MacCallister, the Eagles Legacy: Dry Gulch Ambush

by William W. Johnstone

  “I think, Colonel, that the army, and especially the cavalry, will benefit from the TO&E we put together,” Pershing said. “And don’t let Jason tease you, he was very careful with the numbers, probably more so than I was.”

  “You have been a good guest to have, Lieutenant,” Colonel Gibbon said. “I think the officers of the post will miss you when you return to Fort Assiniboine.”

  “Not just the officers,” Holbrook said. “I think the ladies will miss him as well. Especially one lady,” he added, looking pointedly at his sister.

  “Jason!” Clara said, her face flushing in embarrassment.

  “Mr. MacCallister, you will be missed as well,” Colonel Gibbon said. “And I thank you very much for delivering the beef to us. This beef will be distributed throughout the army, but I’m happy to say that, thanks to the barbeque we had the other day, the Fifth Cavalry had the first taste of it.”

  “So, my dear,” Kathleen said to Meagan. “It will be quite a change for you to be going back to your dress shop, won’t it? I mean after such an adventurous thing as joining a cattle drive. Your dress shop will be sort of humdrum, won’t it?”

  “Oh, no,” Meagan said. “I very much enjoy designing and making dresses. In fact, as thanks for your hospitality, I intend to design and make an original dress for you, and for Mary, and Clara, and Julianne. And I will send them to you.”

  “Oh, how wonderful!” Mary said, clapping her hands.

  “Lieutenant Pershing, I want you to know that I am sending an officer’s evaluation report to your commanding officer at Fort Assiniboine, and in it I will be rating you as a most outstanding officer with a fine future in the United States Army. I know that you have contemplated leaving the army to teach school, but I do hope that you will remain in the service.”

  “More and more I am leaning in that direction, Colonel.”

  “Good, good.”

  “Colonel, do you think that Lieutenant Scott will actually get the Medal of Honor?” Holbrook asked.

  “Why do you ask, Lieutenant? Do you think he should not?”

  “I really can’t say, sir. It’s just that, if I understand it correctly, you have only his after-action report upon which to base the recommendation, is that right?”

  “Think what you will of him, Lieutenant, he is an officer. And I am prone to accept an officer at his word. After all, if we do not have honesty and integrity in the officers’ corps, what do we have?”

  “Yes, sir. I suppose you are right, sir. It’s just that, the way he has been acting, if you hadn’t known it beforehand, there was absolutely nothing in his demeanor to suggest that his wife had just been killed. It was as if her getting killed was only a secondary event to his . . . bravery . . . under fire.” Holbrook set the word “bravery” apart from the rest of the sentence to illustrate his point.

  “Yes,” Colonel Gibbon said. “I must confess that his behavior was most unusual. And to be honest with you, I have not yet forwarded the recommendation. I had already made the decision to hold it back for a while, just to sort of allow things to develop.”

  “Colonel, Mrs. Gibbon, ’tis most gracious ye have been, and ye’ve my thanks for the hospitality ye have shown to Meagan, m’ men, and me. But the time has come for us to make our departure.”

  “I’ve assigned Sergeant Havercost to lead the escort detail,” Colonel Gibbon said. “As a matter of fact, he volunteered for it. Sergeant Major Martell tells me that Sergeant Havercost and Mr. Gleason have become fast friends over the last few days.”

  “That’s because they know each other from before,” Duff said.

  “Oh? Well, Sergeant Havercost has been in the army for almost thirty years. Perhaps their paths crossed when they served together at some point in the past.”

  Duff laughed. “Well, their paths did cross, but they weren’t exactly serving together.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Duff told the story of Elmer robbing Sergeant Havercost when he was in charge of a money shipment. And though he didn’t lie, he told the story in such a way as to suggest that it had been an authorized military mission during the war.

  “Ha! Well, I’m glad that old enemies have been able to reconcile their differences. But, now that I think about it, Sergeant Terrell was, I believe, Captain Terrell in the Confederate army.”

  “Yes, sir,” Holbrook said. “And Trooper McKay was a sergeant in the Confederate army.”

