by J. T. Edson
Sharp cracks from Henry rifles intermingled with the deeper growl of large caliber weapons.
At last the nearer shots sounded from over the rim up which they were climbing. So they stalked cautiously upwards until they could peer over the top. Lying flat, they could see the camp and were heartened by what they saw. At least eight Indians and two Mexicans were scattered before the defenders’ position and the watchers could see no signs of casualties among their friends. A further pair of Mexicans and a handful of Tejas crouched behind various pieces of cover, bombarding the camp. Even as Jeanie and Colin watched, the Kid rose slightly from where he lay under the chuck wagon. His Winchester spat and one of the Mexicans lurched out of hiding then collapsed.
The remainder of the Indians gathered around Tiburcio Flores and another Mexican Colin and Jeanie recognized.
‘Cijar!’ the girl spat out. ‘How did that no-good pelados get tied in with Flores and the Injuns?’
‘I couldn’t say,’ Colin answered dryly. ‘Right now, I’m more interested in finding out what they’re talking about.’
‘Yah!’ Jeanie sniffed, poking her tongue out at him. ‘So sneak up on ’em and listen.’
‘That’s what I was thinking of doing, lass,’ Colin informed her.
‘Colin!’ Jeanie gasped, realizing he was serious. ‘It’ll be risky as hell.’
‘I’ve stalked deer in the Highlands, lassie. Those feller’re no sharper in the eyes and ears than a good stag.’
‘Let’s go then. And don’t tell me “no”. We haven’t time to argue it out—and you can’t speak Spanish.’
That was a decisive point, even if Colin had wished to leave Jeanie behind. It would be of no use him moving unobserved to a place where he could hear the men and then be unable to understand them. So he looked around, picking out the safest position for them to use. Along the rim there was a large clump of dogwood bushes which would fill their needs. Nodding to it, Colin received a smile of confirmation from the girl. Carefully backing from the rim, they made their way to the bushes and eased their way under the shelter of the foliage until able once more to see the Mexicans and Indians. Not more than seventy yards separated them and they could hear all the others said.
‘Flores wants them to attack again,’ Jeanie whispered. ‘Only the chief allows they’ve lost enough men already and’s set to pull out.’
‘It may be all right then,’ Colin breathed back.
‘No. Flores’s got Cijar telling the Injuns about all the good things they’ll get from the wagons. Guns, powder, bullets, the hosses, food. Dirty, stinking son-of-a-bitch. He’s got them interested again.’
‘The black-hearted devil!’
‘Which one of ’em? Anyways, the chief still reckons they’re not chancing another attack. Now Flores allows to have a right smart notion. He wants them to make a rush just after sun-down.’
‘That’d be a good time for it,’ Colin admitted. ‘But Dusty’s sure to be expecting them to do just that.’
‘Maybe not,’ Jeanie answered. ‘Injuns don’t do much fighting in the dark. They figure the Great Spirit might not find ’em if they get killed at night.’
Silently they listened to the argument carried on between Flores and the chief. Even Colin could see that the Mexican was making his point and Jeanie confirmed it.
‘He’s got it all figured out. They pull back over the rim and make like they’re fixing to settle down for the night. Just do enough to let our folks know they’re still on hand. Then him and his men’ll take the Spencers and move around to the side. Soon as the sun drops, they’ll start shooting and the Injuns’ll go down the slope like the devil-after-a-yearling.’
More talk followed, which Jeanie said was a discussion on whether the attack would be good medicine or not. At last it was decided to put the plan into operation. Leaving the few men armed with rifles to hold the defender’s attention, the remainder rode over the rim. They passed within a few yards of the bushes, never suspecting Jeanie and Colin lay hidden so near.
‘What’ll we do?’ Jeanie asked, her mouth close to Colin’s ear in the interests of added silence. ‘Charging down like that, they’ll at least run off all our hosses.’
‘We can’t do anything yet,’ Colin replied. ‘How will they make the attack?’
‘On their hosses, if I know Injuns.’
‘If they do, we’ll see what their horses make of pipe music,’ Colin stated.
