it was as much use as any bigger gun.
Suddenly Bates shouted to him. “Roy. Get the son-of-a bitch’s head down. I got me an idea.”
It was more than Klyne had, so he fired off three more shots in the general direction of Nathan, having the satisfaction of seeing the pasty face drop down out of sight for a moment. In that moment, Bates made his move.
Scuttling sideways like a bulky crab, he slid over the rough floor, and fired four times. Under the bed. There was a piercing scream of agony, and Nathan crashed sideways from cover, both hands clutching at his leg.
“My Leg! Aaaargh! Noooo!”
Nathan toppled on the floor, his shattered knee unable to take his weight, both hands trying to hold the ruined joint together. At least one of Bates’s .44/40 cartridges from his gun had hit home under the bed, ricocheting off the pine boards, and picking up a spray of splinters on the way.
It had hit Nathan plumb at the centre of the knee, cracking the top of both tibia and fibula, blasting the patella into shreds of powdered bone, and wrenching the bottom of the thigh bone from its junction with the knee. Cartilage and ligament were torn apart, crippling the man in a web of stunning agony.
Down to Earth
As he writhed on the floor, Nathan screamed high and thin, like a stallion at the gelding. His gun had dropped from his fingers, and lay somewhere behind the bed.
Warily, in case this was another trick, Klyne climbed to his feet, and stood by Bates looking down at the man they had come to kill. In the other room, behind them, they could hear groaning as Doc Newton started to recover consciousness from the blow to the head.
“Please. Don’t kill me.”
“I figured that’s what my wife probably said to you and your friends, you bastard,” spat Bates, aiming a kick at Nathan, but stopped by Klyne.
“Come on Bill. Let’s kill the bastard and get away from here. We’ll never get to any of the others if we get caught here by the crud police chief.”
Nathan strained to look up at them, gaining a brief mastery over the pain that was consuming him. His eyes burned into them like coals, and there was a depth of bitter hatred in his voice that was like a blow from a fist. “You’re dead. Both of you. For what you done here to me, you are both dead!!”
He screamed the last word. “My Pa hears about what you done to his boy, then he will crucify you. By tomorrow you are going to be begging to die.”
Bates grinned at him, the gun steady in his hand. “Maybe we will die tomorrow. But you, Bastard, are going to die now.”
Aiming carefully, he fired three more times. Hitting the other knee, and both elbows. After one last cry of rending pain, Nathan fainted, flopping back in his own blood. Crimson streams flowed from both arms and legs, collecting in a dip in the floorboards like a lake, then dripping out of sight through a crack down under the foundations of the house.
“Finish him, Bill,” said Klyne, carefully reloading his own gun, slotting the cartridges in, flicking up the cover and easing down the hammer.
“Nope.” Bates grinned. “I figure we ought to leave him like that. A forty-four through each knee and elbow is sure as Hell going to slow that bastard down some. I figure he won’t even walk again. Nor do nothing, come to that He’s even going to need one of his Pa’s servants to wipe his ass for him. Leave him. Let him suffer for the rest of his life like he and his buddies made Becky and Louise suffer.”
Klyne looked down at the prostrate man, stirring as the pain began to get through to him again. Nathan’s eyes opened, and for moment shock kept his mind clear.
“Don’t leave me. Please! Don’t . Pa, don’t let them hurt your Joe. Please Pa.” and then his brain took him away and he began to babble. Bates laughed at him.
Unhurriedly, Klyne cocked and aimed his gun, squeezing the trigger, feeling it buck in
Suddenly Bates shouted to him. “Roy. Get the son-of-a bitch’s head down. I got me an idea.”
It was more than Klyne had, so he fired off three more shots in the general direction of Nathan, having the satisfaction of seeing the pasty face drop down out of sight for a moment. In that moment, Bates made his move.
Scuttling sideways like a bulky crab, he slid over the rough floor, and fired four times. Under the bed. There was a piercing scream of agony, and Nathan crashed sideways from cover, both hands clutching at his leg.
“My Leg! Aaaargh! Noooo!”
Nathan toppled on the floor, his shattered knee unable to take his weight, both hands trying to hold the ruined joint together. At least one of Bates’s .44/40 cartridges from his gun had hit home under the bed, ricocheting off the pine boards, and picking up a spray of splinters on the way.
It had hit Nathan plumb at the centre of the knee, cracking the top of both tibia and fibula, blasting the patella into shreds of powdered bone, and wrenching the bottom of the thigh bone from its junction with the knee. Cartilage and ligament were torn apart, crippling the man in a web of stunning agony.
Down to Earth
As he writhed on the floor, Nathan screamed high and thin, like a stallion at the gelding. His gun had dropped from his fingers, and lay somewhere behind the bed.
Warily, in case this was another trick, Klyne climbed to his feet, and stood by Bates looking down at the man they had come to kill. In the other room, behind them, they could hear groaning as Doc Newton started to recover consciousness from the blow to the head.
“Please. Don’t kill me.”
“I figured that’s what my wife probably said to you and your friends, you bastard,” spat Bates, aiming a kick at Nathan, but stopped by Klyne.
“Come on Bill. Let’s kill the bastard and get away from here. We’ll never get to any of the others if we get caught here by the crud police chief.”
Nathan strained to look up at them, gaining a brief mastery over the pain that was consuming him. His eyes burned into them like coals, and there was a depth of bitter hatred in his voice that was like a blow from a fist. “You’re dead. Both of you. For what you done here to me, you are both dead!!”
He screamed the last word. “My Pa hears about what you done to his boy, then he will crucify you. By tomorrow you are going to be begging to die.”
Bates grinned at him, the gun steady in his hand. “Maybe we will die tomorrow. But you, Bastard, are going to die now.”
Aiming carefully, he fired three more times. Hitting the other knee, and both elbows. After one last cry of rending pain, Nathan fainted, flopping back in his own blood. Crimson streams flowed from both arms and legs, collecting in a dip in the floorboards like a lake, then dripping out of sight through a crack down under the foundations of the house.
“Finish him, Bill,” said Klyne, carefully reloading his own gun, slotting the cartridges in, flicking up the cover and easing down the hammer.
“Nope.” Bates grinned. “I figure we ought to leave him like that. A forty-four through each knee and elbow is sure as Hell going to slow that bastard down some. I figure he won’t even walk again. Nor do nothing, come to that He’s even going to need one of his Pa’s servants to wipe his ass for him. Leave him. Let him suffer for the rest of his life like he and his buddies made Becky and Louise suffer.”
Klyne looked down at the prostrate man, stirring as the pain began to get through to him again. Nathan’s eyes opened, and for moment shock kept his mind clear.
“Don’t leave me. Please! Don’t . Pa, don’t let them hurt your Joe. Please Pa.” and then his brain took him away and he began to babble. Bates laughed at him.
Unhurriedly, Klyne cocked and aimed his gun, squeezing the trigger, feeling it buck in
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