyes and pushed past him.

  ‘Do what you have to, Mr Rudd. I’m way past caring.’

  ‘Looks that way. How long is it since you slept?’

  She wasn’t sure, but as she threw herself down on the creaky bed, she didn’t expect it to be much longer. ‘A day or two,’ she said as her eyes closed under the weight of their lids. ‘Just so you know, I’m taking you at your word, Mr Rudd, and staying ‘til morning.’

  ‘Make yourself at home. I need to go out for a while.’

  His voice moved around the room but Ros didn’t hear him take a step. She forced one eye partway open in time to see him pull a roll of money from his waistcoat. He peeled off five dollars and slipped it back. The remainder, about fifty judging by the bulge, he slid down the inside of his boot before snugging his pant’s leg over the top.

  Her mind jumped back to the fight. ‘What was that beating all about?’

  ‘Dunno, but they knew who I was. Probably just somebody with a grudge.’ He looked up. ‘Sorry you got caught up in it. You’re going to have a few bruises.’

  She fingered the spot on her cheek where Sully’s knuckles had done their damage. ‘Might turn out to be a good thing, make me less easy to recognize, give me some time.’

  Rudd arched a brow, but a commotion in the hallway stalled any questions he might have asked. They each grabbed for their gun. He was faster. When their stares met, the cold glint in his eyes challenged her. Rightly or wrongly, she didn’t believe he’d kill her, even though she was sure he could.

  The noise faded away and Rudd cracked open the door to peer out.

  ‘Just a drunken neighbour.’

  A wink softened the killer she’d glimpsed a few moments before, and with that, he opened the door wide enough to slip out and was gone.

  ‘It’s a thin line you walk, and one of these days you’ll cross it. When you do, that badge you’re hiding in your pocket won’t help you one damn bit.’ The steam rising from the sheriff’s cup fogged his spectacles and he slipped them to the end of his nose as he continued to study Rudd. ‘Next time, it’ll be you dead with a bullet in your back instead of three no-accounts.’

  Jake continued to lean against the wanted-posters board, idly flicking between layers of paper while he waited for the sheriff to finish his tongue-lashing.

  ‘Have a thought for an old friend, will you, Jake? It’s been a while since I wore my burying suit and it needs to be a while longer yet.’

  The sheriff’s thinly veiled concern touched him and he chuckled. ‘You worry too much, but at least I know there’ll be one mourner at my funeral.’

  A grunt suggested that might be true. ‘It’s no laughing matter, Jake. It’s been a long time since I known anybody to get the jump on you. What happened?’

  ‘I was careless.’

  Riley quirked a bushy eyebrow. ‘I doubt you even know what that means. Anyhow, you said there was a woman. What was it, nice smile or appealing assets?’

  ‘More like a ghost.’

  ‘Come again? For a minute there, I thought you said a ghost.’

  ‘I did. Did I ever tell you I was nearly married?’

  Giving it some considerable thought, Riley scratched the tip of his nose. ‘Nope.’

  ‘Then let me tell you about her.’ Jake shoved away from the wall and perched on the corner of the sheriff’s clutte
red desk. ‘I met her about four years ago, about a year after I hooked up with you. She got under my skin the minute I laid eyes on her.’ He couldn’t finish. Even now, he remembered how everything else paled compared to her red hair and blue-green eyes.

  ‘Then why don’t I know her?’

  ‘It all happened around the time you were in Texas trying to round up the Quentin Gang. You were gone about six months, as I recall. By the time you got back it was all over.’

  ‘You mean she left you for another man?’ the sheriff said, with a note of inevitability.

  Jake bristled. ‘She died.’

  Riley knocked Jake’s leg aside and opened a drawer. A quick rummage yielded a silver hip flask. ‘I’m sorry to hear that, boy, but what’s that got to do with you nearly getting killed tonight?’

  ‘I was following her.’

  ‘What? When? Jake, you’re talking in riddles. Have a drink.’

  Jake bridled at Riley’s off-handedness but he kept his ire in check. Not that he would have bothered for anybody else. He would have just walked away. But Riley was an old friend. Old. In the time since Jake had last seen him, the lawman had aged ten years. His hair was thinner and greyer and he’d lost weight. He looked tired, not just weary, but worn out.

  Nonetheless, Jake had a lot of respect for him and he remembered that as he levelled his tone. ‘She walked into town about an hour ago. I wasn’t sure it was her at first but …’ He pictured her, but not in the range clothes she wore now, in something a little more revealing. ‘Let’s say, she seemed familiar and I wanted a closer look.’

  ‘But how could it be?’

  ‘I don’t know, but she’s here.’ He smirked, recalling the calculating way she’d looked him over as though he was a thoroughbred horse or a custom-made pistol. ‘She was a pretty kid, but she’s a beautiful woman. Wherever she’s been, it looks like life’s been kind to her.’

  Riley scratched his head. ‘So what did she have to say for herself?’

  ‘Nothing. Acted as though we never met before.’

  ‘Are you saying she doesn’t know who you are?’

  Regret overshadowed Jake’s good mood and he nodded.