  “Well, now that we are united, again, I see no reason why men of good will couldn’t serve together,” Colonel Gibbon said. He stood then, as did the others. “I’ll see you off.”

  There would be no wheeled vehicle this time. Duff and Meagan would be riding the same horses they had come up on, and Elmer would be riding Jimmy Sherman’s horse. When they reached Douglas, they would make arrangements to ship the horses through on the train. Lieutenant John J. Pershing would be riding one of the horses belonging to the Fifth Cavalry Regiment, and Sergeant Havercost would bring it back.

  When they went outside, Sergeant Havercost and three men were standing alongside their horses. Elmer was holding the reins to Jimmy Sherman’s horse, Meagan’s horse, and Sky. One of the troopers was holding an extra horse for Lieutenant Pershing.

  “Ten hut!” Sergeant Havercost called to his men. Then, as Colonel Gibbon and Lieutenant Pershing approached, Sergeant Havercost saluted.

  “Sir, the escort detail is formed,” he reported.

  “Very good, Sergeant.”

  “Lieutenant Pershing, sir, your mount?” Sergeant Havercost said, extending his arm toward the extra horse one of the troopers was holding. Not until Pershing was mounted, did Sergeant Havercost give the command to the others.

  “Prepare to mount! Mount!”

  The soldiers mounted as one, and then Duff, Meagan, and Elmer mounted.

  “Lieutenant Pershing, Mr. MacCallister, if you would, please, the four of you will ride in the middle. One of the troopers and me will ride in the front, and the other two troopers will ride behind.”

  “Aye, Sergeant, ’tis a foine plan,” Duff replied.

  “Good-bye, John!” a female voice called, and twisting in his saddle, Pershing saw Clara waving at him. He returned the wave, then turned back toward the front in time to return the salute of the guard at the gate.

  With Ska Luta and Sue

  Sue was exhausted and weak from hunger. The Indians who captured her had not fed her and this Indian, the one who rescued her, had no food with him. But the truth was, she was so tired she didn’t know if she would be able to eat anyway. When the Indian told her they were going to rest for a while, she was glad. The Indian spread out a blanket for her, and she lay down under a tree and fell asleep.

  Once, during the darkness, she woke up and, for a moment, didn’t know where she was. She was immediately aware, however, that she wasn’t tied down, and when she looked over at the Indian who had rescued her, she saw him sitting on the ground with his knees drawn up, and his head resting on his knees. Despite the fact that he was an Indian, and she had been captured by Indians, there was something comforting about seeing him there.

  She went back to sleep.

  She had no idea how long she had been sleeping when she was awakened by the smell of cooking meat and, at first, thought she must be dreaming. But when she woke up she could still smell the meat. Although it was growing lighter in the east, it was still dark. Despite the darkness, when she opened her eyes, she could see the Indian who had rescued her, front-lighted by the golden bubble of light that emanated from a small fire. The Indian was holding a stick over the fire, and skewered on the end of the stick was a bird. She had no idea what kind of bird it was, but the smell of it cooking actually made her salivate.

  “Hello,” she said.

  The Indian looked up, then held up the stick. “I make food for you,” he said.

  “It smells delicious. What kind of bird is it?”

  “It is sheo, what the white people call prairie chicken.”


  “Oh, yes! I have eaten prairie chicken before. It is quite delicious.”

  “What is your name?” the Indian asked.

  “My name is Mrs. Sc—” Sue stopped in mid-sentence. To be truthful, she didn’t know if she was a widow or not. She had no idea what had happened to Clay. But she did know that she had no intention of living with him anymore, so she changed her answer. “My name is Sue,” she said.

  The Indian pointed to himself. “I am called Ska Luta.”

  “Ska Luta? What does that mean?”

  “That means ‘red white,’” Ska Luta said. “My mother was Shoshone. My father was a white man.”

  “Well, they must be very proud of the fine man their son has become,” Sue said with a pleasant smile.”

  “My mother is dead. I have never seen my father.”

  “Oh,” Sue said. “Oh, that’s too bad. I’m so very sorry. I’m also sorry for what happened to your friend.”

