Duel at Low Hawk

by Charles G. West

  Nightfall found Two Buck and Lilly fording Black Rock Creek some fifty yards north of Tom Talltree’s house. During the entire ride back, there had been no more than a word or two between them. Fairly exhausted, Lilly held onto Two Buck, finally succumbing to her fatigue and resting her face against his back. Though unable to express it, the feel of her body close to him, her cheek against his back, created a state of long-sought contentment for him. Since first coming to work for Wendell Stoner, Two Buck had been drawn to the young girl. Knowing she was too young at the time, he had remained silent about his feelings for her, content to wait until she was older. Now, as they approached the house of her uncle, he wondered if he should speak, unsure if it would be proper in light of the trauma she had just experienced.

  Breaking the silence then, Lilly gave voice to the concern in her mind. “What will they say when they see me?” she wondered aloud. “My uncle is afraid I will bring Boot Stoner down on him again. He does not want me here.”

  “Blue Woman wants you to come back,” Two Buck insisted. “Besides, John Ward said to bring you back here.” In Two Buck’s mind, that should have ended all speculation. Just then, their presence was announced by Tom’s hound dog. Moments later, the door opened and Tom stepped out on the porch, his shotgun in hand. “It’s me and Lilly,” Two Buck called out. Then, before advancing any farther, he pulled his horse up and spoke his mind. “Lilly, when I said back there that I’d take care of you, I meant it. I meant that I’d take care of you always.”

  His words were hurried and stumbling, but the message was clear. Lilly was clearly stunned by his rough proposal, unable to know how to answer. There was really no time at the moment. Her uncle was coming from the porch to meet them. Her aunt, having heard Two Buck call out, came out on the porch. “Two Buck,” Lilly hurried to say, “I thank you for what you are saying, but bad things have happened to me. I am not an innocent girl anymore.”

  “I don’t care,” Two Buck insisted. “I make you a good husband. I would never treat you bad.” Then, with no time left to talk, he said, “Maybe we can talk later.”

  Properly contrite over his earlier treatment of his late brother’s only child, Tom Talltree reached up to help Lilly dismount. As soon as her feet were on the ground, her aunt ran to embrace her. “You had us worried sick, child. You shouldn’t have run away like that.” She paused then as she remembered. “I guess it’s a good thing you did, though, ’cause Boot Stoner was here.” She put her arm around Lilly’s shoulders and led her toward the house. “Never mind about that. He’s gone now, and the main thing is you’re safe. We’ll be ready if he ever shows up here again.”

  Tom stood with Two Buck, watching the two women walk to the cabin. “Where’s John Ward?” Tom asked. “Did he catch that murderer?”

  Two Buck explained that he and John had parted when he picked up Lilly’s trail. “He went after Boot, told me he’d meet me back here at your place.”

  “You can put your horse in with mine,” Tom said, “and then we’ll see if we can find you something to eat.”

  Boot Stoner’s first visit to the humble abode of Tom Talltree was frightening enough to leave a lasting sense of fearful anticipation in the man. Periodically during the supper reunion with Lilly, Tom would get up and quietly slip out the door, his shotgun in hand, to take a look around the house and barn. He was not afraid to defend his home. His fear was to be taken by surprise, as he had been on the first encounter with the bloodthirsty savage. He could not even count on the dog to warn him of strangers. Half the time the dog would bark, but half the time it would just trot up to be petted. Although his wife seemed to feel the danger from Boot Stoner was now past them, Tom could not release the feeling that the evil half-breed might descend upon them again.

  Two Buck sat in a corner of the room, listening to Blue Woman reassure Lilly that her home was with them. His eyes shifted from Blue Woman to Lilly, trying to guess what Lilly’s thoughts were. Occasionally Lilly would meet his gaze, and then hold it for a brief instant before looking away. Two Buck hoped with all his heart that Lilly would not think him foolish for his declaration of devotion.

  The hastily prepared supper finished, Blue Woman suggested that it was time for bed. She placed her hand on Lilly’s arm and teased, “Now I don’t expect to wake up in the morning and find you’ve run off again.” When Lilly assured her that she would not, Blue Woman said, “We all need a good night’s sleep.” She looked at Two Buck, who had expressed his intention to sleep in the barn with his horse. “I don’t have any extra blankets, but Tom and I could do without the one on our bed. The nights aren’t really chilly anymore.”

