The Marshal of Denver

by Judge Rodriguez

  Ceremonially, all the gathered chiefs stand and Running-Buffalo hands Josh an antler-handled ceremonial knife. “Thus we give you the permission and instrument of your vengeance. You will receive the requested information later today. You are also, hereby released from your oaths of service to the Confederacy. Fly on the wind, Blood-Eagle. Fly as the wind, Falcon-Feather. Seek the blood of those who have wounded your souls so. You have the blessing of this council to spill the blood of other Cherokee.”

  Running-Buffalo motions to a medicine man in the corner. The medicine man, Two-Robins, lights a bundle of sage and approaches the two young men. He performs a blessing over the two young men.

  The two men bow to the gathered chiefs and medicine man, then leave the lodge. They separate, each looking to get a different part of their needed provisions. When John brings the four saddled and four bare-back horses to the tent, he is surprised to see Running-Buffalo standing there waiting on their return.

  As John approaches the tent, he sees Josh approaching from the opposite direction, carrying food and extra ammunition.

  John raises his hand in greeting to the chief. “Greetings, Running-Buffalo. It is a bit surprising to see you here. I take it you are going to tell us what information has been gathered?”

  Running-Buffalo nods. “It goes against my heart to do this, but, yes. I am here to tell you all we know.” The chief moves over to a camp chair by the entrance of their tent and gingerly lowers himself into it. “I’m not as spry as I once was,” he apologizes.

  “Please, make yourself as comfortable as you can,” John replies solicitously.

  The chief waves a greeting to Josh as he walks up to the horses and sets down his load. “After the affair at Elk Creek, we were approached by some of the traitors that went north. They left us, because they didn’t agree with attacking the Creek. They deserted the Union forces because they didn’t agree with attacking us, either.” The chief shifts his posture into a more comfortable position. “They told us how their company was put under the command of a white captain from Kansas. Half the company refused to take part in the battle, since they knew they would be fighting Cherokee. Their captain ordered them to fight, or be executed as traitors. They still refused and he had them arrested then, placed under guard back at their camp, while the rest went to fight.

  “In his arrogance, he though he could assign ten white guards to watch over forty Cherokee. After the company moved out, the prisoners quickly captured their guards and deserted once again. As they were making their way back here, they saw that the captain was relentlessly pursuing your clan. Several troops were captured and taken in front of the captain. He took one look at them and executed each one without word.”

  John looks over and sees Josh shaking with suppressed rage. He sighs and shifts his stance.

  “The deserters were too far away to be able to do anything about the executions, so they made their way back here from the Honey Springs area and begged for mercy over having broken oath. We have them and their prisoners under guard on the other side of camp. I have ordered the guards to let you interrogate all of them when you can get over there.”

  John shifts his stance once more, then crosses his arms.

  Josh asks, “Do we know anything about the whites that were captured?”

  Running-Buffalo shakes his head. “Not really. Only think we know that several of them served under Jennison’s Red-Legs.”

  John holds his breath a moment, unsure of what to say or do. Can it be true? Is this going to be his chance to get his revenge for Liz? His hands start trembling. Finally, after all this times, there’s a chance he can pursue his dreams of avenging the love of his life. He asks, “Where are the prisoners? Can we go over there now?”

  Running-Buffalo rises from the chair slowly, and replies, “I will show you.”

  John pokes his head into the tent, to see Josh’s cousins getting ready to leave. Apparently the chief woke‘em up and told them a part of what is going on. “We’ll be back shortly. Would you mind finishing getting stuff loaded and ready to go? We will be leaving as soon as we get back, I think,” he says to the teenagers inside.

  Gray-Moon nods and continues packing supplies.

  Chapter 33

  Running-Buffalo leads Josh and John across the semi-permanent camp to an area that is cordoned off by a fence and secured by guards. At Running-Buffalo’s signal, the guards lead a disconsolate looking lieutenant from the group out of the fenced off area.

  Running-Buffalo motions to a table and several chairs set off to the side out of hearing range for the rest of the prisoners. John seats himself at the table with Josh sitting on his right and Running-Buffalo sitting on his left. The prisoner sits down across the table from John.

  “What is your name?” John demands from the man.

  He doesn’t respond. He just looks blankly at John, his expression uncomprehending.

  Josh snickers, then leans over and whispers in John’s ear, “You’re speaking Cherokee.”

  Chagrined at his apparent lapse, John takes a deep breath and tries again, this time in English. “What is your name?”

  The man leans forward, placing his elbows onto the table and asks, “Why do you want to know?”

  John stares steadily at him for several moments before answering. “If you refuse to answer our questions, I will shoot you and get my information from someone else.”

  The lieutenant looks unconvinced until John pulls his revolver from its holster, cocks it, then points it at the man’s chest. The lieutenant looks down at the gun and blanches. John sees recognition flash in the man’s eyes for a moment before disappearing. John relaxes the hammer on his colt and sets it down on the table.

  “I wonder. What was that look for?” John asks, his curiosity piqued.

  “I know that gun. Where did you get it?” The prisoner motions toward the pistol.

  “My blood-brother and I bought them several years ago. What do you know of my gun?”

