There were few faster ways of getting off a shot than the speed-rock, but it was a close-quarters method of firing. So, if it came to a point, was any method of instinctive alignment shooting. Automatic and revolver roared at almost the same moment. Slightly ahead of the dust spurt between Brad’s feet, the Owlhoot’s Stetson spun from his head with a hole in the top of the crown. Snarling in near hysteria, the masked man cocked his Peacemaker on the recoil and thumbed off another shot.
And then he learned the true meaning of the old gunfighters’ saying, ‘Speed’s fine—but accuracy is final.’
Instead of shooting again from the hip, Brad took the time—brief as it was—to come up into the shoulder high, double-handed stance perfected by Sheriff Jack Weaver. Ignoring the sound of the Owlhoot’s second shot whistling by his head, Brad looked along the cocking slide of his automatic and lined its sights. Gently he squeezed the trigger and the gun cracked.
Thumbing back the hammer for another shot, the Owlhoot felt the powerful bullet rip into the left side of his chest. Flung backwards, clear of the whirling black powder smoke from his revolver, he spun in a circle. The Peacemaker’s barrel sagged down and the hammer fell. Again the old revolver bellowed, its load throwing up dirt halfway between the two men. The recoil ripped the Colt from the Owlhoot’s limp fingers. Crumpling at the knees, he measured his length belly down on the ground.
Slowly Brad lowered his automatic. The desperate gamble, based on the assumption that the Owlhoot committed his crimes for kicks, had come off. Deprived of the ability to win in sports or games, he had been unable to resist the challenge at the one thing in which he had excelled. The big blond walked forward and looked at the white-faced girl sitting rigid behind the wheel of his M.G.
‘It’s over, Gloria,’ he said gently.
Cars rocketed from all sides of the clearing, converging on the cabin at reckless speed. Brad ignored them as he went to kneel alongside the Owlhoot. One glance at the man’s back told the blond deputy all he needed to know. He had shot to kill and achieved his intention. Turning the body over, Brad drew down the bandana to expose a thin, weak-chinned, pallid, plain-featured face. The Zapata moustache, grown as a student, had been shaved off when it became an object of derision to the Owlhoot’s students.
Brad heard a gasp from behind him and looked around. Gloria Heveren leaned on the M.G.’s door and stared down.
‘What is it, Gloria?’
‘I—I know him, Brad I—’
‘Who is he?’ the big blond asked.
‘His name is Maurice Traverson,’ the girl replied. ‘His mother is—’
‘The president of the Rockabye County Anti-Violence League,’ Brad finished for her and removed the bandana, using it to cover the Owlhoot’s face.
About the Author
J.T. Edson was a former British Army dog-handler who wrote more than 130 Western novels, accounting for some 27 million sales in paperback. Edson’s works - produced on a word processor in an Edwardian semi at Melton Mowbray - contain clear, crisp action in the traditions of B-movies and Western television series. What they lack in psychological depth is made up for by at least twelve good fights per volume. Each portrays a vivid, idealized “West That Never Was”, at a pace that rarely slackens.
If you enjoyed the westerns of J. T. EDSON, you may also enjoy the westerns of
BEN BRIDGES and MIKE STOTTER:
BEN BRIDGES:
APACHERIA SERIES:
Apacheria
Lockwood’s Law
ASH COLTER SERIES:
Gunsmoke Legend
Ride the High Lines
Storm in the Saddle
COMPANY C SERIES:
Hit ’em Hard!
To the Death!
HELLER SERIES
Heller
Heller in the Rockies
JIM ALLISON SERIES:
Rattler Creek
Blood Canyon
Thunder Gorge
JUDGE AND DURY SERIES:
Hang ‘em All
Riding for Justice
Law of the Gun
Trial by Fire
Barbed Wire Noose
Judgment Day
MOVIE TIE-INS:
Day of the Gun
O’BRIEN SERIES:
The Silver Trail
Hard as Nails
Mexico Breakout
Hangman’s Noose
The Deadly Dollars
Squaw Man
North of the Border
Shoot to Kill
Hell for Leather
Marked for Death
Gunsmoke is Gray
Cold Steel
Mean as Hell
Draw Down the Lightning
Flame and Thunder
THREE GUNS WEST (Writing with Steve Hayes):
Three Rode Together
Three Ride Again
Hang Shadow Horse!
WESTERN LEGENDS (Writing with Steve Hayes):
The Oklahombres
The Plainsman
The Wilde Boys
Wilde Fire
Wilde’s Law
Aces Wilde
STAND-ALONE WESTERNS:
Ride for the Rio!
Back With a Vengeance
Blaze of Glory
Tanner’s Guns
Coffin Creek
The Spurlock Gun
All Guns Blazing
Cannon for Hire
Montana Gunsmoke
Starpacker
Cougar Valley
SHORT STORIES:
Five Shots Left
MIKE STOTTER
McKINNEY WESTERNS:
McKinney’s Revenge
McKinney’s Law
BRANDON AND SLATE SERIES:
Tombstone Showdown
Tucson Justice
STAND ALONE WESTERNS:
Death in the Canyon
SHORT STORIES:
Six Trails West
But the adventure doesn’t end here …
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More on J. T. EDSON
* * *
[i] More details of ladino cattle are given in Goodnight’s Dream.
[ii] Told in The Professional Killers
[iii] Mark Counter’s history is told in the author’s floating outfit stories.
[iv] Told in Point of Contact.
[v] Told in The Deputies.
[vi] R. and I.: The Records and Identification Bureau of the G.C.P.D.
[vii] Along with the majority of districts in Gusher City, Upton Heights was developed during the oil-boom of the mid-1940s.
[viii] Told in The ¼-Second Draw.
[ix] I.C.R.: The Identification and Records Division of the Texas Department of Public Safety, at Austin. Acts as holding center for the State’s criminal records and other information.
[x] Joan Hilton had learned of Laurie and Sandwich’s affair from an attendant at the bowling alley where they used to meet.
[xi] Shotgun: member of car’s crew who is not driving.
[xii] Details of Buck Shields’ career and abilities can be read in the other Rockabye County stories.
[xiii] Vehicle with nothing to show it is owned by a law enforcement agency.
[xiv] Badge-bandit: police officer mounted on a motorcycle.
[xv] Kweharehnuh: Antelope band of the Comanche Nation.
[xvi] Shooting-gallery: gathering place for narcotics addicts and pushers.
[xvii] Hooker, a prostitute; booster, a professional shoplifter.
[xviii] Why the Kweharehnuh did not make peace at the same time as the other Comanche bands is told in Sidewinder.
[xix] Code Two: radio code meaning urgent, but not an emergency that calls for use of red light and siren as an aid to speed.
[xx
] Soft-shell: Derogatory name for a liberal intellectual.
[xxi] Neo-Fascist: Anybody who does not conform blindly to the intellectual beliefs.
[xxii] Seam-squirrel: a louse.
[xxiii] Iso-cell: single-bunk cell used for segregating dangerous individual prisoners.
[xxiv] Blue-noses: The G.C.P.D.’s Vice and Gambling Detail.
[xxv] Dusty Fog’s story is told in the author’s floating outfit books.