The Five Dollar Mail (Book 1: The Green & Book 2: Lynch's Boys)

171: Terminal

Cover painting by Angela Taratuta. Chapter artwork of Bender by Diego Candia. All graphics by me.

Bender, Lily, and Saint pulled each other clumsily down the dark corridor, boots slipping on the uneven surface beneath them, clasped hands alternately jerking each other forward and being dragged if they fell behind. Another shot rang out behind them, and Bender flinched, his eardrums rattling. Beside him, Lily yelped, instinctively ducking.

"There's a void over to right of the tunnel," he gasped, pulling them to the left. It's coming up, I think. Not sure how far."

"The one you fell into?" Lily said, bumping into him as she edged over.

"Yeah. Pull close, Bari, don't want to have gone through all that only to lose you down a buggering hole."

Saint was breathing hard, his voice thin. "You jammed the lock back there?"

"Yeah. Broke the temples of Miss Lil's glasses off in the keyhole. Might have bought us a little time. You holding up, mate? Can you breathe?"

" I'm alright," Saint muttered in the darkness. "Look, Hungerford...thanks for..."

"Don't talk," Bender grunted, slowing as they rounded a curve in the corridor. Last thing we need is for his lungs to stop working right now. He needs to sit down and collect himself for a few minutes. And they're probably both as parched as I am. "Just keep breathing and keep moving, yeah?"

"Bender," Lily said. "Do you know the way out?"

Bugger me, I sure hope to hell I do. "Yeah, love. Think so. Might know two."

"Thank God," Saint said, half to himself.

A faint, echoing pop reverberated through the corridor, seemingly from somewhere far ahead. Bender slowed to a stop, pulling Lily alongside so that Saint didn't inadvertently jerk her arm when she halted.

Saint sounded frustrated, desperate. "That was a gunshot. A pistol."

"Fair dinkum that." Bender nodded, a sinking feeling in his stomach. As if this weren't enough of a cock up. Now what? He shook his head, overwhelmed. "Damn it!"

"Could be Jesse!" Lily pulled at their hands.

"Not much choice at this point, mate." Bender sighed, letting her pull him back into motion.

"You armed, Hungerford?"

"Yeah. One pistol made it through the cave in. And a buggering big knife in my boot."

"Guess that's somethin'. I got nothin'. Don't fire unless you absolutely have to."

"No worries. Believe me, mate, I got the education on that. Let's go."

The gray haze of light down the corridor glowed dimly before them, and Bender could hear the faint, musical sound of water on stone somewhere ahead. The waterfall cave. It would be a good place to hole up if we have to. And if Jesse's alive... He quickened his pace, pulling at Lily's hand. The glow brightened, and he could see undulating streaks of golden light dancing across the rock ceiling ahead. The sounds of shouting and splashing echoed ahead and his mouth dropped open. "Struth!" Someone's having a barney in there.... "That's...that's buggering Galloway!" And he's armed.  "Come on! Miss Lil, stay behind me, love!" He reached down, fumbling with the hem of his pants and pulling the knife out of his boot.

They all but fell into the water-filled chamber, their boots slipping on the increasingly muddy floor of the chamber. Lily and Saint nearly bowled Bender over running into him from behind.

Jesse was struggling in the water, desperately trying to get away from Galloway. He threw himself backwards, windmilling in the icy water towards the angel's ladders of light shafting through the mist at the mouth of the cave. Galloway was in a murderous rage, diving recklessly on top of Jesse and shoving a pistol under his ribs.

"Struth! No!" Bender bolted forward into the pool, bone-shakingly cold water suddenly nearly up to his waist. He gasped, pulling his pistol clear of the water and fighting against the paralysis of cold shock, willing himself forward. Time stretched out like half-frozen honey. A thousand horrific images thundered through his mind, all of them showing him things he absolutely didn't want to see. He didn't want to see a young man die in agony of a gutshot. He didn't want to ride back with Jesse's body draped over his horse's back, to see Mis Lil drowning in a crippling hell of grief. He didn't want to try helplessly, vainly, to patch Jesse back together knowing it was futile. He heard the click of the hammer being drawn back, heard Jesse cry out, heard the solid clank of metal on metal as the trigger slammed the hammer back into place.

He braced himself for the roar that never came, a hoarse howl of desperation dying in his throat. Wha....? The air left his lungs in a rush. The buggering powder's wet...it didn't fire...

Jesse's terrified face became incandescent with rage as he seemed to rise up in the water, shoving Galloway backwards onto his back, fumbling the pistol from his grip. Bender struggled, gasping, towards the fight.

Bender had once seen a pair of mountain lions fighting, snarling and spitting. He was reminded of that now, and it occurred to him that wading into that fight would probably have been a whole lot safer than wading into this one was going to be. You're gonna get hurt today, Gov'nah, he thought grimly. Try not to get killed if you can.

Jesse was on Galloway, teeth bared in a terrifying, feral rictus. He jerked the bigger man out of the water and delivered a brutal roundhouse punch to the face that Bender could actually hear above the roar of the water.

Thunder cracked through the chamber, and he ducked reflexively at Lily's scream and the whine of a bullet ricocheting across stone. He jerked his head around, looking behind him in time to see Lily and Saint diving behind a bank of rock. Hester Loveless stood in the mouth of the corridor, the dancing light from the chamber glittering across the cold metal of Saint's Colt Navy in her hand.

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