This fact didn’t quell Foster’s misgivings. The idea of working for the upstart Gaines had little appeal for the aging lawman.

“It ain’t legal to wed a corpse, Deputy Gaines,” Pritchard said. “Let her go, or I’ll plug her.”

“How do you know my name?” Gaines demanded.

“I got acquainted with your brother Reuben,” Pritchard said, “down in the New Mexico Territory, just before I killed him.”

“You’re lyin’,” Gaines said.

“Am I?” Pritchard said.

“You seem awfully well informed,” Foster said. “How does a Ranger from Texas know so much about the goings-on up here in Missouri?”

“I wasn’t born in Texas,” Pritchard said, slowly raising his left hand and removing his hat. “I was born and raised right here, in Atherton.”

Sheriff Foster was confused. He didn’t recognize Pritchard.

Gaines was not. He stepped forward and squinted at Pritchard. His jaw dropped. He couldn’t believe his eyes.

“It can’t be,” Gaines said, astonishment and disbelief fighting for control of his composure. “I shot you myself! I watched you get put into the ground with my own two eyes!”

“When you kill a man,” Pritchard said, “you’d best make sure he stays dead.”

Pritchard dropped his hat.

Chapter 57

Chapter 57

An instant later, an explosion went off in the street, fifty feet to the right of Pritchard. As everyone but Pritchard instinctively turned to see the blast, another detonation went off fifty feet to the left.

Pritchard wasted no time. He drew both revolvers and began firing as dirt and debris descended. He hit Sheriff Foster and two of the hired guns immediately. All three went down.

Pritchard was taking aim at the man holding his pistol on Idelle when a bullet from Ditch’s Henry rifle took off the top of the gunman’s head.

Bullets whizzed past Pritchard. One after another struck all around where Eli Gaines and the remaining two hired guns stood shooting at him. Eventually, one of the gunmen figured out he was being shot at from the roof of the Atherton Arms, across the street. He raised his gun to fire upward when another of the. 44 bullets from Ditch’s carbine took him through the throat.

Pritchard put two in the chest of the remaining gunman, as he felt a slap against his thigh. The sting was enough to spoil his aim, and the next shot he fired, at Chief Deputy Eli Gaines, missed by inches. He saw Gaines grab Idelle by the hair and drag her back into the Sidewinder.

Pritchard hobbled to the sidewalk in front of the hotel and took cover behind a post. He was reloading his guns when Ditch appeared, out of breath from running down the stairs.

“Nice timing with that dynamite,” Pritchard told him, “and good shootin’.”

“Not good enough,” Ditch said, examining Pritchard’s wounded leg. “Gaines is still breathin’, and he’s still got Idelle.”