Wilderness double editio.., p.12
Wilderness Double Edition 18, page 12
“You can’t fault yourself alone, sir,” Private Stewart responded. “We’ve all been too busy.”
“Thank you, Private, but just as I won’t accept excuses from any of you for a job you perform poorly, I won’t accept excuses for my own shortcomings. We must all be man enough to accept responsibility when we’ve erred.” Proctor stared at the dogs. “It’s time to change tactics. Start nosing them into every thicket and around every tree. There has to be some trace of King and his family. There simply has to be.”
Nate saw Yates guide four of the dogs toward the base of the spruce. Tensing, he angled the Hawken downward and rested his thumb on the hammer.
Suddenly Sergeant Braddock called out, “Sir! What’s that to the north!”
Everyone looked, including Private Yates, who halted and glanced over his shoulder.
Nate had to crane past the trunk to see. On the slope of a mountain bordering the valley glowed a point of light no bigger than the head of a pin.
“It’s a campfire,” Colonel Proctor said. “Perhaps it’s Lame Bear, on his way back to us. If so, he should be here by early tomorrow afternoon.”
Private Danvers extended an arm. “If it is him, sir, he’s brought company. Take a gander about half a mile to the west of the campfire. What do you see?”
Another light, Nate discovered. Another campfire. Not only that, but from his elevated position he could see what was hidden to those below, to the east of the others. Three camps betokened a large party that had split into thirds. The scarcity
of whites in the region virtually insured that they were Indians, and the number involved did not bode well for the people of New Eden. His conclusion was partly shared by the colonel.
“I suspect they are Indians, gentlemen. Lots and lots of Indians.”
“Waiting until dawn to come down into the valley,” Sergeant Braddock said. “The question is, what will they do when they get here? Are they a friendly tribe or a war party of hostiles?”
“We can ill afford to make assumptions either way,” Colonel Proctor said. “For the nonce we must break off the hunt and return to Huntington Manor. Everyone else must be warned, and a suitable reception arranged. If our visitors prove unfriendly, they’ll wish they had let us be.”
“Do you suppose the Kings were right?” Sergeant Braddock said. “Maybe sending Lame Bear out has let the wrong tribes know where we are.”
“We’ll know soon enough.” Proctor reined his stallion around. “I hate giving up but New Eden takes priority. Timmons, Yates, on your horses. It’s late and we have a lot to do before dawn.”
The militiamen formed into a column of twos, Yates assigned to handle the bloodhounds. At a signal from the officer they departed at a trot.
Nate started down before they were out of sight, reclaimed the cloak and possibles bag, and hastened to where he had left the others.
“Winona! Evelyn! You can come down now!”
“Is that you, Pa?”
“No, it’s William Proctor,” Nate teased.
From the tree to his left floated an irate query. “What about me, hoss? Or are you hoping I’ll sit up here until hell freezes over?”
“Look to the north, Ezriah.”
“The north? What the blazes for? What’s there that—” Hampton was quiet for all of ten seconds. “Damnation. Tomorrow this valley will be crawling with the devils. We’d best forget about getting any sleep tonight and light a shuck.”
Nate’s thinking, exactly. If they headed out right away, they could be through the pass to the south by daybreak, or shortly thereafter. Then it was on to Bent’s Fort to relay word to the proper authorities about the colonel’s plans. Surely, Nate reasoned, the government wouldn’t stand idly by while a power-hungry lunatic waged a one-man war against every tribe in the Rockies.
Winona swung to earth as lithely as a cougar. She’d had a few anxious minutes earlier when the militiamen prowled about below the tree. The entire time, she had trained her rifle on Proctor, ready to send a ball squarely between his eyes if the soldiers spotted Evelyn and her.
Just then her daughter lowered herself onto the final branch. “Want me to jump, Ma?”
“No, I will catch you.” Winona leaned her Hawken against the trunk and stretched her arms upward.
Giggling, Evelyn dropped without hesitation. As she was lowered to the grass she remarked, “That was fun. I like climbing trees.”
“So did I when I was your age,” Winona said. The ability of children to make the most of every situation never ceased to amaze her. Here they were, fleeing for their lives, and Blue Flower was treating it as a lark.