Settling down as comfortably as they could manage, Colin and Jeanie prepared to wait out the long hours until dark. Colin placed his dirk close to his hand and gave Jeanie the sgian-dubh, so that they would have the means to defend themselves if discovered.
None of the enemy came near the bushes. However a few braves rode off in different directions. Jeanie guessed that they had been sent out to gather food for the rest of the band. One of the hunters brought back something unexpected when he galloped up leading four horses.
Flores recognized his brother’s mount and started to demand that a search be made. Having become enthusiastic over the idea of an unexpected night attack, the Tejas chief refused to let the Mexican go. Instead he sent off six of his own men. They returned shortly before sun-down and told Tiburcio of Matteo’s death. Learning that the braves had not tried to track down the man who did the killing, Flores cursed them. Their insistence that they thought he would wish to avenge the death of his brother struck Tiburcio as a mite unconvincing, but he accepted it. Realizing that there would be insufficient light for him to search for the girl and the man in the skirt, he gave his attention to preparing for the attack.
Slowly the sun sank beyond the western horizon. In its last light, the Mexicans took their rifles and horses to the position from which they would send covering fire into the camp. Gathering their mounts, the Indians formed up behind the rim and waited for their chief’s order to attack.
In the bushes, Colin knelt and took up his pipes. Jeanie kissed him lightly on the cheek as he tucked the bag under his arm and rested the raised pipes on his shoulder. Giving the girl a comforting smile, Colin filled his lungs with air. Then he placed the chanter in his mouth and began to blow.
Chapter Sixteen
The noise caused by the horses moving restlessly and riders muttering drowned the first murmur of the pipes. Slowly the sound grew louder, rising through the night with all its wild beauty of tone. Never had Colin played as he did crouching among the dogwood bushes at the side of the woman he loved and whose mother and friends he sought to save.
If the mustangers’ horses had displayed aversion towards the tones of the bagpipes, it was nothing to how the Indian ponies reacted—and the Tejas showed that they too had little taste for Highland music. Snorts of terror broke out as the skirling wails reached the ponies, mingling with the startled yells of the Indians. Never had the Tejas heard such a sound and they formed their own interpretations of what caused it. Despite Flores’ assurances, none of the braves had felt happy or comfortable about breaking the age-old tradition by fighting in the dark. So, hearing the—to them—unearthly noise lifting from so close at hand, they decided it must be an expression of the Great Spirit’s wrath at their impiety.
With the music ringing louder, the horses started to pitch and tried to run away. Three braves were thrown from their mounts in the ensuing chaos. Then the whole band began to scatter. Scooping up their un-horsed companions, the Tejas lit out as fast as they could go.
‘Damned heathens!’ Colin snorted, lowering the chanter for a moment. ‘Don’t they know good music when they hear it?’
‘It sure looks that way,’ Jeanie replied, hugging him. ‘But I like it. What do we do now?’
‘Go down to see how your mother and the others are,’ Colin answered. ‘Come on, lassie. I’ll pipe you home.’
Picking up Colin’s dirk, Jeanie followed him from the bushes. If she had known more about Highland music, the girl would have been highly delighted as she marched down the slope at the Scot’s side. The tune Colin play
ed was the one his clan used, when a chief brought home his bride.
In the camp, Dusty and the others heard the pipes beyond the rim, then listened to the sounds which followed the music.
‘Whee dogie!’ the Kid said. ‘That danged fool Colin’s scaring their hosses.’
‘Come on!’ Dusty snapped. ‘We’d best get up there and help him. Stay put, Ma, we’ll get up to them.’
Leaving the places from which they had made their effective fight, Dusty, Mark and the Kid ran towards the slope. At any moment they expected to hear shooting or other sounds to tell them that Colin and Jeanie were fighting for their lives against the Tejas enraged by losing the horses.
Crouching among the clump of bushes, Flores and his last two men also heard the pipes and departure of the Indians. Cijar and Gomez let out startled exclamations, crossing themselves in superstitious awe and seemed on the verge of bolting. While Flores had no more idea than his companions of what caused the wailing, his nerve held. Snarling at the others to keep still, he prepared to enforce the order with lead if necessary.
