Hard Ride to Wichita

by Ralph Compton

  Grinning, Carlo said, “And she insists on dousing her boys with lilac water. The kind of stuff that still stinks to high heaven no matter how much mud gets on you afterward.”

  Luke extended an arm to keep his friend from going any farther. “We’re just here for the money. Hand over what you owe.”

  “Or what?” Carlo asked. “There’ll be hell to pay?”

  “Something like that.”

  As the three of them squared off, the air within the stable became still. All was quiet apart from the rattle of a wagon passing on the street outside and the gray horse’s occasional shift from one hoof to another. Luke’s guns were within easy reach, but he suddenly wasn’t eager to draw them. It was plain to see that Carlo Procci wasn’t to be taken lightly. Beneath the layers of filth and rumpled clothes was a coiled snake, tensed and ready to strike. Although Luke felt the need to tread lightly, he could tell Red wasn’t thinking so clearly.

  Sure enough, Red made a grab for his Smith & Wesson. Carlo lunged forward to take hold of Red’s wrist so he could force him to pull the pistol from where it had been kept and point it away. Either out of surprise or desperation, Red pulled his trigger. The shot cracked through the air, sending a .22-caliber round whistling past Carlo’s head to knock another hole into the wall behind him. Without reacting much to the shot that had just been fired, Carlo twisted Red’s hand until he had to drop the pistol and then caught it before it hit the floor.

  “This all you brought?” Carlo scoffed as he tossed the Smith & Wesson into the hay where he’d been sleeping. “Sorriest excuse for a bounty hunter I’ve ever seen.”

  Luke cussed under his breath and drew one of the pistols holstered at his side. Before he could clear leather, Carlo’s leg came up and his boot thumped into Luke’s gut. If he hadn’t already been tensed, Luke wouldn’t have been able to breathe. As it was, he still felt a good portion of the wind spout from his lungs as he was knocked a step back.

  “You still think this is worth a hundred dollars?” Carlo asked. “That’s only fifty for each of you.”

  Neither of the younger men responded with words. Luke struggled to catch his breath and regain his footing while Red lowered his shoulder and charged at Carlo like a bull.

  Carlo was grinning from ear to ear as he turned toward Red and opened his arms as if to wrap him up in a warm welcome. He grunted as Red plowed into him and forced his back to a wall. After they’d come to a stop, Carlo pushed against both of Red’s shoulders to gain enough room to bring his knee up into Red’s chest. Although he wheezed after taking the blow, Red responded with renewed vigor as he grabbed Carlo’s legs and pulled them out from under him. Both of them toppled to the floor and started fighting to gain the upper hand.

  “I got him, Luke!” Red said as he placed his forearm across Carlo’s neck and leaned down on it. “You get the money!”

  “You sure?” Luke asked.

  “Just get it!”

  Luke had drawn one of the pistols from its holster and was surprised to see it wasn’t the Colt. In his haste to arm himself, he’d skinned one of the pistols taken from Scott. The gun felt uncomfortable in his grasp, which was what troubled him about taking it in the first place. If he needed to use a weapon to defend himself, he knew better than to take his chances with one that wasn’t familiar. Rather than waste time in switching guns, he went over to the saddlebags piled near the tethered horse.

  The other two were making plenty of noise but didn’t seem to be making much headway. As soon as one appeared to be coming out on top, the other would sneak in a quick punch or squirm in such a way that gave him a fleeting advantage. Red was just about to be tossed onto his back when he planted one foot squarely in place and pushed off to put some extra power behind the fist he slammed into Carlo’s side. Carlo let out a strained moan and curled into a ball.

  “Red!” Luke shouted. “Catch!”

  Red looked toward his friend as Scott’s second pistol sailed toward him. Although he was quick enough to catch the gun before it cracked him in the face, Red needed a moment to get a proper grip. By the time his finger had found the trigger, Carlo was on his feet.

