“Ever shoot one of these?”
“No sir.”
“Simplest thing in the world. Just cock the hammers, point it, and pull the trigger. You want to fire the other barrel, pull the second trigger.”
“I can do that.”
“It’s got a kick to it, but there’s no deadlier weapon up close. These buckshot shells each hold nine .32 caliber pellets. Inside of fifty feet, you can’t miss.”
Will handed him a few extra shells and taught him to break open the gun and reload.
“That’s dead simple,” Rufus said.
“Yessir, it is,” Will said. “Better take this, too.” He handed him the Dragoon.
Rufus accepted the revolver and shoved it naturally through his belt, making Will think he’d handled guns before.
“You know how to shoot that?” Will asked.
“Yessir. Used to carry one just like this down into the Thicket.”
“You ever shoot anybody before?”
“No sir.”
“Hopefully you won’t have to today. But if you do, aim for the breastbone.”
Rufus nodded solemnly, and they rode out.
It took them a while to locate the sheriff.
Rickert and the two men with him came riding out of the Grady place, about three miles from Will’s ranch.
Will heard them before he saw them and whispered to Rufus to spread out to either side of the lane. By following their voices, he caught sight of them through the trees, riding this way.
He was sitting his mule with the shotgun across his saddle, thirty feet away, when Rickert and the other men came onto the main road.
Rickert was talking loudly about some catfish he’d caught and broke off with a curse when he saw Will sitting there.
All three men reined in, completely surprised.
“You men keep your hands off your weapons,” Will said, “and I won’t have to cut you down with this scattergun.”
He hefted it in view without pointing it in their direction.
“Don’t go waving that thing around,” Rickert said.
One of the men with him, a blond-haired youth Will believed to be one of the Smith boys, nodded silently and kept his hands in plain view.
The other rider, a tough-looking man Will didn’t recognize, said, “There’s three of us and only one of him.”
“This shotgun doesn’t care,” Will said. “You’re feeling lucky, buddy, you just go ahead and grab iron. But I gotta warn you. You’ll get the other two killed, too.”
Rickert and the Smith kid edged away from the other man, who just scowled at Will.
“Besides,” Rufus said from behind the men. “He ain’t alone.”
“What in tarnation?” Rickert said.
