Uriah Moon 6 Read online

  The Home of Great Western Fiction!

  Slim Hogan’s gang entered the quickly-growing town of Tuscan to rob its bank in the same manner that they had done numerous times before. But the bank was far more imposing than they had imagined. A battle greeted the bank robbers and Hogan fled with what was left of his gang.

  Their getaway took them into a massive, uncharted forest, figuring to reach safety in the lawless land beyond. Everything went well until they discovered a mysterious glowing outcrop of crystal spires in the depths of the forest … a legendary place filled with golden nuggets.

  It was a place from which men were said to never escape.

  When the mysterious vigilante, Uriah Moon, found out that the bank robbers were headed in his direction, he set out to put an end to them once and for all. But then he too discovered the eerie, glowing canyons and decided to dispense his own brand of justice within its haunting heart.

  URIAH MOON 6: MAZE OF DEATH

  By Gary Wayne

  Copyright © 2021 by Gary Wayne

  First Electronic Edition: October 2021

  Names, characters and incidents in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

  You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by means (electronic, digital, optical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  This is a Piccadilly Publishing Book

  Series Editor: Ben Bridges

  Text © Piccadilly Publishing

  Published by Arrangement with the Author.

  Dedicated to my friend, Denis Roy Michael George.

  Prologue

  THE INFAMOUS VIGILANTE Uriah Moon had been standing ashen faced outside the massive, weather worn livery stable alongside the massive blacksmith Gus Thorson with the three troopers Chuck Smith, Sam Wood and Jerry Davis. The soldiers had ridden from the covered wagon which they had left outside town with Moon to seek out the uncle of the golden haired Hooper sisters. All the vigilante knew of the girl’s uncle was that his name was Drew Bowen. With the sister’s guardian, the handsome widow lady, June Marcus they had escorted the females all the way from Fort Hook to the remote Apache Springs.

  What none of them realized about Bowen was that although he was wealthy and owned the Apache Springs bank, he was also corrupt and being hunted by escaped convict Buck Bryce and his hired gunmen. Bryce blamed Bowen for allowing him to be abandoned in the El Paso penitentiary awaiting to be hanged.

  Uriah Moon and his reluctant companions were oblivious to any of this, as they rested in front of Thorson’s livery stable and watched the tall vigilante intently. As far as the expressionless Moon was concerned, this was the end of their long eventful journey and it would soon be over when they located the young Hooper sister’s uncle and delivered them into his care.

  But nothing was ever as simple or as straight-cut as it seemed. Soon they would all find this out for themselves.

  Grabbing his saddle horn, Moon stepped back into his stirrup and mounted his gelded mustang. Gathering up his reins in his hands Moon’s attention was drawn to one of the saloons situated halfway along the wide main street. The attentive vigilante watched curiously as a noisy bunch of men bustled out from the Lucky Dice saloon to their awaiting horses.

  ‘What’s going on down there?’ the blacksmith asked.

  Neither Moon nor none of the soldiers had an answer.

  They just watched the unknown men running to their horseflesh, mounting and riding off.

  ‘Who was that, Moon?’ Chuck Smith asked.

  ‘They sure ain’t cowboys,’ the vigilante drawled.

  As Moon narrowed his eyes he saw another figure leave the saloon, leap on to his quarter horse and spur. With an expertise which few men could equal, he rode toward them at incredible speed.

  ‘Now that’s a cowboy.’ The vigilante stroked his long white beard as the rider thundered ever closer.

  ‘Who is that?’ one of the troopers asked aloud as he and his fellow enlisted men steadied their mounts. Uriah Moon did not answer straight away as his unblinking eyes focused on the distinctive rider through the shimmering haze. Only when he was certain as to the identity of the horseman, as his mount left a high plume of dust in its wake, did he turn to the troopers.

  ‘That’s Billy Rocco, boys,’ he uttered in a deep drawl. ‘He’s a friend of mine.’