  Procci might have looked unruly before, but now he was a battered, bloody savage covered in sweat and glaring at Luke with wild eyes. Instead of diving for cover or even drawing his own pistol, he rushed straight at Red as if the gun in the younger man’s hand were a toy. “Come on now,” Carlo said through gritted teeth as he slapped the gun aside. The pistol barked loudly and sent a round through the neighboring stall. “You’ve got to do better than that!”

  Red was quick to pull his gun back, but not fast enough to track Carlo as he surged forward and to one side. When he pulled his trigger again, Red’s bullet sailed through empty air.

  “Some bounty hunter,” Carlo said as he flicked a powerful jab into Red’s stomach.

  Even though the punch landed in a spot that had been tenderized earlier in the fight, Red swung his hand in a chopping blow that knocked the pistol against the side of Carlo’s head. Staggering like a drunk, Carlo moved out of Red’s reach and then turned around. Red fired one more time, snapping Carlo’s head back.

  Red’s breath caught in his throat when he saw a bit of blood fly through the air. Carlo remained upright for a second before his knees buckled and he fell onto the horse blanket lying on the floor behind him. “I . . . got him,” Red said between labored breaths.

  “Is he dead?” Luke asked.

  Without turning his eyes away from the fallen man, Red said, “Just find that money. I’ll have a look.”

  Red’s gun hand was steady as he approached Carlo. His eyes burned with a mixture of sweat trickling from his brow and grit from the gun smoke in the air that stuck to his face. His heart was pounding hard enough to make his breath jumpy and irregular.

  So far, Carlo hadn’t moved. He lay on his side with his limbs splayed like a dog that was taking a nap. A small amount of blood was smeared on the floor near his head, and there was surely plenty more beneath it. Red shifted his focus down to the man’s chest to look for a sign of life. “He ain’t dead. Looks like he should be comin’ to soon.”

  The door swung open and smacked against the front wall of the stable. “What’s going on in here?” the skinny man from outside asked. “What’s the shooting about?”

  Red turned to tell the skinny fellow to get lost, only to find him brandishing a shotgun. Both barrels were pointed at the stall where everyone and his horse were gathered.

  “Leave us be!” Carlo said as he pulled himself up off the floor.

  The skinny fellow brought the shotgun to his shoulder and took a few steps closer. “This is my place and I’m through with being shoved around by everyone that comes along. You men get out or—”

  Propping himself up on one arm, Carlo lifted his other arm to point a gun toward the stable’s entrance. He fired a shot that burned a path well above the skinny fellow’s head before saying, “Go on and git!”

  The skinny fellow turned tail and went.

  Bending his arm so his pistol was now aimed at the roof, Carlo grunted, “I’m through with being threatened by ultimatums from lesser men.”

  “Who’re you callin’ a lesser man?” Red demanded.

  Slowly, Carlo shifted his gaze toward him. Smoke still curled from the barrel of his gun to form a crooked halo near his head. “Don’t test me, boy. Leastways, don’t test me any more than you’ve already . . . aw, just help me up, will you?”

  Red looked over to Luke, who was now sifting through the second saddlebag in the pile. Since he didn’t get anything helpful from him, he pointed the gun in his hand down at Carlo and thumbed back the hammer. “Put your gun away first,” he said.

  “Sure, sure,” Carlo muttered while stuffing the pistol back into its holster.

  “No, I mean drop the gun. Toss it away.”

  Carlo sighed, remo
ved the gun gingerly, and threw it toward Red’s boots.

  Even though he’d been the one to make the request, Red didn’t seem to know quite what to do now that it had been obeyed. Carlo extended his hand toward him, but Red took a step back and straightened his gun arm. “On second thought, help yourself up,” he said.

  “Finally thinking before you act,” Carlo said as he climbed to his feet. “That’s a step in the right direction.”

  “Mister, you don’t know anything about me or what direction I need to go. Luke, did you find what you’re looking for?”

  Having already reached the bottom of the second saddlebag, Luke upended both of them and dumped their scant contents onto the floor. Looking down at the various things, he replied, “No. There’s nothing here worth any amount of money.”

  “So you were really sent here by Stormy?” Carlo asked.

  “That’s right,” Red told him.

