Shadow of the Eagle Read online

  As he finished dressing, she hardened her expression, although Gideon reckoned she was still providing playful answers.

  “So he’s offered to marry you and give you a family and a life outside of a saloon?”

  “That question suggests you don’t really know me, after all.”

  She narrowed her eyes and this time Gideon reckoned he really had annoyed her. He stood up, but when she didn’t tell him to go, he sat down on the edge of the bed again.

  “If Vernon comes back for you, I hope you’ll be happy with him and whatever happens, I hope we can still be friends.” He waited until she nodded. “And that I can always rely on you for information, such as what’s happening in Liberty.”

  “You can, but if I knew that, I’d tell you. I meant it when I said that nobody knows what Rudyard’s plans are.”

  “Except for Rudyard and his few trusted aides such as Vernon, and soon you.”

  “Of course,” she said with a knowing smile.

  He laughed. “Then perhaps I do understand you, after all.”

  Chapter Three

  DURING THE TEN YEARS that Gideon had hunted men for bounty he’d enjoyed good times and bad. His fortunes had ranged from accidentally stumbling across the dead body of his quarry through to searches that had never achieved their goal.

  For the last year he’d mainly experienced the tedium of the long hunt, but it seemed that today his luck would change. He had ridden into Empire City with the hope that as a minimum he would learn what Brewster York’s business there had been, and whether that would help his search for Warner Gray.

  As it turned out, he gained everything he needed in the first saloon he went into. Warner was drinking quietly at the bar. Years of acting calmly in difficult situations let Gideon register this information without displaying any outward sign of surprise and he moved on to the bar where he ordered a whiskey.

  As he sipped the liquor, with practiced skill he appraised Warner along with the saloon room ensuring he paid neither more nor less attention to him than a casual observer would. Only three other customers were in the First Chance saloon and none of them was close to Warner, so if he made a move now Warner would be sure to notice him before he’d finished that move, but Gideon was a patient man and now that he’d found his quarry he was prepared to wait.

  He was sipping his second whiskey and other customers were gravitating into the saloon when the batwings creaked loudly behind him and heavy footfalls stomped into the saloon. He ignored them, but then a screeching and faltering voice spoke up behind him.

  “Make one wrong move and it’ll be your last,” the newcomer said.

  As the batwings creaked to a halt, Gideon tensed with the whiskey glass touching his lips. He mentally rehearsed the action of turning and hurling the whiskey at the speaker while reaching for his gun, but then he registered that he hadn’t been the subject of the demand.

  He turned to find that the newcomer was standing in the middle of the saloon room, and he had a gun on Warner, who turned to him without concern. Gideon didn’t recognize the newcomer.

  He was haggard with wild eyes and blood-encrusted lips. His clothes were just rags that were draped on his gaunt form and even from five yards away his ripe smell overcame the smell of whiskey at the bar.

  His gun was the only item he hadn’t neglected and he had aimed it at his target with a firm hand. Gideon leaned back against the bar. While sipping his whiskey he awaited developments.

  “I’ve got no desire to kill you today, Boyd,” Warner said. He snorted. “You look half-dead already.”

  “You’re wrong,” the newcomer, Boyd, said. “Today I finally end this.”

  Warner sneered with contempt. Then he turned his back on him and resumed leaning on the bar. Boyd snarled an oath, but Warner had only made the move to confuse him and with a speed that amazed Gideon he twisted back around with his hand whirling toward his holster.

  Even though Boyd had already aimed his gun at Warner, in the time it took Gideon to blink a gunshot ripped out and sliced into Boyd’s chest dropping him. Warner snorted to himself and then turned away to order another whiskey, his tone untroubled.

  While Warner took his drink and others scurried across the saloon room to check on Boyd and then drag his body outside, Gideon returned to enjoying his drink. As most of the customers ignored Warner, Gideon did the same, not wishing to alert his quarry while he worked out how he could fare better than Boyd had.

