Cole was thinking the same as Harley. They had seen signs of a hunting party in the foothills, and on one occasion, had gotten close enough to identify it as Sioux. They could play it safe and swing around far enough to strike the river south of the camp and avoid it altogether. With no wish to encounter the Sioux hunters, that would be the wisest choice to make. Cole could not ignore the natural urge to take a look, however, in case it was not the hunting party’s camp. Some innocent travelers might be under attack by Sioux warriors, although if that was the case, he and Harley were close enough to hear any shooting, and there was no sound of that. Also, if that was the case, it probably meant they were too late to help. It was not likely to be settlers traveling this time of year in that country, anyway—maybe a cavalry patrol that found itself outnumbered by the hostiles.
Still, Cole decided it couldn’t hurt to find out who was burning what, if only to determine any threat to Harley and himself. “We might best take a look.”
“I reckon,” Harley agreed, knowing his friend well enough to have been certain they would all along.
The snakelike course of the river was easily traced by the trees and bushes that lined its banks as it wound its way through the open prairie on both sides. Their concern was that they would have to cross that rolling treeless plain before reaching the cover of the cottonwoods beside the river. Anyone who might be watching from the river could easily see them before they got within one hundred yards. Consequently they decided to angle off toward the east to strike the river farther downstream and then work back to the point where the smoke originated. Hindered a great deal by the string of packhorses behind each rider, they knew it would not be to their advantage to be spotted by anyone in the event they were forced to run. They planned to tie the horses in the trees when they approached the camp and proceed on foot from that point.
It took almost half an hour to reach a spot on the riverbank approximately two hundred yards short of the place from which the smoke emanated. They dismounted and Harley remained there to guard the horses while Cole made his way along the bank on foot.
“Make sure don’t nobody spot you,” Harley said. “We might have to leave in a hurry if that is a pack of Sioux and they come after you. I’ll have a helluva time tryin’ to manage this big bunch of packhorses by myself.”
“I don’t plan on gettin’ caught,” Cole assured him. “But if I do, I’ll try to get off at least one round to warn you. If you hear it, don’t wait for me.” He didn’t care much for alerting a Sioux hunting party of his and Harley’s presence and losing the supply of meat they had cured to take to the Crow village, as well as the horses that were carrying it. There was also concern for the hides he was packing. He sorely needed them to trade for the ammunition and supplies he was running short of.
In spite of those concerns, however, he could not ignore the column of smoke and ride on, not knowing if someone there was in a bad situation. “I’ll whistle if it’s all clear.”
“Just be careful,” Harley reminded him once more as Cole started out along the bank of the river.
Within fifty yards of the smoke, he still heard no sounds that would indicate the presence of anyone. Another ten yards took him to the edge of a low bank of berry bushes where he got his first glimpse of the source of the dirty yellow smoke. In a small clearing near the water’s edge, a typical farm wagon was still smoldering, the wagon box and its contents having been mostly consumed by the flames beneath it. He paused for a few moments, scanning the campsite carefully, then looked back at the burning wagon. To set it on fire, the Indians had simply pulled the wagon over their victims’ campfire and parked it there. He scanned the campsite again to make sure, but it was obvious that no one was left in the camp, at least no one alive. Cole shifted his gaze back closer to the edge of the river when the dark shape of a body caught his eye. Someone, he thought, prospector or settler, has rolled the dice and lost. It was a shame, but it was not that rare an occurrence at a time when Sioux war parties were raiding all along the Yellowstone and its tributaries. Satisfied that there was no longer any danger, he stood up and whistled for Harley to bring the horses.
Cole walked out of the cottonwoods and went straight to the body lying near the water, paying close attention to the tracks in the light snow on the ground. By the time he reached the body, he knew it was not Indians who had attacked the unfortunate victim. There were no tracks left by unshod ponies, as there would have been had the man been killed by Indians. And there were footprints left by men in boots, not moccasins. The men who did this rode shod horses. And from what he could see, there were no more than two or three men. He turned the body over and stared down at the victim, a youngish man, possibly no more than twenty-five or thirty. Dressed in the simple garb of a farmer or prospector, his scalp had not been taken, a further indication that the evil business was conducted by white men. There were two bullet holes in his chest and a more obvious one in his forehead, that one evidently to make sure he was dead.
