Chapter 24: The long shot
Green reached the overhang by the juniper and retrieved his Sharps rifle, then
turned his horse east. In the distance he could hear the steady bark of gunfire
coming from Red Rock.
A few hours later he found a pool of water in some rocks and washed himself off
and changed into his clothes. As dawn broke he ascended a rock-strewn butte,
stopping two-thirds of the way up. In the distance he could see the Loomis
ranch.
He dismounted, hobbled his horse and emptied his saddlebags, refilling them with
sand. He placed them on top of a chest-high slab of boulder that had slid down
from several hundred feet higher up many thousands of years ago. He took the
Sharps out of it case and placed the hammer in half-cock position; extended the
lever downward, opening the breech. Carefully he inserted a bullet into the
breech, seating it firmly and filled the remainder of the chamber with black
powder. Pointing the barrel straight down he tapped the rifle a few times to
allow the powder to settle in the chamber and closed the breech; pointing the
muzzle up he tapped the rifle several more times to make sure the powder had
settled against the back of the breech block.
Moving to the boulder he placed the barrel of the rifle on the saddlebags. He
estimated the distance to the main house to be about 1500 yards. He adjusted the
rear sight for 5 degrees of elevation. He left the muzzle sight alone since
there was no wind.
He sat down and waited, ate some of the cheese and bread and rolled a smoke. A
few hours passed. A couple of times cowhands came out of the bunkhouse to the
right of the main house to take a piss. An old woman went to the hen house for
eggs and to draw a bucket of water. Only a skeleton crew, Green figured, would
be left at the ranch. Most everyone else would be in Red Rock. Loomis would have
no idea that the town was under siege.
Finally a door opened at the main house. Two men and a dark-haired woman stepped
out onto the portico. One of the men had his arm around the woman. The other man
stepped out into the yard and walked slowly toward the corral where a vaquero
was leading a black horse out from the barn. The man was broad and had a mane of
white hair. That would be Loomis. Green watched as the man climbed up onto the
corral fence and seated himself to watch the horse prance about. When released
the horse shook its head and trotted toward the man who pressed his palm against
it's muzzle and patted it on the head.
Green positioned the Sharps on the saddlebags zeroing in on Loomis. He capped
the rifle and fully cocked the hammer. He pulled on the rear trigger until it
set. Keeping his aim on the target, he slowly squeezed the front trigger while
holding his breath.
The bullet arched through the air traveling over 1300 fps. About six and a half
seconds later it came down at about 600 fps into the top of Loomis' head which
exploded like a wineskin.
Green mounted up leaving everything behind and eased his pinto down the slope of
the hill. When he reached the desert floor he nudged the horse into a gallop.