  He figured that Warner’s reflexes were such that he shouldn’t make the mistake of announcing his intentions beforehand and neither should he risk trying to take him alive. He had just finished his whiskey and the saloon bustle was building when Warner moved away from the bar.

  When Warner went outside he turned to the left. Gideon waited for a minute and then walking slowly he slipped outside. Warner was heading into the stable three buildings down from the First Chance saloon, so Gideon turned right and crossed over the main drag.

  Gideon figured that Warner had probably intended to hole up here for a while, but after the gunfight he was now planning to move on quickly. On the other side of the main drag two well-dressed men were standing over Boyd’s body.

  Gideon reckoned they were probably the town doctor and undertaker and Boyd’s still form suggested the latter would be getting the business today. With these men concentrating on Boyd and ignoring him, Gideon abandoned acting in a cautious way and doubled back across the main drag.

  When he reached the boardwalk he hurried on to the corner of the stable where he stopped. He had used this stable himself when he’d arrived earlier today and he knew the only way out was through the open double doors at the front.

  Gideon figured Warner would notice him when he came outside, but when Warner left town, no matter which way he went, he would have to turn his back on him and then he would strike. To make sure he appeared as unthreatening as possible Gideon rested his back against the corner and with a hand to his brow he turned again to the two men who were dealing with Boyd.

  The dead man was no longer holding their attention as they were now facing the First Chance saloon, making Gideon turn in that direction. It wasn’t clear what had interested them and they were looking upward, presumably at the sky beyond the saloon.

  The day was calm with the sun beating down from out of a cloudless sky so Gideon had no idea what was concerning them. He was about to dismiss the matter, but then the doctor called into the saloon and that encouraged several men to come outside and join him.

  Now intrigued Gideon edged away from the stable while craning his neck. He could see only the sky, but then a shadow darkened the saloon before it moved toward the onlookers. In moments the shadow spread along the main drag confirming they were worried about a threatening cloud.

  The sudden darkness made the doctor and undertaker murmur with concern to each other. Three men from the First Chance saloon gathered in a group to exchange opinions and the rest started calling out for more people to come outside.

  Gideon smiled, figuring that the consternation might provide a useful distraction when Warner came out, but then he flinched, his surprised reaction being the same as everyone else’s had been a few moments earlier. The cloud was edging into view above the saloon, and it was moving faster than any cloud he had ever seen before and for that matter it was unlike anything he had ever seen in the sky before.

  The cloud had a sharp edge and it was as shiny and as golden as a double eagle. As more of the cloud came into view, it presented a curved shape that made it look even more like a massive coin.

  Then, in an alarming moment, Gideon’s perspective changed and he had the impression that the cloud was close. He reckoned it was only a few dozen yards above the tops of the buildings, and it seemed to be a solid object flying serenely and quietly like a gliding bird above the town.

  The other onlookers appeared to reach the same conclusion as cries of alarm went up. When Gideon backed farther away from the stable, more of the cloud came
into view and it cast a shadow over him, presenting a complete circular form.

  With a shake of the head he tore his gaze away from the strange cloud. The doctor and undertaker were now cowering and others drew their guns, but not everyone appeared concerned.

  The three men from the saloon who had congregated together were ignoring the apparition and they were facing the stable. With a wince, Gideon half-turned to find that Warner had come out on to the main drag.

  Warner was afoot and ignoring the apparition, too. Worse, he was facing Gideon and he’d drawn his gun.

  “When I came to Empire City, it wasn’t because I was fleeing from the likes of Boyd Macardle,” Warner said with a smirk. “It was because I have friends here.”

  Warner chuckled and then nodded at the group of three men. Gideon didn’t wait to discover the result of his silent order. While scrambling for his gun he threw himself to the side, hoping he could reach relative safety at the side of the stable.

