There was no response, and Savage raised his voice. ‘Right!’ We take them across the bridge and then we set them down! Alive! We don’t make the bridge, they don’t make the bridge!’
He tugged gently on his rein and tapped his spurs lightly into the flanks of his horse. The other three followed his lead.
Slow-moving hooves clopped on the street, puffing up dust.
Nobody in town could hear the thundering of galloping hooves, for the bunch of riders were still too far out along the east trail. And only Edge on the roof of the funeral parlor was in a high enough position to see over the stream-side trees to where the horsemen had ridden around the hump of a distant hill.
It was not possible to foretell if the approach of the Texas Rangers would be heard before Savage and the other hard men reached White Creek Road, or whether they would be seen first. But that was immaterial. Of vital importance - to the hostages - was how their captors would react to what was heard or seen.
The hostages were forced by the gun muzzles pressed to their necks to keep their heads unmoving on their shoulders. While the men holding the guns constantly looked to left and right and behind them.
Edge drew the stolen Colt, cocked the hammer and licked his lips. Showed the killer-grin again when Wilde spoke. ‘I’m trustin’ you to keep your word, mister!’
The tension that gripped the gunslingers caused all of them to snap their attention toward the sound of the sheriff’s voice as they came level with him. Which was the moment when the half-breed hurled the cocked revolver out over the sign and across the street.
His plan depended upon the human instinct that in almost every case places self-preservation above all other considerations. Thus, when the Colt completed its arcing course and the impact with the front of Hubert’s livery stable jolted the hammer forward, his sole doubt concerned the response of the dazed and shocked Mary-Ann Green.
The falling revolver exploded its bullet which drilled harmlessly into the ground. The hard men, Wilde, Love and Warford all swung their eyes to look toward the source of the gunshot. With nothing to lose if the lead had started to fly, Dale Green and Joel Pepper made their desperate attempts to survive.
Edge had overlooked love as the most powerful impulse in the make-up or some human beings. And vented a non-committal grunt as he came erect with the Winchester to his shoulder as Green and Pepper flung themselves off the horses. Lunging in the direction that crashed them against the women to knock Ginny and Mary-Ann Green to the ground.
Roars of rage and shrieked curses exploded from throats.
Then a bullet belched from the muzzle of the Winchester. And one of the gunslingers was pitched from his saddle, blood spurting from a hole in his back.
Of Wilde, Love and Warford, the youngster was first to react. Bringing up Edge’s Colt and blasting a bullet into the head of Jack Savage as he and the other two men from San Antonio sought to rake their eyes and guns toward the point from where the rifle-shot had come.
But the sheriff and the rancher were only a moment later in triggering their revolvers at the two men in the saddles, whose anger had changed to panic.
Love’s shot went high, but as the hard man abandoned his search for Edge and swung to aim at the rancher, Warford and the half-breed fired simultaneously. The revolver bullet took him in the throat and the shell from the rifle entered his heart from the back.
The nervous horses snorted as the final rider thudded to the ground, their nostrils flared to the scents of fresh blood and drifting gunsmoke.
Dean Warford moved forward, gun-hand extended, to check that the four hard men were dead.
This as Crystal Dickens, closely followed by Moses, ran out onto the street. The Negro to take the reins of the horses and lead them away while the woman dropped into a crouch and worked frantically to free the bonds of Mary-Ann Green, which spurred Love to holster his gun and go to work on the gag across Ginny Green’s mouth.
Wilde, his fancy Remington held loosely in a hand which hung down at his side, watched with something akin to exhaustion in his eyes as Edge swung down on to the sidewalk out front of the funeral parlor. And the half-breed sensed other eyes upon him as he moved slowly along the street, the Winchester canted to his shoulder. Eyes that hated him surreptitiously through cracks in window blinds.
A glance into the grocery store showed him that Charlie Corwin was not among the watchers, for the town druggist was sprawled on his back with two blood crusted holes in his chest. Close to where a gunslinger was folded over a cracker-barrel, shot by Joel Pepper, the druggist or one of the other townspeople who had been spurred to action by the rape of Mary-Ann Green.
