Opal Read Online Free

catching a eye. ‘‘Atticus, watch out!’’
    The man on the ground snagged an arm around Atticus’s knees and, with a twist of his shoulders, sent the younger man toppling.
    Opal grabbed her holster and gun belt off the tree limb where she’d hung it for safekeeping, jerked out her pistol, and with the ease of long hours of practice, fired a round that splintered a rock by the man’s side. Shards of stone sliced both his face and shirt.
    ‘‘You done kilt me!’’ His yelp could probably be heard clear to Medora. Clapping a hand on his upper arm, he bellowed, ‘‘You shot me. I’m bleedin’.’’
    ‘‘If I’d have shot you, you wouldn’t be screaming like that. Get up!’’
    Atticus picked himself up out of the water and slapped his hat on his thigh. ‘‘Low-down . . . Why didn’t you just shoot him?’’ He hauled the drifter up by one arm. ‘‘Hand me that rope off your saddle.’’
    Opal kept her gun in one hand and retrieved the rope with the other. ‘‘If you move, I’ll be glad to shoot you in the knee, so make your choice.’’
    ‘‘I’m bleedin’ bad.’’
    ‘‘No you ain’t. Little rock cuts never hurt nobody.’’ Atticus dropped the loop over the man’s shoulders and cinched it around his upper arms, then flipped a couple more loops and tied it off. ‘‘You want to take him into town, or should I?’’
    ‘‘What good will that do?’’ Opal holstered her gun, grateful that Rand had had his way over her carrying a firearm. Ruby’d had three fits from west over that decision.
    ‘‘What do you want to do with him?’’
    ‘‘Let him swing from that tree branch over there.’’
    ‘‘I din’t hurt nobody. You can’t hang me!’’
    ‘‘Says who?’’ Opal arched an eyebrow and turned to gaze at the tree limb. ‘‘It’s just about the right height.’’ He thinks I mean to hang him by the neck . She kept back a chuckle with difficulty.
    Atticus gave the roped man a shove. ‘‘Get on over there.’’
    ‘‘Sure hate to waste a good rope on him. Maybe we better just shoot him and send the body down the river.’’
    Atticus appeared to stop and ponder before shaking his head.
    ‘‘Nah, bullets cost too much. Rope is better. Will leave a lesson for other varmints too.’’
    ‘‘I din’t do nothing!’’ Eyes wild as a roped mustang, the man stumbled and was saved from scraping his knees by the jerk Atticus applied to the rope.
    ‘‘Get on over there.’’
    Opal mounted Bay and took the end of the rope from Atticus. She flipped two twists around her saddle horn, as if roping a calf, and half-dragged the screeching man toward the tree. Once close enough, she unwound the rope and tossed the end over the stout tree limb, catching it as it looped down. She made two turns around the branch, then two around the saddle horn again.
    ‘‘Anything you want to say for yourself?’’
    ‘‘I got some gold in my pocket. Take that and let me loose.’’ Spit dribbled down the man’s chin.
    ‘‘You want his gold?’’
    ‘‘Nah, let the poor sucker who finds him empty his pockets.’’
    Atticus studied the trembling man. ‘‘Face it like a man.’’
    ‘‘No, please. For God’s sake, I . . .’’
    ‘‘You sure weren’t thinking of God when you were leering at me.’’ Opal backed Bay up enough to tighten the rope till the man stood on his tiptoes. ‘‘You got anything else you want to say?’’ Disgust made her wish, just for a fleeting instant, that she had shot him. Not to kill, mind you, shooting a deer was hard enough, but to teach him a permanent lesson. Pain was a real good teacher.
    She saw a dark stain spreading on his pants. ‘‘Let’s get it over with.’’ She backed Bay enough that the man dangled in the air, then handed the end of the rope to Atticus to tie around the tree trunk.
    ‘‘If someone comes along and lets you down, you might want to get out of the area. Men around here don’t take kindly to having womenfolk