Nate moved under the tree the trapper had scaled. Hampton was descending with all the speed of petrified molasses, and a lot of grunting and muttering. “Are you all right up there?” Nate asked.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Ezriah said sourly. “Because I get poked and scratched every time I move? Because I about had my eye gouged out? Because these old bones aren’t as limber as they once were?”
“You’re alive, aren’t you?”
“Why is it you keep bringing that up whenever I gripe? If I fell off a cliff and was all busted up but still breathing, I bet you’d walk up and say, ‘But you’re still alive. What are you complaining about?”
Nate chuckled at how accurately Ezriah mimicked him. “I probably would at that,” he conceded. He could see the oldster now, ten feet up and gingerly feeling his way lower limb by limb.
Winona brought Evelyn over. “I take it, husband, you saw the fires in the mountains?” she inquired. She had spotted them as soon as she climbed up. “I sincerely doubt they are Flatheads or Nez Perce.”
“Or Crows,” Nate said.
“Then you know what that means. And you heard Proctor. His people will be busy the rest of the night preparing for an attack. We can slip through to the pass and be gone before they know it.” As happy as the prospect made her, Winona was concerned for Thomas. If the settlement was attacked, he would suffer the same fate as the whites.
“At the rate Mr. Hampton is going, we won’t get to leave here until dawn,” Evelyn playfully commented.
From above them came a snort. “I heard that, girl! I’d like to see you do half as well when you’re half my age.”
“When you get a little lower, do like I did and jump,” Evelyn suggested. “My pa will catch you.”
“I will?” Nate said.
“I’ll do it my own self, thank you very much,” Ezriah grumbled. “Your butterfingers of a father might drop me.”
Presently the trapper gained the lowest limb, and hesitated. “Take my rifle and the bag, will you?”
Nate idly reached up but the heavy bag slipped. He grabbed at the strap and missed. With a pronounced thud the heavy bag hit the earth, the coins jangling noisily.
“See what I meant?” Ezriah said to Evelyn.
Nate stepped aside so the trapper could shimmy down. Once Hampton had reclaimed the Kentucky and his precious gold, they filed out into the high grass. Torches flickered off near the manor and down at the stables, and figures were moving about.
Ezriah slung the bag over his shoulder. “I can’t say I’m sorry to see the last of those yacks.”
“Who says you have?” Sergeant Braddock inquired, unexpectedly rising up out of the grass with his rifle leveled. Instantly, four other militiamen did the same. “The colonel sends his compliments. He knew the four of you had to be close by, so he had us jump down and lie low until you showed yourselves. So what will it be? Do you drop your weapons, or do you die?”
Ten
Nate King was a volcano on the verge of erupting. He seethed with suppressed fury as he paced the bedroom again and again and again, all thoughts of sleep banished, all weariness eclipsed by the resentment that boiled within him. For the hundredth time he halted in front of the bedroom door and pounded it with a fist. “I demand to see Proctor! Bring him here, damn you!”
“Keep that up, hoss, and you’re liable to pop a vein. I knew a feller who did that once. Real excitable cuss. Something burst in his head and he was never the same. Sat around staring at the walls all day, and drooling. Downright pitiful.”
Nate swung toward the bed. Ezriah Hampton was on his back, his hands propped under his head. “They have my wife. They have my daughter. And you expect me to stay calm?”
“No. I’m just saying it’s best if you simmer down. There’s nothing we can do about it at the moment.”
Nate recalled how Sergeant Braddock and the militiamen had brought them back to Huntington Manor. He had expected to be taken before the colonel, but instead Braddock brought them to the west wing and separated them. Winona and Evelyn had been placed in one room, Ezriah and he in another. That had been hours ago. Striding to the window, Nate parted the curtains. Outside, Private Danvers was standing guard, and smirked at him. “It will be daylight in half an hour.”
“And we ain’t had a lick of sleep all night,” the trapper said. “Not good, not good at all. We need to get some rest.”
“Don’t let me stop you,” Nate said through clenched teeth.
