| Show AA 4 EL ss re qa balan le MAY SERVICE THE STORY THUS PAR FAR melody jones a and nd george fury had ridden into payneville Pay neville melody mistaken tor for the outlaw monte jarrad montes girl cherry with george met lee montes pardner as he and melody were leaving the city they overpowered lee and went to the shack where monte hid the express money luke packer the insurance cop was there and shot by someone outside when II melody elWy returned with the horses they found the sheriff in the cabin but the body gone they soon found the money hid in wall with the body of luke at this point melody and cherry were tile able to make a break and get away fury had met up with monte he was determined ter mined to take monte into town CHAPTER XV all expression had left monte jar wa face except for a clear bright coless ess in his eyes as in the eyes of a lynx crazy he murmured as it if talking to himself he fired then he hardly seemed to go through the motions of a draw at all the weapon came so smoothly from the tied down holster at his thigh all george fury ever saw was a general galvanizing jerk of monte Jar whole frame and instantly the gun blasted in montes monte s hand as if it had been there all the time george fury doubled and pitched forward as if he had been struck in the middle by a swinging log his gun which he had somehow grabbed out of its leather fired only a bare instant after Jar weapon but it exploded downward blowing half of the little campfire away and the recoil almost tore it out of george burys slackened hand monte jarrad reclined motionless his face impassive but his eyes awake watching the man who was down his gun was cocked and steady after a moment or two he noticed that george burys right hand half covered a living coal from the little fire but did not draw away when he saw this jarrad let the hammer down easing it gently he turned the cylinder of the until it rested on an empty chamber then got out a stiff wire and a bit of rag and cleaned the gun bore before he reloaded his hands bands did these tasks automatically long practiced his eyes stayed upon george fury but the old man did not move when his gun was ret returned arned to its olster jarrad put the last of the fire out he left the place stiffly half carrying and half dragging his saddle by one stirrup morning was leaking out of the far off dragonette ranges as melody jones drew near the ramshackle ranch house of the busted nose first a dull green illumination appeared in the eastern sky without in any way lighting the soot black trail and as this appeared the red poppers began to go beep in the brush after a time this first effort withdrew so that the night seemed blacker than before but a muddy grayness was beginning to pervade the ranges as if seeping up out of the ground by the time this had increased to full dawn melody was sitting his pony behind a stand of I 1 locust watching the ranch house tom om a respectful distance of more than four hundred yards when the busted nose showed no sign of life at this range melody moved closer by easy easy stages watching his back trail as much as he watched the house and listening to the morning warily so far as he could find out he was alone in the world entirely ever even the bear cub had been turned loose or had worked its way free from its chain beside the broken screen door As melody prospected closer a late ranging armadillo trundled around the corner of the house and disappeared without hurry melody was satisfied with that the animal w would have known better than he could if anyone anyone were around he rode to the back stoop of the house without further caution he unsaddled harry henshaw watered him and rubbed the donys back with handfuls of dry straw he brought hay and a bait of grain from the barn and fed harry on the back gallery close by the door while the horse dug into it melody loose saddled him again he left the bridle dangling by its headstall head stall from harrys head the bit clanking free as the pony shook the hay to dust it after that he walked a little way out from the house to get away from the sound of the donys munching and listened a while longer very lonely in the dawn and then made a fire in the stove with more than necessary thuds and bangs to be rid of the insufferable quiet A hot smell of coffee smelling ten times better than it would ever taste began floating downwind down wind from the busted nose melody rummaged for something to eat which would take no work to fix his back was to the door and his hands were pawing over a shelf of canned goods when the kitchen darkened faintly his hands bands fali faltered ered but only for an instant he went on with what he was doing without looking around stalling over the labels somebody was standing in the doorway he knew that much though he had heard bieard no approach Mel odys right hand weighed a can of tomatoes testing it as a weapon but he set it down melody turned slowly empty handed and for the first time in his bis life faced monte tonte jarrad hi melody said the man in the doorway grunted even if the light had bad been better instead of directly behind jarrad melody might not have recognized n him yet looking for somebody melody asked this stranger monte jarrad took in the whole layout lay out coolly the room first then melody jones melody saw him notice where the carbine was just passing by jarrad said watching jones oddly his voice had a soft lack of tone to it very unsettling you dont need to be so edgy melody said we dont ask no questions here want some coffee ill get it myself dont go over there dont go any place stay against that wall back up against it a little closer he gave these orders casually not even bothering to look closely at melody his eyes kept wandering around the room checking and checking and rechecking checking re r e now you looky here melody began want to play like you dont know me huh jarrad commented his eyes still wandering 1 I never seen you before in my born days Jar gaze stopped wandering nor heard of me neither I 1 suppose 1 I cant keep knowledge of every grub testing punk that 2 he stopped short mats the matter jarrad asked sardonically melody looked puzzled it come to me for a minute that you might be monte jarrad but you aint no no this jarrad weasel looks so methin like I 1 do it fools people I 1 I 1 even its a hard thing to say about a man when I 1 think of being mis for the kind of chuckle head that you look like to me its enough to turn a feller sick melody looked at him with pity dont let it worry you he said nobody ever mistook me for no such limping wreck as you be its small wonder you got by lightning or something the manners you got and heres another thing well ill be damned said