Chapter 8

Jake was sitting under a tree just after midday. They had just finished a quick meal consisting of some meat that Sue had cooked earlier and water from the canteens. Jake had watered the horses using another canteen as there was no open water here.

The last three days had been pretty uneventful. They had ridden all day with a break at lunchtime, during which Sue had practiced with her pistol. She was getting better, her aim was improving and she was becoming more comfortable with handling the weapon.

Every evening they had camped of the trail. Once they had found a small stream, but nothing like the size of the one that first night. Another time they had crossed one during the day, which gave them the chance to refill their canteens and Sue's waterskins.

Sue had also snared a couple of animals one night, which kept their supplies going. But they had only had that and some dried jerky, which was now running out, so Jake was looking forward to arriving at a town of some sort if only so they could vary their diet. However, so far they had seen no-one on the faint trail, and no sign of habitation either. It was as though they were alone in the wilderness, although occasional signs of cooking fires showed that others had travelled this way before them.

One evening, Jake had whittled two practice knives out of a tree branch he had found. He had tried to make them roughly the size and shape of the knives they had, but the weight and balance were different so they weren't ideal. Still, it had allowed them to practice knife fighting and he was amazed how quick Sue was. He had a couple of bruises on his forearms where she had caught him, and he had 'killed' her once when her foot slipped, but if anything she was better than he was - he had been lucky to get her that one time. Usually their bouts ended up in a sweaty stand-off.

Jake's thoughts were interrupted when he heard voices, and the sounds of horses approaching. He hissed at Sue, and gestured her to get out of sight. "Shhh - hide," he said automatically. She had heard the sounds too, and seeing Jake's waved arm she slipped into the bushes behind him.

Jake stood and made sure that his revolver was loose in its holster. However he stood with his arms at his side as three horses came around the corner of the trail from the opposite direction to the one they had been travelling.

The three riders pulled up sharply when they caught sight of Jake standing there, then they walked slowly forward and halted about forty feet from him.

The man in the middle, the larger of the three, was the first to speak. "Howdy stranger," he said, "I didn't expect to find anyone else out thisaways."

"Just riding through," Jake commented, as the other men looked around the area, taking in Jake, the lack of a fire, and the five horses tied up in a row.

The three dismounted and spread out in front of Jake. They were a strange mixture. The one in the middle was huge, taller than Jake and thick-set. He had large hands and a slight stoop, and was dressed as any cowhand might be, albeit slightly scruffier than normal. His face was largely covered by a thick dark brown beard and his eyes were hard to see under the brim of his hat. A large gunbelt hung around his waist with a single-shot pistol in a holster on his right thigh.

On his left was a man of more normal height and weight. Also dressed as a typical westerner, he was a bit neater and tidier and had shaved within the last week. His gunbelt was well made, and contained a revolver similar to Jake's. His right hand never moved far from the gun butt.

On the other end of the line, Jake's left, was an extraordinary character. He was short, not much taller than Sue although a little heavier, and very much a dandy. Tight black pants were tucked into fancy tooled boots. A red shirt was partially covered by a black vest while his black hat looked brand new. He had a pearl-handled pistol tucked into a black silk sash. While he looked very much the dandy, his eyes were narrowed and hard and his face was sullen, as though he had just heard bad news.

"Watcha doin' out here, cowboy?" the larger man asked, in a deep voice.

"Just going on to the next town," Jake replied, his eyes watching all three men who were spreading out.

"You got five hosses here, fella, but there's only one of you. Where's the others?"

"They're all mine. As I said I was going on to the next town," Jake said, backing up slowly as the men were starting to move around him. The man on his right looked the most dangerous with that revolver of his, and if the big man got a hold of him it could end up seriously painful.

"Two of 'em looks like injun ponies," the big man carried on. "Now why would you have two injun ponies - and two more saddles than you need? I think you're up to no good."

"Just ride on out of here," Jake urged. "There's nothing for you here."

"I think there's five hosses for us here," the larger man replied, "And I think we's just gonna take 'em."

By now the three men were so far apart that Jake, even though he had backed up, could only face two of them at once. He concentrated on the gunman on the right and the big man in the centre, but that meant he was beginning to lose track of the dandy on his left.

Suddenly, while Jake was looking left to see where the short man had gone, the gunman went for his revolver. Jake caught the flicker of movement out of the right side of his eye and his hand moved like lightening towards his own gun on the left side of his belt. The cross-draw helped as his gun tracked right and ended up pointing at the gunman just as he was getting his own pistol into line. Jake's gun bucked and a jet of smoke shot out. Ahead of that, the .36" bullet sped towards the gunman and caught him in the middle of his chest just as he finished cocking his own pistol. Hit hard by Jake's shot, he pulled the trigger but he was already falling backwards and his shot went high.

Jake swivelled his hips and lined up on the big man who, although slower than the gunman had been, was nevertheless getting his own pistol into action. Without thought, Jake shot him too, the bullet catching him at the base of his throat. A spurt of blood showed he was badly hit and he turned half right as his legs buckled and down he went.