The Scalp Hunters

by David Thompson

  “Drag them off and have your way. Just don’t damage the scalps.” Venom advanced. When he dropped flat and snaked forward on his belly, so did the others. The trees loomed closer.

  Venom didn’t intend to lose another man as he’d lost Rubicon. He was going to outwit the little bitch and her friends, and to that end, as soon as he came within earshot of the trees, he stood, cradled his rifle, and put a smile on his face. “I know you’re in there, girl. My name is Venom. How about you and me palaver?”

  Evelyn had him in her sights. She’d expected the scalp men to charge to the attack. Panic had set in when they went to ground. She had never been in a situation like this; she didn’t know what was best to do. Now here was the head scalp hunter, saying he wanted to talk. It must be a ruse. Maybe, she told herself, she could use it to her advantage. “Go away, Mr. Venom. We don’t want to have to kill you.”

  “Ahhh.” Venom stared at the spot the voice came from. “Show yourself, girl. Neither me nor my men will shoot. You have my word.”

  Evelyn stayed on her belly behind a log. “I wasn’t born yesterday,” she responded.

  “It’s good you’re cautious,” Venom said, and went on smiling. “All I want is to find out what happened to one of my men. We came across him a ways back. We’re buffalo hunters, you see. He was my best tracker and…”

  “You’re what?” Evelyn asked in surprise.

  “Buffalo hunters.” Venom’s lie hadn’t worked with the freight train captain, but he figured the girl was bound to be more gullible.

  “That’s not what I was told. I heard that you’re scalp men, that you lift hair for bounty money.”

  Venom feigned shock. “Wherever did you hear such a bald-faced lie? I’ve got more decency in me than that. No, girl. We’re buff hunters and only buff hunters.”

  “Plenty Elk said different.”

  “Who? You don’t mean that Arapaho buck we found buried with Rubicon? Hellfire, he fed you a pack of lies and you believed him.” Venom chuckled in as friendly a fashion as he could manage.

  “Suppose you explain your side,” Evelyn said skeptically.

  “There’s not much to tell. A war party jumped me and my men. We fought them off and a couple of bucks escaped. I sent Rubicon after them. He killed one and was about to kill the other when you and your friends came along. He didn’t know what to do so he came and told me. I sent him to follow you and make sure the Arapaho didn’t lead you and your friends into a trap.” Venom was pleased with his lie. He told it so well, he almost believed it.

  Confusion swamped Evelyn. She tried to remember if Rubicon ever admitted to being a scalp hunter. “I saw the warrior your tracker killed. He had been scalped.”

  “That’s normal out here, girl. Injuns scalp us. We scalp them. It doesn’t make us scalp hunters. Rubicon took it as a trophy, is all.”

  Evelyn refused to believe him. “What about Mr. Logan? Where does he fit into the scheme of things?”

  “You’ve seen him?” Venom thought fast, wondering how much, if anything, Logan had told her. “I booted him from the outfit a few days ago. Caught him trying to steal from one of my other men. He’s nothing but a thief. He even stole a horse.”

  Evelyn bit her lower lip, uncertain what to do. Everything the man said was plausible. “You want me to believe that you came after us to help us?”

  “We came to see if you were safe. You being a white girl and all, we were worried.”

  “I’m perfectly safe, thank you. So you can go find those buffalo you claim to be after.”

  Venom raised his voice. “You heard the little lady, boys. Show yourselves. Let’s leave her and her friends be.” He grinned as his men all stood and gave him questioning looks. “Mount up,” he commanded. “I’ll be right with you.”

  They turned and made for the horses, Potter scratching his head and muttering.

  “There!” Venom said to the girl. “We’ll be on our way. Now do I get to see you? It’s the least you can do after I went to so much trouble.”

  Evelyn reluctantly rose. She kept her rifle trained on him and said, “I still don’t know whether to take you at your word.”

  “It’s smart not to be too trusting.”

  The man was acting so friendly that Evelyn felt embarrassed. “I’m sorry. I just can’t take the chance.”

  “Don’t worry. There’s no hard feelings on my part.” Venom went to leave. “Say. I don’t suppose you’d care to tell me your name?”

