by Jack L Knapp
Chapter 18
Matt slept later than usual. Perhaps he was becoming accustomed to others sharing the responsibilities of leadership. Perhaps Lilia had influenced his sleeping pattern.
He found a bush east of camp that needed his help and provided it. Refreshed, he looked for the kitchen and something to eat. Reflexively he looked for Robert as he approached the kitchen, but Robert was gone, his body abandoned miles behind the tribe. In time, Matt would stop looking for his reassuring presence out of habit, but that time had not yet come.
Colin was there, helping his wife provide food as yawning tribespeople arrived. Lee had been there, but left soon after eating. Lilia had followed Lee to the fire while Matt visited the bush, but she too had gone about her business.
People were working and preparing for the day’s main task, getting the carts down the steep slope. Having nothing better to do for the moment, Matt went back to his bed and rolled up his furs, tying them in a long sausage-shaped bundle for easy packing.
Carrying the furs, he joined the group following Colin to the carts. All the rope in camp had been pressed into service this day, lighter ones braided together to provide three long pairs of heavy rope to attach to the cart axles. A thoughtful person had tied a series of knots near one end of each rope. One of the pairs would be in use, another ready for the next cart as soon as the first was down, the third was reserve in case one or two ropes began showing signs of failure.
True to his word Matt now carried the rifle, the unfamiliar weight slung over his right shoulder. His quiver rode at his hip and the unstrung bow slanted across his back, held in place by the bowstring. It would be the work of a moment to remove the bow and string it if that appeared necessary.
Matt missed the weight of his steel-tipped spear.
That spear held memories; it had never failed him. From first employment, helping to kill the bear that mauled Lee, to the execution of Pavel, the spear had been his go-to defense for close work.But the spear was now tied with his bedding on the cart. Hopefully he could reach it in time if it was needed.
Matt and Laz each grabbed a pole extending from the front of the cart and pulled south toward the ravine. Others lifted poles and followed. Soon all the carts formed the familiar parade they'd established since converting the travois.
#
Lee was looking over the weapons carried by the women he would use for security. Sandra had been offered the job of caring for the children, but declined.
"Use Cindy. I'll get enough of children later when we begin teaching. I'll be more useful here."
"So be it. Mom...uh, Lilia...will you take charge of the left side of the defense? Take Marja and Shani with you. Sandra, you take the right side. I'll leave Millie with you and distribute the rest of the women as they show up. I'll keep Elizabeth and Bella in the center with me. If they're needed to care for someone, I'll decide whether I can release them from security duty.
"I want to set up our defense in a shallow half-oval and center it on the top of the ravine. I want the two ends about a half-bowshot north and south, the center of the circle a little less than two hundred yards in front. I'll take Elizabeth and Shani and move out a few paces in front of the line. Keep everyone close enough to the next in line to signal if they see anything suspicious. I'd rather have to deal with a false alarm than have danger get too close. Questions?"
Lee had adopted Matt's manner of ending a discussion. If the others noticed, none mentioned it. There were no questions, so Lee took his two charges and looked for a place he could watch while remaining concealed.
His efforts were not good enough.
#
"You expecting company, boy?"
The words took Lee by surprise. Reflexively he started to raise his bow.
"You point that thing at me, boy, I'm gonna stick it up your ass sideways. If I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn't have said nothin'. Use yore head if you plan to live long enough to learn better."
Lee lowered the bow, recognizing truth when he heard it.
"Who are you?"
"Call me Tex. We ain't got much time to jaw if them people over east of here ain't yore friends. I reckon they're an hour away at most."
"Okay, Tex. We don't have any friends in that direction. What did you see?"
"About thirty people, maybe a few more. Maybe two dozen of 'em are packin' spears, rest are carryin’ packs."
"Nice bow, Tex. Where'd you get it?"
"Made it. Been with me a fair spell now. What're you gonna do about them people?"
