Walk the Sky Read Online Free PDF Page B

up the gold piece and said, “George Hitchens is the only man I know foolish enough to leave payment for stuff he could just as easily walk off with.” Then he grinned and slipped the gold piece into his vest pocket.  
    Bolton looked uneasily around the store. This was the first town they had come across after a full day of riding, and it was completely deserted, as if the townspeople had just disappeared. The mayor couldn’t recall a time in his life when he’d felt as isolated and alone as he did right now. After the death of his son at the hands of Clay Miller, he’d been so filled with rage there wasn’t any room for the emptiness. But now, here ...  
    “What do you suppose happened to everyone?”  
    Logan shrugged. He absently wiped at the scar across his right check, where a drunk had once slashed him with a broken whiskey bottle just before Logan decked the man with the butt of his pistol.  
    “Don’t know.”  
    “It’s not natural.”  
    “Maybe so, but—”  
    Outside, an explosion of gunfire erupted.  
    Both men quickly turned to the front window of the mercantile, looking out on the street. They had put together a posse of five men to track Miller and Hitchens. Two of the men had dropped out the day before yesterday after one had encountered a rattler that left him with a superficial snakebite. The other three men were supposed to be out front, checking the nearby buildings.  
    “What the hell’s going on?” Bolton asked as the gunfire continued.  
    “Four men, on horses.” Logan drew his pistol, spun the cylinder to make sure there were no empty chambers. “Looks like they ambushed Samuel and Pete. Johnny’s got ’em pinned down from across the street, up high.”  
    “What do you plan on doing?”  
    “Making it a fair fight.”  
    Bolton grabbed the sheriff by the forearm. It was an instinctive grab and as he held it, his fingers began to tremble. Words caught in his throat, and he couldn’t bring himself to look his friend of many years in the eye, especially as the words finally forced their way free.  
    “It’s too late for that. You’ll let them know we’re here.”  
    Logan pulled his arm free from the mayor’s grip and raised the gun in the air. There was an expression of disgust etched in his face that Bolton would never forget.  
    “Please,” Bolton said. “You can’t leave me here.”  
    “No one’s holding you back.”  
    Logan’s body was pressed against the wall, his silver belt buckle buried under the bulk of his gut. He took a slow, deep breath. Then, in a move that defied his overlarge build, he rushed out the mercantile doors, gun blazing.  
    The sound was deafening.  
    Bolton fell back against the wall and did his best to watch the scene unfold through the front window without giving away his presence. His legs barely held him up as he witnessed Logan take out the first man with a shot that hit the man in the back of the head.  
    A spray of blood seemed to umbrella the entire area.  
    Bolton closed his eyes, saw a splash of red against the inside of his eyelids, and heard another shot go off. By the time his eyes opened again, he saw a second explosion of red as Johnny, from up high across the street, took out a second man.  
    In that moment, Bolton felt a spark of hope. Maybe things would go their way after all. Maybe it would all turn out okay and he’d live to see the sun rise in the morning.  
    But those hopes were shattered when the next shot slammed into the chest of his long-time friend. Logan teetered on the heels of his boots before falling backwards into a cloudy plume of dust.  
    Bolton sank to his knees, his legs no longer able to hold him.  
    He heard the scramble of men cross the plank walkway across the street, no doubt heading upstairs to do to Johnny what he had done to one of theirs. And then they would start going through the other buildings, one by one, looking for others. Sooner or later they were going to find