Luke's Gold by Charles G. West

midday when Luke, about to admit that he was whipped, suddenly pulled up short.
    â€œWe’ve gone too far!” he exclaimed excitedly. He waited for Cade to pull up beside him. Pointing to the other side of the river, he said, “That’s the gulch we got ambushed in! That’s the gulch we rode down into the water.” He looked back toward the way they had just come. “We got to go back. I got to figure how far we drifted downstream before we came out.”
    With renewed optimism, Luke wheeled Sleepy around and started a thorough scout along the bank of the river. Cade followed, leading the packhorse. At last, he began to catch some of Luke’s excitement. If luck was with them, he might be able to buy his breed stock instead of trying to catch wild horses. There were a number of places along the shore where rocks of various sizes protruded out into the water. Unable to tell for sure from the bank, Luke waded out into the water and continued downstream while Cade led the horses.
    Wading in water waist-deep, Luke worked his way along the bank. A couple of rocks looked promising, but turned out to be nothing, causing Luke to wonder if one of them might have been the place, but the gold was gone. He continued wading along the edge of the river, moving another fifty yards before he came to it. The rock was smaller than he had remembered. Cade couldn’t even see it from the shore. Luke ducked under water, and in a few seconds, came back up. “Glory be!” he shouted. “It’s still here! Goddang it, I knew it would be! I knew it!”
    Hardly able to believe that they had really found it, Cade tied the horses in the trees, removed his gun belt and hung it on his saddle horn. Unable to keep from grinning when he saw the expression of sheer joy on Luke’s face, he waded into the water to help him retrieve the gold. Luke’s gold, sixteen leather pouches, originally bound for the Union Army, undisturbed after so many years, were now carefully transported to dry ground. Once all sixteen of the heavy pouches were accounted for and resting on the grass above the rock, Luke opened one of them to make sure everything was all right. “Sixteen sacks of gold, Cade!” he said. “And half of ’em is yours.”
    No sooner had he uttered the words when they heard the horses snort and blow. Cade knew at once that they had company. His first reaction was to retrieve his weapons, but before he could take the first step toward his horse, the .44 rifle slug slammed into his chest, knocking him backward into the water. He never heard the shot that hit him, and remembered nothing of the next few minutes after he hit the water.
    Caught completely by surprise, and with no chance to get to his weapons, Luke could do nothing but cry out with rage when he saw the three intruders leaving the cover of the trees. “You murderin’ sons of bitches!” he roared.
    With his rifle leveled at Luke, Lem Snider sneered, “Now, Luke, that ain’t no way to talk to an old army buddy.” He moved to position himself between Luke and the horses. “I knew you were up to somethin’ when we talked a few days ago. You coulda cut me in on this deal. I got just as much right to that gold as you, and if you had, why, hell, we woulda gone partners on it. But you was too greedy to share with an old friend.”
    â€œYou can go to hell,” Luke growled, knowing that his life could now be measured in seconds. “You never was a friend of mine.”
    Snider chuckled softly, amused by Luke’s attitude. With his rifle steadily trained on him, he spoke aside to Curly. “Take a look in the river to make sure that other one’s dead.” Back to Luke, he warned, “Uh-uh,” when Luke started to take a step toward the horses.
    â€œWhat are you waitin’ for?” Luke demanded. “Why don’t you go ahead and finish your dirty business, you