The Ghost of Iron Eyes (An Iron Eyes Western Book 8) Read Online Free PDF

desperately
fought to regain its strength. For without the blistering heat of
the sun, the night saw even more deadly creatures emerge from their
lairs to seek out their chosen prey. And the severely weakened
bounty hunter was that prey. The twisting canyons became alive with
nocturnal hunters of every shape and size. A thousand types of
deadly insect, spider and lizard came out from their hiding-places,
as did the wolves and mountain cats.
    All with just one basic
instinct controlling their every action. To kill and eat and not be
killed or eaten.
    It was a nightly ritual that
the bounty hunter had so far survived. Yet for each of the previous
ten nights his ice-cold eyes had watched the pair of
mountain cats get bolder and bolder as they homed in on his weak
body.
    So it was as the sun gave
way once again to the bright moon.
    Iron Eyes had managed to
move a dozen yards along the canyon wall but still had no idea how
far he was from anything remotely resembling civilization. For the
man who was feared throughout the West, civilization meant only
three things.
    A soft hotel bed, a
plentiful supply of cigars and a bottle of anything remotely
similar to whiskey. Humanity could keep all the rest of its
trimmings. As long as he could drink the fiery distillation, he
would willingly sacrifice the bed and the smokes.
    But each of those items were
just vague memories now. Things his tired mind conjured up to
remind him that this place was somewhere to escape from.
    Not somewhere he would
willingly die in.
    His long fingers had become even more
bony during his enforced stay in this God-forsaken place. Yet they
were starting once again to move with the flexibility that had
allowed him to become a deadly shot with either hand.
    He continued to check the pair
of Navy Colts and ensure that they were free of the dust and sand
that filled his eyes and mouth. He needed these weapons to be in
full working order if he were to continue to survive the perils of
Devil ’s
Canyon.
    Then he heard the noise that
had haunted him for the previous week and a half.
    An ear-piercing series
of catcalls
rang out over the jagged peaks as one puma communicated with its
mate. They came from two different directions and taunted the
trapped man. The hunter in Iron Eyes knew that it meant the pumas
had returned and had his scent in their nostrils.
    The bounty
hunter ’s
steely gaze darted from one black shadow to another as he attempted
to see his hunters. But they were experts at moving through the
ragged peaks unseen. Only their haunting noise gave him any clue to
where the slim athletic animals might be.
    The mountain lions had a
strange, almost human cry which echoed all about him.
    It chilled the bones of all
men who heard it, all men except Iron Eyes. He had spent too many
years hunting every known creature to be alarmed by the sound of
large cats as they vainly attempted to spook their chosen prey.
Their claws and fangs were no match for the bullets that had torn
his body apart over the years he had roamed the West.
    If they did get the better
of him, Iron Eyes knew that they would kill him swiftly. For they
were driven by hunger and not malice like so many of his
enemies.
    Then he saw them.
    Two magnificent
animals.
    Iron Eyes peered intently into the moonlit
ridge and watched the silhouettes of the animals as they closed the
distance between themselves and the injured bounty
hunter.
    Every night they had grown
bolder.
    At first Iron Eyes had
managed to make them turn tail by shouting at them. A few nights
later, even his most hearty of calls had not discouraged their
advance.
    He had wasted ten bullets in
as many nights frightening them away, but even that had started to
hold no fear for the pair of mountain lions.
    Their feline brains had
confused his random gunfire with an inability to hit his targets.
They were now close enough to smell the injured
man ’s scent
on the evening air. The dried blood drew them like flies to an
outhouse.
    Iron Eyes