by Rory Black
Tucker removed his hat and dried his brow on his black sleeve.
‘He’s figuring on using that rope to lower himself down to the floor of the waterfall, Sheriff.’
The cold eyes flashed at Tucker and then to Hardin. Iron Eyes said nothing as he pulled at the rope knot until he was convinced that the branch would take his weight.
Sheriff Hardin raised his hands in the air.
‘Are you loco? You ain’t strong enough to climb down that rope, son. It must be a fifty- or sixty-foot drop.’
Iron Eyes wrapped the end of the rope around his waist and tied a knot.
‘Nearer to a hundred foot by my reckoning, Sheriff. But I ain’t gonna walk down that track on this leg.’ Iron Eyes corrected the older man as he stepped up on to the broad trunk of the tree and checked his balance. Sweat was dripping like water from the strands of limp hair that hung over his face. He was in agony but refused to let either of the men who had tagged along with him know.
To them, as to every other person who had ever encountered Iron Eyes, he had to give the appearance of being invincible. To show any sign of weakness was simply not in his nature.
The bounty hunter lifted the yards of slack rope up in his bony hands and then started to make his way tentatively along the tree-trunk.
The poison that had tortured him throughout the previous night still haunted Iron Eyes. His head kept filling with the remnants of the venomous fog but somehow he managed to shake it off.
‘Are you OK?’ Black Ben shouted out over the noise of the rumbling waterfall. ‘You look like death itself.’
‘Thank you kindly, Black Ben. I just hope this rope is long enough. I’d hate to end up dangling half-way down,’ Iron Eyes said, looking at how much slack rope he had and trying to judge how far it was to the bottom of the wet cliff.
‘You better pray that it ain’t too long,’ Sheriff Hardin called out.
Iron Eyes shrugged and took another step.
‘I hadn’t thought about that, old man. Could be real messy if n it is.’
Hardin and Tucker watched in total awe as Iron Eyes limped towards the end of the fallen tree. He was already past the point of no return when he turned and looked at his companions.
‘You two had better make your way down the trail and get them hammers cocked ready for action.’ Iron Eyes stared into the rising spray that obscured everything below the prostrate tree. ‘Because I’m gonna jump in about two minutes time. I’d hate to get there before you do.’
The two men turned and rushed through the tall grass at the top of the cliff. Carefully they scrambled down the steep trail with their guns in their hands.
They knew that they had to reach the foot of the waterfall and see if their companion was right about there being a cave behind it.
The narrow trail was damp with the morning dew that the slowly rising sun had yet to find and dry. They slid and staggered on their way down the twisting trail.
At last they reached the banks of the lake and stared at the wet rocks which rose up behind the falling water.
Black Ben Tucker tapped the sheriff’s arm and pointed behind the white cascading spray. They could just make out the black outline of a cave set back behind the crashing waterfall.
‘Iron Eyes was right. There is a damn cave.’
Their weaponry was cocked just as Iron Eyes had ordered.
Chapter Twenty-One
Most men would have been afraid. But Iron Eyes was unlike most men. He defied death because it had been his constant companion since he had first felt its cruel hand resting on his broad bony shoulders. Inhaling deeply on the remnants of his cigar, Iron Eyes held firmly on to the rope with his left hand and to one of his cocked Navy Colts with the other. He edged closer to the end of the tree. His cold eyes gazed down at the lake far below him and at his two companions. They were in position and ready.
Now it was his turn.
He tossed the cigar away and watch it disappear beneath his high vantage point. With smoke trailing from his teeth, the bounty hunter leapt off the massive tree and out into the air. Iron Eyes hurtled down through the misty spray of the waterfall far faster than he had imagined possible.
Yet he still felt nothing.
The rocky ground at the edge of the falls seemed to be coming up at him at a speed he had not anticipated. Iron Eyes gripped on to the rope as tightly as he could and wondered whether the old sheriff might have been right.
What if the rope was too long?
If so, he would crash into the rocks at the side of the lake with such force, it would break every bone in his body. Yet still he was not afraid.