  Momentarily the soldiers relaxed as the young cowboy came racing toward them at pace. Rocco dragged reins a mere few feet from their own horseflesh and brought the animal to an abrupt halt. As a choking cloud of dust passed over the cavalrymen, the cowboy looked at the expressionless Moon and beamed at him.

  ‘Well howdy, Mr. Moon,’ Billy said.

  The vigilante touched the wide brim of his Stetson in silent salute and steadied his skittish mustang as his eyes focused on the cowboy.

  ‘Billy,’ Moon drawled with no hint of emotion in either his voice or his statuesque body as he sat atop his gelding. ‘Who were those hombres that just caused a ruckus in the Lucky Dice and then rode off?’

  The cowboy rubbed the dust off his face.

  ‘I don’t know who they are but I sure know where they’re going, Moon,’ he said as he steadied his quarter horse next to the gelding.

  Uriah Moon’s eyes darted at the cowboy.

  ‘Tell me,’ he snarled, as was his fashion.

  The young cowboy rested his hands on his saddle horn and leaned forward as he watched the distinctive features of the vigilante.

  ‘I was in the Lucky Dice having myself a beer when they rode up and entered,’ Billy Rocco enlightened the curious vigilante as he gathered his loose leathers in his hands. ‘I heard them gabbing. The leader of the bunch is a certain Buck Bryce. He was paying for their whiskey and giving the orders.’

  Moon tapped his spurs gently and steered his mustang closer to the cowboy. He never took his eyes off the excited young cowpuncher.

  ‘Buck Bryce?’ he repeated the name knowingly. Then he started to nod to himself. ‘Where were they going when they piled out of the saloon?’

  Billy Rocco rubbed his dusty jaw. ‘That’s the strange thing, Moon. Bryce said something about heading to pay a visit to Drew Bowen the owner of the bank. Somehow they found out where his house is located and off they went. I got me a bad feeling about that and reckon they intend killing him for some reason.’

  Uriah Moon inhaled deeply.

  ‘Do you know where this Bowen varmint lives?’ he asked.

  Billy nodded. ‘Yep. I sure do.’

  ‘Then take us there,’ Moon said before standing in his stirrups. ‘Take us there fast, Billy boy.’

  ‘It’ll be a pleasure.’ The excited youngster smiled even wider and lashed the tail of his quarter horse with his loose leathers.

  The five rider’s horses burst into action and thundered along the main street in the direction that they had just observed Buck Bryce and his follower’s taking.

  Gus Thorson scratched his balding head and watched the five men riding toward the richer part of Apache Springs. He shrugged, turned and walked back into his large barn doors.

  The vigilante rode a few feet behind the cowboys mount as they thundered between the Lucky Dice and the Salty Sally saloons with the trio of troopers close behind them. They had not reached the end of the long winding road when suddenly the town was rocked with gunfire.

  The sound of the shots echoed all around them, but Moon knew that whoever was firing their weapons were not on the main thoro
ughfare. The shots were coming from where they were heading to. He drove his spurs into the flanks of his mustang and drew level with Billy.

  ‘Ride faster, boy,’ he ordered through the incessant sound of deafening shots. ‘This ain’t no time to dawdle.’

  Billy Rocco did exactly as he was commanded and whipped his leathers across the shoulders of his prized quarter horse. The animal responded immediately and started to eat up the ground beneath its hoofs. With the sound growing ever louder seemingly coming from every direction, the five horsemen rounded a corner at the far end of the long street and galloped up through a side street to where the properties looked grander and far more impressive than the rest of Apache Springs.

  Uriah Moon was sure that the shots were coming from this section of town. The putrid scent of gun fire filled their nostrils as they galloped ever nearer to where the battle was being waged. The noise was growing more and more deafening with each stride of their fearless mounts but none of them slowed their pace.

  Deep in the mind of the vigilante, Moon had already reasoned that this was no fair battle. This was probably a slow execution and the man they were seeking was more than likely the target of the venomous gun shots.

