The Gospel According to Colt

by W. R. Benton

  How many . . . have died? I asked.

  Out of two hands, one hand and one finger may yet live. I do not understand why, because among white men, this is an illness for children and very few die. Many of your women are ill too, so my friends and I are helping The People.

  Is . . . Big Raven . . . Man with . . . you? And, what are . . . you doing to . . . to care for my people? Big Raven Man ii was a huge black man, as dark as the blackest night, but a kind and good man, with a great sense of personal honor.

  He is with us, as is Spirit Helper, Snow on His Head, and many others. Most of the mountain men are here or with Humps band of Sioux, caring for the ill. Our red brothers and sisters are sick and need our help. I have been hunting for buffalo, deer or other game. At other times I have made soup for your people, so they may grow stronger. All of us feed those of you who are too weak to feed yourselves.

  Cooking is . . . woman's work and not . . . for a warrior. Oh, what . . . will happen . . . to my people?

  Giving me a smile, he said, You have no women strong enough to cook. Are we to let your people die because we are warriors and will not do the work of a woman? No, it is but a small thing we do for our friends the Omaha. Perhaps one day when we are ill, the Omaha can care for us.

  Why are . . . you not sick? Yes, my people have . . . long memories and if any . . . of you become ill, or need our help, we will . . . assist you.

  I had this illness as a young boy of maybe six seasons and it is a sickness you can only get one time. All of the men helping the tribes have had this disease before, but it did not kill us like it does our red friends.

  We are . . . a different people.

  Yes, your words are true.

  “ Over the next week I was so sick that all that kept me alive was One Who Speaks feeding me meat broth. Often I'd throw up what I'd just swallowed, not able to keep my foods down, but he would clean me and feed me again. He was patient with me, but he cared for many and not just me alone. Often the white men hunted for meat, so we as a people could eat and grow stronger, and more than once the last of the meat was given to our people to use. These white men went hungry, so my people the Omaha could eat. I would expect that action from a warrior of The People, but not from white men. Not once did I hear them complain of giving us the meat or of being hungry. These were men not only full of honor, but also deep compassion.

  The men who cared for me are long gone, with some killed by those they helped in the past, but not one was killed by The People. The men called themselves mountain men; I think because the best streams to catch the One Who Swims are found in the mountains. Only I am not sure of the name they chose or perhaps it was a name given to them. They were men of great honor, compassion, and integrity, which are rare traits among any people now. If you ever meet one, show him the respect due a true warrior and treat him well.”

  Kills Many watched the white people and wondered if they were some of the mountain men his grandfather had spoken of or were they like other whites, to be avoided or killed? They were not dressed in leather like mountain men, they had no Indian wives, and he saw no skins from the One Who Swims with them.

  Did all mountain men wear buckskin and marry into the various tribes or were some different? He was unsure of many things, but he was sure these men were one with the wilderness and the Great Creator. Their fires were small, they were quiet, speaking in low tones, they took only what they needed of water and game, and they did not lay around a fire and drink whiskey. The guard, which Kills Many was watching now, rarely moved, and when he did, it was like a large cat.

  I must tell Dog the story of my grandfather and the mountain men, then maybe he will let these men live. I wonder of his tale of being attacked by a lone white man, his trading post burned down, and his goods stolen or destroyed. These people have little and they have surely not taken much from a trading post or they would have many pack-horses. It may be that Dog speaks with more than one tongue to his own people. I must return and speak to him , Kills Many thought as he moved for his horse.

  He left the white men, telling Strong Bow he had to speak to Dog, and made his way to the Omaha camp. When he arrived, all were sleeping, so he ate some buffalo meat found on a spit, over the almost dead fire. He stretched out, waiting for the group to awaken, and soon fell sleep.

  “You have words for my ears?” Kills Many heard Dog ask. Looking around he saw it was still hours from daylight, so sitting up, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and told what he'd seen. He also told the story of his grandfather and the mountain men, but Dog seemed uninterested.

