Comanche (A J.T. Edson Western Book 1)

by J. T. Edson

  Scattered around Loncey’s tepee, the boys made their cautious way through the cold grey light of the dawn. Overhead, sullen black clouds gave warning spatters of rain, but as yet the full force of the impending storm had not broken. The Tejas, smarter and less trusting than the others, saw numerous snags in the proposed murder and horse theft. After its success, he doubted whether Fire Dancer would allow the party to go free. So he decided to act for himself. Leaving the others to stalk Loncey’s tepee, he made a cautious way towards the gate of the corral. In doing so, he alerted and warned the white stallion.

  In the tepee Loncey came from deep sleep to full awake at the horse’s first alarmed snort. Automatically he scooped up the revolver in his right hand and bowie knife in his left. Rising, he paused and listened to the scraping of the corral’s gate pole. No Comanche boy would play at horse-stealing so far from the camp and with the animal another of the People kept penned for private training. That meant somebody made a serious attempt to steal the white stallion. Letting out a low hiss of anger, Loncey burst through the tepee’s door.

  A shape loomed ahead of him, coming with upraised knife. Already cocked on being taken up, the Dragoon boomed. Struck in the chest by the soft lead ball, the first attacker went over backwards. At Loncey’s right, a second boy hurled his tomahawk. Lack of skill caused the head of the handle to strike instead of the blade, but it hit Loncey’s right wrist with numbing force and caused him to let the heavy Dragoon fall from limp fingers.

  Letting out a screech, the tomahawk thrower hurled at Loncey with bare hands. Pivoting, Loncey brought up his knife in a savage backhand slash over the reaching arms and laid the other boy’s throat open to the bone. Even as he struck, Loncey saw enough to tell him what had been planned.

  Down by the corral, the Tejas boy let the top gate-pole fall and vaulted over it. Unless he sadly misjudged, the white could clear the lower poles even carrying him, so he did not need to waste further time. Starting forward, he heard the stallion snort, saw its ears flatten—then it charged him. Before the boy could decide on what action to take, the stallion reached him. Rearing high, the white slashed out with its hooves and drove them into the boy’s skull. Although the Tejas crashed down with his skull smashed open, the stallion did not halt its attack. Screaming with fighting rage, it stamped the body into a bloody pulp.

  Loncey saw No Father rise from behind a bush and start to bring up the rifle. At the same moment, a third boy, a Waco, rushed up and presented more immediate danger to Loncey’s life. Like most Indians, the Waco held his knife with the blade beneath his hand in a way which allowed only two types of blow; a downwards chop aimed behind his enemy’s collarbone, or a sideways stroke directed to the ribs. The Waco elected to try the former attack and brought the knife swinging downwards. Before Waco steel could blood itself in his flesh, Loncey threw up his numb right forearm to block the other’s knife wrist. Then the bowie knife gave its answer; only Loncey held it as taught by Don Francisco Almonte, its blade extending from the thumb and forefinger side of the hand. Such a grip allowed the knife to be used for its most deadly stroke, the driving, ripping cross-slash. Holding off the Waco’s knife, Loncey sank the bowie’s blade into the other’s belly and tore it open.

  Hooves thundered and drew No Father’s attention from Loncey. Seeing Loud Voice and Comes For Food tearing down to the rescue, and noting they were closer to him than Loncey, No Father swung his rifle towards them. He aimed and fired, driving a .56 caliber bullet into Loud Voice’s head and tumbling him from the back of the racing pony. Tossing aside the empty rifle, No Father started to draw the Navy Colt. Not so brave as the others, the remaining captive boy had advanced less speedily and found himself in the path of Comes For Food’s horse. With the courage of a cornered rat, the captive hurled himself forward. Comes For Food whipped out his knife and dived from his horse on to his attacker, both of them crashing to the ground.

  Giving a roar of rage, Loncey charged at No Father to avenge the killing of his foster brother. The Colt swung his way and he went forward in a rolling dive. He heard the crash of the shot and felt a searing, burning pain on his shoulder, while being half-blinded by the Colt’s muzzle blast. Seeing Loncey coming, No Father started to spring aside. Loncey slashed viciously sideways in passing. The knife sliced into No Father’s calf so deep that it tore through the muscles almost to the bone. Blood spurted and No Father gave a scream, staggering and dropping the revolver.