  As they reached another corner, the vigilante thrust his spurs into the flesh of his gelding and caught up to the young cowboy’s horse. Moon reached out, grabbed hold of Billy Rocco’s reins and pulled them back hard until the quarter horse came to a virtual stop.

  The trooper’s horses rounded the corner hot on Moon and Billy’s tail feathers. They too hauled back on their leathers in attempts to halt their advance.

  The sight which they beheld chilled each and every one of them to the marrow. This was not a normal gun fight. This was a brutal and merciless slaughter. A sickening sight which none of the troopers nor the naïve cowboy had ever witnessed before. Only Uriah Moon seemed undaunted by the horror which confronted them.

  The ear-splitting sound was intense as they spotted the hired gunmen firing at a helpless horseman caught in the very heart of the carnage.

  Every one of Bryce’s men’s bullets had only one target and it was the pitiful banker Drew Bowen.

  Somehow the mounted banker had evaded most of the lethal lead but then as he managed to reach the street, their aim became true. Clouds of blood erupted from his wounds and hung in the smoke filled air as Bowen vainly sought a safe passage away from the unholy attack.

  Bullets from rifles and six-shooters alike riddled the horseman and his mount. It was an horrific sight which the troopers had never witnessed before. This was utter carnage which would not cease until their victim was dead.

  Only Billy Rocco recognized the banker even though he was drenched in blood as his savagely wounded horse crashed into the ground sending Bowen cartwheeling toward the vigilante.

  Moon halted his mustang, dragged the cowboy off his saddle and fell behind their horses as the gunmen started to fire at them instead. Within a mere heartbeat two of troopers were punched off their mounts by the impact of the hired killer’s firepower. Crimson gore sprayed into the air as Smith and Wood’s lifeless bodies hit the street.

  Only Trooper Davis managed to dismount without being hit by any of the gunmen’s deadly bullets and scrambled for cover as he fired blindly back at their attackers.

  Shots crisscrossed the street seeking fresh meat to hang in the Grim Reapers butchers window. Only the vigilante was not surprised by the lethal shots which tapered at them. He was used to being shot at by all breeds of men for all sorts of reasons.

  Utilizing his superior strength, Uriah Moon forced Rocco on to the ground as red hot tapers of murderous venom blasted across the distance between themselves and the gang of hired gunmen.

  With bullets passing by his tall frame, Moon still showed no fear as he dropped on to his knees beside the stricken banker’s horse and its bullet ridden master. Only as bullets lifted his long mane of white hair and burned his neck did Moon pull both his six-guns from their holsters and start to return fire.

  ‘What’s happening, Mr. Moon?’ Billy screeched as he lay on his face with his hands on top of his hat. ‘Why they shooting at us?’

  ‘Damned if I know, Billy,’ Moon replied as he carefully aimed and fired his Peacemakers at one after another of the whiskey fueled gunmen. He watched their bodies start to drop as his aim grew more accurate.

  Dense grey smoke hung above the unblinking vigilante as he gradually picked off his targets.

  Within a few moments the vigilante had reduced the number of gunmen within the front yard of the banker’s impressive home and was still firing when Billy crawled to his side behind the blood soaked horse.

  Moon ducked down and shook the spent bullet casings from his gun’s smoking chambers as the cowboy gave him cover. The long nibble fingers of the expressionless vigilante hastily reloaded his weapons with bullets from his gun belt and cocked both his gun hammers again in readiness to continue the fight.

  One of Bryce’s hirelings known only as Pepe ran through the dense gun smoke to where the lethal assassin was crouched. Before Pepe could speak to Buck Bryce two of Moon’s accurate bullets caught the bandit in his chest.

  Pepe was knocked off his feet and landed at Bryce’s boots.

  ‘This is not good, senor Bryce,’ Pepe said before blood filled his mouth and he drowned upon its gore.

  The startled Bryce could not understand what was happening as bullets started to get closer and closer to him. He had come to Apache Springs seeking vengeance on the towns corrupt banker, Drew Bowen. His plan had somehow backfired and he was trapped amongst the bodies of his hirelings.