  He had managed only two paces and his gun had yet to clear leather when a solid punch hammered into his side. A gunshot registered a moment later, but by then his legs had gone numb and he dropped to his knees where he swayed for a moment.

  Through pained eyes he focused on Warner, who with a contemptuous flick of the wrist fired, hammering a second shot into the center of his chest. Gideon keeled over and the back of his head thudded against the ground.

  More gunshots peeled out, but he didn’t feel any further jolts and he figured they hadn’t been aimed at him. The strange cloud was directly above him, this being the only object visible to him.

  Small sparks rippled along the cloud as gunfire continued to rattle away. He reckoned that the onlookers had been spooked into firing up at the apparition, but the matter didn’t feel important.

  The cloud was no longer so bright. His vision dimmed until the sparks looked like stars on a clear night. Then the stars winked out.

  Chapter Four

  “HE’S LOST A LOT OF blood, but he’s still alive,” someone said in the darkness. “Move him gently.”

  Gideon suffered a disorientating moment when a hand clutched his shoulder and tugged him to the right. He tried to speak, but no sound emerged. He tried to gesture at the person moving him to leave him where he was, but he couldn’t make his arm work.

  Even stranger he felt no pain. He tried to concentrate on various parts of his body and then force them to move, but he got no feeling that he succeeded, or for that matter any feeling at all.

  It was almost as if he no longer existed. He knew he was in trouble, but as he couldn’t move, thinking about his condition was all he could do. As that made him anxious, he forced himself to think about the apparition instead.

  The cloud had been above the town and gunshots had ricocheted off it. He could think of no reason why that should happen, so he imagined himself reaching up to touch the cloud. The cloud felt cold, like a gold coin, but no coin could stand in the sky unaided.

  He placed his palm to the underside and imagined himself holding the cloud up. He managed this without effort, as if the object had no weight. Then he lowered his hand, but the cloud stayed where it was.

  He figured that as the object didn’t behave like a cloud he couldn’t keep calling it a cloud. He thought about alternate ways to describe the apparition, and all he could manage was that it was a massive double eagle.

  That small success felt important making him relax and he noted that he was swaying, as if someone was still moving him. This was the first sensation he’d felt in a while so he let the motion comfort him.

  Presently the swaying stopped. Footfalls sounded and then a dull clang reverberated. For a while he lay quietly. He heard nothing more, but he no longer felt so disjointed from himself and his surroundings.

  He figured that he ought to feel pain so he tried to work out where exactly he’d been shot. To his surprise his hand moved and he fingered his side. He raised the hand to his face and blinked rapidly when he accepted that he could see again.

  He judged this a good sign and continued to explore. As he couldn’t locate any painful spots on his chest, he raised his hand. When he managed that with ease he sat up. He wasn’t surprised to find he had been lying on a cot, but he was shocked that the cot was in a cell that stood in the corner of a law office.

  Tentatively he edged his feet down to the floor and sat on the edge of the cot. When he still didn’t feel any pain he rocked forward and then stood up. Feeling foolish he flexed his shoulders and stamped his feet.

  He felt as whole and uninjured as he had done just before he’d been shot, except right now he didn’t feel like a man who had been seriously injured. On the other hand he’d never been on the wrong end of a bullet before and he thought back.

  While most people on the main drag had been concentrating on the double eagle in the sky, three men and Warner Gray hadn’t. One of the gunmen had fired, and he’d felt pain in his side that had made him drop to his knees.

  Warner had been standing ten paces away from him and he’d shot him in the chest. He could clearly remember both gunshots pounding into his body. Then he’d fallen over backward and hit his head against the ground, after which he had struggled to remain conscious until he’d woken up in this cell. He ran his hands over his chest, but he could find no sign of the wounds that ought to be there.

  “How long have I been unconscious?” he said to himself.

  His comment made a lawman walk into view and come up to the bars.

  “I’m Sheriff Osbourne and you made a big mistake riding into my town,” he said.