  “It was an honorable death for Brave Elk,” Ska Luta said. “I think he was pleased.”

  “What a strange thing to say.”

  “I know that this is not something that a white person can understand,” Ska Luta said.

  Ska Luta pulled the bird away from the fire, then nodded.

  “It is finished,” he said. Finding a flat rock, he cleaned off the top of the rock, then lay the cooked bird on the rock and cut it into pieces. He picked up a choice piece and handed it to Sue.

  “Eat,” he said.

  “Thank you.” Sue blew on it to cool it, and then she took a bite. “Oh, my,” she said. “I believe this is the most delicious thing I have ever tasted. Wait until I tell Sergeant Beck. He will be very jealous.”

  “Sergeant Beck?”

  “He fancies himself quite the chef,” Sue said. “But nothing he has cooked has ever tasted as good as this.”

  Ska Luta smiled. “My people have a saying: ‘Hunger is the best cook.’”

  Sue laughed. “We have a similar saying. ‘Hunger is the best spice.’”

  What was she doing? She was actually laughing, though she didn’t know how that could be so, after everything she had been through for the last few days.

  Sue ate all of the first piece and started to reach for another, and then she pulled back. “Where are my manners?” she said. She indicated that he should take a piece.

  “No. You eat until you are filled. You need food. When your hunger is satisfied, I will eat.”

  “It is so good,” Sue said. She ate two more pieces, then sat back. “My hunger is satisfied,” she said with a smile, using his words.

  Ska Luta nodded, then finished off the rest of the bird.

  When the sun was a full disc above the horizon, Ska Luta picked up the blanket and draped it across the back of the horse Sue had been riding.

  “I think, with the blanket, it will be easier for you to ride the horse,” he said.

  “Oh, yes, thank you. I’m sure it will be. I must confess that I wasn’t looking forward to riding bareback again.” Sue held up her finger. “But don’t get me wrong,” she said. “I’m so thankful that you got me away from Yellow Hawk that I would have grabbed on to the horse’s tail and let him drag me.”

  Ska Luta laughed out loud. “Ho!” he said. “What a funny thing that would be to see, if you would hang on to the horse’s tail and let him pull you.”

  “Well, Mr. Ska Luta, you are not only a fine man, but you have a sense of humor. I like a sense of humor.”

  As he had last night, Ska Luta helped Sue onto the horse, but today he handed her the reins.

  “You can do this?” he asked, meaning could she ride.

  “Yes, thank you,” Sue said. One of the things that had bothered her a bit last night was the fact that she had not been given the reins. And though, as a practical matter, she could understand how it would be easier for her to keep up with Ska Luta if he led her horse, especially in the middle of the night, it also suggested that she wasn’t really free.

  Now, she knew that if she wanted to, she could probably run away from the Indian who was with her. But, why should she? He, and his friend, had rescued her from Yellow Hawk, and his friend had even died in the process.

  They rode most of the morning, stopping a few times to rest, or in her case it was less a moment to rest than it was an opportunity to walk around a little to relieve the discomfort of extended bareback riding.

  Then, mid-afternoon, Ska Luta held up his hand.

  “Stop,” he said.

  “What is it?”

  “Wait.”

  Sue sat astride her horse while Sky Luta rode on ahead until he disappeared behind some rocks and shrubbery. She thought he would come right back, immediately, but he didn’t.

  So she waited.

  And she waited some more, waiting so long that she began to fear that he wasn’t coming back.

  That was strange, she thought. Earlier this morning, she had actually contemplated running away from him, now she was here, sitting bareback on a horse with absolutely no idea where she was, desperately wanting him to come back.

  She thought about calling out loud to him but, even as she thought about it, she realized that that probably wouldn’t be a very smart thing to do.

  Finally, after what seemed an eternity, though so distorted was her concept of time due to her fear, it might have been only a few minutes, she saw Ska Luta returning.

  “We cannot go that way,” he said.

  “Why not?”

  “Yellow Hawk is there. And because of his victory over the soldiers, now he has many more warriors with him.”

  “Oh, Ska Luta, what will we do?”

