The Loner: The Bounty Killers Read Free Page A

campfire. It had to be the bunch he had spotted earlier. There couldn’t be two groups of riders spending the night at the edge of those isolated mountains.
    Well, there could be, he thought, but it was mighty unlikely.
    The fact that they weren’t trying to conceal their campfire told him there were enough of them to feel confident they could handle any trouble that came their way. He would be a fool not to stay as far away from them as he could.
    Unfortunately, his curiosity nagged at him. He finished off the last of his coffee and cleaned up after the meal. By that time, the last of the sunset’s rosy glow had disappeared from the sky. It was full dark, with millions of stars glittering in the sable sky overhead.
    The Kid estimated the campfire he saw was about a mile away from the boulders where he had stopped. It was a quiet night. The sound of a horse’s hoofbeats would travel a long way in the thin, still air.
    If he wanted to spy on the men, he would have to approach their camp on foot. He thought he might be able to work his way close enough to get a good look at them and perhaps even overhear what they were talking about.
    He had picketed the buckskin, so the horse couldn’t wander. After heaping sand on what was left of the fire to put out any embers, The Kid put his saddle back on the horse, just in case he needed the animal in a hurry. He patted the buckskin on the shoulder and said, “I’ll be back after a while.”
    If anything happened to him, the buckskin would be able to pull loose eventually. From there it would have to fend for itself. Bands of wild mustangs ran free in that part of the country and it might be able to join one of them.
    The Kid left all his gear and headed for the camp in the distance. His boots weren’t really made for walking, but unlike cowboys who had spent their whole working lives in the saddle, he wasn’t totally averse to being on foot now and then.
    The darkness and the rough terrain meant he couldn’t travel very fast. It took him close to an hour to reach the vicinity of the camp. As he approached he moved slower and more carefully. He didn’t want to accidentally stumble right into the middle of them.
    Several different aromas told him he was getting close: woodsmoke, food, coffee, tobacco. He paused to listen and heard the murmur of voices, followed by a man’s laughter. He couldn’t make out any of the words, but he thought he heard several different voices.
    As silently as possible, he crept closer. A massive slab of rock leaned away from him, and he thought if he climbed to the top of it, he might be able to look down into their camp.
    It was still warm under his hands as the stone clung to the heat of the day. The air had more than a hint of coolness in it, typical of the desert atmosphere. By morning, the temperature would be cold enough to make a man’s breath steam in front of his face.
    The men gathered around the campfire were still talking, so he counted on that to cover up the tiny scraping noises his boots made against the rock as he climbed. When he reached the top, he took his hat off and set it aside. Carefully, he edged his head higher to peer over the lip of the rock slab.
    The men had built their campfire in the lee of the rock. It would reflect heat back and keep the camp warmer during the night. The fire had died down some, but flames still leaped and crackled merrily.
    Five men sat around the fire, talking and passing a bottle back and forth. They wore rough range clothes and had hard-planed, beardstubbled faces.
    They were well-armed. Each man sported at least one holstered revolver, and a couple carried two guns. Several Winchesters were stacked nearby, and The Kid saw a Sharps carbine and a shotgun among the long guns, as well.
    A sixth figure sat a short distance off, his legs stuck out in front of him and crossed at the ankle. He wore a poncho and leaned back against a smaller rock. Judging by the way his head drooped forward with his hat