Blood on Mcallister by Matt Chisholm

thing worries me about this?’
    â€˜What’s that?’
    â€˜Who’s he goin’ to nobble?’
    Mart raised his eyebrows—’Stands to reason…’ Then he stopped and thought what McAllister was thinking, remembering the same facts: McAllister had whipped Billy Gage in Abbotsville; he had out-run him in practice. Shultz would go where the profit lay. He wouldn’t show any loyalty to his own man. Mart stood up. ‘I reckon somebody has to break this possibility to Gage. How the hell do we make an honest man like Gage believe his manager’s crooked?’
    â€˜We don’t know anything for certain yet. But I’ll try and talk to Gage. Trouble is, I ain’t too sure Gage ain’t in on it. Somebody hit me on the back of the head in the hotel room that night and it wasn’t Shultz. He was right in front of me with the knife.’
    â€˜Maybe if you talked with Gage you could find something out. On the face of it, he’s quite a transparent feller.’
    â€˜Either that or he’s as smart as all get out.’
    McAllister walked back to the saloon and found Rosa at her book. He sat around watching her, feeling pretty good, but with Billy Gage on his mind. Trouble was, he liked the man. He didn’t mind fighting him in the contest, but he didn’t like the idea of it being for real. Life, he decided, could be a bastard sometimes.
    He had his mid-day meal with Rosa in a dining room off her bedroom. They had a pleasant hour together, talking, forgetting the outside world for a short time. When they were through, he rose and said: ‘I have to go see a man, honey.’
    She kissed him and said: ‘This has been a good time, Rem.’
    He said: ‘Can you bear me for a few more days, girl?’
    â€˜I’m beginning to think I could bear you for a lot longer than that.’
    â€˜Mustn’t be greedy.’
    He walked out onto the street and met Jim Rigby. He didn’t know what to say to his old friend and started a mumbled apology for not coming back to sleep, but Rigby merely laughed and said he’d heard McAllister had stayed with Rosa and if he’d been in his boots wild horses wouldn’t have dragged him away. McAllister was relieved.
    He asked Rigby: ‘What do you think of this man Shultz, Jim?’
    â€˜Well,’ Rigby said, ‘nobody could like him, could they? He ain’t exactly a takeable-to feller. Pat can’t stand the sight of him.’
    â€˜Has anybody been to visit with him?’
    â€˜Not a soul.’
    â€˜Thanks, Jim.’
    â€˜You goin’ to win the contest, Rem?’
    â€˜Goin’ to do my best.’
    They parted and McAllister hung around town till somebody told him that Gage and Shultz had gone back to the ranch. At once, McAllister went to the livery, saddled the canelo and rode out to Rigby’s. On arrival, the first person he saw in the yard was Pat, but she refused to talk to him and went into the house. That didn’t trouble him too much. She’d get over it. But neither Shultz nor Gage was there. The rig stood by the barn. He thought it might be a good idea to find Gage way out on the prairie and talk with him.If Shultz was there with him, then McAllister could bring the whole business out into the open. There was a certain physical risk in it, but he would have to be prepared for that.
    He circled the house till he picked up fresh sign and knew that Gage had gone running and that Shultz had accompanied him on horseback. They had gone off in a northerly direction. He set off along the tracks and before long sighted them returning to the house. As he rode toward them, they stopped and talked, McAllister thought, excitedly. He rode up and swung down from the saddle. Shultz followed his example and walked toward McAllister on stiff legs.
    He came straight to the point.
    â€˜What the hell’s the idea, McAllister? We’re training.’
    McAllister