[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] attracting a shot, the fourth man must be where Mabry could not see him, or he Mabry. Considering that, he decided the fourth man must be in front of the house, between the cottonwoods and the trail. From that point he could cover Page 52 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html the front door, but he must also have seen Dodie's hand when she opened and closed the door. So he might have guessed that their plan was not working. A boot scraped. Then Healy called out, "King? Can you come out here a minute?" "Louder!" King heard Barker's voice. "If you make one try at warning him, I'll kill her!" "King!" Healy yelled. "Can you come out?" There was a period of waiting, and Mabry heard a muffled curse. "No use." It was Art Boyle's voice. "They're wise. That girl's got a rifle." It was time to move. Time to move now, before they did. They had numbers, so it was up to him to catch them off stride. There was such a thing as reaction time. That instant of hesitation between realization and ac- complishment. It was upon this that he must gamble. There was little cover beh.the trees, and it was cover only from the front, not from the flanks. Boyle had yelled from in front of the house when he had seen the rifle in Dodie's hands. Mabry darted out quickly, not quite past the front of the barn, but enough for Boyle to see him. Boyle saw him and started to swing the rifle. He was too slow. Mabry's gun was breast-high and he glanced along the barrel as he fired. There was an instant when time seemed to stand still. Mabry saw the man's white, strained face. He saw the rifle swinging, and he stood perfectly still and cold, with no heat in him, and pointed the gun as he would a finger. The pistol leaped in his hand. The teamster's rifle was coming up when Mabry's bullet smashed him in the teeth. His head jerked back as if slammed by a mighty fist, and he fell. Then he rolled over, clawing toward the fallen gun, but blood gushed from his mouth and he stiffened out. Mabry flattened himself back against the wall of the log barn, gun up, ready for a chopping shot. Boyle rolled over, choking on his own blood, and lay still. From within the barn there was absolute silence. One gone... three to go. One at the corral's end and at least one in the barn, probably two. He thought of that and realized his advantage, if such it could be called. Four people in close quarters, two of them ready to shoot, but neither of them wanting to kill Janice, neither wanting to kill his partner. They would have one target, he would have two; they would be separated and his two friends would undoubtedly be shoved back against the wall or in a corner. He remembered seeing Dodie's shadow as she moved within the house. He remembered thinking that the sun was up, shining through the gray clouds like a poached egg in a pan of gray grease. He remembered hearing a wind rustle the cottonwood leaves. His gun was up and he was going in. He was going into two blasting guns, but he had the advantage of being the only one who knew just when he was going in. He tried to recall the inside of the barn he had seen but once. He tried to figure just where they would be. One of them was close against the wall near the opening. That would be Barker. There had to be one there. It was the logical place, as near the door as possible. And it was not a narrow door, but half the width of the barn front. When he went in he could not get a shot at that man. That fellow would be too far over on his right, unless he managed to swing close enough and fire from against his body. But if he figured right, the prisoners would be in the corner behind Barker, and if he shot Barker the bullet might go all the way through and kill one of them. He would have to take the other man first. He would have to nail him quick and fast, then drop and fire at Barker. "You can't make it, King!" Barker shouted suddenly. "We've got you! Come out and drop your gun or we start killing!" They didn't know where he was, then. Not from the sound of that order. They didn't know he was so close. Or he did not [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl blacksoulman.xlx.pl