‘Wha–What was it?’ Cijar croaked as the pipes droned into silence.
‘The wind, or something,’ Flores replied. ‘Nothing more.’
For all his light dismissal of the sound, Flores knew just what it meant. His Indian allies had fled and, after such a scare, would be unlikely to return. When the wailing began again, he turned his eyes in its direction. However a movement from Gomez distracted him.
‘Look!’ the bandido hissed, sighting his rifle towards the camp. ‘Some of them are coming out.’
Peering through the darkness, Flores saw the three fast-moving figures. He recognized them as the deadly trio of Texans who had been such a decisive factor in the defense of the camp. In which case he had no wish to draw their attention his way. More so when one of them was Cabrito, famed for his ability at fighting in the darkness.
‘Don’t shoot!’ Flores spat out. ‘Do you want them to know we’re here?’
When he had it pointed out to him, Gomez also saw the danger. Shooting in the dark would be chancy and, if he missed, would alert Cabrito to their presence. So he lowered the rifle and looked at his leader.
‘What are we going to do, patron?’
‘What we came here to do. Kill the man with the skirt. As soon as it’s light, we’ll start looking for him.’
‘There’s somebody else on the slope!’ Cijar whispered. ‘I think it’s the man and the Schell girl!’
After staring for a moment, Flores nodded in agreement, ‘It is! The son-of-a-whore must have made the noise and frightened the Tejas.’
‘Are we going to attack them, patron?’ Gomez inquired in a voice which showed no pleasure at the idea.
‘Not now,’ Flores decided. Seething with rage though he might be, the bandido leader could still think. Much the same objections were against an attack as there had been to shooting at the Texans. So he was willing to wait for a better opportunity, and if possible, create it himself. ‘Come on, let’s get the horses and ride.’
‘You don’t mean to avenge your brothers?’ asked Cijar.
‘Of course I do!’ Flores snarled. ‘And I’ve an idea how to do it. If I can’t get to him, I’ll have to make him come to me.’
Colin received a hero’s welcome on his arrival at the camp and the acclaim grew greater when Jeanie told how he had saved her. Having left the others to make a search of the surrounding area, the Kid arrived back in time to hear the girl say that Colin had killed another member of the Flores family. Then the dark youngster reported on his findings.
‘They’ve all pulled out,’ he announced.
‘Then we’ve seen the last of Flores?’ Colin asked. ‘Or was he killed?’
‘He warn’t,’ the Kid replied. ‘And we ain’t seed the last of him. Tiburcio and his two yahoos didn’t go with the Injuns. They lit out for the south. With you downing Matteo, Tiburcio’ll be even more set on taking your hair. I’d say Matteo was the only one he gave shucks for.’
‘We’d best make ready for him then,’ Dusty stated. ‘Set out pickets, Lon. Make sure they don’t sneak back again. Then we’ll have a fire built and a meal made while we tend to the horses.’
Leaving the Kid to handle the placing of guards, Dusty set all the others to work. Two mesteneros had been killed and three wounded, none seriously. Ma attended to the wounds and left the rest of the cleaning up in Dusty’s capable hands. By the time April and Fernan had the fire going and food cooked, the horses had been separated, sarprimas replaced on the mustangs, saddle-mounts taken to the picket line and herd-mares driven off to range feed.
The night passed without incident and the following day was to be spent in clearing up after the attack. However the Kid returned from a scouting mission with strange news.
‘One of Flores’ boys’s coming,’ he said, halting his white stallion at Dusty’s side. ‘Got him a white rag on the end of his gun barrel.’
‘Best see what he wants,’ Dusty decided. ‘Get everybody in cover ready for trouble, Ma.’
‘Yo!’ the woman answered and gave the orders.
‘Any sign of the rest of them, Lon?’ Dusty inquired, watching the preparations for defense.
‘Nary a flicker,’ the Kid answered. ‘Them Tejas won’t’ve stopped running yet and Flores’ man’s alone.’
When Gomez rode into sight, he found the camp prepared to hold off any attack. Halting his horse, he stared at the leveled rifles and waved his white flag to make sure that it could be seen.