  On hearing the first shot and seeing the arrival of the two Pehnane boys, Fire Dancer realized that her plan might fail and help was sure to come from the village. Leading her son’s horse, she charged out from where she had been hiding and raced towards No Father. Comes For Food rose from disposing of the boy he tackled, heard the drumming of hooves and whirled to deal with the newcomer should he prove to be an enemy. Recognizing Fire Dancer, the boy paused undecided as to what he ought to do. Fire Dancer pulled the single-shot pistol from her waist band, lining it and firing. Lead ripped into Comes For Food’s chest, spun him around and tumbled him aside.

  At that point Fire Dancer saw her son receive the injury and screamed in rage. There was no way she could reload the pistol and she possessed no other means of dealing with Loncey. Already in the distance she could see two men galloping towards the battleground and recognized them. With Ysabel and Long Walker coming, she dare waste no time. Showing riding skill of a high order, she tore down and scooped her son on to the horse in passing. Give him his due, hurt badly though he might be, No Father still retained the presence of mind to catch his mother’s wrist and swing afork the horse behind her. Before Loncey could rise, the horses whirled by and tore away. Wild with rage, he caught up No Father’s heavy Navy Colt, but could not make a hit on the fast riding, double-loaded couple. Turning, Loncey dashed to the corral, meaning to use his white for the pursuit. Hot with fury still, it showed obvious signs that warned Loncey to enter the corral at that moment would be suicide.

  Rain began to come down faster, lightning flashed and thunder rolled. Before Ysabel and Long Walker arrived, the storm broke in all its fury.

  ‘Who was it, boy?’ demanded Ysabel, leaping from the grulla as it slid to a halt at his son’s side.

  ‘Fire Dancer and No Father,’ Loncey answered. ‘Let me have your horse, ’ap.’

  ‘Loud Voice is dead!’ Long Walker called from by the boy’s body.

  ‘Give me the horse, ’ap!’ Loncey repeated.

  ‘You couldn’t find them in this storm, boy,’ Ysabel answered gently. ‘And you’ve got a mighty bad gash on your back.’

  Not until that moment did Loncey realize he had been wounded. Before allowing himself to be taken to the village for treatment, he insisted on replacing the corral rail so as to keep the white stallion inside.

  The following afternoon Loncey stood in his grandfather’s tepee, facing the chief, Ysabel, War Club and Comes For Food’s father—the latter two haggard with grief at the loss of their sons. After he told of the attack, Loncey stated his intention of finding Fire Dancer and her son even though the storm wiped out their tracks.

  ‘I had old Buffalo Keates come in to see me the other day, boy,’ Ysabel interrupted. ‘Was fixing to tell you when you could handle the white. The South’s gone to war with the Yankees and Texas is siding with the Confederate States, which being what the Southern States call themselves. Buffalo said that Mosby gent we showed some buffalo hunting a couple of years back wants us to go along and join a regiment he’s starting to fight the Yankees.’

  ‘You mean to ride to war?’ Loncey gasped.

  ‘Sure, boy.’

  For a long time the boy stood without a word. At last he could achieve every Comanche boy’s ambition of taking the war trail. But if he did, he must put off his vengeance search for No Father.

  ‘We will understand if you go, my son,’ War Club told the boy and Comes For Food’s father nodded agreement. A war trail of that kind took precedence over the quest for vengeance and any other business.<
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  ‘Ka-Dih does not favor you hunting them at this time, tawk,’ Long Walker went on. ‘That was why he sent the storm to wash out their tracks. Ride to war and count many coups.’

  ‘Very well, tawk,’ Loncey said quietly. ‘I will. I will come back, find No Father—and when I do, one of us will die.’ x

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  More on J. T. EDSON

  i Tuivitsi: Young unmarried brave, especially one still making his name.

  ii Ara: Maternal uncles.

  iii Told in Guns in the Night.

  iv A’He: Comanche cry, meaning ‘I claim it’ (the coup).

  v How Loncey achieved his ambition is told in The Ysabel Kid.

  vi One occasion is told in Apache Rampage.

  vii Naivi: unmarried girl.

  viii Told in The Peacemakers.

  ix Told in The Fastest Gun in Texas.

  x How Loncey finally met No Father and kept his promise is told in Sidewinder.