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158 Tamale Ridge by: Chuck Cusimano

wasn’t as accurate as it had been before. Well, he’d fix the sights in a day or two. He watched

for the other men to come running from the barn. He was still waiting when the slug knocked

him into the brush. He didn’t feel anything for a few seconds then he was flooded with the worst

pain he had ever felt. At this point he still didn’t know what had put him down so fast. His mind

went into a spin and for a few seconds. He actually thought he had simply been bucked

off a bad bronc. He tried to sit up and couldn’t do it. He put his hand on his chest and looked at

the blood. Blood? Blood! Then he knew what had happened. He had tried to ambush the old

Mexican that stood by the tree. He was still thinking about what had happened to him, when

everyone was standing around him, looking down at him.

Gilberto rushed into his cabin at the same time he heard the rifle crack the silence. He could

see that his wife and child were safe, so he told them to stay put, as he grabbed his rifle and went

out the back door. He peered around the corner of the building and just then he heard another

shot.

Big Jim had a hard time getting in position to shoot through the air vent but he never knew it.

His adrenaline made him unaware of his size and the size of the space. He had just gotten down

to see out of it when he heard the shot. He found a way to get down on his belly and stick his

rifle through the hooded air vent. He spotted Billy Watkins standing in the brush about a

hundred yards away, holding a rife up to his shoulder. The big man knew immediately what was

happening. He didn’t know if Billy had killed anyone but he knew Billy was trying. He had

shot a lot of ammunition at men in the war and never knew for sure if he killed anyone but he

knew when he squeezed the trigger, that his shot was good and true.

Juan laid there and scrunched behind the adobe wall. His left leg, just below the knee felt like

it was on fire and was bleeding. He took out his handkerchief and tied it over the wound. He

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