  “What happened?” Gideon gestured down at his body. “And what’s happened to me?”

  “Nothing, which is more than I can say for Boyd Macardle.”

  Gideon nodded. “I saw him get shot up in the First Chance saloon.”

  “You should do. After all, you killed him.”

  Gideon’s mouth fell open in shock. When Osbourne narrowed his eyes, he waved his arms in exasperation as he struggled to find an appropriate retort.

  “I didn’t shoot anyone. I’m the one who got shot.” He tapped his chest. “I took two bullets.”

  Osbourne took a pace forward. “You got nothing other than a bump on your head that knocked you out cold for a while.”

  Gideon raised a finger as he prepared to refute the allegation, but as his vest front was clearly not bloodstained he moved backward to sit on the edge of his cot.

  “I’m confused.” Gideon frowned, but when Osbourne shrugged, he rubbed his brow. “Perhaps that bump on the head made me lose my memory.”

  “If I had a dollar for every no-good. . . .” Osbourne sighed. “I was told there’d been a shooting in the First Chance saloon. When I arrived you were hurrying outside. I went in and Boyd Macardle was lying dead in front of the bar. I left and found you lying on your back outside the stable. You were unconscious. I dragged you here and locked you up, by which time you were stirring.”

  “So what made you think I killed Boyd?”

  “After the shooting, the saloon was deserted and you were the only person I saw go outside.”

  “Which means you didn’t see Warner Gray, the man who killed him.”

  “I’m pleased your memory is returning,” Osbourne said with disbelief curling his upper lip. “But I sure don’t remember seeing him in my town.”

  “Either way, Warner killed Boyd in full view of several customers. I now reckon some of them were Warner’s associates, but you should be able to find someone who’ll confirm my story.”

  “Like I said: from what I saw, you were the only one in the saloon.”

  “That’s because you got there after the shooting. By then everyone had gone outside to look at the double eagle in the sky.”

  “The double eagle in the sky?” Osbourne intoned slowly.

  Gideon frowned. “Well, whatever we should call it. To me it looked like a huge gold coin flying around over the town, but I guess it was a cloud, even if it was low down and
so solid bullets bounced off it.”

  Osbourne winced. “When you claimed that you might have lost your memory I was expecting to hear a wild excuse, but maybe that bump on the head really has affected you because that sure is the oddest story I’ve ever been told.”

  “Except it’s the truth. What do you think it was?”

  Osbourne opened his mouth, but then shook his head and waved a dismissive hand at him.

  “Get some rest. I’ll get Doc Wainwright to look in on you later. When he’s confirmed you’ve gotten your senses back, I’ll question you properly.”

  Osbourne moved away and Gideon shouted after him.

  “Are you saying you didn’t see the cloud that looked like a double eagle?”

  Osbourne halted and sighed, seemingly debating whether to reply before he turned back.

  “All I saw was a dead man and another man running away.”

  “Then it must have gone by the time you arrived, but several people saw it and some of them were the people who were in the saloon at the time of the shooting.”

  “All right, while you get some rest, I’ll check out your story,” Osbourne said wearily.

  Osbourne’s low tone didn’t imply that he expected to get an answer Gideon would like. So Gideon wasn’t disappointed when the sheriff headed back to a desk in the corner where he sat down and leaned back with his hands behind his head.

  Gideon paced his cell for a while before he copied the sheriff’s posture on his cot. Now that he’d explained himself the events he’d described no longer felt real, as if they had been a dream he would soon forget.

  Even the shooting in the saloon and his brief confrontation with Warner felt unreal. He fingered his scalp as he searched for a lump while he thought back through the events that had led him to search for Warner in Empire City.

  He could bring these to mind without difficulty, but from the moment he’d first found Warner in the saloon until he’d blacked out, his memories felt odd. Worse, he located a bump on the back of his head and felt a twinge of pain, so with his eyelids growing heavy he slipped down on the cot.