jarrad and heres another thing keep on like youre haiding hadding ha iding and think lightning hit you again the two looked at each other strangely across the kitchen table A feller never knows monte jarrad said obscurely as if to him Z Z i K george fury doubled an and pitched forward self dont make much difference in the long run I 1 reckon stand closer to the wall I 1 dont figure I 1 got much better than an hour here so youre him melody said as if he believe it he stood staring idiotically as people look at some great mysterious phenomenon they have heard about all their lives its a hell of a disappointment tie he said at last take off your boots jarrad ordered slowly melody un buckled his spur straps it beats me he said what she sees in you jarrad ill take your belt and your hat and whatever trash is in them pockets I 1 suppose that bone pile out there with my saddle on it you call that your horse 11 and that carbine you slung out in the dirt was your car carbine binel you can have it now well get your own saddle on that old hide you can have mine this wont do you no good melody told him even it if we swap every stitch we own there still wont be any sear scar on my bean no monte admitted no there never will be but I 1 suppose there can still be the place where one was when the meaning of this soaked in on melody he studied monte jar i lad ad for a long time you got clam my edees he said at last without much assurance id ruther be daid than in your place you can have both jarrad said jones obeyed as monte jarrad swapped boots hat and equipment with him and finally switched his own old worn hull bull to harry henshaw after that was done melody was kept standing against the wall of the kitchen while jarrad one handed drank his coffee there was still something monte wanted to know but he know how to get at it some very peculiar things were running in Mel odys mind just then he knew he was going to make some kind of a play and he knew it going to be any good he entirely believed what monte had said that he might knock monte out but not fast enough so that montes gun get him where did she say you was from monte asked him montana A place called two lance but that aint what you want to know monte came out with it then what was going on he asked the night you was in cherrys chernys Cher rys room which night you mean which oh you mean that one nothing nothing then Jar eyes looked as it if they could eat through a horse blanket just what the hell do you mean by then maybe you got me over a barl but you aint going to forget me what short time you live because that girl aint yours no more and never will be again monte jarrad stood and stared at him glassy eyed it dont matter how daid I 1 be or nothing melody said pouring it into him slowly daid or alive im your finish you aint never going to get nothing you want again I 1 can stand in your light ten times better when im daid than I 1 ever done yet and when you finally puke blood and die know it was as me that done it some way monte jarrad stared at hi him rn dumbfounded too profoundly shocked to explode nobody had ever talked to him like that in his life before be an earmarked ghost monte said looking at Mel odys ear 1 I already got my notch on you I 1 see but his mind was not on it reckon it wont show with a coffin on melody answered different with the mark I 1 got on you because I 1 taken her away from you you hear whether she knows it or not two riders were coming in walking their horses the stride of the ponies conveyed to the listeners by the hoof rhythm was unhurried yet they moved in boldly with n no 0 pauses to spy out the situation I 1 nto into which they headed melody shifted to crane his neck stand where you are monte snarled at him monte backed across the angle of the room until he could flick a glance through the door in the direction of the corral without giving melody a chance to make a breake break you dont see em melody drawled without sighting anything himself because they gone in the barn I 1 can tell that by ear and I 1 can tell you something else you dont need to look so because one of them is cherrys chernys Cher rys horse I 1 can tell because I 1 know he a shoe he bother to answer melody so now you can ask her for yourself melody said shell walk in here in a minute ask here if what I 1 told you is so ask her what that gun will get you from here on in if you had sense turn it on yourself and duck a peck 0 misery shut up montes eyes carefully watching melody kept flicking toward the barn and presently melody knew by montes face that he had been right and that cherry had come into montes view very slowly monte jarrad put his gun away but as it settled into its holster he tested it to be sure that it rested there lightly light li he could draw it again much faster than another man could spit they were standing there like that silent and watchful in suspended motion as chery de longpre came across the gallery to the door and stopped there cherys face had no color bloodless because she was tired her hair was tumbled and her clothes hard worked but her head was up hello cherry monte jarrad said 1 I cant remember she said why I 1 ever thought you looked like each other me too melody said more conversationally ally if I 1 had bad realized what kind of looking jigger I 1 was mistook for I 1 sure would ot of high tailed out of here to begin on be still cherry said disdaining to raise her voice to him better go out to the barn bam george fury is out there hes hurt melody stared at her while this soaked in bad he asked finally hes dying I 1 think melody shifted his eyes to monte jarrad and held them there while he moved sidelong to the door she made room for him to pass once outside melody took a chance on turning his back and moved toward the barn at a run cherry looked after him tor for a moment without any change of expression cherry monte jarrad said are you crazy no cherry said sometimes a couple oi of times lately its sure seemed like there was something pretty funny in the slant you take about him Is there hes useless monte said low voiced without heat hes got less natural sense than a fresh dropped calf and aint worth half as much you could study him a lifetime and never find something he was good for yes cherry said monte why did you shoot george fury the old one he come looking for it he answered shortly cherry it if ever I 1 catch you yow fooling with a squirt like this melody I 1 wont stop with filling him IU ill kill you too you know that much dont you yes she said again 1 I know that monte I 1 guess she turned toward him unhurriedly and looked at him steadily and hard but id give anything in the world if you were a little bit like him TO BE CONTINUED v vat |
