The Gallows Gang Read Online Free PDF

side.
    ‘Those were our orders,’ Shackleton said, ‘and we ain’t the ones in charge no more.’
    ‘I know,’ Elwood said unhappily as the riders hurried into sight and initiated a ferocious burst of gunfire from numerous directions along the ridge. ‘We’d have avoided all this.’
     
    ‘Pablo’s a fool,’ Hiram Deeds said as the gunfire echoed. ‘He’s been seen.’
    As the gunfire roused the prisoners from their slumbers he yanked Javier outside and slammed the cage door in Nathaniel’s face.
    ‘That means you’ve failed,’ Javier Rodriguez muttered, facing Hiram.
    ‘I haven’t. Just slip away like I planned while I take care of things here.’
    Hiram reached into his jacket and when his hand emerged he was brandishing a stick of dynamite.
    ‘What you doing with that?’ Javier demanded.
    ‘What do you think I’m doing?’ Hiram snapped. ‘I’m blowing up the cage and sending it down into the canyon. Then nobody will be able to work out if you were in there or not.’
    Nathaniel was surprised to see that Javier, a manwho was supposedly utterly ruthless, balked at this plan.
    Slowly, Javier paced up to Hiram. He glanced down at the stick, then grunted with anger. He batted it away with one hand while lunging for Hiram’s holster with the other. Before Hiram could react the gun was in Javier’s hand and he had twirled it round in his grip.
    Gunfire roared as Javier blasted a slug into Hiram’s guts at point-blank range, making him fold over and slump to the ground.
    Then Javier dropped to one knee. Within seconds three guards came running to investigate, but three crisp shots rang out as Javier peppered lead across them.
    Even before the bodies had stopped twitching, Javier had ripped the keys from Hiram’s hand.
    Then he collected guns from the two nearest guards and turned to the cage to face the prisoners. They were now all awake and they considered him through the bars with a mixture of concern ( presumably because most had heard Hiram’s plan), and hope.
    Javier Rodriguez wasted no time in letting them know their fate.
    ‘I have the keys,’ he said, holding them high. ‘I can either leave you for the gallows, or you can join me. You might not live for long, but I can promise you we’ll blaze a trail that people will talk about for a thousand years, and when you do die, you’ll die as free men.’
    The echoing cheer gave Javier all the answers he needed. He hurried to the cage and passed the manacle key through the bars while he opened the cage door.
    Nathaniel watched proceedings quietly as the key got passed from hand to hand, but when it reached the last prisoner before him, Mitch Cartwright spoke up.
    ‘Don’t give it to him,’ he said. ‘That double-crosser ain’t coming with us.’
    ‘What Turner said about me was a lie,’ Nathaniel said, as Mitch slipped out of the cage, leaving him and The Preacher the only prisoners left inside.
    ‘It sure wasn’t,’ Mitch said, smirking. ‘But don’t worry. When we’ve gone The Preacher might forgive you, provided he doesn’t get hungry first.’
    Several prisoners snorted a laugh, agreeing with Mitch’s plan to leave him, but Turner pushed Mitch aside and paced up to the cage.
    ‘I have a better idea,’ he said, holding Hiram’s stick of dynamite high. ‘Hiram was going to blow up the cage to hide what he did here. I reckon we should still do that, but with our double-crosser inside.’
    This suggestion made Nathaniel swirl round and shake the bars.
    ‘Someone listen to me!’ he demanded. ‘You have to listen to the truth about Turner.’
    Everyone ignored him and the few who did react grunted their support for Turner’s plan.
    So Mitch checked that Nathaniel’s chains stillsecured him to the bars while Turner lit the fuse. Then he pushed the stick through the bars at the opposite end of the cage to where Nathaniel sat. It rolled only a few feet in. He caught Nathaniel’s eye.
    ‘It looks as if I’m the one,’ he