MacCallister, the Eagles Legacy: Dry Gulch Ambush

by William W. Johnstone

  “General Pershing?” a voice interrupted and, looking around, Tavish saw that a colonel had just stepped out onto the veranda.

  “Yes, Colonel Patton?”

  “I’ve got the information on the German colonel you wanted.”

  “Let’s hear it.”

  “Our information is correct, General, in that Johannes Georg von der Marwitz is commanding the lines. And his chief of staff is Colonel Fritz von Krueger.”

  “Von Krueger, yes, I thought so.”

  “I’m sure you know, General, that von Krueger has spent a lot of time in the U.S., including two years as a liaison officer at Fort Monroe. General, he has the book on every senior officer in your command, all the way down to colonel.”

  “Including you, George?” Pershing asked.

  “Yes, General, including me. He is, without doubt, Marwitz’s most valuable asset. Marwitz won’t make a move without von Kruger’s input. And, because he made a study of every staff and command officer under you, he is our greatest danger.”

  “Yes, I thought as much. That’s why I had you put together a file on him. Won’t you join the sergeant and me for a glass of wine?”

  “Thank you, General, but I need to get back. I’ve more work to do.”

  “Very well,” Pershing said.

  Pershing watched as Colonel Patton went back into the castle. “Mark my words, Sergeant, we are going to hear from that colonel someday. He is the most undisciplined and reckless officer I’ve ever known but there is something about him . . . an innate willingness . . . no . . . a necessity to fight.”

  “Yes, sir, even I have heard of him and his tank corps,” Tavish said.

  “Well, let’s get back to my story of how I met you father, shall we? Where did I leave off?”

  “It had started to rain,” Tavish said.

  “Oh, yes. And quite a rain it was, too.”

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Fort Laramie

  The rain came up suddenly and unexpectedly, not starting with a gentle sprinkle, but opening with a deluge. Even though the meal was over and most of the people were watching the baseball game by then, the tables were still set with cloth and the dinnerware. Men and women hurried back to the place where the picnic had been held and began to pick up the tablecloths and dinnerware, doing so as quickly as they could. Those who weren’t involved in the recovery of the dinner items hurried into some shelter.

  Elmer took shelter in the sutler’s store, and buying a beer, found a table in the corner. Sergeant Havercost came over to join him.

  “I see you knew where to go when the rain started,” Havercost said.

  “Like they say, Sergeant, any port in a storm.” Elmer took a swallow of his beer. “It’s just that some ports are better in a storm than other ports.”

  “To be sure,” Havercost said with a little chuckle. “Tell me, Mr. Gleason, how long have you been with Mr. MacCallister?”

  “Ever since he come to America, I reckon,” Elmer answered. “I helped him get Sky Meadow started.”

  “Sky Meadow?”

  “That’s his ranch.”

  “That’s funny,” Havercost said. “I would never have figured you for a rancher.”

  “Oh? Well, I ain’t always ranched. I’ve trapped some. I was a sailor on a clipper ship for a while. I done some prospectin’ and some minin’. I even deputy sheriffed some, down in Texas.”

  Havercost took a swallow of his own beer, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

  “And, as I recall, you was also a road agent for a bit, back in Missouri, oh, around ’66 or ’67, I think it was,” Havercost said.

  “Beg your pardon?” Elmer said.

  “I remember now when it was that I last seen you. And I know where it was, too,” Sergeant Havercost said. “It was on a road in southeast Missouri, about halfway between New Madrid and Sikeston. What was it, ’66 or ’67?”

  “You think you recall somethin’, do you?”

  “Yeah, you know what made me remember?”

  “What?”

  “The rain,” Havercost said. “A while ago when I seen that rain drippin’ off the end of your nose, I remembered. I’d seen rain drippin’ off that same nose once before. It was rainin’ that day, too, if you recall.”

  For a long, quiet moment, the two men just stared at each other. Then Elmer smiled.

