He slowed his progress until his face stopped with his nose inches from the wood. Slowly Montgomery got the upper hand. He raised himself, straining to best Leroy, while turning. When he was almost upright he stomped around on the spot to complete a half-circle.

  Then he threw himself back against the bar, trapping Leroy between his back and the rim. The blow made Leroy grunt. When Montgomery threw himself backward for a second time he gasped with pain.

  The grip around his chin and shoulders fell away as Leroy sought to extricate himself, but Montgomery didn’t give him the chance. After tensing he launched himself backward with all his strength.

  The air blasted from Leroy’s chest as the movement pinned him and when Montgomery jumped forward and turned he found him swaying while struggling to stay upright. Montgomery rolled his shoulders and then delivered a haymaker of a punch to his cheek that sent him spinning away to the floor.

  “Had enough?” Montgomery said standing over him.

  Leroy could manage only a pained groan, but Montgomery received a more strident demand from behind.

  “He hasn’t, but you have,” Herman said.

  Montgomery turned and faced Herman, who had stood up. His bottom lip was bloodied and he was shaking his head as he struggled to counter the effects of the blows he’d received, but he’d gathered enough of his wits to draw his gun. Now he had it trained on Montgomery.

  “There’s no need to do anything I’ll make you regret,” Montgomery said. “I only want you to take a message to Arnold Hays.”

  “You’ve gone too far for that. Arnold’s orders are for us to keep the townsfolk in line. So we deal with men like you before you get ideas.”

  Montgomery jutted his jaw and then gestured at the untouched whiskey glass on the bar.

  “Then I’d be obliged if I could finish my drink before we talk about it.”

  “There’s nothing to talk about,” Herman snapped, but Montgomery still moved away.

  He stood side-on to the bar facing Herman. Then he reached for his glass with his left hand, aiming to hurl the whiskey in Herman’s face while with his right hand he went for his gun, but he didn’t get to complete the motion as a new voice spoke up from the saloon doorway.

  “Drop that gun or die where you stand!”

  The voice was high-pitched and it sounded more nervous than the confident words suggested the speaker should be. When Herman flinched to the side he revealed a young man Montgomery hadn’t seen around town before.

  Herman must also have picked up on the young man’s nervousness as he smirked. He settled his stance, seemingly ready to risk that he wouldn’t shoot him in the back.

  “I like to know the names of the men I kill,” he said.

  “I’m Nick Keating, and I don’t,” the young man said, pushing through the batwings.

  Chapter Five

  “If Nick Keating has a gun on you, you won’t live for long enough to put a bullet in either of us,” Montgomery said and then laughed with a confidence he didn’t feel. “Drop that gun while you still can.”

  In truth Montgomery had never heard of the newcomer, but he figured Herman wouldn’t know that. Accordingly Herman edged from side to side as he tried to judge exactly where Nick was standing.

  Montgomery waited until his indecision was in danger of panicking him into firing. Then he scooped up the whiskey glass and flung it at him. With his other hand he drew his gun, but he didn’t fire when the glass hit Herman squarely on the forehead, splashing whiskey in his eyes and making him bend over rubbing at his face.

  In three long paces Montgomery reached him and then used his gun hand to deliver a stinging backhanded swipe to his jaw that sent him sprawling. A few moments later he’d disarmed Herman and was kneeling beside Leroy, checking that he didn’t have any fight in him either. Only then did he turn to the newcomer.

  “I’m obliged for your help, kid,” he said. “It’s good to see that someone in town has the guts to stand up to these men.”

  “I’m no kid, and I’m not from around these parts,” Nick said, coming inside. “I came to see you.”

  Montgomery narrowed his eyes and a hint of recognition tapped at his thoughts and brought an unwelcome suggestion that he wasn’t ready to deal with just yet. So he dragged Leroy to his feet, slapped his face to liven him up and then pointed him toward the door.

  “I’ve asked you nicely twice,” he said, sweeping up Leroy’s hat and slapping it into his stomach. “So if you want to avoid leaving town feet first, you’ll get my message to Arnold.”

