Free Iron Eyes Must Die by Rory Black

down
here!’
    ‘ Reckon all ya gotta do is wait for me to turn my back and
then you’ll start shootin’!’ Hanney kicked a bale of hay over the
edge of the loft platform. It hit the stable floor. The horses
inside the dark interior of the large building all whinnied at the
same time and fought against their restraints.
    Shod hoofs kicked at everything.
    The noise was deafening.
    ‘ Quiet
these nags down, old man!’ the outlaw shouted above the
ear-splitting noise.
    Duke Hanney smiled and watched as the bounty
hunter started to rise. Iron Eyes straightened up to his full
height.
    He leapt from the loft.
    Like a mountain lion seeking its chosen prey,
the bounty hunter flew through the air towards his target. Both his
boots hit the neck and shoulders of the outlaw. The two men crashed
into the ground. Iron Eyes fell to the side with the knife in his
hand. He watched the stunned outlaw roll over on his shoulder and
drag his lethal gun from its holster.
    Before the outlaw could fire, the bounty
hunter drew his arm back and unleashed his weapon. He threw the
Bowie knife straight and true.
    His aim was deadly accurate.
    The outlaw staggered back when
the long, honed blade entered his chest with ferocious force. Only
its handle guard stopped it from going all the way through his lean
frame.
    He hit the wooden partition of the
horse-stall and slid to the floor. A trail of gore covered the
wood.
    Iron Eyes leaned over, grabbed
hold of the knife handle and pulled it clear of the dead
outlaw ’s
chest. The body slid inertly on to its side.
    ‘ Ya
get him, boy?’ Hanney asked. He descended the ladder and moved
quickly across the stables to the gaunt figure. ‘Ya kill the evil
critter?’
    ‘ I
killed him OK!’ Iron Eyes wiped the blood off his knife and slid it
down into his boot. He gritted his teeth and grabbed the dead
outlaw’s hair.
    ‘ Dead
centre!’ Hanney enthused as his wrinkled eyes stared at the
bloodstained shirt. ‘Never seen anyone throw a knife like that
before, boy!’
    ‘ Give
me a hand, Hanney. Grab his legs. We’d better hide this
carcass!’
    Both men hauled the dead weight back into the
shadows and covered it with hay.
    ‘ Ya
gonna try and get the drop on the rest of them dirty varmints, Iron
Eyes?’ Hanney asked as they moved to the tall open
doors.
    Iron Eyes leaned against the doorframe and
squinted out into the sun-baked streets of Rio Concho. He knew that
there was probably bounty on all the outlaws who controlled the
remote town. Yet who were they really? And how much were they
actually worth?
    ‘ I
wonder if there are any wanted posters in the sheriff’s office,
Hanney?’ he muttered thoughtfully. ‘There ain’t nothing worse than
killing wanted outlaws and not knowing how much money’s on their
heads. Did ya brother Tom keep any wanted posters in his office,
Hanney?’
    Hanney gripped Iron
Eyes ’ arm
and pulled him around.
    Their eyes met.
    ‘ Steady on, boy! Ya ain’t seriously thinkin’ of going back
to the sheriff’s office, are ya?’
    ‘ Yep,
I sure am. Maybe ya brother Tom had a pile of posters tucked away
in his desk or someplace. These varmints have to be worth
something. I wanna know how much.’
    ‘ Don’t
be loco!’ the stableman pleaded. ‘They’ll kill ya on sight! Ya have
to lie low until sundown, boy! Think about it, Iron Eyes. Ya lost a
lotta blood. You gotta try and get some strength back in that
pitiful body of yours. Right?’
    ‘ I
feel OK!’
    ‘ But
there are too many of them!’ Hanney insisted.
    ‘ I’ve
faced more and come out the winner!’ Iron Eyes ran his fingers
through his limp, sweat-soaked hair.
    ‘ Wait
until dark. OK?’
    ‘ How
long is it until sundown, old-timer?’
    ‘ Not
long. No more than a couple of hours, Iron Eyes,’ the older man
answered. ‘Come with me. You can hide out in my cabin until then.
It’s out back. What ya say?’
    The sharp-eared bounty hunter
could still
hear the men who were searching for him. Iron Eyes