Read Online DC03 - Though Mountains Fall by Dale Cramer - Free Book Online

Cualnezqui, but you are welcome to keep looking for one if you wish.” Then he spotted Caleb. His arm dropped away from Miriam and he suddenly became serious again.
    “Your federales arrived just in time, Señor Bender. Half of the bandits fell in the streets and the rest have taken refuge in the church. The battle is all but over.”
    Another solitary pistol shot echoed from the distance. “Then why are they still shooting?” Caleb asked.
    Domingo shrugged. “The troops are cleaning up.”
    “Cleaning up?”
    “Sí. Some of the bandits were only wounded. The federales finish them.”
    “No! They can’t do that!” Horrified, Caleb went to the door to see for himself. From the height of the stables he could see over the walls to the far edge of the town below. The street was full of smoke, but in the distance he could make out what he thought were a couple of men, lying prone in the hazy street. The silhouette of a soldier appeared through the smoke and dust to stand over one of the downed bandits. The man on the ground moved, raised a hand. The soldier aimed his pistol, his arm recoiled, and a second later Caleb heard the sharp report. The bandit’s hand dropped lifeless into the dust.
    Caleb stormed out the door and down the hill toward the gate. The haciendado’s men parted for him as he stalked up to the gate, hoisted the bar aside and heaved open the heavy iron gate.
    He could see rifles lining the rooftops and protruding fromwindows, all pointed at the church. Four bandits lay scattered in the open ground between him and the church, none of them moving. Across the way he saw a clutch of federales gathered in the lee of the nearest building on the main street. One of them was peeking around the corner, watching the church.
    He headed straight for the federales, striding purposefully and erect across the thirty yards of open ground. Halfway there, a shot rang out from the belfry of the church, and dirt flew up in front of him. He didn’t flinch, didn’t break stride. A second shot tore open the front of his coat but didn’t touch his flesh. He kept walking, and this time a barrage of rifle fire answered from both sides, peppering the stone tower. Five yards short of his goal Caleb was tackled from behind and driven to the ground. Domingo grabbed his arm and yanked him roughly past the corner of the building, then helped him to his feet.
    “You are loco !” Domingo said, pointing. “The men in that church came here to kill us. Did you think they would not shoot at you?”
    Caleb ignored him, turning to the half-dozen soldiers who stood gaping at him in confusion. They wore brown uniforms with a thick belt on top of their shirts, and flat-top military caps. Apart from that, and the leather shoes on their feet in place of sandals, they looked nearly as ragged and desperate as the bandits.
    “Who is in charge here?”
    One of the federales stepped forward, bowed slightly and tipped his cap. A short hawk-faced man with a pencil-thin mustache, his dull brown tunic bore markings and medals the others didn’t have, though Caleb didn’t know what any of them meant.
    “ Capitán Soto, at your service.” The captain waved casually at the open ground Caleb had just crossed and added, “I must say I agree with your young friend. You are indeed loco, Señor . . .”
    “Bender. Caleb Bender. Captain Soto, you must stop your men from shooting the wounded. It is murder , plain and simple. I am the one who sent for you, but I would never have done it if I knew your men were going to slaughter people like pigs. I will not tolerate—”
    “Tolerate? You will not tolerate ?” Soto took a step closer and his eyes narrowed. “You have an American accent. You are not even Mexican , Señor Bender. I was told the haciendado sent for us, but it does not matter. I answer to my commander, and he to his, all the way up to el presidente himself. We do not take orders from the haciendado, and certainly not from some gringo.