  “I know that we were ordered by Capt. Wilkinson to kill the men carrying them the instant we recognize them,” the prisoner replies pointedly.

  “Wilkinson? What do you know of him?”

  “Why do you want to know?”

  “Why don’t you want to tell me? Your life depends on your being honest. I may let you live, if you give me what I want to know.” John’s fingers rest lightly on the grip of his revolver suggestively.

  “I have been his right-hand man for years. Why would I tell you anything?”

  “If you don’t, you will die. If you do, I will speak to the chiefs for you. My word carries weight. They will spare your life, if I ask it.”

  The man shifts in his seat, uncomfortable in his considerations. “I tell you this, not to save my own life, but to save the lives of my men. Will you promise me you will spare them? They do not know anything of what I am about to tell you.”

  “It depends on the information you give us. If you know where the captain is, we will see.” John relaxes in his seat, expecting to hear some rumor about a camp somewhere.

  “It wasn’t just your gun I recognized, John Blood-Eagle. I knew you from your reputation. I also know about who your friend is as well. I have known about you this entire time. You see, it was Capt. Wilkinson that ordered the attack on your orphanage, not Col. Jennison. I was the one that delivered the orders to the troop that carried them out.”

  John couldn’t believe what he just heard. Did this man just take the blame for the burning of St. Gregory’s? He turns and looks at the shocked look on Josh’s face. He turns to the left and sees the impassive look on Running Buffalo’s.

  “I was also the one that told the men in Pleasant Grove to kill your fiancé and her grandfather. Though, at the time, I didn’t know who she was. I know my life is forfeit. I am more worried about my men.”

  John’s hands start shaking. He can’t hear anything else through the thudding roar of his blood pressure singing in his ears. The world starts to darken. He loses ac
cess to control of his breathing. He can taste the coppery taste of blood in his mouth.

  Josh steps forward and places his hand on his blood brother’s shoulder. It is not enough to elicit a response from the young man, but Josh hopes he is in a good enough position to keep him from killing their best source of information.

  “If you are his right-hand man, why did he leave you behind to watch the prisoners? Why would he leave you with so few men? Why admit your crimes now?” Josh places his hand on his own revolver, menacingly.

  “My reasons are my own. You have the information you want, so you can do whatever you want to me.” The prisoner looks at Josh with a look in his eyes that is completely dead, then folds his hands on the table.

  John stares at the lieutenant for a long moment before asking, “What is your name?”

  “James Wilkinson,” comes the monotone reply.

  Shrewdly, Josh asks, “Cousin or brother?”

  “Cousin.”

  “Why do you betray your cousin, now of all times?” Josh asks curious tone to his voice.

  “You’re gonna kill me anyway, so you may as well know the truth. Plus, I’m tired of fighting, of living with the guilt of what I’ve done.”

  “I think you’re lying. What is your actual reason for telling us this? Why are you betraying family?”

  “That piece of garbage is no family of mine.”

  “Tell us,” Josh insists.

  “No.”

  John snatches the revenge knife from Josh’s belt and stabs the prisoner in his folded hands, pinning them to the table.

  The lieutenant’s screams of pain resound throughout the entire area.

  John snarls and says, “This is just a taste of the pain to come if you don’t tell us what we want to know. I will make sure you will live long enough to regret not answering my questions. I promise you it will take you days to die.” He leans forward and turns the knife, allowing the blood to flow once again, making the man scream even harder.

  Josh smacks John’s shoulder and says, “Enough! If he’s in too much pain, he can’t talk.”

  John smiles and pulls the blade out of the prisoner’s hands. Looking the man directly in the eye, his face takes on a sadistic glint and licks the blood from the blade.

  Josh is taken aback by the sudden violence exhibited from his blood brother. Josh grabs John’s shoulder and forcefully turns him to look him in the eye.

  The look in John’s eye is completely rational. This is a cold, calculated act. That fact alone takes Josh aback even more. He lets go of John’s shoulder and looks back at the prisoner, who seems to have calmed down from screaming and is now reduced to tears.

  Josh smiles sadistically and says, “If you don’t want anything worse, I think you need to tell us what we want to know. I think I can help keep him from hurting you any worse but you will have to tell us all you know.”

  The man appears to be having trouble breathing, but after several shuddering breaths, appears to be able to catch his breath. He looks at Josh and says, “He took liberties with a Cherokee girl the night before the battle. We came across her family’s campsite earlier that day. Her father gave us some information about the area and we moved on. After the column left the area, Roger ordered me and Sgt. Jackson back to their campsite, to kill her parents and to bring the girl back to him.

  “When we got back to our camp with the unconscious girl, he ordered me to take her to his tent. I told him he shouldn’t defile himself with that filthy red-skin, but he just laughed at me and told me to do it anyways. I put her in there and left the area. I couldn’t handle hearing her screams throughout the entire camp, as if the girl was somehow human after all.” His voice gets thick with disgust as he continues his narration, “After he finished with her, I went over to his tent and demanded what he was going to do now. He came out of his tent looking so smug, I just wanted to punch his filthy mouth. I looked inside his tent and in the back, the girl was curled up in a ball, whimpering and bleeding. I insisted he tell me what he planned now and he said he was going to keep her around awhile, to make sure he could enjoy himself fully. Then he asked me if I wanted a turn.

