Jake Law Texas Ranger
Excerpt from Jake Law Texas Ranger
Slowly Jake dropped to his belly and started working his way backwards through the brush, and when he was satisfied that he was well out of sight, he pushed up to his feet and started west with his pistol up and the hammer thumbed back. He made his way through the brush slowly taking much caution, he walked hunkered down, moving one foot then the other, making sure he placed each foot down firmly and there was no twigs or dried leaves under them.
The sun hung high in the cloudless, pale-blue Texas sky, its rays shined hot and bright and here and there where its golden rays could push their gleaming way through the thick canopy of oak the ground was spotted with bright sunlight. The air was still and muggy, no leaves fluttered even the slightest among the trees. Jake moved on then coming to a large old oak, he took cover within its low hanging limbs. Again he let his eyes quickly scan the area where he’d seen the reflection and saw Sutton just as he moved from one tree to another. Now Jake had the advantage because he knew exactly where the outlaw was located, and it was apparent by Sutton’s sporadic, unsure movements he had not yet seen the man he was looking for.
Jake stood watching carefully as the killer made his way west among the thick, tangled brush, then coming to a plum thicket, Sutton turned south for fifteen maybe twenty yards, then swung back east. It was then Jake knew it was only a matter of time before the man who had shot his friend would be in pistol range, then dead. Because Jake knew Bob Sutton, like his brother Ben, would never be taken alive, and Jake wasn’t at all sure that he’d even give him the chance.
Slowly, and being very careful not to make anymore sound than a falling leaf, Jake dropped to the ground beside the tree trunk. He thought of his Winchester still in the saddle boot, he had not had time to grab it when the shooting started. Then he wondered how in the world two seasoned trackers like Kilgore and himself could have just ridden so blindly into an ambush such as this one. They both knew better, and they both were fully aware that Sutton couldn’t be far ahead, that had become evident just the morning before. They had found signs of where Sutton’s horse was favoring his right front leg, and they knew a lame horse wasn’t going to travel far. For some reason they had let their guard down, and the mistake had more than likely cost Kelly Kilgore his life.