  “We will go this way,” Ska Luta said, and as he indicated the way, she turned to follow him.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  With Duff and the escort party

  There had been some of the barbecued beef left, and the mess sergeant had provided the escort detail with freshly baked bread, jam, and butter. As a result, when the escort party stopped for lunch on the west side of Horse Shoe Creek, they had a picnic of sorts.

  “Too bad we don’t have a wee bit of the creature to wash it all down with,” Elmer said.

  “Och, Mr. Gleason, and would ye be for telling me, now, why ye’d want to spoil such a foine meal with liquor?” Meagan asked.

  Elmer looked over at Duff with a smile on his face. “Duff, are you sure you didn’t bring this woman over from Scotland, and you’ve just been keeping it a secret all this time? Damn me, if she don’t sound exactly like you.”

  “Aye, ’tis been a bit of leg pulling the lass has been doing, that I’ll grant you,” Duff said.

  It was mid-afternoon when one of the two soldiers at the rear of the escort party saw two riders coming toward them.

  “Sergeant Havercost! Two riders comin’ at a gallop!”

  “Are they Injuns?”

  “Looks like it!”

  “Shoot ’em!” Sergeant Havercost ordered, and two of the soldiers raised their carbines to their shoulders.

  “Wait!” Elmer shouted. “If there’s just two of ’em and they’re comin’ toward us like that, they don’t mean us no harm.”

  “Well, what are they doin’ ridin’ toward us like that?” Sergeant Havercost asked.

  “I don’t know, but if it was me, I’d wait and find out.”

  “I agree with Mr. Gleason, Sergeant,” Elmer said. “I know this is your command, but I don’t think you should shoot.”

  “All right, don’t shoot, yet,” Havercost said. “But keep an eye on ’em.”

  “Sarge, one of ’em is a woman,” one of the troopers said, and no sooner had he reported it than Pershing recognized her.

  “Sergeant, that’s Mrs. Scott! That’s Lieutenant Scott’s wife.”

  “How can that be?” Havercost asked. “She’s dead! Unless that’s her ghost.”

  By now the two riders were close enough that everyone could see that the other rider was an Indian. The Indian held up his hand.


  “Don’t shoot, I am friend!” the Indian called.

  “Sue, it is you!” Lieutenant Pershing called as the two riders pulled up.

  “Thank God, I’m back with my own people,” Sue said. Dismounting she moved quickly to Lieutenant Pershing and put her arms around him. Though he found the situation a bit awkward, Pershing realized that she needed this, and he embraced her, holding her for a long moment.

  Finally, Sue backed away and looked at the others with a small smile.

  “I swear, you all look as if you are seeing a ghost,” she said.

  “Well, Miz Scott, we all thought you was dead,” Sergeant Havercost said. “Lieutenant Scott said that he seen a Injun crush in your head.”

  “Well, as you can see, I’m not dead,” Sue said. She looked toward Ska Luta. “But I have him to thank for it.”

  “Are there more soldiers?” Ska Luta asked.

  “Why do you want to know, Injun?” Sergeant Havercost asked.

  “Because Yellow Hawk is coming, and he has many, many warriors with him.”

  “How many?”

  “Maybe more warriors than there are bullets in all your guns,” Ska Luta said.

  “How the hell did he get so many warriors?” Elmer asked. “I thought that just a few left the reservation.”

  “That was true. But Yellow Hawk defeated the soldiers and now his name is spoken by all. Many young men who want to become warriors, and count coups, have gone with him.”

  “Sergeant Havercost, I suggest that we head back to the post,” Lieutenant Pershing suggested.

  “No, we can’t,” Sue said. “Not yet. The Indians are between us and Fort Laramie.”

  “Well, we can’t stay here,” Lieutenant Pershing said. “This position is untenable.”

  “I know a place,” Ska Luta said. “It is beyond one more water where there is place like this.” He made a swinging motion with his hand pointed toward the ground. “But has no water.”

  “You mean a dry gulch?” Sergeant Havercost asked.

  “Yes, dry river. We should go there, quickly.”

  “Sarge, don’t do it. If you ask me, I think the son of a bitch is tryin’ to set us up,” one of the soldiers said.