  “No, ma’am,” Two Buck replied. “I don’t need no blanket. If I get cold, I’ll use my saddle blanket.” After a lingering glance at Lilly, he bade them all good night and started for the door. He would not admit it, but he was past being ready for bed. Not fully recovered from the bullet wounds in his chest, it had proven to be a long and tiring day for him.

  “I’ll walk out with you,” Tom said and picked up his shotgun again.

  Outside, the two men walked to the barn, where Tom helped Two Buck pull some extra hay down to fashion a bed. After Two Buck was settled in, Tom expressed his intention to take a final look around his house, just to ease his mind. “I hope John Ward catches that son of a bitch,” he mumbled, mostly to himself after saying good night to Two Buck.

  Chapter 17

  A full moon, having traced its journey across the Oklahoma sky, was now settling into the distant hills west of Black Rock Creek. Long shadows reached across the yard between the barn and the house, spinning a dark, lacy web across the porch. In the shadow of a large cottonwood near the corner of the barn, a sinister figure knelt, watching the sleeping cabin. With strokes deliberate and unfeeling, Boot Stoner wiped the blood from his knife on the carcass of the dog at his feet. A soft whistle had brought the trusting hound to his hand to be petted.

  He paused where he knelt for a few moments while he sized up the situation. He had left his horses back beside the creek so as to silently approach the house. He intended to take no chance on giving the girl an opportunity to escape this time. With one glance at the barn, he considered taking a look inside, but rejected the idea, thinking of the possibility of prompting a horse to neigh and give him away. He remembered the shotgun that had been propped against the door when he was there before. I should have kept the damn gun, instead of just throwing it in the yard, he thought. But, at the time, he had no plans of returning.

  Moving with the silent grace of his native heritage, he stole across the open space between the barn and the house to a window at the front corner. Peering through the window into the dark interior of the cabin, he could make nothing out at first. Then, as objects slowly took shape in the darkness, he realized that his search was over. There, on a makeshift bed of quilts and blankets, was a slender form that could only be that of the girl who had driven his craving for revenge. A thin, malicious smile slowly formed on his dark face as he anticipated the pleasure he was about to enjoy.

  Satisfied that she would not escape him this time, Boot slid along the wall and crossed the porch to the other window on the front of the house. Peering in through the window, he was able to make out the forms of two people sleeping together. Like lambs ready for slaughter, he thought and his smile widened.

  He moved back to the door and lifted the latch. Pressing slowly against the door, he found that it had been barred. Damn, he thought, immediately angry. He carefully lowered the latch and backed away from the door to consider the chances that he could break the timber barring the door. He was mad enough to try, but knowing he was unlikely to break in before waking everyone inside, he paused to consider other options.

  Moving around to the back of the house, he found what he was looking for. When he pushed against the back door, it gave just a hair. It was secured, not by a bar, but by a loop of rope. The rope was pulled tight, with no slack to allow the door to open. Not to be denied
at this point, Boot strained against the door until he succeeded in stretching the rope enough to create a crack in the door. Then he forced his knife into the crack and sawed away at the rope until it was finally severed.

  With nothing to stop him then, he gently pushed the door open and slipped inside. Moving silently, he went from the kitchen into the front room. He stood for a moment watching Tom and Blue Woman sleeping peacefully through the bedroom door. Their totally helpless condition brought him a satisfying sense of pleasure, and a crooked smile came to his face as he imagined their horror upon awakening. He moved then to the corner of the front room, pulled the makeshift quilt partition aside, and leered at the innocent girl lying there. He started to grab her by the ankle and drag her from her bed, but he resisted, preferring to savor his dominance over her for a while longer.

  Very carefully, he removed the clothespins that held Lilly’s partition in place on the rope stretched across the room for that purpose, and let the quilts fall to the floor. Still, the unsuspecting household slept on, unaware of the monster in their midst. Smug in his satisfaction that they were all helpless to resist him, he proceeded to complete preparations for his evil indulgence.Thoroughly enjoying the invasion of the sanctity of the family’s home, he went back to the kitchen and lit a lamp that was on the table. Picking up a chair, he then took the lamp back to the front room and placed it on the floor. He placed the chair by the bedroom door and sat down. Able to see both the bedroom and Lilly in the corner of the front room, he reached down and turned the wick up in the lamp, and waited with his rifle lying across his lap.

