Read Online A Lust For Lead by Robert Davis - Free Book Online Page B

the holster empty and about the right size for a small pocket gun.
Shane turned and shot Buchanan a withering glare. It was unconscionable that someone so young was competing. Buchanan only grinned. ‘She’s not what you expected, is she? Don’t be fooled by how she looks. That little bitch might even give you a run for your money.’
Shane felt the deepest revulsion. He turned back to see that the girl had been passed over to Nathaniel, who was now leading her down the wooden steps from the porch. There was something odd about the way she moved, her steps wooden and unbalanced, as if walking was unfamiliar to her.
‘Nathaniel found her in an asylum in New England.’ Buchanan explained. ‘One of the doctors there sold her to him for twenty bucks.’
She had reached the foot of the steps and Nathaniel steered her toward the crossroads. Her feet scuffed in the dirt and Shane noticed that her attention was elsewhere. Her eyes, unblinking, seemed fixed on something that only she could see.
Escoban Cadero thought she was a joke. ‘What is this?’ he demanded. ‘You expect me to shoot a child?’
‘If you can,’ Nathaniel replied. ‘But I assure you it won’t be as easy as you think.’
‘You play games with me.’
‘No. No games. Chastity has the same right to be here as any of you.’
Cadero shrugged. ‘It makes no difference to me,’ he said. ‘It will not be the first time that I have killed a child.’
Nathaniel had to steer the girl by the shoulders to get her to face Cadero. Even then, she seemed unaware of his presence. Her gaze wandered, eyes distant. Her arms hung uselessly by her sides.
‘She’s got no mind.’ Buchanan explained. ‘No will. Nothing. That girl’s a clean slate.’
His meaning was perfectly clear to Shane and it provoked an anger in him that was fiercer than anything he had known in years.
A clean slate.
The idea of it was so terrible that he did not want to believe it was true, and yet the proof was right there in front of him.
He watched as Nathaniel reached into his jacket and withdrew a small, double-action .41 calibre pocket revolver. With only a three inch barrel it was just the right size for Chastity’s small hands. Nathaniel set it in her holster and, before he left, he whispered in her ear. ‘Make daddy proud,’ he said, and then hurried from the crossroads as if he had just lit the fuse on a stick of dynamite.
Escoban Cadero snorted irritably, still convinced that he was being fooled with. Chastity was not even looking at him. She stared blindly at the roadside, her head cocked to one side, arms limp.
Then she blinked. The change that came over her was so abrupt that Shane’s breath caught in his throat. Her eyes suddenly became focussed and her head straightened on her shoulders and turned about mechanically to face towards Cadero, who gasped with surprise. ‘Que pasa?’
‘Now he’s for it.’ Buchanan said, his voice an excited whisper.
‘Contestants!’ Nathaniel shouted. ‘You may fire when ready.’
Escoban Cadero reached instantly for his gun.
And the side of his head exploded in a violent shower of blood.

His body stood there, gently swaying back and forth while the contents of his head pattered down around him like a heavy shower of rain. Then his knees gave way and he crumpled on the spot.
He had not even had time to draw his gun from its holster.
Shane was awestruck. He had never seen anybody draw so fast. All around him, the town was gripped in silence as people stared, dumbstruck by Chastity’s skill.
The girl stood motionless, her arm extended and still pointing her diminutive revolver at the spot where Escoban Cadero had stood. She had not moved at all since she had killed him, remaining frozen on the spot as if held in a state of shock. There was a look of confusion in her eyes, as if she was unable to make a connection between the body on the ground and the man who had stood before her. It looked to Shane as if she was disappointed that she had