Confessions of a Gunfighter Read Online Free PDF

afternoon. 
    I rode until it got so dark that I couldn’t see no more, and then I stopped in a little draw that offered good cover. 
    I hardly slept at all that night. I kept having nightmares about Pa and Elliot being scalped and all, and the next morning I was restless and ready to move out.  
    To me it seemed that the wagon tracks looked fresher, and I was hopeful I would catch them sometime during the day. 
    The morning passed by uneventful, and by mid-afternoon I was getting worried. My stomach was growling, but by now all my grub was gone. 
    I finally rode out onto a ridge and saw them down below me. They were strung out in a long line, going forward steadily.
    It was then that the feeling came flooding over me. Suddenly I was fighting mad, and all I could think about was Pa and Elliot being buried behind me when they should be here, alive and well.
    I had a good view of the wagon train, and I looked it over carefully.
    I was looking for someone in particular, and I finally found him. 
    Tom Benson was riding way up in front. He was alone, and that suited me just fine.
    I pulled out my ivory handled six-shooter and made sure it was loaded right. I returned it to my holster, and then I kicked up Slim. He took off in a trot, and we rode down the ridge.

Chapter ten
     
     
    I avoided the wagons and rode straight towards Tom Benson. 
    He saw me coming from a long ways off, and he pulled up his horse and looked curiously at me.
    When I got closer he recognized me, and he was both irritated and surprised. Apparently, Benson had thought that he would never see any of us alive again.    
    “Where’s your Pa?” He asked roughly as I rode up.
    “He’s dead, and so’s Elliot,” I said bitterly.
    “What happened?”
    “You killed ’em!” I replied sharply.
    Benson was took back by my remark.
    “What do you mean by that?” 
    “You sabotaged our wagon so you could have Mrs. Day all to yourself!” I said angrily.
    “I did no such thing!” Benson declared, and his anger was starting to build. “You’d better get your facts straight boy, or else you’ll have me to answer to!”
    “You mean I’d best have my facts straight before the wagon train catches up!” I shot back. 
    “You watch your mouth!” Benson snarled. “Or else I’ll teach you some manners!”
    I looked at Benson boldly, and my hand hovered over my gun handle. 
    “You try it and see just how far you get,” I said.
    I was in trouble, but the feeling was pushing me on, and I just didn’t care. 
    “Soon as I can I’ll tell everybody what you did, and you’ll be facing a lynching party before suppertime.”  
    “I’ll kill you first!” Benson growled.
    Benson and I stared hard at each other, and suddenly I saw a flicker in Benson's eyes. His hand flew toward his gun, and I grabbed for my six-shooter.
    Benson was a seasoned gunfighter, and he had his gun out and was firing away before I even had my six-shooter out of my holster.
    I should have been shot dead. But, luckily Benson's sudden movements startled Slim, and Slim snorted and jumped sideways right as Benson fired. 
    I heard the sharp whip of a bullet as it flew by my ear, and then I had my Colt up and firing.
    My first shot took Benson in the belly, and my second shot hit him dead center in the chest. 
    Benson’s face went wild with terror as the bullets’ impact threw him backwards. He hit the ground, and just like that he was dead.           
    The wagons pulled up behind us.
    “What happened?” One of the men asked as several of them rushed up. 
    They took a look at Benson, and then they looked up at me.
    “Why’d you kill him? Who drew first?” They asked.
    I didn’t answer. It was starting to sink in that I had just killed a man, and I kept looking down in disbelief at Benson.
    Everybody was still excited and demanding answers, but suddenly all I wanted was to get away. 
    I holstered my pistol, and then I turned Slim around and left.

Chapter