Only someone who savored life itself feared losing it.
Suddenly Iron Eyes heard the rope starting to buzz above him and knew that it had reached its full length. It went taut and began to whiplash his entire body. Iron Eyes raised his legs in the air as the rope began to vibrate violently as he swung over the heads of Tucker and Hardin. Then he hurtled back into the air once more.
The bounty hunter screwed his eyes up and stared at the slack in the rope above him. He was falling again at an incredible speed down towards his two companions. He was like a helpless rag-doll, desperately trying to regain control of the rope in his hand.
Then he bounced heavenward again. It felt as if every bone in his body had been stretched to twice its length. Iron Eyes hung on tightly to the rope as his body was thrown around in the air, again whipping him like a human slingshot.
Iron Eyes found himself swinging down towards the wall of water. He was convinced that there was a cave hidden behind it.
This time he was on target.
Forcing his feet together. Iron Eyes used every ounce of his dwindling strength to control the wet saddle rope and to make himself aim straight into the thundering cascade.
It was like hitting a brick wall as Iron Eyes’ entire body forced its way straight through the water spray at the centre of the falls.
Iron Eyes knew that if he was wrong about there being a cave there, he would crash into a solid rock face, but there was no time now to worry about trivial things like death.
He had made his choice and there was nothing left to do but see it through to the bitter end. He was committed and convinced that he was right.
His flared nostrils could still smell the stench of the bandits and the sweet perfume of the female. They were there all right.
As Iron Eyes’ feet hurtled through the water he released his grip on the rope with his left hand and tugged at the slip knot around his waist. He felt the rope give way, then his thin body was free and flying feet first into the cave.
He held on to the grip of his pistol with one hand and rubbed the water from his eyes with the other. Iron Eyes felt his boots hit the floor of the cave and an agonizing pain ripped through him. He went head over heels, crashing heavily into the sleeping bandits.
Tossing his bedraggled long hair off his face he gritted his teeth and stared around the cave quickly. He had only a split second to figure out where he was and where each of his enemies was.
Iron Eyes fired one shot into the roof of the cave and then felt himself being hauled at by the men all around him. Arms grabbed at his legs and he instinctively fired point blank into the stunned bandit’s head. Blood splattered all over the tall gaunt figure as he kicked out at the lifeless body.
The four other men scrambled to their feet. Iron Eyes could see the flashing gun metal of the pistols around him. He thrashed out with the barrel of his Navy Colt. The bandits were all around him when he spotted Malverez rising from the side of the half-naked Rosie Smith.
Iron Eyes felt his temper rising beyond the point where most men could have coped. He tried to aim at the bandit leader but felt his frail body being knocked sideways by the men who were clawing at him.
Two of the bandits threw themselves into the falling water and disappeared into the lake as another of the men closest to Iron Eyes raised his pistol and fired. The bullet passed through the long wet
hair of the stunned bounty hunter. Gun smoke burned at the flesh of his face as he pressed a boot on top of the bandit and pushed him back down.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Iron Eyes blasted at the bandit, who fell backwards on top of another of the startled men. Trying to wipe the smoldering black powder from his face, Iron Eyes staggered backwards and tried to see where the man he had spotted next to the half-naked Rosie Smith had gone.
His question was answered: Malverez fired both his pistols at Iron Eyes.
The bounty hunter felt the heat of the bullets as they passed through his long trail-coat. Malverez was still next to the Smith girl and Iron Eyes knew he did not dare to return fire. He jumped down behind one of the large boxes filled with coins from the bandits’ previous ransoms and swiftly reloaded his Navy Colt.
Another volley of bullets ripped the top of the boxes apart.
Iron Eyes was covered from head to foot in burning splinters of smoldering wood. Just as he was about to return fire he heard the screams of Rosie Smith and stopped.
‘Help! Help!’ came her pitiful calls.
Her voice echoed around the interior of the cave as Iron Eyes dropped down beside the boxes and tried to get another look, to see whether he could get a clean shot at Malverez.