  “Evelyn King.”

  Venom touched his hat brim. “Pleased to meet you. What are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere, anyhow?”

  “Hunting buffalo, like you.”

  “You don’t say? If you want, when we find a herd I’ll send one of my men to let you know.”

  “We’ll manage on our own, thank you.”

  “I understand,” Venom said with feigned politeness. “Well, my men are waiting. It was nice to meet you.” He touched his hat again and strolled off, whistling.

  Evelyn watched them ride away with mixed feelings. Part of her still didn’t trust them and another part thought she was being silly. “Oh well.” She shifted the Hawken to the crook of her elbow and called out, “You can come out. I guess they weren’t scalp hunters, after all.”

  Waku and his family emerged from their hiding places.

  “You think he spoke truth?” Waku asked.

  Evelyn shrugged. “I’m the first to admit I’m not much good at judging people. He seemed nice enough but you never know.”

  “Do you want your pistols back?”

  “Tihi and Teni can hold on to them for a while, just in case,” Evelyn said. She stared at the retreating figures, relieved no blood had been spilled. Then she stiffened. “Wait. Where’s Dega? Shouldn’t he have been back by now?”

  As if in answer, a shriek pierced the air from the direction Dega had gone.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Degamawaku fought with all his strength. He had hold of the white man’s wrist to keep the man from clubbing him while at same time he sought to bury his knife. The man called Logan had hold of his wrist, and locked together, they rolled this way and that, each straining to their utmost.

  “Damn you, boy!” Logan hissed through clenched teeth. “I am going to bust your skull wide-open.”

  Dega stayed silent. He concentrated on sinking his knife, and nothing else. They rolled again, and suddenly he was on top. Bunching his shoulder muscles, he thrust down. The razor tip of his blade dipped toward Logan’s heaving chest. Logan swore, and bucked, and Dega was almost thrown off. Grimly, Dega exerted all the strength in his sinews.

  “Nothing is going to stop me, boy,” Logan hissed. “Not a snip like you, that’s for sure. That girl will be mine, you hear?”

  A chill ran down Dega’s spine. The man intended to hurt Evelyn. Newfound fury pulsed through him and his body became as iron. The tip lowered another fraction and pricked Logan’s shirt.

  “Not by no boy!” Logan snarled, and drove his knees up and in.

  Pain exploded through Dega. Sudden weakness caused him to sag. He tried to keep Logan pinned under him, but a blow slammed into his ribs and another low in the stomach. Next he knew, he was flung through the air and landed hard on his back. The knife was wrested from his grasp. He felt a sting on his neck, and blinked. Logan had the knife to his throat.

  “Any last words?”

  Dega swallowed. He tensed to grab the man’s wrist even though he felt as weak as a newborn fawn.

  “The girl was right, you know. I figure to circle around and see who is left after the shooting is done. It should be easy for me to pick them off and have her to myself.”

  “You bad man.”

  Logan snorted, and nodded. “You’re about to die and that’s the best you can come up with? Hell, yes, most folks would call me bad. But do you know what? It’s how I am. I’m just being me.” He paused. “I didn’t make the laws and rules about what’s right and what’s not. Were it up to me, th
ere wouldn’t be—” He stopped and glanced up sharply. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  Dega had heard a footstep. He moved his head slightly to see, and was astounded. “Miki! Go back!”

  Mikikawaku stood a lance length away, her hands behind her back. “I came to see if you were all right.”

  “What did she say?” Logan snapped.

  “She worried for me,” Dega translated, horrified at her blunder. To Miki he said, “Go to Father and Mother! Run!”

  “I will not leave you.” Miki took a step. “Father and Mother are with Evelyn. Evelyn is talking to the white men. I was to stay behind a tree, but I had to do something.”

  “What did she say now?” Logan demanded.

  Again Dega translated.

  “Venom is here? Damn. I’ve got to light a shuck before he spots me.” Logan drew back slightly.

  Miki took another step. She said to Dega, “I saw you fighting this man. I care for you very much. I do not want you dead.”

  “Please, Miki,” Dega pleaded.

  “Can you move? How hurt are you?”