Cole was looking around at what remains he could find near the smoldering wagon when Harley entered the clearing, leading the horses.
“I swear . . .” Harley muttered when he saw the corpse, “some bad business here.” He looked over at Cole, still close by the wagon. “Whaddaya figure?”
“Well, it wasn’t Indians,” Cole replied, concerned more than he had been because of the pieces of woman’s clothes he’d found that had not been completely consumed by the flames. He held a scorched skirt up for Harley to see, all that was left of a gingham dress.
“I swear . . .” Harley muttered again, shaking his head slowly. “What in the world was they doin’ out here in the middle of nowhere, all alone?” He looked around him as if searching for another body.
Sharing the same thought, both men began a scout of the clearing, hoping to find the woman still alive. After a thorough search, they concluded that she had been taken by the men who had killed her husband.
“They headed out this way,” Harley called from the opposite end of the clearing. When Cole joined him, Harley added, “Yonder,” and pointed toward a line of low hills to the southeast.
Cole studied the line of tracks that led into the river. “Might be three men, but I’d bet there was just two of ’em and the woman, and maybe two packhorses, with the woman ridin’ a mule.” He pointed to the smaller hoofprints mixed in with the others. He stepped up in the saddle then and forded the river to see if they had continued in the same direction once they crossed.
He returned to join Harley, shrugged, and said, “I reckon we’d best find out what happened to the woman.” His comment seemed almost casual, but the picture of what the woman might be enduring was not something he could ignore. Her husband looked to be a fairly young man, causing Cole to speculate on the woman’s fate. Had she been older, she would more than likely be lying dead beside her husband. “I can’t waste any more time,” he said to Harley. “I don’t know how much head start they’ve got, but there ain’t much daylight left before they’ll be thinkin’ about making camp.”
Harley understood what Cole was about to say. He was thinking the same thing, so he cut him off. “That feller layin’ over there is just startin’ to get real stiff, so maybe they ain’t got too much of a lead. I figure it’d be best if you was to go on after ’em, and I’ll come behind you with the horses. If they hold to that line the tracks started out on, they’re pretty much headin’ the same way we are. I hope I won’t be that far behind you.” He knew what Cole was capable of on his own and that he would just slow him down. “You just be careful you don’t go ridin’ into no ambush.”
“Right.” Cole turned the big Morgan back toward the other side again. “It ain’t gonna be a hard trail to follow,” he called back over his shoulder. He hated to leave his friend with the job of protecting their horses, but in good conscience, he had no choice. He just hoped that he could find the woman before she was harmed too badly.
“I’ll wait here till the horses have had a
chance to drink before I start after you,” Harley said. “While I’m waitin’, I’ll put this poor feller in the ground.”
Cole waved his hand to acknowledge, then set out following the obvious trail in the light snow. Harley paused a few minutes, watching his young friend as he rode off after the men who had done this evil business. He had not mentioned it, but he was sure that memories of Cole’s past had come rushing back to remind him of the tragedy that had destroyed his family—also at the hands of murderers like these he was bound to go after today. Harley could tell when the occasional memory came back to haunt his friend, but Cole never spoke of it. Maybe time will eventually heal his sorrow, Harley thought.
As he had told Harley, Cole had no trouble following the trail, which led to the southeast in the general direction of the little settlement of Casper. He encouraged Joe to a fast walk, and the big Morgan gelding responded willingly. Cole had planned to rest Joe at the river even though he had not shown signs of exhaustion, but he was going to have to ask a little more of him. If the men he pursued were heading to Casper, it was unlikely they planned to reach that town with a woman hostage in tow, so he could not waste any time in the chase. Maybe they would stop a little earlier than usual to make camp. That would be good for him, but might not be good for their captive. The thought increased the urgency he already felt for the woman’s situation.