  Rubbing the side of his head, he winced and checked the tips of his fingers. There was some blood on his hand and when he touched his left ear, he grimaced. “That was a close shave,” he said good-naturedly while turning to show that side of his head to Red. His ear was slick with blood, and a small piece of it had been chipped away by the bullet from Red’s gun. “If your aim was a little better or if you had shown up a little earlier, I guess I would have been in real trouble.”

  “Do you have the money or not?” Luke asked. “We’re tired of wasting time with you.”

  “Then by all means,” Carlo said, “be on your way. I’d be just fine if I never saw the two of you again.”

  Drawing the old Colt gave Luke some comfort. He pointed the familiar pistol at Carlo’s head and said, “Stormy wanted me to hurt you if you put up too much of a fuss. I thought we’d just get the money and be through with it, but now I’m warming up to her idea.”

  After scowling in thought for a few seconds, Carlo said, “Yeah, that does sound like something she’d say.”

  “So start being helpful before you run out of time.”

  “I’d say we’re both on borrowed time,” Carlo warned. “After all the shooting and such, it won’t be long before someone else comes along to make sure the trouble don’t spread. Maybe even the law.”

  Although Red became more anxious at the mention of having to answer to the law in a strange town, Luke didn’t flinch.

  “Something tells me you’d have more to lose than we would if you had to face a lawman,” Luke said.

  Carlo shrugged without giving away much. “Maybe.”

  “And those same lawmen would probably understand if a man like you wound up dead in a pile of filth like this.”

  This time, Carlo was the one who twitched.

  Luke nodded, recognizing he’d gained the upper hand. “We may not be bounty hunters, but I bet we’d still get more than fifty dollars each if we put you down and waited here for those lawmen to show up.”

  “There’s an idea,” Red chimed in. “That way, we wouldn’t even have to drag his carcass anywhere to cash it in!”

  “You want the whore’s money?” Carlo growled. “You can have it.”

  “That’s better,” Luke said. “Where is it?”

  “It ain’t here.”

  Luke shook his head and sighted along the top of his barrel. “No more games, mister. Tell me where it is.”

  “If I had known how much trouble would come along with that little bit of cash, I never would have taken it. Aw, who am I kidding?” Carlo continued as though he weren’t talking to anyone in the stable with him. “I would’ve taken it.”

  “Start telling us what we need to know,” Red demanded.

  Looking around to survey the entire stable, Carlo said, “We need to get out of here. That is, unless you really do want to speak to the law. That fella outside had the look of a simpering little rat that’s bound to go scampering off to fetch help.”

  “Aw, to hell with this,” Red groaned. “I say we cut our losses and be done with this job. It’s gone too far south as it is.”

  “Carlo’s right,” Luke said. “We can’t have the law sniffing after us. We started a job and I aim to see it through. Besides, we came this far. Sounds like we don’t have much farther to go. There’s a back door. Let’s get out of here.”

  “Finally, someone who listens to reason,” Carlo said.

  After scooping up Carlo’s gun and jamming its barrel into his back, Red shoved him toward the door and said, “Don’t get yer hopes up.”

  Chapter 13

  “You might want to put that gun away,” Carlo said as he was shoved down a narrow street with nobody else on it and only a few shabby buildings on either side. The way he kept looking around, he might have been expecting a parade to march down it at any second.

  “Why?” Luke asked. “You worried about upsetting the rats?”

  The street narrowed to a dirt path. On one side, a slow trickle of sewage made its way to a small, stinking pool behind them. Rodents and a few mangy dogs stared at them from the shadows, none of them willing to budge from the territory they’d staked out unless absolutely necessary.

  “I’m just saying we did well to avoid the law before,” Carlo said. “No need to draw attention now.”

  “Just tell us where we’re headed and let us sort out the rest,” Red said as he shoved Carlo along.

  The three of them formed a strange procession as they moved toward a corner that emptied onto a much larger street. A few more people were walking there, but nobody displayed any panic arising from the disturbance in the stable. Red walked beside Carlo, and Luke was behind them, holding the Colt.

