Travis was in his office writing letters asking for reinforcements. Jim Bowie coughed as he showed men where their places on the wall were. The children jumped out of the way as thirty head of cattle were driven into the courtyard and then into a pen. Several men followed the cattle, carrying bushel baskets of corn. When the last people had entered the mission, the gates were shut and barred.
Davy found his friends standing behind the wooden fence on the south side of the Alamo. He walked over to them. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Travis told us this was our spot. He told us to defend it to the end.”
Davy turned and walked toward Travis’s room. The children hurried to keep up with him. Davy entered without knocking. Travis looked up from his desk.
“Hello, Davy. I am busy right now. Can we talk later?”
Davy walked over to Travis. “No. We need to talk now. Why did you put us on the weakest part of the defenses? We don’t have enough men to hold that spot.”
“Davy, you and your men can hold that position better than anybody else I have. We don’t have enough men to really defend this mission. That spot is stronger with you and your men there than if I put anybody else. Anyway, I am writing to Colonel Fannin at Goliad and to the legislature, telling them that Santa Anna is here. I am sure that before long we will have many men come to join us, and you will have more men with you.”
“You think more men will come here?”
“I am positive. Now excuse me, but I must finish this message. I need to get the messenger on his way before we are cut off.”
Davy walked outside. Men were still rushing to their positions on the wall. He saw a group of defenders, including Bowie, looking toward town. Davy climbed up the wall and stood next to Bowie.
“What are you looking at, Jim?”
Bowie motioned toward the town plaza. A long column of enemy troops was marching into San Antonio. As the defenders watched, a band started to play. Townspeople who had not had a chance to leave lined the streets and watched the troops march past. Bowie pointed to a group of riders wearing bright new uniforms.
“I bet you that is Santa Anna and his staff. Looks like we got out of there just in time.” He coughed and leaned against the wall for support.
The children looked on with the others.
“Wow,” Dylan said. “Look at that. I have never seen anything like that in my life. There must be thousands of them.”
“Yes,” Braden said. “They sure make a pretty sight.”
“Pretty scary if you ask me,” Addie said. “I am starting to wish we had stayed in Eden Prairie.”
While the defenders watched, Santa Anna gave a message to one of his officers. The officer grabbed a white flag and rode toward the Alamo. Travis walked up to the group and stood by a cannon. He did not say anything as he watched the enemy officer approach. When the officer was in front of the men on the wall, he stopped his horse. He pulled out a piece of paper and read the message from Santa Anna. The general demanded that the Texans surrender or they would all be killed. The officer asked for the Texans’ answer.
Before anyone could say anything, Travis fired the cannon that was next to him. The cannonball skipped harmlessly through town. Travis called down to the enemy officer.
“That is our answer. Tell Santa Anna we shall never surrender or retreat.”
Chapter Twenty
“Why did you do that?” Bowie screamed at Travis as they sat in Travis’s office. “We might have been able to work something out.”
Travis yelled back at Bowie. “If you think you can deal with someone like Santa Anna, you are crazier than I think you are.”
The children huddled in the corner as the two men yelled at each other. Finally Davy stood between them.
“It doesn’t matter now. It has been done. We must get ready to fight Santa Anna, not each other.”
Bowie began to cough, and sweat broke out on his forehead. He slumped down into a chair.
“Are you all right, Jim?” Davy asked.
Bowie looked up. His eyes were sunken into his head. “I don’t feel very good. I think I better go lie down for a while.”
The door opened and Juan Seguin walked in. “The enemy has raised a red flag. It is flying from the tower of San Fernando church.”
Travis looked at Bowie. “What does that mean?”
Bowie started to answer, but he began coughing again.
“It means that we can expect no mercy from the enemy. If they win the battle, all of us will be killed,” Juan said.
“This is the man you thought we could work a deal with?” Travis said to Bowie. “At least we have some chance if we fight them. Reinforcements will be here soon. I don’t know about you, but I will never surrender.”
Davy walked over to Bowie. “We can talk about this later. Juan, give me a hand. We need to get Jim to his room. He needs to rest.”
Davy and Juan helped Bowie to his feet. As they were walking out the door, Bowie turned to Travis. “I don’t know how much good I will be for a while, so I am turning command of the volunteers over to you. I will help all I can.”
Travis walked over and put his hand on Bowie’s shoulder. “Thank you, Jim. We must all work together now. I will check on you later.”
The children followed Davy and Juan as they helped Bowie across the courtyard. They carried him into his room and laid him on a cot. Bowie was coughing more and his face had turned red. Juan went to get some water while Davy pulled off Bowie’s boots.
“I’ll talk to some of the ladies about looking after you, Jim.” Davy reached into a drawer and pulled out two pistols. “Just in case you need them. I guess you have your Arkansas toothpick handy.”
Bowie smiled weakly. He pulled his knife from his belt. “I never let this get too far away.”
Davy patted Bowie’s shoulder. “I better get back to my post. I will check on you later.”
Addie, Dylan, and Braden walked out of the room.
“He looks real sick,” Braden said.
