Read Online Novel 1954 - Utah Blaine (As Jim Mayo) (v5.0) by Louis L’Amour - Free Book Online Page B

or ability could not be gauged. He was given to sudden driving impulses, and reason had no part in them. If he went into one of his killing furies the range might be soaked with blood within the week.
    Nevertheless, Nevers fully appreciated the strategic value of the accomplished fact. If he were sitting at Headquarters on the 46, his position would be strong and he could dictate terms. Moreover, because of his affiliation with the hands of the two big spreads, he far outnumbered the others.

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    W HEN CLELL MILLER reached the ranch house on the 46 he found it almost deserted. A few of the hands were around and they told him that neither Utah nor Lud were around. Fuller and some of his men had been sent off to work the north range and had not returned. Rip Coker was riding with Blaine.
    Clell considered that while he built a smoke. Coker was a tough hand. If he had decided to ride with Blaine, they would make a tough combination to buck. Alone he couldn’t tackle them. He turned his horse and rode south, heading for the river and the easiest route to the Big N.
    Clell Miller was a man at odds with himself. For the first time a killing was riding him hard. The memory of the falling of Tom Kelsey, and the memory of just how good a man Kelsey had been nagged at him and worried him. He could not shake it off, and that had never been true before. An old timer had told him just what would happen, and that was years ago. “You’re fast with your guns, Clell,” he had said. “But someday you’ll shoot the wrong man an’ you’ll never rest easy again.”
    Hunching his shoulders against the chill, Miller stared bitterly into the darkness. The night seemed unusually cold, and suddenly he felt a sharp distaste for going back to the Big N, for seeing those hot, greedy eyes of Nevers, the dried-up, poison-mean face of Rink Witter.

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    U TAH BLAINE RODE up to the B-Bar and swung down. Then he said to Rip, “We’ll have a showdown with the crew, right now.”
    He walked swiftly to the bunkhouse. Coker heard Timm come to the door. “Stay where you are, Timm. We’ll handle it.” He walked after Blaine who threw open the door of the bunkhouse and stepped in.
    Five men were there. The other hands were off somewhere. One of those was dead drunk and snoring on a bunk. The others looked up when Blaine stepped in. Coker followed and moved swiftly to the right.
    “Showdown, men!” Blaine spoke crisply. “All cards on the table. Neal’s been murdered by Rink Witter. Clell Miller has killed Tom Kelsey, shot him down up on the Mocking Bird. Now you declare yourselves. If you’re with us, fine! If you’re not, you ride off the ranch right this minute, just as you are. If you want to call, shuck your iron and let’s see how many of you die game!”
    Nobody moved. Not a man there but had used a gun. Not a man there but who had been in fights. So they knew this one, and they liked nothing about it. With those two men facing them even their numerical superiority would not help. Several men would die in those close quarters and none of them wanted to die. Each seemed to feel that Blaine was directing his full attention at him.
    “Always wanted a shot at some of you,” Coker said easily. “Suppose we settle this fight right now. If you boys want it, you can have it.”
    A short, squat man with a stubble of coarse beard and a bald head spoke. “We’ll ride out. We ain’t afeerd, but we ain’t buckin’ no stacked deck. Do we take our guns?”
    Blaine laughed. “Why, sure! I’d never shoot an unarmed man an’ some of you rannies may need killin’! Take ’em along, but remember this: if I ever see any one of you east of Copper Creek or north of Deadman again, he’d better be grabbin’ iron when I see him.”
    “My sentiments,” Coker agreed. “Any of you feel like takin’ a hand right now? Utah figures we should give you an out. Me, I’d as soon open the pot right now.”
    The bald man stared at him. “You wait.