Ezriah sat up. “Listen, I’m as upset about the state of affairs as you are. Yes, I’m worried about your missus and the sprout. But I doubt Proctor will harm them. Put them in irons maybe, but he’ll keep them alive until you come up with a way to sneak us all out of here.”
Easier said than done, Nate reflected. With a guard in the hallway and a guard outside, they weren’t going anywhere in the near future. In frustration he pounded his right fist into his left palm.
The clatter of hooves drew Ezriah’s gaze to the window. “I wonder what they’re up to out there. There sure has been a ruckus.”
Nate didn’t care what the settlers were up to. All that mattered were Winona and Evelyn. He resumed pacing, his emotions roiling like a pond in a tempest. It rankled him, how he had blundered into Proctor’s little trap. How the colonel had outfoxed him as if he were a green pilgrim fresh off a wagon train.
Ezriah wrung his hands. “You’re not the only one with worries, you know. The sons of bitches finally got around to looking in my bag and found my gold! Now Proctor has it! And we both know he’ll never give it back.”
“My wife and daughter are more important than your measly coins.”
“Listen to yourself. And you called me a grump? A griz has a better disposition than you. Do yourself a favor and sit a spell.”
“I can’t,” Nate said. The thirst for vengeance frothing deep within him had him too agitated. “I want Proctor. I want to kill him with my bare hands.”
“You’d never survive as long as I did in captivity,” Ezriah observed. “Twenty years I was their prisoner! I learned early on not to let my emotions get the better of me. If they do, it wears you down, makes you so miserable you’re next to useless. You get so wrought up you just can’t think straight.”
Everything the old trapper said was true but Nate couldn’t help himself. “Your wife and daughter weren’t with you. It makes all the difference in the world.”
“I can see where it would,” Ezriah allowed, “but you’re not doing them any favors by stomping around like a bull in a china shop. You need to think of a way to turn the tables on Proctor. You need to get us the hell out of this valley before those Indians swoop down and butcher everyone.”
“They might be friendly,” Nate said, although he didn’t believe it.
“Hell, who are you trying to kid? It’s the biggest damn war party you can imagine. That idiot, Proctor, never should have sent out the Crow. It was the same as sending out an engraved invite to his own massacre.”
“The settlers might have a chance,” Nate commented. They had plenty of guns, plenty of ammunition, plenty of supplies, and they could fortify themselves in the manor.
“There you go again. Grasping at straws. Oh, sure, maybe they can hold their own for a good long while. But eventually the warriors will wear them down and slaughter every last man, woman, and child.”
Nate stepped to the door and raised his fist to pound it again, then thought better of the idea and continued to pace.
“You’re learning, sonny,” Ezriah said, chuckling. “If you need to pound something, pound Proctor when you get the chance.”
As if in response, the door opened and in strode the colonel. Nate immediately balled both fists and started toward him, only to stop cold when Yates and Bell entered with cocked pistols.
“Back off, mountain man,” the former warned. “Lay a finger on the colonel and we’ll blow out your wick.”
Sergeant Braddock came in last, and shut the door. “No need for threats, Private. I’m sure our guest has guessed as much.”
“Guest, hell!” Nate grated. “I’m your prisoner.”
Colonel Proctor moved to the oak chair and sat. “You have an excellent grasp of the situation, Mr. King. Now suppose you calm yourself so we can discuss it like two intelligent, mature adults?”
Nate’s fingers twitched in impotent outrage. “I want to see Winona and Evelyn, you bastard.”
“In due time, perhaps. And only if you behave yourself.” Proctor aligned one of the medals on his coat. “If you don’t, well ... ” He shrugged. “Unlike your wife, you’re expendable. Cross me and you will never set eyes on them again.”
“I overheard what you said in the woods last night,” Nate responded. “You don’t intend to let me live even if I do co-operate.”
“Heard that, did you? More’s the pity.” Proctor sighed. “But I’m not ready to have you slain just yet. Obey me, and you live a little longer. And if that’s not enough incentive, keep in mind the suffering I can inflict on your wife and charming daughter should you refuse. Your cooperation insures they will be treated decently.”
Nate made a silent vow to himself. Somehow, some way, he was going to kill William Harrison Proctor.