Dylan nodded. “It is too bad. He is a real good fighter, and I think they are going to need all the fighters they can find.”
Davy walked over and sat down by the wooden fence. Addie sat next to him. The boys looked over the fence at the enemy soldiers.
“What do you think, Davy?” she asked.
“I think there is going to be a real big fight here soon. I hope Travis is right and some people come to help us.”
“Are you sorry that you came to Texas?”
Davy smiled. “No. I think Texas is about the prettiest place I have ever seen. A person can make a good life here. I think we are doing what is right. And you know what I say. If you are right, then go ahead.”
“Wow. Look at all those soldiers,” Dylan said.
Davy and Addie stood up and looked over the fence. A long line of soldiers was marching into the town.
“Well,” Davy said. “Looks like Santa Anna got some more men.” He looked at the uniforms the soldiers were wearing, and then looked down at his dirty clothes. “At least they look like soldiers.”
“Don’t worry, Davy,” Addie told him. “I know you are a better fighter than any of them.”
Davy smiled and shook his head. “Maybe so, but there are sure a lot of them. Oh well. Guess I will take a walk around the fort.”
As Davy got up, a cannon fired in the enemy camp. A cannonball hit in the courtyard and exploded. Davy looked at the smoke slowly drifting away from the hole in the ground where the cannonball had exploded. “I guess Santa Anna is showing us he has some cannon too. A whole lot of them.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Davy walked into the Alamo chapel. It took a few minutes for his eyes to adjust to the dim light. The children looked around. The roof had fallen in, and a great pile of rubble was in the middle of the chapel. A ramp had been built to the top of the church, and a cannon sat on top of the ramp. They could hear talking coming from the rooms where the women and children were staying
. Susannah Dickinson walked out of one of the rooms. She was carrying her baby. When she saw Davy, she smiled and walked over to him.
“Why, Davy. How nice to see you.”
Davy took off his cap. “It is nice to see you too.”
Davy looked at the baby. He held out his finger, and the little girl grasped it in her tiny hand.
“Do you like babies, Davy?” Susannah asked.
“Well, I kissed my fair share of them when I was running for Congress. I would have to say I like them much better than most of the politicians I have known.”
Susannah walked over and looked at the activity in the Alamo courtyard. Davy stood next to her.
“Everyone seems to be busy,” she said.
“There’s a lot to do. Personally, I would rather march out and fight in the open. I don’t like being hemmed in. But I guess we don’t have that choice now.”
Shells from the enemy cannon were thudding against the walls. Some fell into the courtyard. Susannah held her baby tighter as she listened to the noise of the guns.
“War is very loud, isn’t it, Davy?”
“Yes, I guess it is. Do you and your baby need anything?”
“No, thank you. Almeron has given us what we need for now. We are as comfortable as can be expected under the circumstances.”
Davy put on his cap and turned to walk away. “Well, if you need something, please let me know.”
The sun was setting as Davy walked past Travis’s office. Travis called out to him to come in.
“How is Bowie doing?” Travis asked.
“When I left him, he was not feeling very well. I think he is very sick.”
Travis shook his head. “That is too bad. I do have respect for him as a fighter. We have some differences, but I would want to be on his side in a fight.”
Juan Seguin walked into the room. “You wanted to see me, Colonel?”
“Yes, Juan. I need for you to take a message to Sam Houston for me.”
“Colonel Travis, I cannot leave my men. They followed me here. As long as they are staying, I must stay also.”
“Juan, I appreciate how you feel. But you can be of great service to those men by going to General Houston and bringing back reinforcements. You know this country better than anyone else here. You have the best chance of getting through to General Houston.”
Davy nodded his head. “He is right, Juan. You have seen the number of enemy troops today. We need a lot of men to come here if we are going to stop Santa Anna.”
Juan thought for a moment. “My horse is lame. I will need to borrow one.”
Travis sat down in his chair. “Jim Bowie has a good horse. He won’t be using it for a while. I bet he would let you use his horse.”
“All right. I will ask Jim.”
“Come back in an hour. It will be dark by then, and I will have the message ready.”
Davy watched Juan walk out the door. “He is a brave man, Colonel.”
“Yes. I hate to lose him here, but we must get reinforcements, and he has the best chance of bringing them back. Well, I must finish this message. I will talk to you later.”
The weather was getting colder as they walked back to their post. The men were roasting some meat over a fire. The meat smelled good, and the warmth of the fire helped take the chill out of the air. One of the men who had come in with Davy called to him as he walked up.
“Hey, Davy. Tell these fellows about the time you grinned that raccoon down from a tree.”
Davy sat down by the fire. “Well, it wasn’t quite that way. You see, I was out hunting one day and I saw a raccoon up in a tree. Well, I raised old Betsy and pointed it at him. Well sir, that raccoon threw up his hands and said, ‘Don’t shoot, Davy. I will come down.’ That raccoon ran down the tree and jumped right in my bag. That beat all I ever saw.”
The men laughed as Davy finished his story. Soon Juan came up, leading a horse. Travis was walking beside him.
“Here is the message, Juan. I will have Davy and his men fire at the enemy. That should give you a chance to get away.”