It was impossible without risking hitting her.
Suddenly the bandit who had had his dead comrade fall upon him managed to crawl free. He rolled across the floor of the cave to a huge boulder. He scrambled behind it and blasted two shots off at Iron Eyes. Neither came close.
Bullets were flying at Iron Eyes from two different directions now. He was being kept pinned down in a crossfire.
The sound of gunshots came bouncing off the walls of the cave from outside. The bounty hunter glanced at the waterfall and knew that Sheriff Hardin and Black Ben were now busy with the two bandits who had escaped through the water.
It was a raging battle that he wished he was part of but he had to take care of two bandits here first.
Another shot tore the side of one of the treasure boxes apart and long wooden shavings stuck into Iron Eyes’ face. He tore them out and saw the blood on his fingers.
Without a single thought for the bruised female, Malverez got to his feet and dragged the helpless Rosie backwards. He was using her as a shield. He continued walking backwards and firing until he reached the mouth of a tunnel carved by nature itself into the solid rock of the huge cave.
‘Come on, gringo! Are you afraid?’ Malverez shouted defiantly before pushing her aside. The bandit leader did not wait for a reply and disappeared into the passageway behind him. The cave was honeycombed with a maze of tunnels leading to dozens of places.
Only the bandits knew where they all led.
‘Wait for me, amigo,’ the other bandit called out to the vanishing heels of Malverez. There was no response. Malverez had gone.
Iron Eyes crawled back around the boxes until he could see what was going on inside the cave. He spotted the sobbing Rosie Smith lying next to the tunnel and then felt the heat of another bullet as the last remaining bandit blasted at him.
Dust covered the bounty hunter as he cocked his pistol again and fired. He heard the lead ball bounce off the large rock.
Iron Eyes dragged his aching left leg up underneath him and then steadied himself. He knew that the bandit was well hidden behind the boulder at the back of the cave and that it was impossible to get a clean shot at the man.
‘Malverez?’ the bandit’s pathetic voice called out. He ought to have known better. Men like Malverez did not risk their lives for anyone. They took care of themselves. Only themselves.
Iron Eyes pulled his other Navy Colt from his deep jacket-pocket and cocked its hammer before laying it on the ground next to his knee. Then he opened the chamber of the gun in his hand and emptied all its shells on to the floor of the cave. The bounty hunter was not a man who used trickery often but sometimes it was the swiftest way to resolve a problem.
And the bandit hidden twenty yards away between himself and the sobbing Rosie was a big problem.
Iron Eyes lifted the primed pistol up off the ground. He held it in his left hand as he leaned around the boxes, with the empty gun in his right hand.
He cocked its hammer and squeezed its trigger. The sound of the empty gun reached the ears of the bandit, who rose and fanned the hammer of his own gun at the treasure boxes.
Defying the bullets that were flying all around him, Iron Eyes raised his fully loaded Navy Colt and pulled back on its hammer until it locked.
Then he squeezed the trigger.
The bullet hit the bandit squarely in the centre of his chest, sending him spinning on his heels and crashing into the cave wall behind him. As the bandit’s body slid down the wall, a red line of blood was left as a reminder of Iron Eyes’ deadly accuracy.
Iron Eyes was about to move in the direction of the sobbing female when he realized that the battle outside the cave was still raging.
He loaded his Navy Colts hurriedly.
‘Stay there, Miss Rosie,’ Iron Eyes shouted across to the girl who was now lying on the ground near the tunnel. ‘I’ll be right back.’
Iron Eyes limped to the cave entrance and made his way out towards the sound of the gunfire. No sooner had the tall bounty hunter stepped away from the falling water than a bullet bounced off the cave wall.
Fine stone-dust covered Iron Eyes as he blasted both his guns in retaliation.
‘Stay where you are, Iron Eyes,’ Black Ben Tucker snouted from behind the cover of a tree.
‘Where’s Hardin?’ Iron Eyes shouted back as he caught sight of the drenched bandits fifty yards ahead of him. They were pinned down.