  Turning to look at both men as he continued walking at his leisurely pace, Carlo said, “I’m not exactly sure where, but I know who.”

  “What are you taking about?” Red asked.

  “The money I owed to Stormy—”

  “Still owe to Stormy,” Luke corrected.

  Carlo rolled his eyes. “You’re a real stickler. I bet you were a lot of fun in school.”

  “You have no idea,” Red chuckled.

  Jabbing the pistol into Carlo’s spine, Luke snapped, “Get on with it.”

  “That money I owe,” Carlo said, “it wasn’t just to Stormy. It was to a few other folks in this town and a few others besides. I’ve been paying them off as best I can, but it’s been slow going. Times are hard with the war and all. When it comes to paying folks back, a man’s gotta pick and choose.”

  “You mean Stormy’s behind someone else in the chow line,” Red said.

  Carlo stopped and turned around. “And here I thought he was the smart one,” he said while nodding toward Luke.

  Making sure the Colt was front and center, Luke said, “You sure aren’t very smart if you think you’re calling the shots here.”

  “I told you to put the gun away, boy. There’s no reason to wave it about.”

  “I can come up with plenty of good reasons.”

  “It’s just going to get you into trouble,” Carlo warned. “Seems to me like it already has.”

  “I’m not going to let you walk about free as you please.”

  Carlo looked as if he was genuinely amused by that. While turning to look at Red, he snapped one hand out to grab hold of the Colt around the gun’s middle. With a twist and a pull, he’d forced Luke to let go of the pistol and taken it clean away from him. The entire process was over in less than two seconds.

  “There, now,” Carlo said as he spun the Colt around so he could slip his finger beneath the trigger guard. “See what I mean about this gun getting you into trouble?”

  “Give it back to him,” Red warned. His gun was in hand and pointed at Carlo.

  The older man didn’t move as he asked, “Do you honestly think I can’t put a bullet into you if I choose?”

  “Maybe,” Red said. “But not before I put one
through you. This time I’ll hit something more vital than your ear.”

  Carlo’s only response to that was a skeptically raised eyebrow.

  “So you can come and go as you please,” Luke said. “We’ve established that. What now?”

  “Now I’ll see about getting Stormy’s money for you,” Carlo said.

  “You’ll help us? Why?”

  “Because I said I would. Besides,” Carlo added, “that money isn’t in my pockets now and it won’t be in my pockets if Stormy has it. I’m served better by settling things here and moving on to somewhere else that I can work without so many so-called bounty hunters nipping at my heels.”

  “We won’t get much farther if we stand here pointing our guns at one another.”

  In another series of motions that was almost too quick for Luke or Red to see, Carlo spun the pistol around so it dangled from his finger instead of being aimed at anyone. “I was right,” he said. “You are the smart one.” When Red tried to take the gun away from him, Carlo spun it again and dropped it into his holster. “Why don’t I keep this for now? That is, unless you want to trade me for my own firearm.”

  “Might as well,” Luke said.

  Red looked over at him and asked, “What is wrong with you?”

  “He’s got a gun now,” Luke replied. “Doesn’t much matter which it is. Just give it to him as a show of good faith. If he doesn’t give us what we’re after, we can go back to threatening each other.”

  By the time Red had retrieved Carlo’s pistol, Carlo offered the gun he’d taken in an open hand. The exchange wasn’t as quick as Carlo’s draw, but was over swiftly and all three of them were soon walking toward the busier street.

  “So, where are you leading us?” Luke asked.

  “The man I came to town to pay is named Jordan Bickle. I met up with him at a saloon and don’t rightly know where to find him again, but I do know someone who should be able to point us in the right direction. He’s got that money you’re after.”

  “And you’re willing to get it back for us?” Luke asked suspiciously.

  “Let’s just say it doesn’t serve my purpose for anyone to know I had that money to begin with. Since you two, Stormy, and God only knows how many others know about it, I’d rather he be cut out altogether. Besides,” he added with a wry smirk, “you two got the drop on me and are calling all the shots.”