Read The Killing Blow for Free Online Page A

This little pecker must be out to pull one over on his friends, here.”
    â€œThat true?” asked one of the other riders.
    â€œWhatever we get, we’ll split,” the first rider snapped. “But we don’t get nothin’ unless we get that skin.”
    â€œWhy don’t you boys go into those woods and find a bear of your own?” Ordell asked in something of an innocent voice. “Or would you rather take yer chances with an old man instead of something like what used to fill that skin behind me?”
    â€œDon’t test me, Mark,” the first rider snarled. “Or I swear I’ll—”
    â€œYou’ll what?” Ordell barked. “You rode all this way to talk tough? You either jump or get the hell out of our—”
    Ordell’s words, combined with the vicious tone in his voice, was more than enough to make the first rider bring up his pistol and aim at the older man.
    Ordell responded by snatching an old Navy model Colt from under his buckskins and thumb back the hammer.
    When he saw the tempers flare up past the boiling point, Clint’s first reaction was to check on the riders who’d gotten around behind him. Sure enough, those men were more than ready for a fight and already had their guns up and pointing at Clint’s back.
    With a quick, backward sweeping motion of his right arm, Clint took his modified Colt from its holster and aimed it at the rider directly behind him. Just as his arm straightened, he pulled the trigger and sent a round into the rider’s chest. The lead thumped home and knocked the rider clean out of his saddle.
    Before that rider could hit the ground, Clint shifted his aim and fired at the other rider who’d tried to get around behind Ordell. That shot had to be taken from memory and flew wide since that rider had had the sense to move from his previous spot.
    Although he was startled at the sudden turn of the tables, the rider behind Ordell pulled his trigger and sent a shot whistling past Ordell’s horse’s ear. The animal barely seemed to notice and merely shifted from one hoof to another.
    Ordell and the first rider were staring each other down, giving Ordell enough time to take aim.
    The rider wasn’t so anxious to catch any lead, so he fired a quick shot at the older man. His horse had already been fidgeting and this was enough to get it stumbling backward with a few short steps. The movement wasn’t enough to shake the rider from his saddle, but it seemed to be enough to throw off his aim. His shot blazed through the air and only clipped a bit of skin from Ordell’s chin.
    Barely twitching at the sting of the passing round, Ordell hunkered down low and fired a shot at the rider directly in front of him. The younger man buckled and stared wide-eyed at Ordell as he quickly lost the strength to hold up his gun.
    The rider behind Ordell had pulled back on his reins to try and put some distance between himself and Clint. He shifted his eyes wildly between his two former targets and waved his gun in front of him.
    â€œDon’t do it, kid,” Clint shouted. “Just toss the gun and ride away!”
    Looking at Clint, the rider seemed to consider taking his advice. Then, his eyes glazed over and steely resolve imposed itself upon his face. With that, he lifted his gun and sighted along the barrel at Clint.
    Clint waited for a split second more than he should have before aiming and firing. His shot caught the kid in the forehead and pitched him to the ground faster than if he’d been kicked by a mule.
    â€œGoddamn it,” Clint whispered as he saw the kid land in a heap and his horse bolt away from the trail.
    Ordell was still looking at the face of the first rider. When Clint turned to see how the older man was faring, he saw a look in Ordell’s eyes that was similar to the one that had been there when he was studying the face of the rampaging bear.
    The first rider had lowered his