  “I think these three white warriors are men of the mountains and I will not take a fight to them.”

  “I too have heard the story of the saving of our people by the men of the mountains and will not attack these people. We must honor the word given many seasons ago by our ancestors.” a warrior called Big Badger said.

  Finally, Dog was left with two warriors who would attack with him, mainly for the coups, horses, guns and scalps.

  Kills Many finally said, “You have said the white man took many things from your trading post, but I saw nothing with them that would not be carried by any warrior here. I saw guns, food, and shelters. I did not see a single pack-horse with the group, nor were things from a trading post stacked or piled under a protective covering of canvas or leather. I do not understand how he can rob you of many things, yet have nothing with him.”

  “I do not know what he has done with my things. He may have sold them, gave them away, or traded them.”

  “In two suns? I do not know if the words you spoke about this white man are true or not. I wonder the real reason he burned your trading lodge and how the Cook brothers were killed.”

  “Then you, Kills Many, are telling me I speak with more than one tongue?” Dog grew angry and his hand rested near his knife.

  “I am calling you nothing. I am only saying that I, Kills Many, do not believe your words. I saw nothing with the white men that would prove you were robbed. I find it hard to believe just one white man could defeat you in battle, rob you, and then burn your lodge of many things. Even if that were true, where are the many things he stole from you? As a warrior, if he defeats you your things become his, even your very life. Would he not, like an Omaha warrior, be showing the wonderful things he took from you? All I saw was tired people, quiet ones resting, and they know the ways of our people.”

  Damn me, Dog thought, now I have to challenge him to a fight or I'll look like a liar and coward.

  Like a snake striking, Dog quickly slapped Kills Many in the face, and then yelled, “I, Barking Dog, challenge you, Kills Many, to a knife fight to the death.”

  “I accept.” the warrior replied as his hand moved to his big knife.

  “Someone scratch a circle in the soil and this fight will begin.” Big Badger said. “The Creator of all things will show us who speaks with one tongue and who lies on this day.”

  Chapter 15

  DUTCH looked at Susan and said, “Hand me my pistol and do it now, but smoothly and move slowly.”

  “Why?” she asked and then gazed into the eyes of Lew.

  “Lady, I ain't got time to explain all of this to you, but if you don't hand me a gun, you'll be shy a husband come sunup.”

  When Lew nodded, she slowly handed Dutch a pistol, picked up her shotgun, and pulled both hammers back. In an even and controlled tone, she said, “If you hurt my man, you will be standing before God at the same time he does. Do you understand me?”

  “Yep.” Dutch said and then aimed his pistol toward Lew, sighted down the barrel and then cocked the pistol. His shot was loud in the cool night air and the sound made the preacher man jump, knowing he'd just been shot, only he felt no pain.

  “Ya got 'em, by God!” Sam yelled and then jumped up.

  Susan, not sure what was going on, pointed the gun in her hands at Sam.

  “Look lady, I wish ya'd point the gun a little off target, iffen ya don't mind. I get nervous whe
n people point guns at me.”

  “Then sit back down and do the job now. Are you okay?” she asked Lew.

  “I'm fine, but what in the hell is goin' on here?”

  “I thought he'd killed ya.”

  “Lady, if I wanted your man dead, he'd be dead already. If ya look off the right there, you'll see a dead rattlesnake.” Dutch said, and then gave a weak smile.

  “Lawdy, he's a big one, too.” Lew said and then shivered. He wasn't overly afraid of snakes, but having one killed almost in his lap was terrifying. Also, seeing a stranger pointing a loaded pistol at him had unnerved him, something that was fairly hard to do.

  Susan moved near Lew, saw the dead snake and said, “Oh, my God, that thing is huge! If he'd bitten you, John, you'd been a goner.”

  “K . . . keep your pistol, Dutch, and Susan, give Sam his guns back, too. I owe ya for saving my life.”

  “Keep the snake skin and make ya a hat band.” Sam said, and then gave a goofy grin.