  The first to awaken was Blue Woman. As the room grew bright from the lamplight, she slowly came out of her slumber. With eyes blinking to adjust to the brightness, she sat up, looking around her, confused by the light. When her gaze finally focused upon the grinning half-breed, sitting watching her from a chair propped against the doorway, she immediately started, then froze. She slowly reached back and prodded her sleeping husband. “Tom, wake up,” she gasped.

  “Damn if you ain’t a helluva sight in the mornin’,” Boot sneered, pleased by the blanched look of horror on the woman’s face.

  Tom stirred then, hastened by the sound of Boot’s voice, and the evil chuckle that followed his comment. He sat up, and was about to ask Blue Woman what was wrong when he saw Boot leering at him. Without thinking, he made a sudden move for his shotgun. He was not quick enough. Boot cut him down with one fatal shot through the chest. In the next few seconds, the cabin erupted with terror and confusion. Lilly sprang up with the report of the rifle, followed almost immediately by a loud wail of anguish from Blue Woman. When the frightened girl saw Boot sitting there, she screamed.

  “I’ve come for you, darlin’,” Boot snarled, then laughed. “Did you miss me?”

  She scrambled out of her bed to crouch in fear on the floor. Boot got up from the chair to go to her, but before he took two steps, he heard Two Buck’s boots on the porch and a frantic call for Lilly. Surprised, for he had not suspected there was anyone there but the three of them, Boot nevertheless was quick to react. With Two Buck pounding on the door, Boot walked over and lifted the bar, then stood aside. Seconds later, Two Buck burst into the room, charging past Boot, who was hidden behind the door. The obvious anguish registering on Blue Woman’s face told Two Buck that something was terribly wrong. He spun around just in time to catch Boot’s rifle barrel squarely across the bridge of his nose. Staggered by the blow, Two Buck dropped immediately, catching himself on one knee, but Boot was ready with a second blow of the rifle barrel against the side of Two Buck’s face. The young Cherokee crashed to the floor, out cold. Boot cocked his rifle and aimed directly at Two Buck’s head. Lilly screamed in horror, calling out Two Buck’s name. Then, forgetting fear for herself, she ran to his side.

  “Well, now, ain’t that somethin’?” Boot snarled when Lilly took the unconscious boy’s head in arms. “So that’s the way things are, are they? That makes things a little different.” He lowered his rifle. Prepared to execute Two Buck moments before, he decided it would be more satisfying to drag the Cherokee’s misery out, in view of Lilly’s obvious affection for the boy. Shooting a glance in Blue Woman’s direction, he demanded, “Stop that bawling and get me some rope, woman.”

  Blue Woman, who had left the bed to go to her husband’s side, looked up at Boot with eyes filled with tears, the lines in her face etched deeper by the anguish of this horrible moment. She did not reply at once. Instead, her eyes narrowed as she focused on the hateful, smirking face. “You go to hell,” she uttered defiantly.

  Somewhat surprised, Boot grunted indifferently, then flashed a wide, toothy grin. “I reckon you’ll get there before I do, you old bitch.” The rifle cracked once more, creating a hole in the middle of Blue Woman’s forehead. The old Creek woman collapsed over the body of her husband. Boot turned his attention back to Lilly, who appeared to be in silent shock, unable to scream again. “Well, now, that just leaves the three of us for this little party,” he gloated.

  A low moan from the injured Cherokee snared Boot’s attention once more. “You’d better find me somethin’ to tie him up with, else I’ll just have to shoot him right now.” He pointed the rifle barrel at Two Buck’s head. Then he suddenly remembered. “Two Buck,” he said. “That’s what you called him? I thought he was the one I killed back when that damn lawman jumped us after we left Jackrabbit Creek.” He fixed an accusing eye upon her. “He was chasin’ me because he’s sweet on you. Ain’t that right?” He drew back then, pleased with the discovery he had made. Not expecting an answer, he chided her further. “I bet he’d like to know your body like I do—and I mean every inch of it.” He threw back his head and laughed as she cowered before him, sick with the thought that her hell would surely start all over again. As suddenly as he had started, he abruptly stopped laughing and roared, “Get me that damn rope, or, by God, I’ll gut him like a fish.”