  “Oh, yes, I do recall. And now that you got me to thinkin’ about it, seems to me like it was rainin’ like a son of a bitch,” he said.

  Havercost laughed. “Well, I’m glad to see that you ain’t tryin’ to deny it.”

  “No sense in denyin’ it,” Elmer said. “You got me dead to rights. So what happens now? Do you turn me in, or what?”

  “Turn you in to who? Turn you in for what? That was then, and this is now, and besides, it wasn’t my money in the first place.” Havercost laughed again. “Anyway, it was damn near worth it, just to see the expression on Sollinger’s face when I told him that all the tax money had been took.”

  “Sollinger?”

  “Yeah, Robert Sollinger. He was the revenue man the money was s’posed to go to.”

  Elmer chuckled. “Well, I’m glad I was able to give you that pleasure.”

  “Don’t tell me, Gleason, that you give all that money back to the people that the tax collectors took it from.”

  Elmer laughed. “Well now, you know Sergeant Havercost, damn me if I didn’t give that some thought. But there was a problem, you see. There weren’t no way I was able to know who the money come from. So I done the next best thing.”

  “What was the next best thing?”

  “Me ’n’ the boys that was with me spent it,” Elmer said.

  Havercost laughed again, louder this time than before, and he slapped the table. “You know what, Gleason? I hope you had a fine old time with that money.”

  “Oh, I did, Sergeant, I truly did,” Elmer said. “Now how about lettin’ me buy the next drink to make up for robbin’ you?”

  “Don’t mind if I do,” Havercost said. “And I’m curious. What did you spend it on? I hope it was wine, women, and song.”

  Elmer shook his head. “Nope.”

  “No?”

  Elmer smiled. “Now you tell me, Sergeant Havercost. Why the hell would I want to waste any of that money on song?”

  Havercost laughed again. “Well, as long as you didn’t waste any of the money,” he said.

  Sergeant Caviness came over to the table then. “Do you folks mind if I join you?” he asked.

  “I don’t mind,” Havercost said. “It’s up to Mr. Gleason.”

  “Hell, I’m surrounded by Yankee solders,” he said. “Why should I worry if another’n come along?”

  “Mr. Gleason, one of the cowboys that come up with you, tells me that you used to live with the Shoshone.”

  Elmer didn’t answer right away. Instead, he took a drink of his beer and studied Caviness through narrowed eyes.

  “You got a bone to pick with me over that?” he asked.

  “No, no, don’t get me wrong. I ain’t got no bone to pick. I just got a question, and I’m hopin’ you can answer it.”

  “All right, ask. If I know the answer, I’ll answer it.”

  “Here’s what I’m wantin’ to ask you, and you’ll need to think like an Injun to be able to answer it, which is why I’m askin’ you, since I figure that since you lived with ’em once, maybe you can think like one.

  “Suppose there was someone leading a group of soldiers, say he was an officer. And suppose that officer led them soldiers into a real narrow space, between two high places. And suppose there was Injuns up on top of them high places, just a’ shootin’ down onto the soldiers.”

  “The first thing I would ask is why some officer is dumb enough to lead his men into a place like that? He would just be waiting for an ambush.”

  “Yes, well, it could be that they was some people that told him he ought not to do that, but he didn’t listen to ’em. Anyhow, here i
s my question. When the Injuns started shootin’, how come they wasn’t shootin’ at the officer?”

  “They weren’t shooting at him because there was no honor in it. See, here’s the thing about Injuns. They don’t hate their enemies. The enemies that put up a good fight, the Injuns honor and respect. They have no respect for cowards, and there is no honor in killin’ a coward.”

  “Yeah,” Caviness said. “Yeah, that’s pretty much what I was a’ thinkin’ myself.”

  “Sam, you’re talkin’ about Lieutenant Scott, ain’t you?” Havercost asked.

  “I ain’t a’ talkin’ ’bout no one in particular,” Caviness said. “And I ain’t plannin’ on doin’ it, neither.”