  Leroy nodded. He put his hat on his head with a shaking hand and then made his slow way over to Herman as he attempted to leave with as much dignity as he could muster. He dragged Herman to his feet and, as he was still stunned, Leroy had to loop an arm around his shoulders to hold him up. Then they shuffled past Nick to the door where Leroy moved around on the spot to face him.

  “You’ll get his answer soon enough,” he said. “I hope you enjoy it before you bite the dirt.”

  Leroy laughed with a mock bravado that wasn’t as chilling as he’d hoped as Herman slumped in his grasp and had to be helped out of the saloon with his arms dangling. When Montgomery was sure Leroy was taking Herman to their horses, he nodded to Elizabeth and the bartender, who returned pensive nods, acknowledging that his intervention had upped the stakes.

  Only then did Montgomery feel like facing up to the news Nick would probably provide. He leaned on the bar and invited him to stand with him.

  “How do you know me, kid?” he asked.

  “You came to the house about ten years ago,” Nick said. “I remember you.”

  “In that case I remember you, too, but you were only about this high then.” Montgomery held his hand low. “So are you old enough to drink whiskey, kid?”

  Nick bristled, but he still nodded. “I sure am.”

  Montgomery collected two fresh glasses and poured himself and Nick a measure.

  “Does your pa not mind?” He pushed the glass to him.

  Nick frowned as he took the glass. “He didn’t.”

  Montgomery sighed as Nick confirmed his worst fears.

  “Did Jack get a letter from Wallace?”

  “He did, but it came after. . . .” Nick’s voice broke and he downed the whiskey.

  Montgomery poured him a refill. “How did it happen?”

  “He just went to sleep one night and didn’t wake up. He hadn’t been ill or anything. I thought he’d live forever, but he didn’t.”

  “It comes to us all, kid, even you one day, but that’s good news.”

  “Good?” Nick murmured.

  Montgomery nodded as he raised his glass. “Sure. Many years ago, the last time Wallace, Jack and I were all together, we drank a toast and we all said how we wanted it to end. Jack said he wanted to go quietly sitting on his porch, surrounded by his family, a pipe in hand. It sounds as if he just about got his wish.”

  Nick smiled, clearly relishing hearing a detail of his father’s life he hadn’t heard before.

  “I hadn’t thought of it that way, and I’m pleased to hear he had good friends, but is Wallace still here?”

  “I don’t think so, but I’ll find out where he went.”

  “Then what do we do?”

  Montgomery sighed. “You don’t know why Wallace wrote to your father, do you?”

  “No.”

  “Then why are you here?”

  “Because if my father had unfinished business, it’s now my job to finish it.”

  Montgomery smiled. “You’re Jack’s son, all right, but that doesn’t mean I don’t owe it to Jack to refuse your offer.”

  Nick firmed his jaw in a determined way that said that no matter what Montgomery said he wouldn’t just turn around and go back home, but before he could speak Elizabeth came over.

  “So you’re looking for Wallace Sheckley?” she said.

  “I am,” Montgomery said.

  “I don’t know for sure what happened to him, but I do know what he found that made him write to you.” She gave a slow gesture with a finger and thumb that mimed breaking a match in half. “I can take you there.”

  Montgomery nodded. Ten minutes later he and Elizabeth were riding out of town with Nick bringing up the rear. He had neither encouraged nor forbidden Nick from coming, but he figured they could have that debate later when he knew more.

  They followed the route that Leroy and the groggy Herman had taken toward the fort. A few miles out of town the two men appeared ahead making their slow way onward, but at this point Elizabeth signified that they should veer away.

  They headed to higher ground and when the derelict fort came into view, she stopped. When the distant forms of Leroy and Herman disappeared from view through the fort gateway she turned to Montgomery.

  “That’s become Arnold Hays’s stronghold,” she said. “Every few days he sends some of his men out to ensure the townsfolk aren’t planning anything. Sometimes he just sends them out to cause trouble.”