  Logan still had the knife to Dega’s throat. “Tell her to shut the hell up and come a little closer.” He leered as he said it.

  “Please go! You must not let this man get his hands on you.”

  “Be ready,” Miki said. Smiling sweetly, she took one more step. “This is for you, white man.” Her clenched hands came from behind her back and she threw dirt straight in his face.

  Instinctively, Logan recoiled and swatted at his eyes.

  Dega lunged. He grabbed the white man’s wrist with both hands and started to scramble to his knees.

  Logan tried to pull free, jerking with all his might.

  It was hard to say who was more surprised when the blade sliced up and in, between Logan’s ribs.

  “No!”

  Letting go, Dega rose and stepped back. Miki came and wrapped an arm around his waist. “You were very brave.”

  “He will die now, won’t he?”

  Logan was looking down at himself in disbelief. Bright blood flowed from the wound, soaking his shirt. He gripped the hilt and lurched upright. Tottering, he glared at them, and his other hand came up holding a pistol. “That little snot and her dirt.” He thumbed back the hammer.

  Dega stepped between them and pushed Miki behind him. “I not let you harm her.”

  “Fine.” Logan pointed the flintlock at Dega and steadied his arm. “I’ll kill you first and then do her.” Sweat glistened on his face and he trembled.

  “You did this to you,” Dega said.

  A guttural sound was torn from Logan’s throat. “I’ve never wanted to kill anyone as much as I do you, boy.” He smirked, and scarlet ran from the corners of his mouth. “Oh God.”

  Miki tried to slip from behind Dega, but he held her so she couldn’t.

  Logan staggered. More blood seeped from his mouth and now from his nose. Tilting back his head, he raised his eyes to the heavens and let out a shriek. His eyelids fluttered, his arms dropped, and he keeled onto his face in the dirt.

  Dega went over and nudged him with a toe. He rolled the body over and yanked out the knife. Wiping the blade on the man’s shirt, he stood and slid the knife into his sheath. “I not like kill,” he said to himself.

  “What was that?” Miki asked.

  A shout preceded the crash of underbrush. Dega spun and whipped out his knife, then relaxed when he saw who it was. “Evelyn!”

  Evelyn’s heart had been in her throat. She’d been afraid she would be too late. When she burst from the undergrowth and saw Dega alive and Logan down, tears moistened her eyes. She forgot herself, and threw herself into Dega’s arms. “You’re all right!”

  Startled by her display, Dega grew warm about the neck and face. “You all right, too.”

  More crackling and crashing, and Waku and Tihi and Teni arrived. Both Waku and Tihi stopped short at the sight of Dega and Evelyn embracing.

  Dega motioned at Logan. “Him try kill me. I kill him.”

  “You did what you had to,” Evelyn said. “You should be proud of yourself.”

  Dega did not feel proud. To the Nansusequa, when they took the life of anything, be it human, animal or plant, they diminished all life.

  Evelyn suddenly became conscious that she had her arms around him and his were around her. She quickly stepped back and smiled at his parents. Waku smiled in return. Tihi gave her a look that reminded her of the glacier on the high peak in King Valley. “All’s well that ends well, as my uncle Shakespeare would say. That man Venom and his friends left, and Logan is no more.”

  “To kill is never good,” Waku said. He had been the peace chief of the Nansusequa for a reason; he believed in living in harmony with all beings more than he believed anything.

  “I could use some coffee,” Evelyn said to change the subject. “How about some of you?”

  “I need bury Logan,” Dega said.

  “First we should take our horses back and picket them,” Evelyn advised. Above all else, they mustn’t become stranded afoot. Her father had ingrained into her it was almost certain death.

  Waku agreed. He took the lead rope while Dega brought the dead man’s animal.

  Evelyn hummed as she walked. She was delighted beyond measure that Dega was unharmed. Everyone else acted subdued. She decided a fresh batch of coffee might perk their spirits, and put a pot on to perk.

  Dega squatted across from her and stared somberly into the fire but didn’t say anything.

  “You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself,” Evelyn commented.

  “Father right,” Dega said. “It never good kill.”