"First, I'm gonna...going to talk to my mother. I'll leave her in charge here. I need to talk to Matt after that. Will you come with me?"
"I reckon. Matt's that tall drink o' water?"
"I reckon." Lee felt a flash of irritation...he was beginning to talk like this stranger!
Lilia was equally surprised. She hadn't seen Tex slip between her line and Lee's forward observation point, but she took charge after the two left. It was time to shorten the defensive line, assuming the strange man was correct. The task had changed, from warning the tribe to holding off an attack until Matt could reinforce them.
"Howdy, Matt. This kid yours?"
"Next best thing. Consider him an adopted son. You the one that's been camping on the ridge a little north of here?"
"I'm the onliest one I know about, and I don't miss much as do say it myself. The kid says the people I spotted ain't friends of yore'n? You can call me Tex, by the way."
"Not friends. They might be slave raiders."
"That fits. Two dozen of 'em with spears, maybe half that many carrying packs. The ones with packs are roped together. Slaves, I reckon."
"We'll fight. You feel up to a scrap, Tex?"
"Wal, they chased off the camels I was hunting east of here. That's how I spotted 'em, the camels took off and I knowed I hadn't spooked 'em. So I looked, and here they came, bold as brass."
"Anybody every mention you've got an accent, Tex?"
"Nope. Not since I got here, anyway. Come to think on it, I ain't talked to anybody since that happened."
"We can talk later, then. I'll take the center and Lee will command the front. Feel like staying with me?"
"Nope. I'll get on up front with the kid. Lee, you said? Maybe I can shoot me one or two of them slavers from up there. Never liked working for most bosses, and I surely would hate to work for one if I couldn't up and leave. Nossir, I think it might feel purty good to stick an arrow from Ol' Slick here," Tex patted the bow he carried, "into a few of them people."
Matt looked appreciatively at the bow. In thickness it was a virtual twin of his own and it might have been an inch or two longer.
Matt nodded to Tex and went to find Colin; he was already on the way to where Lee had left Lilia with the other women.
"Y'all let your women do your fighting, Lee?"
"Nope. We all fight, men, women, for all I know the babies would bite if you got close enough. We've got a few women that can hold their own with anybody.
"You don't say! Well, this place is shore different, so maybe women warriors are natural-like here. They ever kill one of them saber-tooth tiger things?"
"Maybe. Not since we joined the tribe. Matt and I did, once. Matt said there were likely others with bigger fangs than the one we killed."
"Reckon he's prob'ly right. Once you see one with them long fangs, you won't wonder any more. It's plumb difficult for them to open their jaws wide enough to use them teeth for chewin’, but they can cock their head and once them fangs are stuck in, they use their neck muscles to rip an animal open."
"Tex, I've got to say, I never heard anyone talk like you. I never heard of anyone called Tex, either."
"Bunches of people with that name where I come from, back before Saint Peter picked me up and dropped me here."
"Saint Peter? Matt doesn't have a name for the one that brought him here. I was born on this world, what Matt calls Darwin's World."
"I figgered it had to be Saint Peter.
Plumb magical, it was. He didn't make much sense when he talked to me, but I never talked to no angel before so I just let it slide. I was just glad I could walk ag'in! That hoss purely messed me up."
"We can talk later. If you're right, the raiders are maybe half a mile from here?"
"Might be a tad less. But you're right, no sense lettin' 'em know we're hidin' in the weeds. That woman you called Mom, she taken?"
"Matt thinks so and she does too. We're here, I’ve got to get my people ready."
Lee looked around. He spotted Matt and Colin moving up, now about a hundred yards back. Matt was carrying the rifle in his hand, bow now strung but still hanging behind his back.
Matt left Colin to arrange the tribe's men and joined Lee and Tex.
"Any sign of them yet?"
"Not yet. Tex thinks they're half a mile or less. You leave anyone with the carts?"