  “I don’t know where any rope is,” she whimpered tearfully. “Maybe in the barn.”

  He smiled knowingly. “Now you don’t think I’m gonna let you go out to the barn while I set here watching your boyfriend, do you? I thought he might enjoy watchin’ me and you have a little party, but he ain’t worth havin’ to keep an eye on. It’d be a lot easier to go ahead and kill him.” He cocked the rifle.

  “Wait!” she cried out, pointing toward the kitchen. There on the back of one of the chairs was a coil of rope that Tom had intended to take back to the barn. She scrambled up to retrieve it.

  Still too groggy to put up much resistance, Two Buck was effectively trussed up, then dragged over to sit up against the wall. Gradually, he regained his senses, aided by a splash of water from the bucket near the table. Out of his stupor, he looked with alarm at Lilly crouched trembling in the corner near him. Then he glared at Boot. “You jumped me,” he admitted, “but John Ward not so easy to trick.”

  “Is that so?” Boot replied, delighted that Two Buck was recovered enough to verbally spar with him. “You know where your Mr. John Ward is? Right now, he’s on foot way back in the hills. I shot his damn horse out from under him. I expect it’ll take him till sometime about noon tomorrow to get back here. By that time, me and your little sweetheart, here, will be long gone.” He graced Two Buck with a sinister smile. “And the worms will be makin’ a meal off of your carcass.”

  “Cut me loose, and fight me like a man,” Two Buck spat. “Then we see who the worms eat.”

  Boot just smiled. “Maybe I’ll do that,” he sneered. “Maybe I’ll just untie one arm and one leg. Let you hop around like a rooster while I carve you up with my knife.” Eventually tiring of the verbal insults, Boot decided it was time for the final outrage. Propping his rifle against the wall, he walked over and grabbed Lilly by the wrist. She tried to resist, fighting against him as he dragged her over to the bed. Rolling the bodies of Tom and Blue Woman out of his way with the toe of his boot, he threw Lilly on the bed. She tried to scramble out of his grasp, but
each time he caught her and she received a vicious blow for her efforts. Soon, she was unable to fight him anymore, and collapsed to submit to his abuse as she had done so many times before.

  Dropping his trousers, he forced the sobbing girl’s legs apart, all the while grinning at Two Buck and taunting the helpless young Cherokee. Unable to bear the sight, Two Buck closed his eyes tightly and banged his head back against the wall. “You can’t stand to watch,” Boot goaded, “but you can still hear.”

  With no physical means to help Lilly, Two Buck could bear it no longer. In desperation, he tried to undermine Boot’s gigantic ego. Forcing himself to look at the savage assault, he commented, “I am surprised to see how small you are. You talk like a big man, but you are very small where you have to make children.”

  The comment caused Boot to hesitate. “What the hell are you talkin’ about?” he demanded.

  Seeing that he might have struck the right nerve, Two Buck forced a laugh. “You don’t have much to make babies with. You look like small boy.”

  It had the proper effect. “You talk big for a dead man!” Boot roared. He jerked up his trousers and walked over to deliver a backhand to the side of Two Buck’s face in response to the insult to his manhood.

  The blow was enough to make Two Buck’s already throbbing skull ring, but he forced himself to respond with a wide grin. “A-tsu-tsa,” he spat at Boot in his native tongue.

  Infuriated, Boot responded with another blow to the defenseless man. “Boy!” he roared. “You are the boy, a dead boy!”

  Two Buck’s insults had served their purpose of temporarily killing the half-breed’s spiteful exhibition, as well as his ability to perform. Lilly was spared for the time being, but Two Buck knew that he was likely to pay a terrible price for her short reprieve. How terrible, he could not have imagined. Expecting to be shot immediately, he was surprised when Boot announced that he was going to spare his life. “Get up from there!” Boot commanded Lilly. “We’re leavin’.”