Sidewinders Read Online Free Page B

reached the knob well ahead of their pursuers. The horses took to the slope valiantly, but when it grew too steep, Bo and Scratch had to dismount and lead the animals.
    While they were doing that, the gunmen thundered closer. Bo heard several slugs racket through the tree limbs, but none of the bullets came close enough to represent a real threat.
    As soon as they reached the knob’s fairly level top and hurried onto it, the shooting stopped. The men down below couldn’t see them well enough from that angle anymore. Bo and Scratch dropped the reins and pulled their Winchesters from the saddle boots. They trotted back to the edge and crouched behind a couple of tree trunks for cover.
    Bo aimed downslope and fired, keeping his barrel tilted enough that he knew the shot would miss the pursuers as they approached the knob. He levered another round into the rifle’s chamber and fired again. Scratch followed suit. Bo wanted to get the attention of the men who had chased them, and he knew the shots ought to do it.
    Sure enough, he heard shouted curses as the men reined in. One of them ordered, “Fall back, damn it! If we charge ’em, they’ll cut us down!”
    Bo cranked off another couple of rounds to reinforce that idea. The men wheeled their horses and galloped back the way they had come, veering off into some trees.
    â€œLooks like they’re splittin’ up,” Scratch commented as the echoes of the shots rolled away. “Couple of ’em ridin’ off to the east.”
    â€œThey’ll circle around and come up on the other side of the knob,” Bo predicted. “That way they can keep us pinned down up here.”
    â€œUntil it gets dark, anyway. Once it does, we can slip out.” Scratch looked around. “You remember this place, don’t you, Bo? This is good ol’ Turkey Mountain.”
    Bo grinned and said, “I was just thinking about that. We had some mighty good times up here, back in the old days.”
    â€œDamn right. I recollect when you brought Mary—”
    Scratch stopped short. Bo didn’t want his old friend to feel bad about it, so he said, “That’s all right, Scratch. It was a long time ago.”
    â€œSo long that the hurt’s wore off?”
    â€œWell, no,” Bo admitted with a shake of his head. “I don’t reckon that’ll ever happen, at least not completely. But it’s not as bad as it once was. I can think back on how I brought Mary up here to ask her to marry me, and it puts a smile on my face and warms my heart. There’s some pain there, too, but the warmth helps.”
    â€œHard to understand all the twists and turns that life takes, ain’t it? The sky pilots like to say that everything happens for a reason, even if we ain’t wise enough to see it. I’d like to think that’s true, but sometimes it’s mighty hard to dab a loop on that idea.”
    â€œThat’s why it’s called faith,” Bo said. He leaned forward suddenly and peered into the distance to the west. “Somebody else is coming.”
    Two more riders had come into sight. Maybe they had heard the shots and wanted to find out what was going on, Bo thought.
    His eyes narrowed as he realized that something was familiar about one of the newcomers. The man was still too far away for Bo to make out any details. He said, “Keep an eye on those varmints in the trees, Scratch. I want to get my spyglass.”
    â€œYou recognize one of those other fellas?”
    â€œMaybe.”
    Bo hurried back to where they had left their horses with the reins dangling. He took a telescope from his saddlebags and returned to the tree. Leaning his rifle against the trunk, he extended the spyglass and lifted the lens to his right eye. It took him a minute to locate the two riders through the glass, but when he did their faces sprang into sharp relief.
    Bo felt a sharp tingle of recognition go through him. One of