by Bobby Dennis
* * * * “Wilber, I think we better get our gun’s. They’re about to lynch that kid!” shouted a trapper called Beaver.
Wilber and the other men in the saloon, his trapper friends, equaled five men. All big men, plus Gantry. The men all grabbed their rifle’s and filed out quickly, running towards the screaming crowd at the Sheriff’s office.
Clem and Axel dragged a bruised and bleeding Lijah from the lock up into the street. Dan Melman stepped forward and kicked the battered man viciously in the face. Lijah’s head snapped back. Wiley Edwards took the noosed rope that was passed to him and looped it around Lijah’s neck. A loud rifle shot rang out and the crowd grew quiet.
“Take that rope off the boy’s neck!” shouted Wilber his rifle pointed at Wiley. The trappers had their guns lazily trained on the crowd.
Wiley looked at Wilber, and said. “You’d defend this piece of shit, instead of a white woman this animal raped and killed?”
“How do you know he did it?” asked Wilber. “He was caught in the act man!” Wiley shouted.
“Her Pa killed her when he caught us together!” shouted Lijah in the silence.
“Lying sack of shit!” screamed Dan Melman pulling his pistol as he aimed at Lijah and fired.
“NOOOO!” screamed Gantry swinging his rifle to bear on Dan Melman and firing an instant after Dan.
Dan Melman’s round slammed into Lijah’s forehead which seemed to implode and then cave in on itself. Then the back of his head exploded in a geyser of blood, bone and pinkish grey brain matter.
Gantry’s 30-30 round smashed into the side of Dan Melman’s neck and severed his artery. Blood sprayed into the faces of the men closest to him, then he crashed to the ground.
Everybody started shooting at that point. It was nearly a massacre. Gantry was shoot several times by Vine and his big hulking mass tumbled tree like to the ground. Two of his trapper buddies fell to the gun fire from the crowd. Ten of them were down, dead or dying. Wilber was hit in the left shoulder and in the side. The round went straight thru. He had crawled behind a watering trough and continued to fire at the fleeing men.
* CHAPTER # 7 *
In less than 24 hours, 15 people had died violently in Ogilvey. The town was in an uproar, and Wilber and the remaining trappers had disappeared. Willis and his men were in the back room at his place.
“That’s just the beginning for us. You see how all the niggers in town are armed and being bold. Lookin white people in the eye like they are equal. Disarm them all Vine.” said Willis.
“Gonna take more killing to do it.” Vine said. “The more dead niggers, the less we have to deal with later.” said Willis.
“When do we start?” asked Vine.
“You’ll need to deputize Clem and Axel.” Willis said. “Make it look legal like.”
Clem and Axel pulled badges from their vest pockets. “We kind of anticipated this.” said Axel.
The four men stood and headed to the door with Vine in the lead.
“Better them than us!” shouted Willis to the retreating men.
The men looked across the street. Standing in front of the post was a slim black man with a rifle cradled in his arms, staring intently at them. The four men crossed the street and stood a few feet away from the man. “What’s your name boy?” asked Vine.
“Ain’t no boy, but my name Tom Rivers.” said the black man.
“Give me that rifle boy.” said Vine. “It’s against the law for niggers to tote firearms in the city limits.”
“Ain’t givin up my gun.” Tom Rivers said stubbornly.
“Drop the rifle or die, nigger boy.” said Lester venomously.
Before Tom Rivers could reply Lester drew his gun and fired three quick rounds that punched into his chest. Tom’s arms were flung skyward, the rifle hurtled thru the air. He stumbled backward then crashed to the ground in a cloud of dust. People stepped outside and peered at the bloody body that lay in the street.
“Shit is about to bust at the seams around here Lao.” said Wilber from the big bed at the clan’s ranch. “If I were you, I’d get the people and head back to the swamps.”
“Look around you Wilber, the white way is killing out the old ways. To run would only prolong what is inevitable, I will fight while I can. They are only men, white men I grant you, but men nonetheless. They too can die in battle.” said Lao Tzu. “We built this place. It is what it is, because of us, we can’t just abandon it. My son will return.”
