The Home of Great Western Fiction!
CONTENTS
About Bloodbath
Dedication
Copyright
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
More on David Robbins
Bloodbath
They were a ragtag, defeated bunch of Apaches when Taggart found them, but he turned them into the fiercest fighters the Southwest had ever seen. On a bloody raid into the wastes of Mexico, some of his men rebelled. Now Taggart has to battle for his life while trying to reform his warriors into a wolf pack capable of slaughtering anyone—especially his enemies.
To Judy, Joshua and Shane
Chapter One
The blazing sun scorched the dry earth of Sonora, Mexico.
Maria Gonzalez stared bleakly out the window of the carriage in which she rode. She was tired of the heat and dust. Most of all, she was upset because she was sweating so much.
Maria Gonzalez did not like to sweat. At the family hacienda she had servants who kept her cool every hour of every day. They bathed her when she was hot. They fanned her when she was the least bit uncomfortably warm. They brought her cool drinks when she was thirsty. The hacienda was heaven compared to the miserable carriage ride.
It bothered Maria that her father had decided to visit his brother at Janos. The family made the trip at least once a year, and it was a nightmare journey that Maria dreaded. The long hours on the dusty road, the constant jolting, the oppressive heat—all combined to make her utterly miserable. Small wonder that on these long journeys Maria missed the thousand and one little things her servants did for her throughout the day.
Maria Gonzalez never did anything for herself if she could have it done by others. She had been reared from infancy in the lap of luxury. Since she was old enough to walk, servants had waited on her every need and whim. They dressed her. They cooked her food and served it to her. They made her bed. They cleaned her room. They even saddled her horse when she wanted to go for an evening ride.
Yet here she was, many miles from the hacienda, without a single servant. On these trips she had to do everything for herself. Maria hated that. As one of the wealthiest señoritas in all of Mexico, she hated having to do menial work that was beneath her dignity. Why should she bathe herself? Why should she comb her own hair? Why should she have to fold her own clothes at night? It was an insult to her dignity.
The carriage suddenly hit a bump, throwing Maria into the air. She smoothed her dress, glared at the ribbon of road ahead, and then fixed her glare on her mother.
“Do not look at me like that, young lady,” Theresa Gonzalez said stiffly. “I am not to blame for your suffering. If you must be mad at someone, be mad at your father.”
“You let him bring me,” Maria snapped. “I have every right to be as mad at you as I am at him.”
“Why must we go through this every time we journey to Janos?” Theresa asked. “I should think that by now you would be used to this.”
“I hate going and you know it,” Maria said. “No matter how many times we make this trip I will never get used to it.”
Theresa Gonzalez sniffed. “It saddens me that I have raised a daughter who can be so ungrateful. Your father loves you dearly. I would go so far as to say he spoils you. Yet once a year, when he asks you to make this little sacrifice, you always have one of your temper tantrums.”
Maria opened her mouth to respond, but thought better of doing so. She might have said something that would have angered her mother. Then the stay at Janos would have been even worse. Her mother would have refused to speak to her. She would have been left alone with no one to talk to. Her father always forbade her to talk to the soldiers. Without her mother to talk to, she had no one.
Maria lowered her veil against the dust and stared out the window again. She had never been so depressed. She had to learn a way to prevent her father from forcing her to make these awful trips. After all, she was eighteen, a grown woman in her eyes and the eyes of many young men who came to court her.
At that exact moment, another pair of eyes were on Maria Gonzalez. Hidden behind a low bush so close to the road that he could have thrown a stone and hit the carriage was a Chiricahua Apache named Fiero. His bronzed body was covered with dirt that he had thrown over himself as camouflage. His face was pressed so close to the bush that they seemed to meld, which was exactly the impression Fiero wanted to give.
He had seen the carriage coming from a long way off. A plume of dust raised by its wheels and the hooves of the horses made the carriage easy to spot.
As Fiero watched the carriage go on by, his mind made note of several important facts. There were two men on top of the carriage—one driving and another armed with a rifle. Behind the carriage rode six men all well armed. In front of the carriage rode eight more men. And in front of them rode a tall bearded man who not only carried a rifle across his thighs, but also had three pistols strapped around his waist.
Fiero glanced again at the young woman he had caught a glimpse of. She was quite attractive for a Nakai-yes, not that Fiero had much interest in women. They were weaker than men, more emotional than men, and less skillful at war. Above all else, Fiero lived for war.
Fiero waited as motionless as a statue until the carriage and its escort were out of sight. Then he rose, and without bothering to brush himself clean, he turned and headed to the north at a trot that could eat up miles at a stretch. In his right hand he held a Winchester. On his right hip rode a big knife. His only clothing was a breechcloth. A red headband held his long black hair in place.
For half an hour Fiero ran. The hot sun beat without mercy on his broad back, but had no effect on him. His feet, covered by knee-high moccasins, slapped the hard ground in a steady cadence.
Presently Fiero came to rolling foothills. He climbed swiftly using a deer trail. When he came to an arroyo he squatted, cupped his hands to his mouth, and imitated the call of a red hawk. Moments later the strident cry was answered from deep within the arroyo.
Fiero descended the steep slope as nimbly as would a mountain sheep. At the bottom, where decades of erosion had worn a wide path, he ran fluidly, avoiding brush and boulders.
Not a Mexican alive knew that a small spring was located under a rock overhang where the arroyo merged with a hill. Here there were a few small trees, enough grass to graze a small number of horses for a week or so, and shade from the blistering heat.
As Fiero neared the spring he saw four fellow Apaches waiting for him. Or at least they looked like fellow Apaches, although in truth only three of them were.
