Iron Eyes, no. 1 Read Online Free PDF Page B

alien to this ruthless man’s
knowledge.
    ‘ I heard about you.’ Her eyes darted at him briefly, before
turning away once more. Anything good?’
    ‘ Depends on your point of view.’
    Iron Eyes
looked at the lowered rifle, and then stepped closer to the slim
lady with the emotionless face.
    ‘ You ain’t aiming that iron at me anymore,’ he said, resting
his knuckles upon his bony hips.
    She nodded and
moved away from him. She seemed deep in thought as she paced
through the soft sand.
    Finally she
stopped, and turned her attention to the raging waters of the
swollen river as it roared past them with an unceasing fury.
    ‘ Yesterday that river was about six inches deep.’
    Iron Eyes
closed in on her.
    ‘ That when you crossed?’
    ‘ Yeah, that’s when I crossed.’ she replied.
    She could feel
his breath upon her neck as he stopped at her side and hovered,
like a bee watching a flower. Ready to take the pollen. Finally she
turned and gazed into his cold eyes.
    ‘ What you looking at?’
    Iron Eyes did
not answer. He just continued staring at her, with hunger in his
face. The hunger of a man who had never before seen something that
whetted his appetite.

Chapter Eight
    Dawn came
silently and a new day arrived with the usual burning sun and
blinding light.
    Somehow the
tall, thin man with the two Navy Colts tucked into his pants belt
had managed to sleep for several hours.
    Iron Eyes had
stayed near the wagon into which she had climbed the previous
evening, but never once moved closer.
    Jane had
worried him.
    She had
confused him.
    She had shot a
chunk of his left ear off and lived to tell the tale.
    Now he stood
watching the raging waters rolling past their campsite, wondering
what he should do next. All thoughts of just saddling up his pony
and riding away had left his mind. He kept casting a silent glance
at the wagon, wondering when she would step out into the morning
sunshine.
    The money he
was owed in El Paso no longer seemed important to the hard man. Yet
he could not understand why. His thin fingers touched the edge of
his ear, and he winced at the stinging pain that met him as he
found the scabbed wound.
    A woman had
blown a piece of his ear off and she still lived and breathed. He
accepted the fact.
    Iron Eyes had
once shot the head off a man for bumping into him in a saloon and
causing him to spill his beer. He knelt down and cupped the fresh
water in his hands, and tossed it over his face and head. This was
not an action that was based upon wishing to become clean but a
desire to try and wake up.
    He stood once
more as the water ran down his hair and face on to his shirt. He
rubbed his smooth chin and wondered why he had never had a growth
of whiskers like other men folk. He felt that he must have been
part Indian never to have developed hair on his narrow face. Having
only a scant recall of his mother and absolutely no knowledge of
who his father might have been, it was a distinct possibility.
    He dragged his
long legs through the sand to the pony who had remained tied to a
wheel of the wagon all night. He looked at the pinto and then the
large nearby oxen.
    How did a girl
manage to handle such a team?
    Horses were
tough enough, but the oxen were monsters in comparison to even the
largest horses he had ever encountered.
    Where was she
heading or where was she running from?
    He checked his
two Navy Colts and then put them back into his belt, before
wondering why he was hanging around this place with this strange
woman.
    If the river’s
level had dropped during the night, he might have saddled the pony
and ridden away. He might have, but even he doubted it.
    This female
named Jane had made him curious enough to alter his plans, if only
briefly
    He kept
thinking of the reward money, waiting for him across the wide Rio
Grande, and how he would normally not let anything slow his
progress at collecting it. Yet, for the first time in many years,
he felt as if there was no hurry.
    The money would
still be