‘I’m OK,’ the sheriff shouted from behind a pile of rocks near the water’s edge.
Iron Eyes ducked as another bullet came too close to him for comfort. He pulled back the hammer of his left-hand pistol and fired once. The closest of the bandits’ head burst with the impact of the lethal shot.
Iron Eyes felt his injured leg hurting and he stopped his advance. If the bandit wanted a showdown, he would have to bring it to him.
The other bandit turned his attention on Iron Eyes and fanned the hammer of his pistol repeatedly until it was empty.
The bandit dropped his gun and raised both his arms in the air and waved them around.
‘He’s finished!’ Hardin exclaimed, coming out from behind his place of cover. He approached the bandit.
‘He’s finished OK,’ Black Ben Tucker agreed, moving away from the tree he had been hiding behind.
Suddenly the bandit dropped both his arms and pulled another gun from inside his shirt. He fired straight at Tucker, sending the train-robber reeling on his heels. Hardin stopped in his tracks and squeezed the trigger of his Colt. It was empty.
The bandit fired again at the sheriff and brought the older man down, clutching his forearm.
Instantly Iron Eyes’ thumbs pulled back the hammers of both his Navy Colts a fraction of a second before his index fingers pulled the triggers.
Two bullets tore through the morning air and caught the Mexican high in his chest. The bandit was lifted off his feet and landed in the lake. A red cloud of blood encircled the floating body.
‘You get the girl, Iron Eyes. I’m OK.’ Tucker waved his arm at the grim-faced man.
Iron Eyes looked in the direction of Hardin. He was getting up from the ground.
‘Get Rosie, son,’ the lawman shouted.
Iron Eyes turned and entered the cave again. He somehow managed to make his way across the huge expanse and reach her far faster than a man in his condition should have. He knelt down and stared at the shaking female.
Her near-naked body made him turn his head. It had been a long time since he had seen a female looking so vulnerable and it confused him.
‘Don’t you worry none, Miss Rosie. Things will be OK.’
She recognized the voice of the man she had met only once in the streets of Cripple Creek.
&n
bsp; ‘Is that you, Iron Eyes?’
‘Yep.’
‘I knew that if anyone could rescue me from these animals, it would be you.’ Rosie grabbed the man and pulled him close. She could feel his heart pounding beneath his shirt. ‘There was something in your voice. I knew that you were a good man.’
Iron Eyes seemed to find her attention flattering. He rose to his feet and moved over to the soiled velvet drape lying on the ground. Rosie would not loosen her grip on him for even a second as he bent down, lifted it and shook the dirt from it.
He wrapped it around her and then managed to force her away from him.
She appeared to have no idea of the temptation her beautiful body could arouse in men. Without any thought of her upper body being naked she stepped closer to Iron Eyes again and allowed the drape to fall apart.
‘I think that you’re very special, Iron Eyes. You saved my life. I ... I think that I . . . ‘
The tall bounty hunter touched her lips and stopped her talking. He knew what she was about to say and yet he did not want to hear it. Iron Eyes had travelled alone for far too long to even think about anyone as lovely as Jed Smith’s daughter.
Iron Eyes pulled the velvet material together so that his eyes could no longer look at her body. No longer see her soft pale skin and imagine things that could never be.
‘Are you OK, Miss Rosie?’
She nodded.
‘He did things to me but I think you arrived just in the nick of time. Is he dead?’
‘Not yet, Miss Rosie. But it’s only a matter of time.’
‘Time?’ She tilted her head and stared at him with the beautiful blue eyes that he knew could not see him.
‘I’ll catch him and then he’ll be with his friends in Hell.’
Just then the wounded Sheriff Tom Hardin staggered into the cave, clutching his lower left arm.
‘She’s safe!’ the sheriff cried out joyfully.
‘She is.’ Iron Eyes led her to the side of the lawman and stared down at the blood-soaked shirt-sleeve. ‘Are you OK?’
‘Just winged, that’s all,’ Hardin replied.