"Just Cindy. She's got the kids. I didn't think a reserve would be worthwhile. We can't retreat, nowhere to go, so we'll fight right here. Everyone's got a bow, and Colin will have them drop their spears by their feet so they'll be easy to grab. It'll be spear work after we run out of arrows.
"I'll bring the men up and let them have first shot at about fifty yards. Whoever gets past that, the women will be ready. They'll just about double our firepower as soon as the raiders get closer, say about twenty-five yards.
"I've told Colin not to shoot until they're close. At fifty yards, they're in range of our bows but we're not in range of their spears. I plan to give this bunch the same treatment I gave the others."
"Well, they'll definitely have a different view after it's over. You can see a long way from up here. We could see the raiders already if it wasn't for those short trees at the bottom of the hill."
"Better view, not that they'll appreciate it. If anyone feels like spreading word about Robert's Tribe, I want them to tell people to stay far away from us unless they're friendly."
Tex was turning his head from one to the other as Matt spoke and Lee replied. Finally he too joined the conversation.
"That looks like one of them M-16 rifles. I tried one before, back before I met Saint Peter. You got any more of 'em?"
"Just this one, Tex. I've used an M-16 a lot. I'll keep this one."
"Too bad. Ol' Slick's handy, but she won't shoot as far as that thing."
"I don't intend to shoot very far with this one either. I want them to get close and only use it if needed. Most of the killing will be done by bows."
Conversation lapsed. The men now stood formed into line, just in front of the women who were a pace behind.
Despite the natural tendency to remain close to others, Lilia and Colin had convinced the tribe to spread out. They now occupied a front almost fifty yards long and two yards deep.
Here they would stand. Win or lose, it would happen atop this nameless ridge.
#
Lee looked around. The sky was clear, there was no wind, just the long ridge stretching north and south. The land sloped gently away to the east, scrubby brush on the slope giving way to low trees at the bottom of the incline.
The tribe held the high ground, giving them the advantage of elevation. Behind them, the steep slope would protect from any attack that the raiders might try to launch from that direction.
The sun was now well up, above where the raiders would appear in the east. The tribe wouldn't be looking directly into the sun when the raiders appeared.
Would the raiders attack immediately? What about the slaves? They had figured out a way of overcoming the limitations that Lee and Matt had discussed, using slaves as porters to carry supplies. What would they do with the slaves now, when they realized their quarry was alert and facing them from atop the ridge?
Lee didn't have long to wait before discovering what the raiders intended.
The trees at the bottom of the slope appeared to ripple briefly. The ripple spread to the left and right and Lee was looking at a line of armed men, now clearly visible and looking upslope.
The slavers wore leather caps, some adorned with what appeared to be bone or tusks. The raiders paused only long enough to bring up the slaves and have them drop off their packs.
While Lee watched, they took more leather from the packs carried by the slaves. The heavy leather formed an open garment that each raider quickly tossed over his shoulders, half of it falling to the front and half to the back. They hastily tied the leather together at the sides, helped by the slaves. More leather came out of the packs and was quickly strapped on to protect their knees and lower legs.
Matt was standing by his shoulder when Lee glanced to the side.
"Some bright fellow has invented leather armor. If they boiled the leather in wax, it will turn a thrust from a flint spear. It won't stop an arrow, and if the rifle works, the bullets will ruin their day.
"We'll wait; let them start uphill. There’ll be no place to go after we start shooting.
"Lee, you and Tex start shooting when they're even with that bush." Matt pointed. The rest of the tribe's been told to wait. I'll see whether the rifle works after I see what the raiders do, but remember I don’t have much ammunition."
Lee nodded and resumed his tense wait.
The raiders finished donning their armor and Lee found out what else they had planned.
"Matt, they're pushing those poor people out in front."
"I see it. Hold your fire for a moment. Each of the slaves has a raider behind him. I wonder if one of them is the leader?
"I'm about to find out how well this thing is zeroed. I'm going to take those slavers out, the ones that think they're hiding. You two, be ready when that happens. Call the slaves to come up and get behind us as soon as the raiders behind them are down.
