Jerusalem Man 02 - The Last Guardian Read Online Free PDF

up at him. 'Will you not step down, sir?' she asked. The men chuckled but she ignored them, keeping her eyes fixed to Scar-face.
    'Oh, we'll step down right enough,' he said. Td step down into Hell for a woman with a body like yours.' Lifting his leg over the saddle pommel, he slid to the ground and advanced on her. Taking a swift step forward, she curled her left arm up over his shoulder, drawing him down to a passionate kiss. At the same time her right hand slid up between them and the cold barrels of the flintlock pressed into his groin. Beth moved her head so that her mouth was close to his ear.
    'What you are feeling, pig-breath, is a gun,' she whispered. 'Now tell your men to change the wheel on the wagon. And touch nothing in it.'
    'Ain't ya gonna share her, Harry?' called one rider.
    For a moment Scar-face toyed with the idea of making a grab for the pistol, but he glanced down into Beth's steely blue eyes and changed his mind.
    'We'll talk about it later, Quint,' he said. 'First, you boys change that wheel.'
    'Change ... we didn't ride in here to change no damned wheel!' roared Quint.
    'Do it!' hissed Scar-face. 'Or I'll rip your guts out.'

    The men swung down from their mounts and set to work - four of them taking the weight of the wagon and the fifth, Quint, hammering loose the wheel-pin and manhandling the broken wheel free. Beth walked Scar-face to the edge of the camp, where she ordered him to sit on a round boulder. She sat to the right of him, leaving his body between her and the working men; out of sight, the flintlock remained pressed now to his ribs.
    'You're a smart bitch,' said Scar-face, 'and - except for that big nose - a pretty one. Would you really shoot me?'
    'Sooner than spit,' she assured him. 'Now, when those men have finished their chore you'll send them back to wherever your camp is. Am I making myself clear, dung-brain?'
    'It's done, Harry. Now do we get down to it?' called Quint.
    'Ride back to camp. I'll see you there in a couple of hours.'
    'Now wait a goddamned minute! You ain't keepin' the whore to yourself. No ways!' Quint turned to look to the others for support, but the men shifted nervously. Then two of them mounted their horses and the others followed.
    'Dammit, Harry. It ain't fair!' protested Quint, but he backed to his mount and stepped into the saddle nevertheless.
    As they rode from the camp, Beth lifted the heavy pistol from the scabbard at Scar-face's hip.
    Then she stood and moved away from him. The children climbed out of the wagon.
    'What you going to do now, Ma?' asked Samuel. 'You gonna kill him?'
    Beth passed the brigand's gun to Mary; it was a cap and ball percussion revolver. 'Get the pliers and pull off the brass caps, girl,' she said. Mary carried the gun to the wagon and opened the tool box; one by one she stripped the caps from the weapon, then returned it to her mother. Beth threw it to Scar-face and he caught it deftly and slid it home in its scabbard.
    'Now what?' he asked.
    'Now we wait for a while, and then you go back to your men.'
    'You think I won't come back?'
    'You'll think about it,' she admitted. 'Then you'll realise just how they'll laugh when you tell them I held a gun to your instrument and forced you to mend my wagon. No, you'll tell them I was one Hell of a lay and you let me ride on.'
    'They'll be fightin' mad,' he said. Then he grinned. 'Sweet Jesus, but you're a woman worth fightin' over! Where you headed?'
    'Pilgrim's Valley,' she told him. There was no point in lying; the wagon tracks would be easy to follow.
    'See those peaks yonder? Cut to the right of them. There's a trail there - it's high and narrow, but it will save you four days. You can't miss it. A long time ago someone placed out a stone arrow, and cut signs into the trees. Follow it through and you'll find Pilgrim's Valley is around two days beyond.'
    'I may just take your advice, Harry,' she said. 'Mary, prepare some herb tea for our guest. But don't get too close to him; I'd like a