“The miners and their families are depending on that money. We have to do something,” Bright Feather said immediately.
He looked at her proudly, not surprised by her reaction.
“My thoughts exactly. Damn, some days I do wish Alamieda would get its own sheriff. It seems like it is always falling on my sisters to handle things around here. This time they aren’t here, so you and I will take care of it right quick. You’d best lose the dress, though,” he told her, and she agreed with a nod.
Quickly, she began peeling the dress off as she went back to the changing room. Dutch, with a smile, approached the women that had been gossiping about him earlier on.
“Do you have any weapons around here?” he asked.
“My late husband’s rifle and some shells,” the older one said, reaching under the counter while the younger one stopped fanning herself. She pulled it out and handed it to him.
“Perfect,” he said. Then he loaded the rifle with the bullets she provided next and checked his service pistol to make sure it was ready to go.
“What’s happening?” The younger women asked, her eyelashes still fluttering with anxiety.
“Bright Feather and I are about to ruin a couple of jaspers’ day,” he answered her. He was about to say more but Bright Feather came out in her buckskin mini-dress and knee-high moccasins. He had the brief thought that she was easily as good looking dressed down as she was dressed up. Then he tossed her the gun, focusing on the save at hand.
“I am ready, Dutch,” he heard her assure him as she checked the weapon.
“Okay, here is the plan!” He began, pointing out the two men and the coach as he explained his idea while handing her the extra shells.
***
Bright Feather walked down the old planks that made up the walkway in front of the stores with a blank expression. There were a few passersby on the walkway, some of them glancing through the reflecting glasses at the store wares that were arranged to always catch their attention. The stage office was in between those stores and was only a minute’s walk from where she had left Dutch, already working on his plan.
She held the rifle against her side, so it couldn’t be easily seen from across the street where Dutch was also strolling towards the two men. He was right, she thought. They were going to try and rob the stage. The tall one was leaning against the wall of the stage office, eyeing the coach rather hungrily. The shorter of the two was having a conversation with the driver at the head of the horses. He might be able to fool the driver with a steady conversation, but he looked nervous and unsteady to her.
Bright Feather made it even with the would-be robbers, and then further down, slowly crossing the street so she could come at them from behind. She saw Dutch strike up a conversation with the tall one leaning against the building. The man he was speaking with had a suspicious and uneasy look on his face and Bright Feather had to admit that Dutch looked a little too official even when he wasn’t wearing his uniform. He had an air of confidence and authority around him and it was one of the things that she found attractive about him. However, now it was working against him as the tall one sensed it, she could tell. As the stagecoach manager came out of the office next to the tall man, distracting Dutch, the crook drew his weapon and pointed it at the manager’s head. His partner drew his gun immediately too, pointing it at the driver.
“You won’t be unloading that money, sir. We will be taking it off your hands,” The tall one said coolly.
“Get away, squaw or you’ll get hurt,” The short one said as Bright Feather began drawing near him and looked back to Dutch, dismissing her that quickly. As she approached, Bright Feather, eyed places of cover as the shorter robber frowned, noticing she hadn’t backed off.
“The squaw has got a gun!” He bellowed in alarm, interrupting her thought just as the quick thinking the stage manager elbowed the tall robber in the side. He launched himself back into the office, slamming the door behind him. Dutch ducked down behind some nearby shipping crates stacked next to him at the same time the driver rolled beneath the stage to get out of the line of fire.
Bright Feather retreated into a nearby alley seconds before the shorter one took a shot that she heard ricochet off the wall near her. She crouched down so that when she peered around the corner she would not be an obvious target and stuck her head out quickly, ready to jump back while firing towards the stage.
She saw the taller of the two robbers dive into the stagecoach after the shorter one, who had shot at her, make it to the driver’s seat, and duck down out of sight on the side furthest away from them leaving neither she nor Dutch with a good line of sight to fire on him. Bright Feather moved forward to crouch behind another stack of shipping crates.