  “The offer made my stomach turn. Imagine that. Me taking liberties with a filthy red-skin.” The lieutenant shudders and spits on the ground in disgust. “I told him what he was doing wasn’t right, and that I was gonna take it to his commander. He got mad at me, insisting I had no right to keep him from doing whatever he wanted to, to enjoy himself. I told him that he was defiling himself in this. He said, ‘Fine! Then I’ll make sure she doesn’t give me anymore trouble!’ He went back into his tent, and shot the girl dead.”

  John is stunned by the revelation. Not only at the actions of the captain, but at the lieutenant’s reactions to them as well. To keep from saying anything, John grinds his teeth together for a few moments. No wonder he wants to die. This creature in front of me deserves death. Slow, painful, death. Pure and simple.

  In a tone closely akin to a snarl, Josh asks, “Where is your cousin now?”

  “He was planning on going home, soon. To Pleasant Grove.”

  Running-Buffalo leans toward John and says in a voice meant for only the two young men to hear, in Cherokee, “Go. I will deal with this rabid animal myself.”

  John nods, then says, “One last question. Did any of your men know anything about this?”

  The prisoner nods. “They were all in camp when it happened. They were the ones that spoke out about it afterwords. Roger left us there undermanned, knowing we would most likely be killed. I told the men if the prisoners tried to get away, just to let them.” His tone turns thoughtful. “I didn’t think they would take us captive, though.”

  “How do you know so much about us?” John asks, motioning toward himself and Josh.

  “I was in Springfield when you got there. We had just dropped off a bunch of captives and had gotten their bounties, when you three came in.” He spreads his hands apart, grunting at the pain coursing through them. “I was the one who told the marshals who to look for after you’d made good your escape.”

  John stands up, unable to listen anymore to this beast. His disgust at the offal sitting in front of him is so strong, it is taking all his self control to keep from cutting small pieces off him. He turns to Running-Buffalo and in Cherokee says, “Honored elder. I would take it as a personal favor if you would allow me to end this creature’s misery.”

  Running-Buffalo looks in John’s face long and hard. “No. This is a matter for the council and your band already has a mission. Give someone else the pleasure of sending these creatures to meet their maker.” He motions over his shoulder for the guard to take the prisoner away.

  Josh stands stiffly, and in Cherokee says to Running-Buffalo, “Honored elder. We thank you for your courtesy in helping us on our blood quest. We will sing thanks to you in our lodges from now on.”

  Running-Buffalo looks at Josh, a curious expression on his face. “I want you to be careful. You both have hate enough to be stupid. Don’t be. Your band is the last of my blood-brother’s family. I do not want to sing your death lay as well.”

  Josh and John both bow. They turn and leave to go back to their tent.

  Chapter 34

  They ride hard for more than a week. The first couple of days in this journey proved to be frustrating as they are required to dodge Union patrols heading to the different forts in the ‘Nations.

  It is on the third day of travel, that inspiration strikes Josh. The next time they got close to a patrol, they double back and set an ambush for them.

  Now clothed in the uniforms of the dead Union patrol and wallets thick with stolen cash, they ride confidently through southern Kansas.

  It is a warm morning on Friday, August Twenty First that finds four Union troopers riding into Pleasant Grove. The four riders ride up to and dismount in front of the Watering Hole Saloon.

  John is overcome by the memory of his last visit here and stumbles a bit, stepping up to the boardwal
k. Josh shoots him a quick glance and places a hand on his shoulder in a quiet reminder to be careful.

  Once again, the saloon is empty of patrons. However, this time, the walls are lined with decorations. The four young men approach the bar and order a beer each. The bartender continues cleaning glasses, until Josh motions the man over.

  “We are looking for a soldier on furlough. A certain Captain Wilkinson. Do you know where he might be?” John asks, attempting to sound official.

  “His family farm is west of town about three mile. If you follow the road here, you can’t miss it. It’s the only house in the area,” the man replies, in an uninterested tone of voice.

  John thanks the man and pays him with some of the purloined money.

  Once outside, the band mount their horses once more and Josh looks to his friend. “We need to make sure that no one gets away. Think you can hold off killing Wilkinson?” he asks.

  John settles himself back into his saddle once more. “No promises. I’ll do what I can. Not promising anything, though.”

  After the group rides out of town, Gray-Moon calls out, “White town’s not like I imagined. Seemed empty to me.”

  John replies, “It was unusually dead. Not sure why. Kinda hope we don’t find out.”

  They ride for little more than an hour and a half. The farmhouse is just where the bartender said it would be, but the captain wasn’t home. According to the older woman that came to their knock, he had left two days earlier with some men that had just stopped by.

  “He said, ‘I’ll be back in a few days. Don’t worry.’ With that he rode off,” she reported.

  They thank the woman for the information and follow his trail to the southwest. John is beginning to feel the anticipation of battle once more. He can feel his heart begin to beat faster. He can hear his heartbeat in his ears, as his blood pressure begins to spike.