  “Have you men eaten yet?” Susan asked as she handed Sam and Dutch their long guns and pistols. She wanted to change the subject away from snakes.

  “Uh, no ma'am, we haven't and we're both terrible cooks too, so our food varies from bad to really bad.”

  “Or,” Sam said, “as I say, our food varies from dark brown and smoking, to black and smoking. Beans we do okay with, but can't neither of us bake a pan of cornbread or a mess of biscuits worth eatin'.”

  “I have a pot of buffalo stew, biscuits, and a simple cake for dessert.”

  The two men looked at each other and Susan smiled as she said, “There are two tin plates on the ground beside you, Sam, so pass one to Dutch and dig in.”

  Lew stood and, using the barrel of his rifle, lifted the snake and tossed it out of camp. He then sat back down in the dirt, smiled and said, “Mighty fine shootin', Dutch, and I seem to know you from some place, but I'll be damned if I can figure out where.”

  “Uh, I'm one of them fellers that lots of folks say that they seem to know me, but I grew up in the Missouri Ozarks, spent some time with a Southern unit during the war, and then went back to my hills in the country.”

  “Ain't done much since?”

  “Huh-uh, not out of the hills I ain't. I read in an old Saint Louis newspaper about the railroad needing all kinds of men, including carpenters, so did some looking into it and found they did need men. I went up there a spell, but couldn't take the violence and sin.”

  “It cost out the ass to live there too, like we told ya.” Sam added, then blushed and said, “Shit, I'm cussin' again.”

  Susan chuckled and said, “I grew up around men, Sam, so a little cursing won't melt my ears. As long as you don't use the Lord's name in vain, all is well.”

  He nodded, scooped up some stew on his spoon and started eating.

  “You boys are hungry.” she said, as she watched them wolf down her simple meal.

  “We are for good cookin'.” Dutch said, and wondered if Lew had a dodger on him or maybe a description from the prison. As soon as they could do so smoothly, they needed to get the hell out of this camp. The longer they remained, the more likely the man was to remember where he knew Dutch from, and then one of them would die.

  “We'll take turns on guard tonight, so you'll not have to pull it alone, John.” Dutch said, speaking around a chunk of biscuit.

  “Well, that's nice to hear. Lately, I've been pulling it alone or moving the mounts in close and hoping they wake me.”

  “That's a dangerous way to travel, my friend. Sooner or later, you'll get your throat cut doing that. I figure we'll pull three hour shifts each and you'll be last. I think you need a good night's sleep

  and six hours of no guard duty should get you in fine shape. Sam can wake you when his shift is over.”

  “Sounds good to me, and I need it.” Lew said, then lifted the coffee pot and poured another cup of the strong black drink.

  “Ya have any Injun troubles 'round heah?” Sam asked.

  “Not so far and we're on Omaha land, but really close to the Sioux.” Lew replied, and didn't want to share his Indian business with two strangers.

  “Tell them about your Omaha pony.” Susan said.

  Lew explained what had happened between him and Charging Bear and then grinned.

  “That Charging Bear must consider you a real bad man to give you a pony. I don't claim to know all about Injuns, but we had some Osage Injuns in the Ozarks, and they really respected a brave man.” Dutch said, thought a minute and then added, “In a lot of ways, Injuns are good people. I can remember one cold and rough winter the Osage were having hard times. Pa ran into a warrior that said they were about starved to death as a tribe.”

  “What happened to them?” Susan asked.

  “Me and Pa took our old milch cow to 'em, they butchered the thing, and we made soup for a couple hundred Osage Injuns. After that, we never had no Injun troubles from any tribes, and some mornings we'd get up to find a deer or turkey hanging on the porch.”

  “They remembered.” Susan said, and then smiled.

  “Of course they did, just like Charging Bear will remember John, here.”

  “I just spoke the truth.” Lew said, “If they wanted to kill me, they could've, but it'd cost them in lives. I didn't think the Omaha wanted to pay the price.”

  “Well,” Sam said as he stood, “I'm headin' to my blankets. When yer shift is over, wake me and then I'll wake John when I'm done. Goodnight y'all.”

