Free Valley Of the Sun (Ss) (1995) by Louis L'amour

. . say a w ord where it matters." .
    He stepped to the edge of the porch, a tall man, honed down by sparse living and hard years, his wedge-shaped face unshaven, his eyes cool, waiting. It had been like this on the Nueces . . only different .
    They drew up, a line of men on horses .
    Lee Dunn and Gerlach at the center .
    He saw no others, he thought of no others .
    These were the ones .
    "Hello, Dunn." .
    The knifelike man studied him, his hands on . t he horn of his saddle .
    "Dunn, I'm serving notice. Tom Hitch . s ent me a note. His orders were for me to take . o ver." .
    "Think you can?" .
    "I can." .
    Lee Dunn waited . . why he waited he . c ould not have said. He had heard from Gerlach that this man was yellow. Looking at him, seeing him, he knew he was not. He knew another thing--th man was a gunfighter .
    "Who are you, Ryan? Should I know you?" .
    "From the Nueces . . maybe you heard of the .
    Kenzie outfit." .
    Lee Dunn's lips thinned down. Of course . . he should have known. It had been a feud . . and at the last count there were five Kenzies and one Ryan left. And now there was still one Ryan ..
    "So this is the way it is," Matt said, making his plea. "The old days are over, Lee. You an' me, we're of the past. Old Tom was, too. He was a good man, and his guns kept the peace and made the law. But the old days of living by the gun are gone, Lee. We can admit it, or we can die." .
    "Where's the girl?" Gerlach demanded .
    "Gone with her father. They are in the valley now . r ounding up all of Old Tom's supporters from the Slumberin' Hills." .
    His eyes held on them, seeing them both, knowing them both. "What's it to be, Dunn?" .
    A voice spoke behind him. "I did not go. . . Dad went. I'm here with a shotgun and I'm saying it's between Matt Ryan and the two, Gerlach and Dunn. I'll kill any man who lifts a gun other than them." .
    "Fair enough." It was a lean, hatchet-faced hand. "This I wanta see." .
    Lee Dunn sat very still, but he was smiling .
    "Why, Matt, I reckon mebbe you're right. But you know, Matt, I've heard a sight about you . . never figured to meet you . . an' I can't help wonderin', Matt-- . A re you faster than me?" .
    He spoke and he drew and he died falling. He hit dust and he rolled over and he was dead, but he was trying to get up, and then he rolled over again, but he had his gun out. The gun fired and the bullet plowed a furrow and that was all .
    Gerlach had not moved. His face was gray and seemed suddenly thinner. As though hypnotized, he stared at the thin tendril of smoke from the muzzle of Ryan's .44 Colt .
    Slowly, his tongue touched his dry lips, and he swallowed .
    "You boys will be ridin' on," Ryan said quietly. "That rope you got there should be handy. There's a tree down the trail . . unless you want to ride out with a yella-belly." .
    "Ain't honin' to," the hatchet-faced man said. He looked down at Lee. "He made his try, Ryan. Give him a send-off, will you?" .
    Matt nodded, and Kitty walked out and stood beside him, watching them ride away, gathered around Gerlach, who sat his horse as if stunned. Only now his hands were tied .
    Matt Ryan looked down at Kitty, and he took her arm and said, "You know, you'll do to ride the river with, Kit. You're a girl to walk beside a man . . wherever he goes." .
    "Come in," she said, but her eyes said more than that. "I've some coffee on." .
    * .
    No Man's Mesa .
    It dominated the desert and the slim green valleys that lay between the peaks or in the canyon bottoms. It was high--over six hundred feet .
    The lower part was a talus slope, steep, but it had been climbed. The last three hundred feet was sheer except upon one corner where the rock was shattered and broken edges protruded. This, it was said, was the remnant of the ancient trail to the flat top of the mesa .
    There was, legend said, a flowing spring atop the mesa, there were trees and grass and an ancient crater, but all this was talk, for no living man had seen any of it .
    The place