Juan mounted his horse. “There is an old trail just north of here. I will head for it, and when I am far enough away, I will swing back to head for General Houston.”
Travis shook his hand. “Good luck, Juan. This cold weather should help you. The enemy will be trying to keep warm and not be watching for riders.”
Davy and several of his men slipped out of the gate. They began firing at the enemy camp. The enemy fired back, and soon the night was filled with the sound of gunshots. The gate opened once again. Juan rode out and headed toward the road. The children could hear the sound of his horse’s hoofbeats. The firing stopped and Davy and his men slipped back into the fort. The sound of the hoofbeats grew fainter and soon they could no longer be heard. The children stared in the direction that Juan had taken. The night was quiet, and dark, and getting very cold.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The cold north wind blew across the treeless prairies, chilling the Alamo defenders as they huddled behind the walls for protection. The children shivered as they held their hands out toward the fire.
“There are more troops marching into town,” Davy said as he looked over the wooden fence. “That makes about two or three thousand.” He looked around the Alamo. “Sure is a lot more than we have.”
None of the men sitting by the fire said anything. They all hoped that Juan Seguin and the other messengers would hurry back with reinforcements. They knew that the small number of men inside the fort could not hold back the large numbers of enemy soldiers marching into San Antonio. A cannon fired, and the men in the Alamo ducked as the shell exploded in the center of the courtyard. Travis walked up as the men were getting off the ground.
“Good morning. How is everyone this morning?”
Davy turned toward Travis. “Not bad. None of my men have been hit by the enemy cannon fire yet.”
Travis smiled. “We are very lucky. No one has been hit so far.” He walked over and looked across the top of the fence. “I see they have set up a cannon in front of you.”
“Yes. They put it in sometime during the night. It must have been after Juan left. I don’t think they want any more messengers leaving the Alamo.”
Travis pulled out a spyglass and looked at the enemy position. “I hope the messengers we have already sent out will bring us all the reinforcements we need. But I can send some more if we need to.”
The enemy band started playing, and enemy soldiers cheered as a man in a bright uniform rode a white horse around the plaza. Davy turned to Travis. “That must be Santa Anna. I think I will break up his party.”
Davy got Betsy and checked to make sure his powder was dry. He pulled the hammer back and raised the gun to his shoulder. He aimed the gun toward the man riding the white horse.
One of Davy’s friends was watching him. “That’s a real long shot, Davy.”
“I know. I am allowing for the distance and the wind.”
A group of men had come over to watch. They made bets on whether or not Davy could shoot Santa Anna at that distance.
“I tell you, if anybody can, it’s Davy,” one of the men said.
“Even Davy Crockett can’t hit a target from this distance,” another replied.
Another man spoke up. “You men be quiet. Davy needs to concentrate.”
Davy acted like he did not hear the men talking. He gazed down the barrel of the gun and slowly pulled the trigger. The sound of the gunshot made the children jump. Smoke came out of the barrel as the men watched Santa Anna. A few seconds after the shot, the plume on Santa Anna’s hat disappeared. The general kicked his horse and rode away as fast as he could. Other enemy soldiers looked around to see who was shooting at them. The men in the Alamo laughed and cheered as they watch Santa Anna gallop away.
“Good shot, Davy,” one of the men called.
Davy shook his head. “No. I missed. A gust of wind blew up just as I fired. It blew the bullet off course by that
much.”
“Well, you sure scared old Santa Anna. I bet he is at home hiding under his bed.”
The spirits of the men had been lifted by Davy’s shot. They told other men who had not seen it how Davy had shot the plume off Santa Anna’s hat and how the general had ridden away. Everyone laughed when they heard the story.
Travis put up his spyglass. “Well, Davy. I think Santa Anna won’t be leading any more parades.”
Davy shook his head. “I hope I didn’t just make him mad.”
Travis walked toward his room. Davy turned back to watching the enemy troops.
“That was quite a shot,” Dylan said.
Braden nodded his head. “Yes. Santa Anna sure left in a hurry. That was one of the funniest things I have ever seen.”
Addie rubbed her hands as she held them toward the fire. “I sure wish the wind would stop blowing. The cold weather is bad enough, but this wind makes it a lot worse. Maybe if it gets cold enough, the enemy army will go home.”
“Do you think Davy made Santa Anna mad?” Dylan asked.
Just then a man standing on the wall called down to Travis. “Colonel, the enemy is attacking.”
The children watched as the men ran to their places on the wall. Soon they were firing at the attacking enemy.
Addie turned to Dylan. “I guess he made him really mad.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Addie, Dylan, and Braden hurried after Davy as he raced to the wall where the men were firing at the advancing enemy army. Davy sprinted up the ladder and stood next to a cannon. The children stood next to him and watched the fighting. Smoke from the rifles and cannon burned their eyes. The smell of the powder filled their nostrils. Men were yelling as they fired. The cannon roared so loudly that the children put their hands over their ears. As the enemy got closer, they could hear them yelling. The bullets from their guns zipped overhead, sounding like angry bees.
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