  “Night.” was heard around the fire.

  “I'm going to bed too, so Susan, I think you should join me.”

  Susan, unsure what was going on and wondering because they'd not slept near each other since he'd rescued her, stood.

  “I'll get our blankets ready.” she said as she carried a sleeping Billy to the shelter with her.

  “If you have to wake me, either of you, simply touch my ankle. If you touch me anywhere else, I may stick a gun or knife in your face.” Lew said, then added, “Old habits die hard.”

  Once under the blankets with Susan, Lew whispered, “I know both of those men from somewhere, but can't remember where. Until I remember, we'll take extra care around them, okay?”

  “Sure, but wiggle a little closer to me, it's cold tonight.”

  The last thing Lew remembered, before he fell asleep was how nice it felt to have a woman snuggled up close in front of him.

  Near two in the morning Dutch and Sam saddled their mounts, led them away from camp and then mounted. They left at a slow walk, not wanting to wake Lew.

  Lew heard the men moving around way before they left camp and assumed they were getting an early start on the trail, but he became angry once he realized they were not going to wake him before leaving. There was no way they could know he was awake, and leaving them without a guard was criminal in his eyes. He waited until they left, then built the fire up and looked around. Nothing obvious was missing, so they weren't thieves.

  Then he pulled the paper from his shirt pocket with the information on the escapees from the federal pen. He quickly located both Dutch and Samuel and cursed his luck for not thinking of them from the start. Here he had the leader of the convicts at his supper fire and didn't know it. The descriptions of both men were excellent, right down to a scar on Dutch's lip and the missing teeth Sam had. Two of the biggest and baddest of the prisoners, and he let them ride away.

  “Get up and do it now.” he growled at Susan as he tapped her butt with the toe of his boot.

  “Lawdy, why so early?”

  “Them two on guard duty last night ran off and left us without a guard.” he replied and then placed the coffee pot on the flames of the fire.

  “Now, that's strange. I wonder why they did that?”

  “Because them two sumbitches were the leaders when my wife and daughters were raped and killed, is why. They finally figured out who I was, but I couldn't place them.”

  “John, you spoke of your dead family last night, so they knew who you w
ere then. I suspect they wanted to leave earlier, but it would have drawn attention.”

  “Damn me! I had the two bastards I wanted most in camp with me and let them go.”

  “I felt uneasy around them, as if something bad was about to happen.”

  “It has already happened; they took my whole life away from me. Those two men killed me and my whole family.”

  “You're not dead.”

  “No, not on the outside, but inside I've been dead since I saw my place.”

  “John, don't talk like that, because it's not true. Didn't you feel a little bit of happiness last night when we slept together?”

  “Yes, of course, but that was purely physical. I am a man and you are a woman.”

  “I disagree, because I would not have slept with just any man; although nothing happened, I don't think I would have pushed you away. We're both alone in the world right now and I think we need each other.”

  “Well, now, you're sure the blunt one this morning. Maybe I should just undress and give you a poke.” Lew said, suddenly wanting to tease her, although it was rare for him to do so.

  Grinning, she replied, “Try it, because I don't think I'd push you away.”

  He laughed and said, “Susan, I'd honestly love to do just that, but I'll know no peace until I kill those who took my family from me.”

  “I hear you, John, and I fully understand. What now?”

  “We leave an hour before sunup. So, if you want to sleep some more, you have about another hour.”

  “If I sat by the fire, would you sit with me? I have to be honest and tell you, I wanted you last night, and in all ways.”

  Lew walked to her side, sat in the dirt beside her and replied, “Nothing can happen between us until I have killed these last two men. Those two were the leaders, not only of the escapees but in killing my family. I can never be free until I avenge the death of my loved ones, because I hear their voices from the graves, begging me to see justice served.”

  “I can understand that and accept it. So, in about an hour from now we'll mount our horses and find those last two men.” She took his arm and placed it over her shoulder, “Now, doesn't this feel natural to you?”