From there she saw the driver scrambling out from his hiding place under the coach shouting to the pair as he fled, “My guns are on the stage! I’d just taken them off fixing to give them a good cleaning in the office!” Sure, enough she could see a belt with two six-shooters hanging next to the driver’s bench. She sighed, accepting there would be no three against two.
"Of course, they are," she muttered as a gun poked out of the stage window and fired towards Dutch's hiding place. As soon as the shot went off, Dutch popped up and returned fire, the bullet digging into the side of the stage but not penetrating, being sturdily built since it was an obvious target of this sort of thing. Bright Feather spied the shorter robber stick his head up and grab the reins, prompting her to let the shotgun roar again peppering the side of the bench as he ducked back down, shaking the reins. The horses, already skittish, tried to move forward as Bright Feather cracked open the gun and ejected the empty shells. As she shoved two more into the gun she was glad the shopkeeper had extra shells on hand.
Looking back up she witnessed that the stage was barely moving, making a grating sound as Dutch and the man inside continued to exchange gunfire. Suddenly it dawned on her the brake was still set on the coach. Anticipating his next move, she smiled and took aim. Sure, enough the bandit realizing his mistake reached up and grabbed the brake handle. The thunder from the gun reverberated off the windows on the main street of Alamieda as she squeezed the trigger at the same time the stage did another lurch. The side of the bench seat absorbed most of the powerful blast but a spattering of the buckshot still managed to find its target. A pain-filled howl burst from the man’s throat as the buckshot tore into his arm splashing the street beyond him red, but he had succeeded in releasing the brake and the stage lurched forward under the power of the frightened horses. Great! More runaway animals! If they hadn’t had enough of that lately!
From her low position, she was able to aim at the spokes of one of the retreating wheels and held her breath a second and then fired. The several of the spokes splintered under the blast causing the stage to tilt and bounce from the wobbling and severely damaged wheel. The wounded man popped up and fired his gun quickly in her direction, but his injury had forced him to use his other hand. Not being left-handed his aim was off, coupled with the pitching of the stage, and his shot went errant as she ducked back down.
As Bright Feather worked to reload, a crashing noise filled her ears. A clamor now arose from the horses as she looked over the shipping crates. The savaged wheel had broken completely off the stage and the animals were rearing up, trying to get free and away from the din of the shots. Cursing burst forth from within the canting stage, and she saw the injured driver had been catapulted off the bench and lay in the street on his belly dazed, but his hand still clutched his six-gun.
“Give it up, you aren’t going anywhere,” Dutch was shouting as a gun poked out of the window, the sun glinting off its metallic barrel as it fired on her love. Bright Feather got off another shot spraying the side of the stage with buckshot. She pivoted back towards the front of the big coach as the driver rallied to his feet, holding the gun in one hand while cradling the injured arm against his side. Both hastily aimed guns exploded at the same moment.
A bullet ricocheted off the wall ne
ar her head and most of her buckshot flew over his shoulder but enough pellets caught him sending him spinning back to the ground, this time for good. Meanwhile, the stage continued to rock back and forth from the horses' attempts to free themselves. As she reloaded again, she heard a furious volley of shots from the inside of the stage as her man returned fire followed by a scream and more furious cursing as the gunfire from within fell silent.
Taking advantage of the sudden cessation of gunfire, Dutch darted forward so he was next to the stage under the window. Bright Feather ran over to the man lying by the stage and with a yank grabbed his pistol away from him, keeping the shotgun locked on him lest he rally for the second time. She glanced back and saw the inside robber's arm come out of the window on the stage's door, but Dutch was ready.
It was far from the first time he'd used one of the moves taught to him by Lijuan from her own training in combat methods from her homeland. With a chop to the man's wrist, the shooting iron fell out of his hand, and Dutch grabbed his arm while yanking open the door. It had the effect of jerking the man out of the stage and into his hands, and he immediately spun the man around and threw him to the ground.