  “How long has he been here?” Nick asked, nudging his horse forward to join them.

  “It’s been around nine months. At first he was just a thorn in everyone’s rump and did nothing that the town couldn’t handle, but then other gunslingers arrived and the trouble escalated. We all took sides. Some opposed him, some ignored him, some reveled in the mischief.”

  “I ignore the people who accept men like Arnold,” Montgomery said. “But I’m pleased to hear that some people in town oppose him.”

  “Don’t be. They’re dead.” She paused to let that information sink in. “The town banded together to run him and the gunslingers out of town, but that confrontation turned into a gunfight and then a bloodbath. When it was over ten men lay dead. Then Arnold holed up at the fort and he’s been leeching the lifeblood out of the town since.”

  “Then somebody needs to do something before Sunrise dies.”

  She nodded. “Some of us are planning to act.”

  “Was Wallace another victim of Arnold’s regime?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, her voice catching with a hint of something left unsaid. “But I do know what he found here that brought him into town.”

  “Then lead on,” Montgomery said, holding out a hand.

  She pointed toward an outcrop of rock and moved her horse on. For a few minutes she searched beside the outcrop until with a cry of triumph she beckoned them over.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ve been here only once before, but this is what interested him.”

  Montgomery dismounted and moved over to a pile of old bones lying almost buried in the dry, wind-blown dirt. He planned to tell Nick to stay back, but Nick had already dismounted.

  His upper lip was curled in disgust showing that he was unwilling to come any closer. Montgomery scraped away dirt to reveal more of the remains, but found nothing other than bones with no hint of who this person had been in life, yet Wallace had thought this discovery led to Lomax Rhinehart.

  Perhaps he even believed it was him. He sat back on his haunches.

  “Is there anything more you can tell me?”

  “I’m sorry. What you see here is all I know.” She sighed. “I was intrigued to see them the first time. My husband disappeared a year back. There was no reason for him to leave, so I reckon something bad must have happened to him, but I don’t think it’s him.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  She gulped, as if she’d revealed something too personal.

  “Whether Arnold comes to town to shoot you up or not, I’ve spent long enough on bringing you here when I have meals to prepare.”

  Montgomery thanked her for her help and walked along with her while she mounted up and prepared to leave. When she was riding back to town, he walked around the remains searching for additional clues, but found nothing else.

  “This might be the right time to tell me what this is all about,” Nick said. “Because then I might be able to work out what you obviously can’t figure out.”

  Montgomery snorted. “If I can’t figure this out, you won’t, kid.”

  “Maybe my keener eyes will see something yours can’t, old man.”

  Montgomery snorted a laugh. He was still unwilling to explain the situation even though it might jog his own memory and help him to work out why these bones had fascinated Wallace. With him not saying anything Nick shuffled around, kicking dirt from side to side as he searched.

  “Give up,” Montgomery said. “You don’t know what you’re looking for.”

  “Then tell me!” Nick snapped, waving his arms in exasperation.

  He took a long step backward and then moved to sweep the dirt with his feet, but his foot caught and he tripped. He fell on his back, sprawling in an undignified way that made his face redden. Montgomery went over to him and held out a hand.

  “I don’t need to, kid,” he said. “You’ve done a good job uncovering the answer yourself.”

  Nick’s flared eyes showed that he was about to grunt back an angry retort, but Montgomery smiled and pointed at the object he’d tripped over: a stake that had been hammered into the ground. He let Montgomery pull him to his feet and then examined it.

  “I’m glad I could help, but it’s just a piece of wood.”

  Montgomery walked around, swishing the dirt aside with a boot until he found a second stake. Then in short order he uncovered four stakes set in a square. He judged that Wallace had probably collected the bones and placed them there. He moved away to sit on the nearest prominent boulder where he surveyed the scene, as he imagined Wallace would have done.

  “Can you tell what happened here?” he asked.

  Nick gulped. “We can’t know for sure, but it looks as if someone was staked out and left to die.”