  Bryce knew that there was only one choice remaining for him if he wanted to survive.

  He had to flee this fight.

  For a man who had made a fortune from hiring out his prowess with his guns by assassinating others enemies this was a strange and unfamiliar situation.

  He knew that he had to escape before he joined his blood-drenched hired men.

  For a few moments his mind raced as he tried to think.

  Then he spotted the line of tethered horses that he and his men had left just outside the white picket fence which encircled the bankers lavish home.

  He had to reach them.

  Buck Bryce cocked the hammers of his six-shooters and raced through the choking gun smoke toward the horses firing blinding with each step. He leapt over the fence and was about to unhitch the long leathers of his mount when a volley of shots hit him.

  The assassin buckled. His fingers squeezed both triggers and blew chunks out of the wooden boardwalk. Then another shot hit him high in his chest. The gun’s fell from Bryce’s hands and he tumbled back. As Bryce landed on the ground he stared skyward at the blue heavens.

  With life quickly departing his worthless soul a shadow suddenly covered him. Bryce lifted his head off the sand and stared at the tall vigilante who loomed above him.

  Smoke drifted from the barrels of Moon’s Peacemakers. It curled and snaked around the vigilante’s arms as he just stood staring down at the ruthless Bryce. There was not a hint of emotion on the bearded face of Moon as he watched blood pumping from the prostrate body who defiantly stared at him.

  Bryce tried to speak but it was impossible. He was choking on his own blood as every fiber of his being started to twitch in an uncontrollable fashion.

  As both Billy and Davis moved to the side of the silent vigilante they looked down upon Bryce’s body. Scarlet gore covered the shirt front of the fallen assassin as he pitifully stared up at the tall man who loomed above him.

  Uriah Moon cocked the hammers of his .45’s and levelled them at Bryce to the surprise of both Billy and the trooper. Then the vigilante squeezed both his triggers.

  Rods of fiery fury exploded from his gun barrels in perfect unison. The shots finished the job which its predecessors had started.

  Two deafening shots rang out in the street and resounded all around the brutalized area. Buck Bryce’s skull was shattered as the pair o
f perfectly aimed bullets found their target.

  Billy stood open-mouthed.

  ‘Why’d you do that?’ Davis stammered.

  Moon simply holstered his lethal six-guns and tilted his expressionless face and stared at the shocked trooper. The vigilante stared down at the miserable remains of the hired assassin without any emotion and bluntly answered the trooper’s question.

  ‘He was taking too long to die,’ Moon replied honestly. ‘Besides, that critter was sentenced to hang. All I did was rebalance the scales.’

  Uriah Moon cast his narrowed eyes around the scene of death which surrounded them and then turned and walked back toward his gelded mustang. The blisteringly hot sun beat down upon the bodies that were strewn all around the normally quiet section of Apache Springs but it meant nothing to the tall haunted figure. Moon never dwelled upon the ultimate resolve of what it meant to be a living person in this savage land. He had learned long ago that death was the only true certainty and one day it would come for him as it had for those he stared at with his ice cold eyes.

  There was no point it fretting about it.

  Like everyone else he was helpless to prevent the Grim Reaper claiming his soul. To worry about it was simply a waste of time and time was the one thing that nobody had enough of.

  Some folks worried about everything. They shied away from every shadow in case it held unseen demons waiting to strike. As far as Moon was concerned, it was pointless. He had realized a long time ago that if you fretted about dying you ended up simply existing and not living.

  The tall vigilante stroked the nose of his skittish mustang and then stooped and plucked his loose leathers off the ground and then straightened up beside the wide-eyed animal. He glanced around the street at the many abandoned horses vainly waiting for their dead masters to return.

  ‘There must be a fair few bucks in saddles and guns scattered around here, horse,’ he whispered into the ear of his trusty gelding. ‘Somebody is gonna make themselves a pretty penny by the looks of it.’