The man raised his hands in supplication as Dutch saw one of his earlier shots had left the clothes on the man’s side a dark red, saturated with blood. As he kept his gun trained on the would-be robber at his feet, he looked over where Bright Feather was guarding her own outlaw, and they gave each other a smile they both knew to mean well, that was fun. A moment later their attention was drawn away by the sound of hoof beats and turned to see a richly appointed carriage coming to stop with Honor Elizabeth at the reins. Bright Feather smiled as Catalina stood up on the driver’s seat where she had been riding next to her sister.
“We take off for a little bit, and it looks like you had all the fun without us!” She shouted, her voice awash in its customary mirth.
Bright Feather only smiled and waved. Her love had quite the sisters, but she loved them.
Most of them, anyway.
CHAPTER 18
* * *
The courtyard of Fort McCallister was filled to the brim with men and women who either worked or lived at the fort. The air was robust with various voices, women chattering about dresses and dinners while the men discussed politics and enterprise, everyone doing so well to talk so much and laugh quite a few times. A small stage had been erected against one of the walls in the courtyard for the ceremony
A few officers and men were sitting in a line of chairs on the two sides of the stage while on the stage in two chairs sat Bright Feather in her lovely dress and Dutch in his blue uniform. It was a formal occasion that did not happen that frequently. All the troops in the audience were standing, but there was a line of chairs just in front of the stage and seated in them were the people they had been reserved for, from right to left; Judge Wilde, Marisol San Cristobel, Catalina, Blue River, Honor, Cassandra, and Lijuan.
Lijuan was trying to appear interested and engaged, but her eyes momentarily traveled towards an officer standing along the wall to her right who had curiously not taken a seat. His attention was on her, too, his blue eyes beaming with interest. He seemed to be admiring Lijuan, and he was a good-looking man himself with brown hair and nice blue eyes, so much so that it was impossible for her not to stare back at him. His neatly trimmed mustache gave his serious face a captivating touch while his burly shoulders flowed like an upside-down triangle to his thick-looking chest to give him a proud appearance.
While they both stared at each other, she almost missed Col. Caine as he walked up to the podium and got everyone’s attention with his stocky look and thick voice.
“It is a great honor to bestow upon Bright Feather of the Yavapai people one of the highest awards that can be granted to a civilian by the armed forces,” Col. Caine began, “in recognition of the invaluable service that she has performed the last five years since she joined us permanently at Fort McCallister. Countless lives have been saved due to her actions in dealing with the Indians that surround us … both friendly and otherwise.
"From that very first day when she aided Captain Wilde in saving the peace talks, to just a month ago when her negotiations rescued a detachment of our soldiers when they were captured and faced certain death at the hands of the Black Hawk's Omega warriors she has been an asset to us …"
Col. Caine continued with his speech, but Lijuan was distracted by the man near her. He was speaking in a low deep voice despite knowing how close enough he was to be heard.
“If it weren’t for the fact that the bloodthirsty Black Hawk is her uncle, and from what I hear, she holds sway over him like no one else on the earth, every man in that detachment’s scalp would be hanging in his tent right now,” she heard him hiss. “Being blood kin to a killer doesn’t make her a hero in my book.” He said and his low voice held a note of viciousness.
Lijuan looked at him quizzically and then turned back to listen to Caine, but Cassandra, her sister, had heard the man, too. She leaned across Lijuan with a frown immediately to give the man her candid opinion.
“I don’t recall anyone asking your worthless opinion, soldier,” she hissed at him.
“That’s officer … Captain Vellaneau,” the man said softly, throwing back a passive expression.
Sparks filled Cassandra’s green eyes. She parted her blond hair angrily to the side and fumed silently for a second. For a moment, Lijuan believed her oldest sister to be wickedly enthralling and formidable at the same time whenever she was angry. Her shapely breasts rose and fell beautifully as she heaved a short sigh and threw a careful glance at the military man beside her.