  “That’s what I think, but why did this interest Wallace?”

  Nick didn’t answer, judging correctly that Montgomery was thinking aloud. Instead, he shivered.

  “It’s a pity he didn’t leave a clue for us to find.”

  Montgomery leaned back, nodding. Despite his irritation at having gathered an unwelcome partner, he had to admit that Nick was making sensible comments. He reached into his pocket and felt the broken matches.

  Wallace was a careful man who always left clues that others could pick up in case something happened to him. That thought led him to slip a hand down behind the boulder. He rooted around in the dirt until he touched a cold object. He smiled as he drew it out and then held a knife aloft.

  “He did,” he said simply.

  Nick came over to examine the ornate hilt and the sharp edge that the time spent buried in the dirt hadn’t dulled.

  “Was it owned by the dead man, or by the man who staked out the unfortunate victim?”

  “That’s a shrewd question.” Montgomery pondered for a while. “If the body is the knife’s owner, Wallace would have said so.”

  The first compliment Montgomery had paid him made Nick smile.

  “So that knife helped Wallace to identify the killer?”

  “It did.” Montgomery tossed the knife in the air and let it turn end over end before catching it. “His name is Lomax Rhinehart.”

  Chapter Six

  “If Lomax staked out this man, he’s big trouble,” Nick said. “So that means he’ll have joined up with Arnold and be helping him keep the townsfolk in line.”

  Montgomery nodded as Nick again made a good assessment of where his own thoughts were heading.

  “It’s possible,” he said.

  Nick pointed at the bones. “Based on what Elizabeth said, this man was probably one of the townsfolk who opposed Arnold.”

  “That’s also possible, and sadly it’s also looking increasingly likely that Wallace proved it the hard way.”

  “Then it’s up to us to find Lomax using a safer way.”

  Montgomery couldn’t help but chuckle. “You say that despite having no idea who Lomax is?”

  “If it was important to my father, it’s important to me.”

  “That answer proves I can’t accept your help,” Montgomery said, lowering his tone to emphasize that he was being serious.

  “Why?” Nick waved his arms. “I helped you back in Sunrise. You saw in the saloon that I can take care of myself.”

  “You did help, but what I saw was a scared young man holding a gun on another man for the first time in his life and worrying about whether he had the guts to kill him.”

  Nick gulped. “Maybe you’re right, but I reckon I’d have holed him, and the second time won’t be so bad.”

  “It might not be, and that’s why you have to leave.”

  “Because I haven’t faced this type of situation before?” Nick waited, but Montgomery didn’t reply. “Well, you’re wrong to stop me because sooner or later I will face trouble. It might as well be at a time of my choosing.”

  Montgomery shook his head. “Nope. The problem is that a young man who’s determined to fight battles he doesn’t need will end up dead sooner rather than later. Wait until trouble finds you. Don’t seek it out.”

  “What choice do I have? You won’t explain who Lomax is, so all I have to go on is that my father was interested in him.”

  This response made Montgomery nod and while hefting the knife with one hand he pointed at a small boulder, signifying that Nick should sit down.

  “You’re right,” he said, softening his tone. “I turned you down because I don’t want you to get involved in something that doesn’t concern you, but you have the right to decide that for yourself. So I’ll do a deal with you. I’ll explain who Lomax is, and then if that concerns you, it’ll be the last we’ll speak of it.”

  Nick thought about Montgomery’s unexpected change of mind, presumably searching for traps, and then sat on the boulder.

  “Thank you,” he said simply, and then waited for Montgomery to explain.

  Montgomery continued to heft the knife as he put his thoughts in order.

  “It happened twenty years ago in the dying days of a war that had torn apart our fine country,” he said at last, his tone thoughtful. “For three years your father had served as my lieutenant. By the time I led my company on the withdrawal across the land we’d fought to secure he’d become a trusted friend. Then I received new orders to track down a bunch of raiders who’d not accepted they’d been defeated.”

 

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