* * *
Malcolm Womack pulled his horse to a halt and waited for his brother to pull up beside him. He pointed to a pocket of trees a few hundred yards ahead, where a stream wound its way through a shallow valley. “That looks like a good place.”
“I was startin’ to wonder if you was gonna stop anytime soon,” Travis said. Younger than his brother by a year and a half, he was accustomed to waiting for Malcolm when it came to making decisions—at least when their eldest brother, Troy, was not present. That was the case on this trip, Troy having elected to remain in Laramie.
Malcolm chuckled in response. “You ain’t gettin’ itchy, are you, brother? Hell, we ain’t rode more ’n five miles from their camp.” He turned in the saddle to look back at the woman on the mule behind him. “How ’bout you, Buttercup? You gettin’ itchy, too?” He chuckled again at the joke he had made, amused by the lack of response from his hostage.
In mortal fear for her life, Carrie Green was not certain whether or not she might prefer death to the horror she feared was awaiting her. Her eyes downcast, she sat astride the mule that had pulled her wagon, her mind’s eye still blinded by the picture of her husband’s brutal slaying. Since there was no saddle and no reins, she had kept from falling off by holding on to the mule’s stubby mane, her wrists firmly bound together. She wished now that she had been killed with her husband, and the thought of letting go of the mane had tempted her. But she feared a fall from the mule would only cause her more pain to add to that from the deep bruise on her face, the result of a stunning blow from Malcolm’s fist. It came as a clear message of her helplessness at the hands of her abductors.
“Yonder in that sharp bend looks like the best spot,” Travis suggested, the hint of excitement obvious in his voice. “There’s still a good bit of daylight left. I reckon we’re just gonna stop long enough to rest the horses, ain’t we?” His mind was already heating up with thoughts of what he might do to pass the time while the horses were resting.
His brother’s impatience caused Malcolm to chortle. “Why, hell no. We might as well camp early—give us a little time to enjoy some of that ham Buttercup and her husband brought with ’em, and maybe see if she’s worth the trouble it took to take her with us. They sure as hell weren’t carryin’ anythin’ else in that wagon worth two cents.” The lecherous grin plastered on Travis’s face told him it was good news to him. Too bad ol’ Troy stayed back in Laramie, Malcolm thought. He’d sure enough get a kick out of this.
Travis was a little slow between the ears. It was not noticeable right off, but his lack of common sense exposed itself within a short time in any company. Malcolm was looking forward to seeing Travis’s reaction to having a tussle with a respectable woman, even if it was against her will.
Malcolm grinned. That would be after he had his tussle with the unfortunate woman, of course. He laughed to himself, thinking that Travis would probably try to pay her afterward. Malcolm shook his head when another thought occurred to him. She’s a right handsome little filly. Too bad I’m gonna have to kill her before we hit town. “Come on,” he blurted. “Let’s get on down there and get us a fire goin’. I’m hungry.” He gave his horse a kick and started off down the rise, leading Carrie’s mule.
Travis followed, leading their two packhorses, the foolish grin of anticipation still in place.
They weaved their way through the stand of pines that bordered the stream and pulled up just short of the water. Travis slid off his horse immediately, drew his knife to cut the rope binding her wrists, and rushed to pull Carrie off the mule. Kicking at him furiously, she tried to resist his efforts, and for a few moments it appeared to be a draw, since he only had one free hand. Finally in frustration, he dropped the knife, grabbed her ankle, and jerked her roughly off the mule. Landing hard on the ground, she nevertheless kicked at him before sliding on her backside under the mule to escape him. The mule naturally jumped sideways to avoid the frantic woman under its belly, almost knocking Travis down in the process.
