The Spurs of Iron Eyes (Iron Eyes Western #3) Read Free Page B

Eyes turned his head
and studied the man moving towards him wearing brown robes tied by
a single cord around his middle.
    ‘ Who
are you?’
    The priest moved before the
altar and dropped onto one knee and crossed himself quickly before
reaching the side of the tall stranger.
    ‘ Have
you never been .inside the house of the Lord before, my
son?’
    Iron Eyes stared down at the
face of the man.
    ‘ Nope.’
    ‘ Why
are you here now?’ the smaller man asked.
    ‘ Ain’t
too sure,’ Iron Eyes responded honestly, as he stepped closer to
the altar and the candles.
    ‘ Are
you worried about something?’ the priest enquired, in a tone Iron
Eyes had seldom heard aimed in his direction.
    Iron Eyes gritted his teeth and
sucked on the cigar thoughtfully. ‘I just came in to take me a look, that’s
all.’
    The priest followed Iron Eyes
as he headed back to the door down the centre aisle. With each step, the
tall man glanced over his shoulder at the sight which confused
him.
    ‘ You
asked me my name.’
    ‘ I
did,’ Iron Eyes stopped and turned to look down at the face of his
pursuer.
    ‘I am Father Jose.’ The priest looked at
Iron Eyes’ face, then down to his spurred boots and back again.
There seemed to be no judgment in the man’s eyes, no sign of
distaste in either his appearance or his looks. Father Jose simply
accepted what was before him.
    ‘ Father Jose?’ Iron Eyes gazed back at the altar again and
rubbed his chin.
    ‘ What
is troubling you, my friend?’
    ‘ Who
is the hombre on the cross? He looks in a bad way.’
    ‘ Have
you never seen Jesus before, my son?’ The priest could hardly
believe anyone could have lived so long without ever coming into
contact with even the most basic knowledge of the Bible.
    ‘ Nope.
Can’t say I’ve ever heard of him before. Looks a tad on the thin
side to be nailed up like that.’ Iron Eyes could not understand why
someone would torture a person rather than simply kill quickly as
he had always done. ‘Indians do it?’
    Father Jose smiled. ‘It was long ago in
a far off land. He died to save us. I do not think Indians were
around in those parts.’
    ‘ Looks
like something the Apache might do, given half a chance.’ Iron Eyes
shrugged. ‘I don’t put nothing past an Apache when he’s liquored
up.’
    ‘ Do
you wish to stay and talk, my friend?’ The priest tried vainly to
make eye contact with the tall bounty hunter.
    ‘ Nope,’ Iron Eyes grunted.
    ‘ If
you do, I am here.’
    Iron Eyes sighed as he
walked out of the chapel and paused upon the top of the steps
whilst staring along the busy street of Rio Vista. Turning he saw
the priest moving beside him once again.
    ‘ What
is your name, my son?’
    They call me Iron Eyes,
Jose. ’
    ‘I think I have heard of you.’ There was
no sign in the man’s voice he had ever heard anything either good
or bad about the bounty hunter.
    ‘ Figures.’ Iron Eyes adjusted the heavy bags on his shoulder
as he stared out into the street.
    ‘ What
brought you to the chapel of Rio Vista, Iron Eyes?’ Father Jose
tried for the final time to get the thin man to look directly at
him. This time, just for the briefest of moments, their eyes met
and both men glimpsed each other’s soul.
    ‘ I
ain’t figured what brought me to Rio Vista yet, Father Joe,’ Iron
Eyes admitted. ‘I reckon something did though.’
    The priest watched as the
tall man with the flowing hair walked slowly down the tiled steps
and strode forcefully towards the illuminated buildings opposite
the chapel. This time Iron Eyes aimed his pointed toecaps in the
direction of the saloons. With each stride of his long painfully
thin legs, the sound of his razor-sharp spurs seemed to ring on the
cool evening air.
    It was a haunting
sound.

Chapter Four
    Reluctantly, Iron Eyes walked
away from the chapel as if he were turning his back on something
far more important than he dared consider. His spurs seemed to echo
around the street as he slowly aimed his