Page 71 of Charlotte's Reckoning
“Give up, Thorn,”Seth called. “We’ve got the cabin surrounded.”
The front door creaked slowly open, and a rifle barrel protruded, followed by a distinctive lisping voice. “Ain’t that a shame? After all these years, the Hartigan brat finally shows up, and here I am with no pie and coffee to offer.”
He chortled, a second laugh joining in on the joke.
Seth glanced at Aaron, who held up two fingers to show he’d heard it too. Thorn wasn’t alone.
“You’re a mighty poor host, then,”Seth commented, overriding their laughter. “You couldn’t have thought for a minute we’d let you come to our town, cheating and shooting up the place, and not come after you.”
He heard the second man ask in a panic, “We? How many is ‘we’?”
“I brought a few friends along,”Seth replied. “Come out with your hands up, and maybe you’ll see the sunrise.”
“I ain’t going back to that cesspool of a prison you sent me to,”Thorn spat, his amusement gone. “I’d rather die.”
“That’s easily arranged,”Aaron drawled, his deep voice booming across the clearing, confirming Seth’s claim of reinforcements.
The cabin went quiet, but not for long. In a burst of gunfire, two men rushed out, heads down, firing into the trees. They ran toward the end of the porch and the path that led to the creek. Seth’s father kept a lean-to for the horses down there, saving him from hauling water. If they had mounts, that’s where they would be.
“Coming your way, Heath!”Seth shouted as he and Aaron returned fire, bullets whizzing everywhere. The sharp aroma of gunpowder quickly overpowered the scent of pine.
Fire from the trees on the creek side, Heath’s position, sent Thorn and his cohort diving behind a stack of firewood. After a few minutes of constant shooting, there was a lull as most of them reloaded.
“I’m out of ammo!”the other man exclaimed. “We’re done for if we don’t give up.”
“I ain’t going back to prison or getting hanged in front of a bunch of angry yokels. If we die, we go down fighting right here.”
“You’re crazy, Emmett. For 20 percent, I’m not going down with you.”
Thorn growled a warning. “Don’t you dare chicken out on me!”
The older man ignored him. “I’m coming out. Don’t shoot.”
His battered hat appeared above the woodpile as he cautiously peeked out then slowly rose, hands up in surrender.
A single shot rang out, causing his head to jerk and his hat to fall off. He then tumbled onto the porch, partially concealed behind the woodpile. Even from a distance, Seth could see a good chunk of his skull was missing.
Seth and Aaron glanced at each other. Both shook their heads. They hadn’t taken the shot.
Thorn’s voice reached them as he muttered, “Fucking useless coward,”and they realized who had.
“There’s five of us to one of you,”Aaron advised. “You can’t win.”
A shotgun blast chipped the bark from the tree where he stood. The former lawman’s instincts were still sharp, and he dove to the ground just in time.
“You all right, Brother?”one of the other Jacksons yelled.
As Aaron got to his feet, he gave the all-clear. “I’m good. I think.”Only Seth was near enough to hear the last part.
The bullet had come close, uncomfortably so. This needed to be over—now.
Using hand gestures, Seth communicated his plan. Aaron understood, shooting a spray of bullets as cover fire while he crept through the trees toward the rear of the cabin. There was no back door, only windows barricaded with furniture and what looked like anything they could find.
He scanned the trees, searching for a specific one. It was still there, taller than when he was a boy, but so was he. Holstering his weapon, he approached, needing both hands to grasp the lowest branch. He jumped, swung himself up, and climbed until he reached the loft window, the one he and Judd used to sneak out as boys.
Sporadic gunfire drowned out the thud of his landing on the roof, heavier than when he’d last done it at twelve. The window looked smaller than he remembered, but he’d have to make it work. It was his only way in through the back.
He opened the shutters and raised the hinged flap—only the downstairs had glass. Seth squeezed through headfirst, his shoulders a snug fit. Once inside, he peered down from above. Through the front window, he could see the man crouched behind the stack of firewood. He had an unimpeded shot with the panes shattered and the frame busted out.