“People are gonna die if you stay.” said Wilber.
“They will die if we go. Death is an eventuality, we must all face it.” said Lao.
“You are a true warrior brother.” said Wilber with respect.
“As are you and it would be an honor to fight by your side.” said Lao.
* * * * A group of white men gathered around the body of Tom Rivers, gloating. Tom’s brother Tobias Rivers came around the corner at a run, with his rifle in his arms. When he saw his brother’s body sprawled in the street he came to a sliding halt, brought his rifle up and opened fire on the crowd of men. Three men fell before the others broke and ran in different directions, returning fire. It seemed that gunfire came from everywhere and riddled Tobias. Rounds tossed him into the air and against the front wall of the post, where he slid down. Tobias had killed three men and wounded several more before he died.
“The niggers done gone crazy!” shouted one man who trained his rifle on a black woman who was trying to make it into the post. He fired. And the woman, shot in the back collapsed into the building.
The whites filed into the street in mass and began firing randomly at any black or native in sight.
Soon the streets were filled with armed white men, heading towards the part of town where blacks and natives live. They shot, beat and burned down an entire section of town. The blacks and natives fled, scattered in the woods. Some pockets of resistance existed, but soon they too were cut out. By night fall 25 people were dead and twice that number wounded. Ogilvey was turned into a killing field and the whites were running in packs. They had spread out, killing and torching the black owned ranchers. Chaos reigned, as the whites approached the ranch of the Bird Clan.
* * * * A man named Lenny Shakes had rode to the ranch and warned the Bird clan of the roving bands of whites. They were raping, killing and burning out the blacks and Indians in and around Ogilvey.
The Bird clan had built a hidden root cellar and that’s where Lao sent Dove with Crow and Little Bird to hide. The other members of the clan dressed for war. Lao looked at the seven women and four men gathered in the cabin, then said. “Me, Mandy, Sparrow, Willow and swallow will go out and take the fight to them. Wilber you and the others will fight from the inside.”
Wilber, two trappers, Lenny Shakes, Fern, Violet and Conchita were all armed with rifles. They moved to the firing ports built into the cabin, as Lao and the others bristling with arms left the cabin.
* * * * Clem, Axel and eight men from the town met up with six other men, who were led by a skinny, bucktoothed man name Virgil Haskins. The 16 men banded together and closed in on the Bird clan ranch.
Lao Tzu, his wives and two daughters were spread out in a horseshoe formation in the woods that lead to their ranch. Before they had spread out, Lao had warned them to let the men show their intentions before attacking.
The men from town were packed in a bunch, many carried torches so the group was well lighted. Lao and the others watched silently as the men closed in on the big log cabin and then spread out around it.
“Alright niggers and redskins, toss out your weapons and come out with your hands up. And you might live to see daylight!” shouted Virgil Haskins.
“This is private property and you’re trespassing!” Wilber shouted to the men. “That’s that nigger loving Mayor.” said Clem to Axel. One of the men raised his gun and fired at the cabin.
Lao did a bird call which was the signal to attack. Mandy quickly notched an arrow and aimed at a man on horseback, who was perfectly lit by one
of the torches. There was a light twang as the arrow was launched. The arrow struck the man between the shoulder blades. His back arched as the arrow ripped into him and he tumbled from his horse. When Mandy let loose her arrow, four more arrows streaked into the group of men. Death on feathered shafts silently streaked into the men, who fell from their mounts dead or seriously wounded.
The cries of the men who were hit by the arrows, threw the group into panic. They unleashed a deadly hail of rifle fire into the cabin and surrounding woods.
Lao and his group quickly returned fire with their bows. The gunmen couldn’t see where the attack was coming from, as the people inside the cabin opened fire on them too. A man on horseback threw a torch on the roof of the cabin and the dry shakes quickly caught on fire. Lao saw the roof catch fire and knew that they had to get rid of the men soon, if they were to save the people in the house. They had either killed or wounded seven or eight of them so the odds were not as lopsided.