  “You did what you had to.” Evelyn sought to reassure him. “I’m very proud of you.”

  “You are?”

  Waku and Tihi took a seat on a log. Miki rummaged in a bag and brought out a Nansusequa flute, which she began softly playing.

  Evelyn leaned back and smiled. All she had to do was get them back to King Valley safe and sound and all would be right with the world.

  The next moment shadows separated from the trees. A ring of filthy, unkempt, smirking shapes, their rifles leveled, converged.

  Venom’s smirk was the widest of all. He strolled up to Evelyn and said mockingly, “Fancy meeting you again.”

  Evelyn had started to reach for her Hawken but stopped when Venom’s rifle muzzle was trained on her. Intuition told her he wouldn’t hesitate to squeeze the trigger if she forced him.

  The Nansusequa were stunned. Waku started to rise and a rifle was brandished in his face.

  Miki turned to stone with the flute still between her lips.

  Dega stared at the white men in anger. The cruel stamp of their features reminded him of the white men who destroyed his people.

  “Cat got your tongue, girl?” Venom taunted.

  “You came back.”

  “God, you’re dumb.” Venom chuckled and motioned at his men. “Permit me to introduce my fellow hair-lifters. You’re going to get to know them all before we’re through with you.” He did so, grinning viciously the while, playing with her as a cat played with a mouse.

  The truth had burst on Evelyn with the force of a keg of black powder. “Everything you told me was a lie.”

  “I wouldn’t know the truth if it bit me on the ass.”

  “You really are scalp hunters.”

  “Afraid so.” Venom chuckled, then hauled off and slapped her so hard that she was knocked onto her side. “That’s for the trouble you’ve given me, you little bitch. You cost me my best tracker.”

  “Evelyn! No!” Dega surged to his feet to help her. He only took a step when Tibbet flicked out a foot and tripped him. As he went to rise, a rifle stock swept down on the back of his head.

  Waku jumped up and was given a brutal blow to the temple that felled him in a heap.

  Miki began crying.

  “Taking their hair will be easy as pie,” Venom said smugly to Evelyn. “But don’t you worry abou
t yours. It’s not your hair we want.” He gestured lewdly, and laughed.

  “Lord help me,” Evelyn said, her hand pressed to her stinging cheek.

  Venom laughed, then bent and grabbed the front of her buckskin shirt. “Have you ever been with a man, girl? You’re going to be. I get you first and then the rest.”

  “You’re insane.”

  “No,” said a deep booming voice from out of the trees. “He’s evil, child. As despicable as they come.”

  Venom spun. So did his men. They had not quite turned when rifles thundered, eight or nine booming at once, and the heads of the scalp hunters burst like so many overripe melons. Potter’s forehead erupted in a geyser of bone and blood. The back of Tibbet’s skull exploded outward. Both twins got their rifles up, but each lost part of his face before he could shoot.

  Venom was shot in the mouth. Tottering back, blood and bits of teeth dribbling over his lower lip, he dropped his rifle and uttered a manic cry. He fell to his knees and looked up just as the men in the cottonwoods emerged. His eyes widened. “You!” the scarlet ruin gurgled.

  Evelyn beheld a wall of a man with a square face and stout legs and a brown short-brimmed hat. She saw him draw a pistol and cock it and touch the muzzle to the middle of Venom’s forehead. She didn’t look away. The blast dissolved much of Venom’s brow and he oozed to the ground and quaked as if cold. Then he was still. “My word,” she marveled.

  The big man wedged the pistol under his belt, smiled warmly at her, and held out a calloused hand. “You are welcome for the rescue, young lady.”

  “Who…? How…? Where…?” Evelyn couldn’t seem to collect her thoughts.

  “The name is Jeremiah Blunt. I’m the captain of a freight train bound for Bent’s Fort.”

  His men were checking the bodies and attending to Dega and Waku.

  “How is it you saved us, Mr. Blunt?”

  Blunt poked Venom with a boot. “These vermin made the mistake of paying my wagons a visit. While they were there, one of them made the further mistake of mentioning they were after a white girl.” He reached down and helped her to stand.

  “You followed them on that alone?”