  Wind River Reservation

  Ska Luta Glee John listened to the elders as they discussed Yellow Hawk and the others who had left the reservation.

  “They have killed many,” Howling Wolf said. “Many more of our young men have joined Yellow Hawk, and they have killed many. I fear they will cause the soldiers to attack us.”

  “I don’t think the soldiers will attack us. We have done nothing. It is Yellow Hawk who has done the bad things,” Standing Bear said.

  “I was with Black Kettle at Sand Creek,” Howling Wolf said. “We had done nothing, but that did not stop the white soldiers from attacking our village and killing many women and children. I fear that will happen again.”

  “I think we should join Yellow Hawk,” Brave Elk said.

  “Why should we do such a thing?” Standing Bear asked.

  “If, as Howling Wolf says, the soldiers will attack us, I do not want to be here in the village with the women and children.”

  “I think the soldiers will not attack us,” Ska Luta said.

  These were the first words spoken by Ska Luta, and the others at the council looked at him in surprise and annoyance.

  “Who are you to speak at the council of the wise?” Brave Elk asked. “Are we to listen to the words of the young, now?”

  “I am young, this is true,” Ska Luta said. “But I have studied at the agency school, and I have read the newspapers of the whites. I believe they know that Yellow Hawk is not one of us.”

  “Is it the white blood in you that speaks, or is it the red?” Brave Elk asked.

  Glaring at Brave Elk, Ska Luta pulled his knife from his belt.

  “Ayiee!” There were gasps of alarm among the others as they thought Ska Luta was issuing a challenge, and they were about to witness a fight. But the gasps of alarm turned to gasps of shock and surprise when they saw what Ska Luta did next.

  Ska Luta held the knife out in front of him for a moment. Then he put the blade to his face, and pulled it across his cheek, opening up a rather deep wound, and drawing blood.

  As the blood ran down his cheek, Ska Luta glared at Brave Elk. “Tell me, Brave Elk. What color is the blood that runs from my wound?”

  Brave Elk was too shocked to respond, but Standing Bear who was the chief, spoke for them all.

  “The blood is red,” he said. “And Ska Luta has proved by his wisdom and his boldness that he is one who can speak at our council.”

  Sasha Quiet Stream, a young, unmarried woman came quickly to Ska Luta’s side and held a cloth to his wound to stop the bleeding.

  Brave Elk glared at Ska Luta and the others.

  “You would listen to a green willow but you will not listen to me,” Brave Elk said. “I look at all of you and I ask, where are the men of courage? Where are the men of honor? And the answer is, the men of courage and honor are with Yellow Hawk. Only women and children remain here.”

  With that, Brave Elk spun on his heel and walked away from the council as those who had gathered opened up a path for him to pass through.

  “Ska Luta,” Standing Bear said.

  Ska Luta felt a degree of apprehension at being directly addressed, and he looked toward the old chief.

  “You are a young man wise beyond your years,” he said. “It is good that you counsel against our young men joining with Yellow Hawk. I ask you now to join our council.”

  Again there were utterances of surprise, for never had one so young been asked to join the council of the elders.

  “I am greatly honored that you have asked,” Ska Luta said. “And I will join the council of elders.”

  The young woman who was tending to the wound on Ska Luta’s cheek smiled in pride at being the one who was tending to Ska Luta.

  “Come to the house of my grandfather,” Sasha Quiet Stream said. “There I will tend to your wound.”

  “Thank you,” Ska Luta said.

  Sasha Quite Stream led him away from the council and, as they had for Brave Elk, those who had gathered to hear the discussion of the council now parted again, making a path through which the young woman and the young man could pass.

  Like Ska Luta, Sasha Quiet Stream had neither mother nor father, and she lived in the house with Keytano, her grandfather. Keytano had fought with the Lakota in their great battle in the Time of Making Fat at the place of Greasy Grass, a place the whites called Little Big Horn. It was well known by all, that he had counseled against going to war with the whites, but it was equally well known that he had fought well, so there were none among the people at Wind River who felt no honor toward Keytano.