“AIEEEEE!” screamed Lao Tzu as he rushed from the woods with his rifle blazing. Soon he was joined by his wife and daughters, all screaming their war cry.
Clem and Axel spurred their horses and galloped away from the scene as Lao and the women attacked the men. Sparrow fired her rifle and a man fell to the ground. It was only a flesh wound. The man had dropped his rifle and was clawing for his pistol. The gun came free and he fired two shots at the figure running towards him from the dark. His first round smashed into Sparrow’s shoulder and spun her around. The next slammed into her ribs, shattering them as it punched thru her lungs and heart. She fell to the ground silently.
The man leaped from the ground and rushed to his horse to mount it, when a big dark figure swooped in on him with upraised tomahawk. He opened his mouth to scream as the tomahawk slashed into the center of his face and cleaved his head almost in two. As Mandy struggled to free the tomahawk from the man’s face, another rider drew close to her, pointed his weapon down and squeezed off a round. The big 30-30 slug punched into her breastbone and catapulted her backward, where she crashed to the ground. Her big dark eyes staring up blindly into the starry sky.
Swallow seeing her mother tossed backward by the gunshot, pulled her knife from her waist and tossed it underhand at the rider. The big blade spinning and flashing glints of light, cut into the man’s throat. He dropped his rifle and his hands shot to the hilt of the big knife embedded in his throat as he fell from his horse.
Lao was unaware that his wives had fell in battle. He raced for the cabin door after killing two men. As he reached the door, a gunshot from a heavy caliber rifle sounded. The big slug from the Buffalo rifle smashed into Lao Tzu’s back and pulverized his spinal column, pinning him to the cabin door. Slowly he slid down and lay slumped on the door.
Clem Hartfield sat on his horse almost 200 yards away, looking for another target in the well lit area. There were none so he sheathed his rifle and they rode off.
Swallow and Willow had made quick work of the men that remained, then sprinted for the door of the cabin. They saw that Lao was dead and dragged him away from the burning cabin. The door of the cabin burst open and Fern, Violet and Conchita stumbled from the cabin coughing. As Wilber and the three men struggled to the door the roof of the cabin caved in and the four men were engulfed in the blaze. The five young women could do nothing for the men and their screams didn’t last long at any rate.
The women went to the hidden root cellar where Dove and the children hid safely. After they had got the bodies of Lao Tzu and his wives, they placed them in a smoke house. The six women preformed the death rights for their parents, then danced for them until exhaustion caught up with them at sunrise.
* * * * Willis and his group met in the back of his saloon the next day. “It was a lot easier than I thought it would be, faster too.” said Willis.
“So what’s our next move?” asked Vine.
“We wait. The railroad or one of their
representatives will come thru before long. What we need to do in the mean time is lock this town up tight and bury as much of what has gone on in the last few days as deep as possible.” said Willis. “And oh yeah, the new name of the town is Grimsley.”
They all started laughing.
* CHAPTER # 8 *
Raven and his band had sold the cattle and had been on the trail for ten days. They came across a family who were the worst for wear. Raven knew the man as he had worked for the Bird Clan from time to time. His name was Albert Silvers and he had an Indian wife, and six half-breed children.
“What’s going on Al?” asked Raven. Albert told Raven and the others what had taken place and told them about the death of their parents. Raven and his brothers fed the Silvers and gave them some gold to get started. Then the brothers pushed their horses to the brink of death, in their haste to get back to their family.
When the six men rode to the ranch, they saw that the big cabin had been burned to the ground. It was plain to see that most of their cattle and horses had been stolen as well. The six men fanned out and went in search of survivors. Raven came across three mounds of earth and knew that he was looking at the graves of his parents. Rage washed over him and he was filled with hatred for the white man and his ways. He came to the root cellar and from the tracks he knew that some of the women had survived. He went to the opening, and gave the Bird call that was familiar to the entire clan. The door burst open and Dove rushed out into his arms.