Highly entertained by his brother’s clumsy attempts to subdue the terrified woman, Malcolm threw his head back and laughed. “Damned if you ain’t got a strange way of courtin’ a woman,” he chided. “Just hold off a bit before you get all lathered up and I have to throw you in the water to cool you off. Take care of the horses first, then we’ll get a fire goin’, so we can get somethin’ to eat. We got all night to see that the lady gets all she deserves. Don’t that make more sense?”
After a moment, Travis settled down and stepped back to stand beside Malcolm. They stared down at the frightened woman for a few moments as she continued to slowly push herself away from them until she was stopped when she met with the trunk of a young cottonwood at her back.
“That’s as good as any,” Malcolm smirked. “Fetch me that rope,” he said to Travis. When his brother stepped quickly to get the coil of rope from his saddle, Malcolm took it from him and proceeded to tie Carrie to the tree she had unintentionally selected. “There,” he declared, “now you just pull yourself together and we might give you a little somethin’ to eat to keep your strength up. And, Buttercup, you’re gonna need it. That boy’s as rank as an unbroke mustang.”
Like a calf roped and tied for branding, Carrie stared up at him with eyes wide with fear. For the first time since her abduction, she spoke, pleading for mercy. “Please don’t hurt me,” she sobbed.
Enjoying evil satisfaction from the doomed woman’s helplessness, Malcolm replied, “Why, we ain’t gonna hurt you much. You might even have a good time.” He left her then to contemplate the ordeal awaiting her while he went to help Travis unsaddle the horses.
A multitude of thoughts collided inside her brain, thoughts of terror and the recurring image of her husband as he lay dying, seconds before the sickening sight of the final shot to his head. Friends in Bozeman had advised against starting back to Cheyenne alone, but Robert had been determined to get back before hard winter set in. She sobbed when she thought about it, ashamed that she could think of blaming him for delivering her to this fate. She even envied him, now dead, with no suffering left to face.
From the tree where she was tied, she could see the two men thirty yards away by the side of the stream, joking and teasing each other as they unsaddled the horses and began to collect firewood to build a fire. After they have had their way with me, she thought, they will kill me, just as they did Robert. It was enough to cause the tears to flow down her cheeks again. The thought of the assault upon her body was more horrifying than the death that was sure to follow. She could think of only one way to deprive them of their wicked pleasures. Even though she truly b
elieved that it was a sin to kill oneself, she felt sure that God would be forgiving in this case. Resolved then to try, for she was not sure she had the strength to accomplish it, she strained to reach under her heavy skirt for the knife knocked from Travis’s hand when the mule bumped him. He had evidently forgotten it in the excitement. It had fallen between her legs, and she had managed to drag it with her on her skirt tail as she had backed away from the two men.
In his hurry to make camp, Malcolm had not deemed it necessary to bind her securely to the tree since he was planning to untie her again in a matter of minutes. Consequently, Carrie was held to the tree by several loops of the rope around her upper body and her arms down to her elbows. Even though her wrists were still tied, she found she could just reach the knife by straining as hard as she could. Once she secured the handle in her hands, she drew it up to her to see if she had enough freedom to make the move necessary to plunge the blade into her breast. The question she could not answer was whether or not she could summon enough strength to force the knife into her bosom. Determined to do it, however, she hesitated a moment to ask God for forgiveness. Then she closed her eyes, and calling on all the strength she could muster, she snatched the knife toward her breast. She was immediately stunned when her arms were blocked by an unyielding force and a hand was clamped tightly over her mouth.
“Don’t make a sound,” a voice behind the tree ordered. Her eyes fluttered open and she could still see the two brothers down near the stream. “I’ve come to help you.” The arm that had blocked her knife thrust was cloaked in a buckskin sleeve, leaving her to believe her rescuer was an Indian. Thinking she had been saved from one fate only to be threatened by another, she was too terrified to decide which would be worse.
As the hand covering her mouth was slowly withdrawn, she thought to scream until the voice said, “My name’s Cole Bonner. I’m gonna try to get you outta here.” He took the knife from her hand and cut one strand of the rope around her shoulders. When he had freed her, he pulled her back behind the tree with him.
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