“Now then, shall we get down to business? First, let me thank you for the invaluable service you’ve rendered us.”
“I’ve helped you?” It was the last thing Nate wanted to do. “How?”
“By escaping. Had you not run off, we wouldn’t have spotted the campfires. We’d have no idea savages were gathering en masse. They’d have caught us completely by surprise. If they’re hostile—”
Ezriah cackled. “There’s no ‘if’ about it, mister. They’re out for your blood, all right. Take my advice and skedaddle. Pack whatever you can carry and get the hell out of this valley.”
“Run from a band of heathen dimwits?” Proctor said. “I think not. I have my pride to think of.”
“Pride goeth before a fall,” Ezriah quoted.
“So I’ve heard. But in this instance my men and I will prove equal to the occasion.” Proctor grew thoughtful. “Even if I wanted to abandon New Eden, I couldn’t. We don’t have enough horses for everyone, and the wagons aren’t due back for another month. The savages would overtake us long before we reached the pass. We’d be caught out in the open, at their mercy.”
“So you’re fixing to dig in and make a stand? Twelve men against a small army of redskins?”
“We don’t know how many savages there are,” Colonel Proctor said. “And our own strength is considerably more than you give us credit for. All the women have been trained in the use of firearms. Seven of the children are in their teens and can handle a rifle reasonably well. Another five or six can be counted on if need be. Plus the servants. That gives us close to forty-five guns. Enough, I should think, to hold off a red horde.”
“Forty-five or a hundred and five, it won’t make a lick of difference if those Injuns are who I think they are,” Ezriah said.
“You make it sound as if the outcome is foreordained,” Proctor said. “Nothing could be further from the truth. I have a few tricks up my sleeve that will win the day for us.”
“That confident, are you?” Ezriah said. “So was a gent named Goliath, and look at what happened to him.”
“Your biblical analogy is more apt than you realize. Goliath was bigger, stronger, better armed. Yet one stone from David’s slingshot brought him low. Skill prevailed over brute force, just as our military skill will prevail over the sheer numbers of our adversaries.” Colonel Proctor faced Nate. “Now where were we? Oh, yes, I’d thanked you for your inadvertent aid. It’s time for you to render additional help.”
“If I refuse?”
“You try my patience, sir. We have been over this already. If you decline, I will have one of my men take a bullwhip to your wife.”
Nate couldn’t help himself. He reached Proctor in two leaps and wrapped his fingers around the man’s thick neck. But as he started to squeeze, the potential consequences to Winona and Evelyn stopped him. That, and the pistol shoved against his ribs.
“Let go of the colonel!” Private Yates growled.
Slowly uncurling his fingers, Nate stepped back. His temples were pounding so loudly he barely heard Proctor.
“That’s better. You’re being reasonable. I’ll reciprocate and not punish your wife for your stupidity.” Proctor smoothed his jacket. “A horse is being saddled at the stable. As soon as the sun rises, you will mount up and ride north. Scout out the Indians. Find out who they are, how many there are, and what they are up to. You should be able to accomplish all that and be back here by the middle of the afternoon.”
“I’m to go unarmed, I gather?”
“Need you ask? Rely on stealth and caution instead.”
“What about me?” Ezriah asked.
“You, sir, are next to worthless. I would have you taken out and shot, except I’m not one to needlessly squander resources, however feeble they are. There may yet be some use I can put you to.” Colonel Proctor rose. “Sergeant Braddock will be back for you shortly,” he told Nate. “If you’re smart, you won’t give him any trouble.”
The officer and militiamen left. Nate, bowing his head, slumped into the chair the Southerner had vacated.
“Don’t take it so hard, hoss,” Ezriah said. “You’ve got to learn to look at the bright side of things. Every cloud has its silver lining.”
“And there’s one here I’ve overlooked? Talk sense. We’re at Proctor’s mercy and there’s nothing we can do about it.” Ezriah slid to the end of the bed. “Listen to yourself. Why don’t you just curl up and die so I won’t have to watch you mope?” He gestured. “In a little while Proctor is cutting you loose to spy for him. You’ll be on your own, able to do whatever you want. A savvy coon like you can turn that to his advantage, I’m thinking.”