‘Come ahead slow and easy!’ Dusty ordered in Spanish. ‘If there’s any trickery, you’re dead.’
‘No tricks, señor,’ Gomez promised hurriedly. ‘My patron has sent a message to the man in the skirt who killed his brothers.’
Riding forward, still displaying his piece of white rag prominently, Gomez came to a halt before Ma’s wagon. Followed by Jeanie, Colin emerged from beneath it but Dusty ordered the others to remain in their places. Taking the rifle from the bandido, Dusty went to the Scot’s side and asked what Gomez had in mind. Much to Dusty surprise, the man began to speak in passable English.
‘My patron, Senor Tiburcio Flores, sent me to say that he has no quarrel with anybody here except the man who killed his brothers.’
‘That’s right neighborly of him,’ Dusty drawled. ‘If it’s all he wanted to tell us, you’ve had a ride for nothing.’
‘Senor Flores says if the man who wears a skirt will meet and fight him at the deserted village to the south, he will make no more trouble for you.’
‘And if he won’t?’ asked Dusty before Colin could speak.
‘Much as he would dislike doing it, señor, my patron would have to make plenty trouble for all of you.’
‘What kind of trouble?’
‘You hunt wild horses. He would burn your corrals, scatter the mestenas, have your mesteneros killed from ambush—’
‘And we’d just sit back and let him?’ Dusty said sardonically.
‘While you hunt us, you can’t hunt your horses, señor’ Gomez pointed out. ‘And Senor Flores is a patient man. If he has to, he will go back to Mexico to gather more men. Then one day he will return for his brother’s killer.’
‘That figures,’ the Kid put in.
‘Señor Flores said for me to tell the one who wears a skirt that a true man does not hide behind his friends,’ Gomez continued, looking directly at Colin.
‘I hide behind no man!’ Colin blazed, stepping forward. ‘Tell yon murdering heathen you serve that I’ll fight him anywhere and at any time.’
‘Colin!’ Jeanie gasped, moving to his side.
‘There’s no other way, lassie,’ Colin told her gently. ‘If I don’t fight him, we’ll never be free from that murderous blackguard.’
‘He’s right, Jeanie,’ the Kid said without taking his attention from the country about him. ‘Even if it doesn’t come now, Flores’ll not forget. Colin can’t live safe in Texas while Tiburcio’s alive.’
The girl gave no sign of hearing the words. Instead she clung to Colin’s arm and looked into his face. ‘I–I don’t want to lose you.’
‘Do you still think I need wet-nursing, lass?’ the Scot asked.
‘N–No. It’s not that. You can’t trust Flores to play straight.’
‘Now you don’t reckon that we’d let Colin ride down there on his lonesome, do you?’ Dusty put in and turned to Gomez. ‘We’ll be riding with our amigo to the village—’
‘Damn it, Dusty!’ Colin barked. ‘The man’s challenged me—’
‘Sure,’ agreed the small Texan. ‘Only we’re going along to see there’s no tricks. Hey, hombre, tell your patron the three of us will stop outside the village as long as his men do the same. If they cut in, so do we.’
‘It’s that way, or I’ll shoot you in the leg afore I’ll let you go, Colin,’ Jeanie stated. ‘I mean it!’
‘I believe you do,’ the Scot smiled and gave his attention to Gomez. ‘Tell Flores that I had no choice but kill his brothers and I’m sorry I had to do it. If he won’t have it any other way, I’ll face him man to man.’
‘I will tell him, señor,’ Gomez promised. ‘But it will not change his mind.’
‘We’ll be there at sun-down tomorrow,’ Dusty said. ‘Tell Flores that we’ll want to see you and his other man out the back of the village before Colin comes in alone.’
‘Si, señor. Can I go now?’
‘We’ve nothing more to say,’ Dusty answered. ‘¡Vamos, pronto!’
‘You want for me to trail along after him?’ the Kid inquired as Gomez mounted up and rode away.
‘I don’t reckon so,’ Dusty replied. ‘There’s work to be done around here and anyways, we’ll be ready if they try to lay for us on the way there tomorrow. And if Flores’ fixing any smart play, we’ll ride into the village with Colin.’