The Pinfire Lady Strikes Back
English aristocrat Abbie Penraven has forged a new life for herself in the West. She has had to fight hard to gain respect and has become known as the Pinfire Lady due to her skill with her pinfire revolver. When Abbie's ranch is raided and her friends kidnapped, she once more takes to the trail, to rescue the stolen ones and destroy the nest of bandits.
By the same author
The Pinfire Lady
The Pinfire Lady Strikes Back
P.J. Gallagher
ROBERT HALE
© P.J. Gallagher 2019
First published in Great Britain 2019
ISBN 978-0-7198-3000-6
The Crowood Press
The Stable Block
Crowood Lane
Ramsbury
Marlborough
Wiltshire SN8 2HR
www.bhwesterns.com
Robert Hale is an imprint of The Crowood Press
The right of P.J. Gallagher to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him
in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Dedicated to my Mother and Father, long deceased
but always in our thoughts
CHAPTER ONE
Abbie Penraven groaned as she slowly regained consciousness. Though her eyes were still tightly closed, she became aware of a glaring white light overhead whose burning orb was apparent even through her closed lids. Cautiously, she opened her eyes slightly and attempted to see around her.
When she tried to change position, Abbie immediately discovered that her movements were more than restricted; she was completely immobilized and, furthermore, she was stripped naked. Narrowing her eyes and slowly raising her head while ignoring a persistent throbbing at the back of her skull, Abbie stared down towards her feet and then peered to either side.
Her ankles had been lashed with rawhide strips to wooden stakes driven firmly into the hard-packed sandy soil. Her left arm, stretched out at a right angle to her body, was likewise secured to another stake. Abbie turned her head to the right and was surprised to discover that her right wrist was free of any restraint. It was, however, a cruel jest since her right arm was firmly secured to the ground by two stakes either side of her elbow. She could raise her right arm to a vertical position but no further. That limb was tied in such a way that she could bring it no further to either shield her eyes from the burning sun nor indeed engage in any other function such as brushing away any of the persistent flies drawn to the scene by her perspiring body.
Neatly piled, carefully out of reach on her right side, was her buckskin clothing, boots, hat and gun-belt, which still contained her holstered pinfire revolver, alongside was her Bowie knife, driven into the ground, and looped around the haft was her military canteen which she recalled filling at a small mountain spring earlier.
Abbie stretched out, straining with all of her might to try and reach either knife or water bottle. It was an impossible venture. Whoever had placed her in this position knew exactly what he was doing. Food and water were just out of reach. A sharp blade capable of cutting her bonds was impossible to get to. These objects were deliberately placed to tease her while the burning sun would drive her mad with both thirst and the pain of acute sunburn.
Abbie attempted to recall the events that had ended with her in such a perilous situation.
She had spent an afternoon paying a long overdue visit to the elderly English ladies who ran the haberdashery store in Colorado City. After several cups of tea, she had finally managed to take her leave and started heading back to the ranch at a leisurely pace. From the city to the horse ranch was approximately 7 miles and Abbie had accomplished but 2 miles of her journey when she noted a wisp of smoke rising above the trees ahead of her.
Her first thought was totally irrelevant as she remembered Jack Harding’s comment when his wife, Dora, had burnt some of her hitherto delicious hot biscuits, ‘Ullo, I see that Dora’s done a King Alfred trick on us!’ And Abbie smiled at her recollection. This smoke, however, was no smiling matter as it rose in a thick column into the still air. Either the ranch house or the outbuildings were on fire, and now she could hear the distant sound of gunshots so Abbie urged her bay gelding into a gallop.
The remaining miles seemed to take forever to cover and all the while Abbie was wondering who had decided to attack her ranch. Comanche? There had been no report of hostile Indians being in the area for some time. In fact, a small band of Utes were camped in one of the home paddocks engaged in breaking some of her half-wild stock. Renegades of the calibre of Scar and his gang of cutthroats that she and her wagon train had eliminated while travelling west? Abbie put all conjectures out of her mind and concentrated on getting home as swiftly as the bay’s hoofs would cover the distance.
Drawing closer, she could hear yells of rage amid screams of fear from burning tepees in the west paddock and roars of exultant triumph coming from raiders now vanishing among the trees. The barns, bunkhouse and the ranch house were on fire with flames leaping from the broken windows and already licking their way across the cedar shakes of the roofs.
A male figure lay face down on the ground in front of the porch and Abbie, throwing herself from the saddle, dropped down beside him with an anguished cry of, ‘Jack! Jack Harding! Answer me! What’s happened?’ as she had frantically tried to roll her foreman over onto his back, dreading the while at what she might yet discover.
Abbie succeeded in her attempts and was horrified to see Jack’s face covered with blood. Dipping her bandanna in the nearby water trough, she wiped his face carefully and was relieved to discover that the blood was coming from a long furrow on the right side of his head where he had been creased by a bullet. Jack groaned, opened his eyes and said, ‘They’ve got Dora.’ Then he lapsed back into unconsciousness.
