by Rory Black
‘Why? I already done for him.’
‘For Dan and Treat, boy. And maybe just for fun.’ Bob Creedy slowly aimed the barrels of his pistols at the blood-covered face of Iron Eyes.
Before Frankie had time to reply or lift the Winchester up to his shoulder, the sound of a howling wolf filled their ears as it bayed at the large moon. The creature was close.
Both brothers spun on their heels and frantically glanced around the clearing. Then they saw it.
‘A wolf!’ Frankie gasped as the handsome animal walked steadily towards them. The yellow pupils of its eyes seemed fixed on the outlaws as it approached.
‘Easy, boy,’ said Bob Creedy as he tried to control his shaking hands and aim at the advancing creature.
The wolf shook its head and bared its fangs. The growl was something neither man had ever heard before. It was far louder than they had imagined it could possibly be.
The animal continued walking towards the Creedys as Iron Eyes blinked behind them and focused on the two figures. Rolling over unnoticed, the bounty hunter was about to reach for one of his Navy Colts when he too saw the wolf.
‘Kill it, boy. Kill that critter,’ Bob demanded.
Both men began to fire their weaponry with a mixture of fear and desperation. It was as if the sound of thunder filled the mountain clearing. The acrid gunsmoke soon blurred their vision, but the sound of the wolf continued.
No amount of bullets seemed able to stop the advance of the growling wolf. Then it struck.
Iron Eyes managed to crawl to the closest of his pistols, and lay with his back against the saddle of his fallen horse. The black smoke of so many gun and rifle shots masked his eyes from seeing the men vainly trying to fend off the wolf, but he heard every sound.
The jaws of the raging animal ripped and tore at the Creedy brothers. Their pitiful screams chilled even Iron Eyes.
Then it went silent.
Finale
Iron Eyes waited like a condemned man until the black smoke finally drifted off the side of the mountain and he could see the carnage before him. Swallowing hard, he stared at the proud wolf that stood a mere twenty feet from him beside the bodies of the Creedy brothers.
Iron Eyes used his coat sleeve to wipe the blood from his face and gripped his gun tightly, whilst the wolf slowly began to walk through the wet grass towards him. Was it now his turn to be torn apart by the blood-covered fangs? He rested the Navy Colt on his leg and continued staring into the eyes of the approaching wolf.
Then his mind was filled with the memory of the face of young Silent Wolf. As the creature drew ever closer to the seated Iron Eyes, he noticed that the animal was not growling as it had done with the two outlaws.
For some reason that even he could not understand, Iron Eyes released his grip on the pistol and allowed it to slide off his leg into the grass beside him.
The animal stopped beside the blood-stained boots of Iron Eyes and began panting. The yellow eyes of the wolf fixed on to those of the injured bounty hunter.
‘Little hunter?’ Iron Eyes heard himself say.
The wolf bowed its handsome head, turned and disappeared into the mist, which was rising from the grass as the first rays of the sun began to warm a new day.
It took the bounty hunter less than an hour to do what he had to do.
Riding one of the mounts left by the savaged Creedy brothers, Iron Eyes headed back along the trail he had used to enter the forest. The other horse was laden down with what was left of the two outlaws. If they had a price on their heads, he was going to claim it.
Reaching the hot prairie, Iron Eyes aimed the horse towards the distant town of Bonny.
Tapping his spurs into the flesh of the mount, Iron Eyes could hear the howling of a wolf coming from the highest point of the tree-covered mountains behind him.
He did not turn to look.
Iron Eyes knew exactly what Silent Wolf looked like.
Piccadilly Publishing
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If you have enjoyed this book then we suggest the following in the Iron Eyes series:
IRON EYES
IRON EYES THE AVENGE
THE SPURS OF IRON EYES