A Texas Hill Country Christmas Read Online Free PDF

them. Both of his Remingtons were out before any of the trio cleared leather. The guns roared at the same time. The one in Luke’s left hand was aimed at Barnes, the one in his right at Godfrey. Both shots found their target. Barnes staggered back as a slug drove into his chest.
    The hit on Godfrey wasn’t quite as clean. He was moving a little when the bullet struck him in the right shoulder and spun him halfway around.
    Dewey Dunham had his gun out by now. Flame lanced from the muzzle. Luke heard the shot whip past his ear as he pulled both triggers again. The lead hammered into Dunham’s body and knocked him backward off his feet. His revolver went off a second time as his finger jerked the trigger in a dying spasm, but the weapon was pointed skyward by then.
    Barnes caught himself as he stumbled backward but couldn’t stay on his feet. He pitched forward on his face. Godfrey was the only one still upright. His right arm hung limp at his side as streams of blood rolled down it from his bullet-shattered shoulder. He had dropped his gun. It lay on the dirt at his feet.
    â€œDon’t do it,” Luke warned as Godfrey started to lean over and reach for the fallen Colt with his left hand. Luke held the Remingtons at waist level and pointed both guns at him. “You won’t have a chance, you blasted fool.”
    â€œYou . . . you done killed Thad and Dewey,” Godfrey panted. Pain drew his face into gaunt lines. “Just like you killed Henry.”
    â€œBut you don’t have to die,” Luke said. “That gun arm’s never going to be any good again, mister. Your days as an outlaw are over no matter what you do. Might as well serve a stretch in prison and try to make something out of the life you’ve got left.” Luke shrugged. “Doesn’t make any difference to me. The reward’s good dead or alive.”
    Godfrey licked his lips, said, “Prison?” He laughed harshly. “Go to—”
    He lunged for the gun without finishing the epithet. Luke waited for him to grab it before squeezing both triggers. The slugs knocked Godfrey into a limp sprawl next to his dead comrades. He kicked once and then lay still.
    Luke holstered one of the Remingtons and started reloading the other. As he carried out that task with practiced ease, he glanced from the dead men to the stone and adobe wall looming over them. These three were hardly the first to die in front of the Alamo, but they were a lot more craven than the men who had given up their lives fighting for Texas’s independence.
    Somebody shouted nearby. Footsteps pounded on the street as they came toward Luke. The law would be on hand soon, and he’d have to go to the trouble of explaining who he was and why he had killed the three men. He would put in a claim for the rewards he had coming, too. The whole thing might delay him here in San Antonio for a day or two.
    But that shouldn’t matter, since he was already months behind Sam Brant. As soon as everything was taken care of, he would head north into the Hill Country and see if he could pick up the outlaw’s trail.
    Enchanted Rock might be the best place to start.

C HAPTER F IVE
    Fort Worth
    Â 
    The man and woman who got off the train in Fort Worth the next morning drew admiring looks from everyone who saw them. The man was only slightly above medium height but was so muscular and well-built he appeared bigger. His shoulders were especially impressive. They seemed to be as wide as an ax handle. He wore a brown tweed suit but looked like he would be more at home in range garb. The tan, broad-brimmed hat on his ash-blond hair just reinforced that image.
    The woman with him was also dressed well. She possessed the sort of classic beauty that made men sigh and other women scowl if they were the jealous sort. Her thick, dark hair was arranged in an elaborate pile of curls under the neat little hat pinned on it.
    Together they made a mighty