As Abbie looked around wildly for assistance, other survivors of the raid emerged from where they had hidden. Among them was Joey, who crawled out from under the porch with an empty pistol clutched in his right hand. He told Abbie a tale of how word had arrived at the ranch that rustlers were making off with a large herd of horses some distance away and how Jack had sent most of their riders in pursuit accompanied by some of the Ute braves.
The raiders had struck less than an hour later, riding in from the south whooping, yelling and shooting down any resistance. Jack, Joey and some of the remaining hands put up a spirited defence but were swamped by the sheer numbers of their attackers and they were quickly overcome. The ranch was looted and then the buildings set on fire. Joey confirmed Jack’s statement as he had seen Dora kicking and screaming in the hands of the men who carried her off.
Abbie quickly made up her mind. ‘Joey! I want you to find a horse, ride to town and bring back Doctor Stevens. Make it fast. We must have other wounded people here or over in the Ute camp.’
Joey scuttled off and shortly thereafter could be seen riding at a gallop down the trail to Colorado City. His mount, a small Shetland pony, had been considered not worthwhile stealing by the raiders, who had cleaned out the horse corrals of the ranch.
Other hands, including Wu Hang, the Chinese cook, helped Abbie get Jack to a small shelter that had escaped the fires.
Fortunately the half-buried storehouse remained intact and from its cool interior Abbie was able to forage and obtain supplies with which to fill her saddle-bags. Her intention was very plain. Abbie was filled with a cold steely resolution to get out immediately after these miscreants who had dared to attack her property and her friends.
Abbie gave Wu Hang careful explicit instructions to take care of Mr Jack until the doctor arrived: save all that could be salvaged from the burning buildings and inform the riders, who would be coming in after their futile pursuit of the fictional rustlers, to await instructions from Mr Jack. Abbie did not want an angry bunch of riders behind her who would be likely to fire at anything that was moving and which would probably mean that she would be between two fires.
Mounting her bay, she rode over to the Ute camp, noting the still figures lying on the ground and the few dazed survivors, mostly elderly people who were attempting to save some of their limited belongings.
Abbie expressed her sympathy to the bewildered old folk, promising them that their dead relations would not go unavenged. Then, spurring the bay into a canter, she commenced to trail the marauders as she entered the forested area south of the ranch.
Abbie preceded with care, moving slowly and observing traces of the passage of many horses, some carrying riders. There were hoof-prints in the mulch-laden flooring of the forest, frequent horse droppings and very occasionally shreds of cloth caught at rider-height amid the branches either side of the trail. Periodically, Abbie halted and listened, interpreting the many natural sounds of the bush.
Finally, her patience was rewarded. During one stop she distinctly heard a cry of pain. The voice was that of a female and Abbie wondered if she had been lucky enough to come upon Dora this early in her search. Tying the bay securely to a convenient branch, she crept silently through the undergrowth in the direction from which she was sure the sound had come. She was rewarded by the noise of yet another cry, one of pain mingled with a strangled sob that was cut off in mid-voice by the sound of a slap and a gruff command, ‘Shut up or it’ll be worse for yu!’
Abbie peered cautiously through the bushes into a little clearing just in time to see one bearded brute end his rape of the young Ute girl Yellow Flower, whom she recalled coming to the ranch house. The rapist rose to his feet and nodded to his swarthy companion, ‘Now, amigo. It’s your turn. Make it snappy. The gang will be getting too far ahead of us!’
His partner nodded, grinned and undid his fly buttons as Abbie pushed through the bushes pistol in hand and grimly ordered the unsavoury couple to get their hands in the air. Both men turned in the direction of the voice and simultaneously, rather than obeying the command, they both grabbed for their holstered handguns. Filled with rage at the evil pair, Abbie did not hesitate but shot both of them in the head and also in the crotch for good measure, although in truth her second shots were wasted since for both men the bullets in the head had already ended their earthly existence.
The Ute girl sat on the ground, her head buried in her arms and, rocking back and forth, she wept in anguish. Abbie reloaded her pistol and sat beside the victim, holding her and stroking her hair as she attempted to give her words of comfort. After a while Yellow Flower raised her head and, taking Abbie’s right hand, she pressed it to her lips in gratitude and with signs indicated she would never forget her rescuer.
Abbie nodded and smiled, wishing the while that she had listened more carefully when Billy Curtis had attempted to teach her common Indian words. Finally, she rose and pulled the girl to her feet. Pointing to her and then to the two horses belonging to the dead outlaws, Abbie indicated she should take them and ride back to the ranch to inform somebody that she, Abbie, was still trailing the raiders.
Puzzled, Yellow Flower frowned and then, apparently understanding Abbie’s instructions, nodded. She bent down and relieved one of the corpses of gun-belt and pistol and also acquired a murderous-looking Arkansas Toothpick with a blade at least 10in long. Then, giving Abbie a warm hug, she crossed to the patiently waiting horses. Riding one and leading the other, with a wave of farewell she headed north as Abbie returned to the place where she had left her bay gelding.
The raiders’ trail continued to lead due south, and Abbie tracked them with no difficulty but with great care, pausing whenever she topped a rise in the ever-changing terrain. Gradually the wooded slopes gave way to more open country with the low hills broken up into numerous gullies and arroyos, any of which could conceal the enemies she was pursuing.