“Wearing captain’s bars doesn’t make your opinion any more valuable than the horseshit that it is,” Cassie responded with the sparks still visible in her eyes.
“Shhh!” Honor hissed at the two arguing, ending the verbal brawl right before it escalated. Lijuan forced her attention back up on the stage, choosing to let go, as was her initial decision.
“And so, it is with great personal gratitude and the gratitude of our leaders in Washington that I present to you this Grand Medal of Courage,” Col. Caine announced, looking at Bright Feather with a smile and motioning her to come forward. She stood and did as he wanted, a smile plastering on her face as he approached her and pinned the medal. Then he stepped aside so she could speak.
“I only wish to say a few words,” Bright Feather said, her eyes traveling to scan the faces of everyone in the courtyard.
“Thank God,” Lijuan murmured under her breath as Vellaneau smiled at this.
“I am humbly honored to accept this great award from you, Colonel Caine, and the Great White Fathers in Washington …” Bright Feather began, “but every man here deserves their own award. These last five years we have faced every sort of peril imaginable and we faced them together. One man, in particular, surely deserves much recognition. A very brave man, Captain David Wilde! Just this afternoon he proved his bravery again by stopping a stagecoach robbery in Alamieda,” She said, beaming at her love.
“Come on, Bright Feather, we know you were right there at his side, stoppin’ them bandits, too! Everybody here ought to know that!” Catalina called to the stage.
Dutch rose at that point, grinning, “My little sister in front there may be a bit over excited, but she is right. Bright Feather was right there with me and helped get the drop on the robbers. They may call Indian men braves, but that also applies to this woman standing right here,” he said, gazing at his woman.
“David, oh David, why can’t you see she’s only going to bring you grief someday?” Lijuan said under her breath. Next to her Cassandra heard this, and frowned, shaking her head sadly.
“Thank you, Captain, but again it is truly for all of you men that I shall wear this with honor. Thank you, and I hope my time at Fort McCallister shall continue for many moons to come,” Bright Feather finished, oblivious of the various comments that accompanied her short speech.
Dutch starte
d clapping immediately as she began to step away, and everyone followed suit. Even Lijuan managed to muster some polite clapping as well.
"The Wildes will be joining me for a special dinner … the rest of you men are dismissed!" Col. Caine announced afterward, ending the proceedings.
Men and women soon began to disperse for the evening.
***
The Wildes were gathered around a table in the officers’ dining hall. The officers’ mess was large and was furnished with a long table and enough seats for the large family. Portraits the colonel collected of notable military victories the United States had achieved since its founding nearly a century earlier decorated the walls. Col. Caine sat at the head of the table, and on his right was Judge Wilde. Next to Whip were Marisol, Bright Feather, and then Dutch. Across from them sat Cassandra, Lijuan, Catalina, Honor, and Blue River.
“I want to thank you so much for including me in your family celebration,” Marisol said to the judge, squeezing his hand. The blush on her cheeks had almost the same saturation as her hair. She was a beautiful Hispanic woman in her early fifties, with an attractive salt and pepper hair.
“Think nothing of it, my dear,” Judge Wilde replied, smiling down at her. He was older than her by a number of years but hardly looked it. Apart from his silver hair and a few wrinkles that spread across his forehead and cheeks, his tanned skin looked vibrant while he hardly looked aged. His blue eyes focused on Marisol as she shook her head intently at his reply.
"No, please, you have done so much for me," she said. "When your lawmen were going to send me back to Mexico to take the fall for my dead brother, it was you that enabled me to stay here free, if I work for you, under your supervision," She stated firmly, gazing at him with respect and perhaps something more.
"Marisol … you would never have been in trouble to begin with if your no-account brother hadn't forced you into being his messenger for his rustling operation. You are a wonderful woman, and I could not allow your prosecution," He told her smiling.
Sing The Death Song: Dutch Wilde & Bright Feather Western Adventure (Half Breed Haven Book 6) Page 14