  “I have said that no more should there be war between the Indian and the white man, because more whites will come, and then more will come until, like the blades of grass that cover the prairie, they will be everywhere.”

  “Yellow Hawk has said that he will kill many soldiers. He has already done so,” Ska Luta said. “And now, many of our young follow him, and I fear that he will become a great leader, to be followed by many.”

  Keytano shook his head. “No. The time of the warrior leader is past. It is now time for the peacemaker. You are that peacemaker.”

  “Who, among the young, will listen to a peacemaker? They are drawn to the warrior.”

  “This is true,” Keytano agreed with a nod of his head. “But it is also true that more courage will be required of the leader who would preserve peace than is required from he who would make war. And there is great honor in following such a path. Already, the council has seen this, and you have been asked to join them. But, even before the council saw this, I saw before, in a vision.”

  “What did the vision tell you?”

  “The vision told me that your red blood will make you a great leader among our people, and that your white blood will make you a great leader among the white people. And you and Sasha Quiet Stream will be married.”

  “Grandfather!” Sasha Quiet Stream gasped. “How can you speak so? Ska Luta has made no request to take me as his wife.”

  “I have seen it in a vision,” Keytano said. “And everyone knows that what comes to you in a dream is a vision that speaks only the truth.”

  Sasha Quiet Stream had bathed Ska Luta’s face with cool water, and now she was laying healing herbs on the wound. Ska Luta reached up and took her hand in his. She stopped what she was doing and looked down at him.

  “If it is in a vision that your grandfather has seen, we cannot deny it,” Ska Luta said.

  “Ska Luta, are you asking that I become your wife?”

  “Yes,” Ska Luta said.

  “Then I must make preparations for it.”

  “And I must bring gifts to your grandfather,” Ska Luta said.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  When it was announced to the others that Ska Luta and Sasha Quiet Stream were to be married, there was a general happiness. And, because neither Ska Luta nor Sasha Quiet Stream had parents to make the arrangements for the marriage, and because Sasha Quiet Stream’s grandfather was too old to do so, many in the village took upon themselves the task of preparing everything for the marriage.

  With all preparations made, on the day of the wedding, Ska Luta arrived in his finest clothes—buckskin trousers and a fringed buckskin shirt, decorated with porcupine quills.

  Sasha Quiet Stream was wearing
a dress made of deerskin, softened and bleached white.

  Both Sasha Quiet Stream and Ska Luta got on their knees to have their hair washed with a sudsy solution. Normally, the bride’s mother would wash the groom’s hair and the groom’s mother would wash the bride’s hair, but as neither of them had a mother, a couple of the village ladies assumed that responsibility. Then, with their hair washed, and rinsed, Standing Bear conducted the ceremony.

  “Ska Luta, and Sasha Quiet Stream, you must now share the first step of this joining,” Standing Bear said.

  Ska Luta looked at Sasha Quiet Stream. “You will walk with me. Together we will share the responsibilities of the lodge, food, and children. May the Creator bless noble children for us to share. May they live long.”

  Sasha Quiet Stream replied. “Together we will share the responsibility of the home, food, and children. I promise that I shall discharge all my share of the responsibilities for the welfare of the family and the children.”

  “And now, the second step,” Standing Bear said.

  “Since you have walked with me, our wealth and prosperity will grow. May we be blessed by the Great Spirit. May we educate our children and may they live long,” Ska Luta said.

  “I will love only you, and treat all other men as my brothers. My devotion to you is pure and you are my joy. This is my commitment and pledge to you,” Sasha Quiet Stream replied.

  “And now, for the final step,” Standing Bear said.

  “As you have walked these three steps with me, our love and friendship have become inseparable and firm. We have experienced spiritual union in the eyes of the Great Spirit. Now you have become completely mine. I offer my total self to you. May our togetherness last forever,” Ska Luta said.