‘You got lucky, mister!’ Wilde snarled suddenly, as if he had needed a lot of time to gather the strength with which to hurl the words at Edge. ‘I meant what I said! You’d have hung for sure if just one more of our people had been killed!’
‘Shut your stupid mouth before you regret openin’ it, Wes!’ Jake Huber shouted as he emerged from the smoke drifting out of the burning saloon.
‘You shut yours—’
‘The Rangers are comin’!’ Huber cut in. ‘What chance would the Greens and Joel have had if them San Antone bastards had come up against them?’
‘It doesn’t matter, Wes,’ Love growled as he left Dale Green to help his wife to her feet. This as Crystal Dickens rose when Mary-Ann turned from her to bury her tear streaming face into the crook of Joel Pepper’s shoulder, both of them still seated on the ground. ‘No point in recriminations.’
The thundering hooves of the horses carrying the Texas Rangers could now be heard in the distance.
‘There’s going to be worse than just recriminations!’ the elderly Judge Purvis cried hoarsely as he hurried after Huber and passed him, rage making the flesh above his white beard almost purple with distended blood vessels. He halted and pointed a shaking arm toward Joel Pepper. ‘That boy walked into my courtroom and shot down a witness in cold blood!’ He swung his arm and raked his blazing eyes in another direction. ‘And just what is that man accused of murder doing with a gun, sheriff?’
‘Mine, kid,’ Edge said flatly.
Warford nodded, drew the Colt and tossed it to the half-breed. ‘Thanks for the loan.’
‘No sweat. You killed good this time.’ He took the reins of one of the horses from Moses and looked at Crystal Dickens whose face was still smeared with the blood of Mrs. Donnelly. ‘You want to bring my horse, lady? You can have this one.’
‘You’re going to ride away from this?’ the blonde asked, her voice strained. ‘That poor kid’s been raped God knows how many times. Warford still has to be tried. The Pepper boy has to be guilty of something. All these dead people…’
‘We survived, lady,’ the half-breed told her. ‘What the people who survived here do with the rest of their lives is their business.’
‘I want to thank you as well, mister,’ Joel Pepper said, looking up over the shoulder of Mary-Ann.
Edge had rolled a cigarette and now he lit it with a match struck on the boot of a dead man. While Mary-Ann’s parents looked at him with tacit gratitude in their eyes. Elsewhere, other eyes continued to watch him with anything but gratitude.
‘Town was so all-fire sure the lady and me were the cause of the trouble, figured that many people couldn’t be wrong,’ he said. ‘Did what I could to clean up the mess.’
‘There are some widows in this town who maybe’ll think you left things a little late, mister!’ Wilde snarled through his clenched teeth.
‘I go along with Jake!’ Love growled. ‘After I killed Hal Crowley there was no one in the same class as the hard men to go up against them. Except Edge. And if he hadn’t done what he did, without anyone asking him this could have been a lot damn worse.’
Edge checked that Moses had replaced his Winchester in the boot. Then dropped the other rifle and swung up into the saddle of the gelding.
‘I didn’t make the rules in this place, feller,’ he said to Wilde as the blon
de climbed astride the stallion of one of the gunslingers. ‘Just did what I could to live by most of them while I was here.’
‘You two can’t leave!’ Purvis protested as the group of Texas Rangers slowed their horses on the bridge. ‘That young woman is right. You’re witnesses in a murder trial. Perhaps more than one trial.’
‘We’ve tried this town,’ Edge told the judge flatly. ‘And it ain’t proved to our liking.’
He heeled his horse forward and did not look back. But heard the clop of the stallion’s hooves as Crystal Dickens followed him.
Purvis, Wilde and Love began to yell at each other and the woman brought her horse up alongside the half-breed.
‘Thanks, Edge.’
‘What for, lady?’
