Early Dawn

Read Early Dawn for Free Online Page B

Book: Read Early Dawn for Free Online
Authors: Catherine Anderson
Tags: Fiction, General, Romance, Contemporary
in the hush like rifle shots. Matthew had a bad case of the whim-whams himself. Before dismounting, he rode a wide loop around the clearing to make sure the gang had left. He soon found churned earth, an indication that the fiends had lit out in a northwesterly direction. After studying the tracks, Matthew determined that they’d taken the peddler’s two-horse wagon team with them, draft animals, judging by the size of the hoofprints.
    Matthew burned to go after them. He’d gotten this close to one of them only once before, a memorable afternoon down Tucson way when he’d belly-crawled through cactuses pricklier than whores on Sunday to sight in his Winchester on the youngest Sebastian brother, who’d been dispatched to the nearest town to replenish the gang’s liquor supply. Sadly for Eric Sebastian, the call of the alcohol had been more urgent to him than getting back to his siblings, so he’d stopped off under a mesquite tree to have a few snorts. With no regrets, Matthew had emerged from the cactuses, poised himself to draw, and, after telling the other man why he was there, had sent him off to meet his Maker, making the world a safer place and reducing the infamous Sebastian Gang’s number to five.
    Since then, though, it had been slim pickings, with Matthew hearing of a horrendous crime and haring off after the wrong desperadoes—or, even more frustrating, joining up with yet another posse composed of an incompetent lawman and a ragtag collection of clod busters who started out strong but lacked the stick-to-itiveness necessary to stay on the Sebastians’ trail. In a way, Matthew had understood their lackadaisical attitudes. A man had to lose someone precious and dear—he had to hate and lust for revenge—in order to stay with a chore that seemed endless, paid nothing, and offered few creature comforts.
    Now, after so many false leads and bitter tastes of defeat, Matthew was once again right on the Sebastians’ asses. He swore he could smell the stench of their unwashed bodies lingering in the air. Unfortunately, before he gave chase he needed to properly bury the old man. As hardened as Matthew had grown since departing from Oregon, he still clung to the tenets of common decency that his father and mother had drilled into him. Leaving a dead body out in the open to become carrion for vultures and predators wasn’t in his makeup. He’d even buried Eric Sebastian, the devil take his rotten soul, rather than abandon the bastard in the desert to become crow bait.
    Once back in the clearing, Matthew set to work with a small spade he carried in his pack. The tediousness of the grim task left him with too much time to think. Death . It had a way of creeping up on a person without warning. It troubled him how quickly a life could end.
    The rocky ground made for difficult digging. Fortunately, Matthew was able to go shallow and cover the body with the stones he unearthed. Even so, the sun had nearly reached its zenith by the time he finished the excavation. He closed the peddler’s eyes and tugged off the old man’s jacket to cover his bloodless face before lowering him into the shallow grave. Jesus, help me , he prayed as he covered the remains with rock. Since setting out after the Sebastians, he’d seen sights that would haunt his dreams for the rest of his days.
    This morning the Sebastians’ victim was an elderly man whose life had been nearly over, but that wasn’t always the case. Those heartless polecats killed young and old alike. Only a few months ago, Matthew had come across a Spanish family down in Mexico—mother, father, four older children, and a brand-new baby—who had been slaughtered like pigs. Judging by the condition of the woman’s body, she’d been repeatedly raped before being sent off to meet her Maker. The memory still made Matthew shake with horror or rage, probably both. Their deaths had been so pointless. But the Sebastians had slain them nevertheless, and with no more regret

Similar Books

Sweet Perdition

Cynthia Rayne

Exiles

Elliot Krieger

Radium Halos

W.J. May