Read Online Shoot Angel! by Frederick H. Christian - Free Book Online Page B

into the chamber.
    ‘ You
hold that horse right there, friend!’ Angel warned. ‘I can take you
out easy from where I am!’
    The rider cleared his throat
and spat into the dust. He leaned forward, peering in the direction
of Angel ’s
cover.
    ‘ Come
on out of there, boy,’ he yelled. ‘Bad enough you tried to break
out. Now you gone and shot one of us! Boy, you are dead already!
Now get yourself out here and fast, you son of a bitch!’
    ‘ Hey,’
Angel called, ‘you understand Spanish?’
    ‘ What?’ The rider scowled. ‘Naw, I don’t understand Spanish.
Why?’
    ‘ I figured you might
seeing as you can’t understand English. I asked you to stay put
else you’re liable to got shot!’
    ‘ Balls!’ the rider roared. ‘Damn you, mister, I done wastin’
my time!’ Without another word he began to dismount.
    Angel shot his
lef t leg
from under him. The man lost control and fell face down on the
ground. He yelled in pain and anger. Before he could make any kind
of recovery Angel had stepped out from the rocks, crossed over to
where he lay, and had kicked the man’s rifle out of his reach. The
man grunted bitterly, staring up at Angel.
    ‘ You
bastard!’
    ‘ Shut
your mouth,’ Angel told him. ‘Figure yourself lucky you ain’t
dead!’
    The man began to reply, then
thought about what Angel had told him and fell silent. He made no
protest as Angel took his gun belt.
    Birdy and Capucci were coming
across the clearing to where Angel stood. Capucci was carrying the
weapons belonging to the man Angel had shot in the shoulder. He was
also leading the man ’s horse.
    ‘ How
the hell did you manage it?’ Birdy asked. He took the weapons Angel
handed him.
    ‘ I live right,’ Angel
told him. He returned to the rocks and brought out the horse he’d
left there.
    ‘ Where
to now?’ Birdy asked. ‘Angel?’
    ‘ You
know where I’m going,’ Angel said. ‘Use that horse, Birdy. Go where
the hell you like.’
    ‘ That’s about the only place you’re going, Angel!’ Capucci’s
voice rapped out the words.
    Angel turned slowly. He watched Capucci step
into the open, his right hand held close to the butt of the gun now
strapped around his waist.
    ‘ Now
what’s eating you, Capucci?’ Angel asked.
    ‘ I aim to kill you
before I ride out, Angel,’ Capucci stated.
    Angel ’s face remained
impassive.
    ‘ Why?
Because I put you down?’
    ‘ Yeah!
I didn’t like that. I don’t let no man just walk into my life and
do that! So we settle, Angel! Here—now!’
    Birdy threw up his hands in despair.
    ‘ Capucci, for God’s sake! You must be crazy! You don’t
figure to kill a man just because he punched you on the jaw and
knocked you down! Hell, Trench and his boys are swarming all over
these damn hills, liable to show up any minute and you want to play
gunfighters! What you got inside that thick head of yours?
Horseshit?’
    ‘ Stay
out of this, you little asshole!’ Capucci warned. ‘Put your nose in
and I’ll shoot it off!’
    ‘ That
before or after you’ve buried me?’ Angel asked.
    ‘ I don’t like your
funny mouth, Angel.’
    ‘ Capucci, I don’t want to fight you. But I’m not going to
back off and give you a chance to gun me when I ain’t looking. I
reckon you’re a fool to push this just for the sake of stupid pride
but that’s your problem.’
    ‘ Angel, I’m going to kill you! I’m going to blow you wide
open, you smart-assed bastard!’
    Capucci was grinning. A
confident expression filtered across his face. His right hand began
its swift movement towards the butt of the gun holstered on his
hip. Capucci felt the tips of his fingers stroke the smooth wood,
begin to curl around the shaped butt. He was watching Angel and
Angel hadn ’t
even moved. Capucci’s eyes narrowed. Disbelief clouded his face.
Angel hadn’t moved—yet there was a gun in his hand. He hadn’t moved
… had he? Damnit, he hadn’t! Capucci snatched at his own gun, felt
the comforting weight as it