On the evening of the fourth day, as the western sun sank towards the horizon, Abbie halted her bay and slowly and carefully scrutinized her surroundings. For some time she had been travelling through a landscape that was becoming more and more parched as the grass gave way to red sandy soil, and the lack of water suggested that she was approaching a desert area. In fact, she was on the edge of the area known to the Spanish explorers as the Llano Estacado, the Staked Plain.
Narrowing her eyes against the sun, Abbie noticed a very thin column of smoke rising from beyond a rise in the ground to her left. Turning off the trail, she had found a place of concealment where she could tether her horse in a clump of mesquite bushes, close, yet hidden from the trail. Then, as twilight descended, she had crept silently towards the location of the smoke, realizing full well that whoever had lit a fire could be Indian, hostile or otherwise, an innocent traveller or, hopefully, a member of the gang she was chasing.
Drawing closer to her objective, she could distinctly hear the sound of male voices, and she dropped to her stomach and crawled carefully to the top of the rise. Raising her head slowly, she surveyed the scene below in the arroyo. There were four or five men seated smoking and drinking around a small fire, on the far side of which lay a bound and gagged figure wearing a dimly perceived print dress that Abbie was sure that she had seen Dora wearing around the ranch. As Abbie lifted her head slightly to get a better view, she was suddenly aware of a shape looming up beside her. Something crashed down on her head and she lost consciousness.
The heavy crunching of footsteps brought Abbie back from her review of the events that had led her to her present perilous situation. She opened her eyes and. narrowing them against the glare of the afternoon sun. she sought to determine the owner of the approaching steps. With her limited vision, she could see nobody and decided that the visitor was behind her. Listening carefully, she noted that the footsteps were uneven, as though the owner was having some difficulty mounting the slope to where Abbie was staked out.
The sound of footsteps ceased and moments later a harsh voice chuckled, saying, ‘Well, I must say! You’ve got yourself in a pretty pickle! Don’t you feel it’s a little warm lying out in the sun like that?’
The jeering voice sounded familiar and as he moved around to the east, thus still allowing the hot sun to play on Abbie’s already burning flesh, she recognized her captor and tormentor. It was Bart Bradshaw, the late Roger Fenton’s foreman, with whom she had had a duel the first day she had gone into Colorado City. Abbie tried to keep her tone casual, believing that it would not help her if she showed fear to such as him. ‘Good afternoon, Mr Bradshaw! Out for a little stroll?’ and then, making a verbal jab, ‘I see that you have acquired quite a limp, sir. Did you perhaps have a little accident?’
Bradshaw cursed her with many a foul oath, stating that she had taken advantage of him when they first met and he had sworn to have his revenge. ‘At first I hoped that Fenton would have beaten you, but he turned out to be just a broken reed, and I had to find a place to lay up ’til my wounds healed. That leg wound will never get better, so the doctors say, an’ I’ve got you to blame for me being a cripple.’
Totally ignoring the fact that he had drawn his pistol on Abbie first during their encounter, Bradshaw continued with his tirade, his voice getting louder with every word and spittle forming at the corners of his mouth, ‘Now I’ve got you where I want you an’ you’re gonner die a long slow painful death. You’ll finally be praying for death to
take you. By that time the sun will have either turned you into a babbling idiot or you will be burnt so badly that your skin will flake off in sheets. I wish that I could be here to see it but I’ve got business elsewhere. I guess you’d like a small drink before I go!’ he picked up Abbie’s canteen and callously poured a small quantity on the ground just out of reach, before replacing the container in its original position.
‘There! That’s to remind you of what water looks like! It’s the last you’ll see, Miss Pinfire!’ And with this parting remark Bart Bradshaw turned away and limped down the slope.
Abbie shivered. Although she had maintained a brave face while Bradshaw had been present, inwardly she had begun to quake at the horrible fate that he had in store for her. There was yet another possible death that he had omitted to mention and that was the chance of being located by some wandering predator and being eaten alive. She began to panic and tore wildly at the rawhide strips restraining her but only succeeded in ripping the flesh from her ankles and left wrist. She desisted and lay there panting with her exertions and fighting a desire to despair and surrender to her miserable destiny.
CHAPTER TWO
Night fell, but with a full moon and a blanket of twinkling stars against a black velvet background, it wasn’t really dark. Initially, Abbie relished the cool touch of the evening breeze after the fiery heat of the day but after a short while her body gave an involuntary shiver and she realized that as it grew colder through the night, ironically she would be longing for the warmth of the sun.
Suddenly she was aware of movement close by and, straining her eyes, tried to determine what it was that was creeping closer and closer. A wolf? A mountain lion? She did not relish being the main course for some carnivore and was about to yell and scream in attempt to startle the intruder when a small hand covered her mouth and a voice whispered, ‘Shh!’ Abbie lay still as swiftly a sharp object cut through the bonds securing her and then she was helped slowly to her feet. Her rescuer gathered up Abbie’s belongings and, taking her by the hand, led her gently down the hill and away to where her bay along with the two other horses waited patiently.
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