Automatically he noticed she was no longer big with child. He looked into her eyes and she smiled, then said. “You have another son.”
Raven nodded then made the Bird call again. The sound echoed thru the woods and soon the other men rushed to the root cellar where they were reunited with their wives.
“What happened?” Raven asked.
“The whole thing was engineered by Willis Grimsley. Willis found out that the railroad was gonna have a
depot in town and they needed land for the right of way. So Grimsley came up with a scheme to drive the blacks and the people off the land.” said Dove.
“We must get ready to travel.” said Raven. “I want to round up a good sized herd of the cattle and horses that are left. I want you women to pack as much as you can and be ready to ride at a moments notice.”
“How long do you think it will take us to gather a herd?” asked Eagle.
“A day or two at the most. Once that is done we will send the women and children north. Then we will avenge the deaths of our parents.” said Raven.
* * * * “You’ve got a nice little set up here Mr. Grimsley.” said Cyrus Walcott, the agent for southern railway. “I thought the name of the town was Ogilvey?”
“Oh, it was, but the Mayor decided to abandon the town and get back to trapping. He didn’t want to face the scrutiny of the public, for having a heathen wife.” said Willis.
“I guess that would cause a problem for the upstanding white citizens of this fine town.” said Cyrus.
“That it would,” said Willis laughing. “Now have you thought about the matter of land?”
“Yes I have and we’ll deal directly with you as far as purchase is concerned. I also have conditions that are strictly between you and I.” said Cyrus with greed in his eyes.
Having dealt with immoral men and being one himself, Willis smiled at Cyrus then asked. “And what might those conditions be?”
Cyrus cleared his throat, and said. “I’ll pay you the maximum price for the land and you kick me back 20% of the total.”
Willis laughed. “That’s a little steep don’t you think?”
“Not at all.” Cyrus said.
“15% no more.” said Willis with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
“Done,” Cyrus said with a smile.
“Well I guess that calls for a celebration. I’d like to show you some of the hidden pleasures of our lovely town. I hope you have a taste for dark meat, if you know what I mean.” said Willis
“It has been a while since I last enjoyed it, but if memory serves
me correct it was a very good experience.” said Cyrus laughing.
The two men left Willis’s office thru the back door and walked to the post that now served as his general store and whore house.
* * * * In two days, Raven and his brothers had rounded up 300 head of cattle and 50 horses. The women had packed up all the goods they had in the root cellar and awaited Raven’s orders.
“In the morning we’ll load the goods on the wagon. Dove you’ll drive one, Conchita will drive the other. The children will ride in the wagons. Willow, Fern, Swallow and Violet, you all will spread out and drive the herds north. There will be no need for haste, because we’ll help you the first part of the day. When we’re what I estimate is a day’s ride from the town we’ll turn back. We must avenge the deaths of our parents.” said Raven.
“They were our parents too and our blades want to taste the blood of the enemy.” said Dove.
“In time to come there will be a need for you to do battle, but now the survival of the clan is at stake and you are the guardian of the seed. We all have a role to play and right now this is yours.” said Raven.
“I understand husband.” replied Dove.
The next day they loaded the wagons and took off. The men taught the women how to move the herd in mass and keep them together. They pushed hard until noon, took a break, then pushed until nearly sundown. Raven halted them and they made camp, then he and the men headed back to town. Each of the six men had two horses and they rode in relays until they were on the outskirts of town.
“Were gonna raze the town.” Raven told his brothers. “We can’t burn out the settlers because we lack the numbers, but not a building is to be left standing.”
The five men nodded their heads, checked their weapons, mounted up and rode into town.
* * * * Willis’ saloon was jumping. Whores were sprinkled throughout the crowd, black, white and Indian. The drinks were flowing profusely. Willis, Cyrus and Vine sat at a table drinking and laughing.
“That was quick.” said Willis to Cyrus who had 50,000 dollars in gold in Willis’ back office. “Actually it wasn’t,” said Cyrus. “I already had the gold. I just wanted to see if the man I had been dealing with was of the same mind as me.”