‘If I hadn’t been in the saloon that night, none of this would’ve happened. I caused the mess you cleaned up.’
‘You don’t know me. If you did, you wouldn’t be coming with me.’ He nodded toward the inert form of the rich old lady from San Francisco. ‘West got real wild for her. Maybe because I was around.’
The blonde was morosely silent for a few moments. Then, ‘Something you should perhaps know, Edge.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Everything I possessed was in my room at the saloon. That includes the other five thousand dollars. It all went up in smoke.’
He arced his cigarette away. ‘Any time it bothers you, lady, think about how much trouble the first five thousand bought.’ He turned his head to show her a cold grin. ‘Anyway, I figured I’d made it plain I didn’t want you for your money.’
They rode around the corner onto White Creek Road, where the dozen young, tall, big-built, trail-dusty Rangers were holding their weary horses to a walk and gazing at the burning remains of the saloon. Part of the front wall was still standing, showing the inappropriate new name which had been inexpertly painted by Moses.
The body of Sam Pepper had been removed from the stoop before the place was put to the torch.
The captain of the Ranger troop halted his men and touched his hat to Crystal Dickens. ‘Ma’am. Sir. Trouble is over, I guess?’
‘The cavalry usually has the same problem,’ Edge muttered.
The captain showed just mild irritation and continued, ‘The dust storm held us up from getting here faster. How quiet it is now, sounds like you folks handled things yourselves.’
‘Edge took care of it, Captain,’ Jake Huber said from the corner before either the half-breed or the woman could respond. His tone was morose. ‘And maybe when the people here have time to think things about, they’ll realize he deserved better than this.’
He waved a hand toward the burning building.
‘This place was yours, sir?’ the captain asked with a grimace.
‘Lived there for awhile,’ Edge answered evenly. ‘So maybe I ought to feel honored.’
‘Uh’ the captain grunted, he and his men perplexed.
The half-breed was finally able to get the last of the killer-glint from his eyes so that his grin was purely sardonic when he answered, ‘The town gave me an illuminated address.”
Also by George G. Gilman and available from Lobo Publications:
EDGE 1: THE LONER
EDGE 2: TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS AMERICAN
EDGE 3: APACHE DEATH
EDGE 4: KILLER’S BREED
EDGE 5: BLOOD ON SILVER
EDGE 6: THE BLUE, THE GREY AND THE RED
EDGE 7: CALIFORNIA KILLING
EDGE 8: SEVEN OUT OF HELL
EDGE 9: BLOODY SUMMER
EDGE 10: VENGEANCE IS BLACK
EDGE 11: SIOUX UPRISING
EDGE 12: THE BIGGEST BOUNTY
EDGE 13: A TOWN CALLED HATE
EDGE 14: THE BIG GOLD
EDGE 15: BLOOD RUN
EDGE 16: THE FINAL SHOT
EDGE 17: VENGEANCE VALLEY
EDGE 18: TEN TOMBSTONES TO TEXAS
EDGE 19: ASHES AND DUST
EDGE 20: SULLIVAN’S LAW
EDGE 21: RHAPSODY IN RED
EDGE 22: SLAUGHTER ROAD
EDGE 23: ECHOES OF WAR
EDGE 24: THE DAY DEMOCRACY DIED
EDGE 25: VIOLENCE TRAIL
EDGE 26: SAVAGE DAWN
EDGE 27: DEATH DRIVE
EDGE 28: EVE OF EVIL
EDGE 29: THE LIVING, THE DYING AND THE DEAD
EDGE 30: WAITING FOR A TRAIN
EDGE 31: THE GUILTY ONES
EDGE 32: THE FRIGHTENED GUN
EDGE 33: THE HATED
EDGE 34: A RIDE IN THE SUN
EDGE 35: DEATH DEAL
EDGE/STEELE: TWO OF A KIND
TOWN ON TRIAL
George G. Gilman
Lobo Publications
EDGE: Town On Trial Page 14