"Put one of the women in charge of them, Shani maybe. She might know them, they're more likely to trust her. Don't leave them running loose behind us.
"But if I can't put those slavers down with the rifle, shoot the slaves. After they're out of the way, kill the slavers. All of them, no quarter, no mercy. This time, if they try to surrender don't bother. Just stick a spear in them and move on."
Lee nodded. Tex looked at Matt with respect.
"You'll do. I've seen bulls that weren't that mean."
Matt nodded and clicked the rifle's safety from safe to single-shot. He’d be shooting slightly downhill, but at this short range he wouldn't need to hold low; the bullet's trajectory could be ignored...
Matt extended the rifle's butt forward until the weapon was upright, then placed the butt on the ground. He dropped into position immediately behind it and pulled the butt into the hollow of his shoulder. Wriggling about until he was comfortable, Matt was soon lying with the rifle snugged into his right shoulder, left elbow under the rifle's forearm, sling brushed aside; at this range he wouldn't need the sling to stabilize the rifle. His opened left hand supported the rifle as Matt lined up the sights.
His action had been seen. Someone down there knew what a rifle was. A raider slid into position right behind the slave providing cover for him, only his eyes and leather helmet visible.
Almost close enough...and then they were. Without conscious thought, long-ago training kicked in. Matt's finger squeezed the last millimeter and the rifle slammed. The recoil was slight, but enough to take Matt's view off his target. A tinkle to the side revealed the fall of the empty shell. Slight adjustment of the body, align the sights, another slam as his finger squeezed.
He smoothly switched from target to target. Below, the slavers hurriedly abandoned the slaves they'd been using for cover and ran back to the rest of their group. Four remained on the ground, victims of Matt's shooting.
Matt quickly removed the magazine and ejected the round in the chamber. Picking it up, he slid it into the magazine and stuffed that into his belt. He then laid the rifle on the ground and slipped his bow from where it rested across his back.
Drawing an arrow, he launched it toward the bunched raiders below.
A virtu
al storm of arrows struck among the raiders. Many fell immediately while a few limped backward, trying to escape the arrows. In the rear, some saw what was happening and turned to run.
"Lee! Take your scouts after those people. Shoot them. No risks to our people, and I don't want any survivors!"
"I understand, Matt. Scouts! With me!"
Without being asked, Tex ran after Lee. He soon passed Lee, running as if he'd spent his whole life waiting for this moment.
Bow ready, Tex paused briefly to put an arrow into the throat of a raider who limped ahead of them. Pausing long enough to take the man's spear, Tex ran on. The pause allowed Lee to catch up and arrow a raider of his own.
They paused at the top of the next ridge to listen. Nothing moving, no noise; a slight breeze had come up during the fight. But no other sounds disturbed the quiet, only their breathing and the soft whisper of moving leaves.
Lilia found Lee with Tex. "I think they're all down. I counted ten of them running away, and we've left that many on the ground behind us."
"OK, Lilia. Collect everyone and we'll start back. We’ve got a nasty job ahead, but Matt wants it done."
Lee stopped long enough to behead the man he'd shot. Carrying the head by its long hair, he moved on to the next. Lilia and Tex each had their own head now. The rest of Lee’s scouts joined the small party and soon carried heads of their own.
Lee was happy to drop the head he carried by the mass of dead raiders. Other heads were already there.
Matt was supervising the task, jaw clenched. Clearly it was something he considered necessary but not something he enjoyed. He had done his share of the cutting; he held his axe in his right hand, bloody blade dripping on the ground by his feet.
"Put the heads on spears, Matt?"
"Not this time. We'll stack them into a pyramid. I'll show you what I mean. I want the spears, as many as you can collect. We've just added nine new people, maybe. I'll talk to them and let Shani and Bella talk too. If they can be useful, we'll bring them into the tribe. If not, we can at least arm them before we turn them loose."