Seated to the right of the spring was Delgadito. Formerly a warrior of repute, his standing in the Chiricahua tribe had fallen when he let his band be wiped out by savage scalp hunters. For the longest while Delgadito had schemed to regain his lost esteem. But of late, he had not given the matter much thought. He had been content to roam far and wide raiding in Sonora, in Chihuahua, and along the border between Mexico and the United States. It pleased Delgadito immensely to bring suffering to those who had brought so much suffering to his people. It gave him a good feeling inside when he made the people of Sonora pay for having hired the scalp hunters that had wiped out his band. It pleased him when he burned the wagons of white traders and tortured the traders in return for the stealing of Apache lands by the white government.
Near Delgadito sat Cuchilo Negro. His name was Spanish for Black Knife. Among the Chiricahuas his skill with a knife was legendary.
He could slit a man’s throat in the blink of an eye. He was so quick that when he stabbed, his hands seemed to become invisible. Unlike Fiero, Cuchilo Negro did not kill for the sake of killing. Like Delgadito, he killed because he considered himself at war with both the whites and the Nakai-yes and he would continue on the warpath so long as blood pumped in his veins.
Kneeling at the water’s edge was the youngest member of the band. His name was Ponce. His reason for killing was different from all the rest. Above all else Ponce wanted to be a great warrior. He aspired to become a leader of his tribe, a fighter whose fame would spread far and wide. Ponce had joined Delgadito’s band to raid, kill, and plunder.
Most of Ponce’s people were on a reservation, living in squalid poverty. It tore at the young warriors insides to see them reduced to such a low state, and he hoped that one day he would lead them in an uprising to regain their ancient lands.
The fourth man at the spring was the one who was not an Apache. No one would have known it from his appearance. His hair was long and dark, like an Apache’s. His skin had been burnt brown by the sun, like an Apache’s. He wore a breechcloth, a headband, and moccasins, like an Apache. The one trait that marked him as a white man were his lake-blue eyes. And even they had a flinty aspect seldom seen in the eyes of whites.
This man had two names. In the white world he was known as Clay Taggart, a rancher who had gone bad. The Apaches knew him as Lickoyee-shis-inday.
Few whites knew it, but the Apaches had another name for themselves. They were the Shis-Inday in their own eyes—the men of the woods. So when Delgadito had named Clay Lickoyee-shis-inday, he had forever branded Taggart the white man of the woods.
For several months, the White Apache had roamed with his red brothers, going on raids deep into Mexico and attacking travelers north of the border. On this particular day, before Fiero arrived, Taggart had been gazing thoughtfully into the spring.
Clay Taggart marveled at the reflection that stared back at him. It amazed him that he was looking at the same man who only a year ago had been a typical Arizona rancher. If pressed, Clay would have been the first to admit that in his heart and soul he felt more Apache than white.
There had been a time when such thoughts would have troubled Taggart greatly. After all, for many years, he had considered Apaches the bane of the territory. That attitude was not uncommon—most whites hated the tribe. Whites wanted to see the Chiricahuas and other Apache branches wiped off the face of the earth. For Clay to have taken up with his lifelong enemies was a step so profound that even to this day he was sometimes bothered by it, but not for long.
Clay Taggart owed the Apaches a lot. He owed Degadito for saving his life. He owed the others for siding with him against his enemies. And above all else, Clay wanted vengeance on those who had wronged him.
Who could blame him? A wealthy rancher by the name of Miles Gillett had stolen Clay’s land right out from under him. And worse, Gillett had stolen the woman whom Clay had loved.
Gillett had tried to have Clay killed. Had it not been for Delgadito’s band, Clay would have been the guest of honor at a necktie social. Delgadito had saved Clay, taken him into his wickiup, and allowed his woman to nurse Clay back to health. Clay Taggart owed Delgadito a lot, and he was a man who believed in paying his debts.
In recent months, because of the many raids Clay had led, he had become the most wanted man in the territory. A five-thousand-dollar bounty had been placed on his head, dead or alive, although it was no secret that most lawmen would have preferred the latter. Every sheriff and marshal north of the border and every law officer south of the border was on the lookout for him. Plus the U.S. Army was under standing orders to bring him in at all costs.
None of that concerned the White Apache overly much. So far he had eluded or slain all those who had been sent after him. Thanks to Delgadito and the others, his skills were so finely honed that only a true Apache could have hoped to have gotten close enough for a shot. And he was supremely confident that he could have eluded any who tried.
On this day, hearing Fiero mention the carriage and the young woman inside, the White Apache was reminded of an idea that had come to him some time ago. He stared at each of the warriors in turn and then focused on Delgadito. “I say we capture this woman and take her with us.” Delgadito did not let his secret delight show. Lickoyee-shis-inday had shown no interest in women since being betrayed by the one he had loved. It was wonderful, though, Delgadito thought, that Taggart had finally seen the truth, which had sprouted from a seed of suggestion Delgadito had sown many days ago. But he had a part to play, so he said merely, “Why?”
“This one would be the first,” White Apache said. “She and others like her are the key to our future.”
“I do not follow the path of your words.”
White Apache saw that he had everyone’s attention and he stood. He chose his next words carefully, pronouncing them as best he was able. Since being saved by the band, he had toiled long and hard to learn their tongue. His effort had made him one of a handful of whites who spoke the Apache language fluently.
“I have been thinking, my brothers, about our situation,” Clay said. “About how best we can pay the white-eyes back for the wrongs they have done us. We five have killed many or our enemies, taken much plunder, and punished those who have abused the Chiricahuas. But the five of us can only do so much. If our band were bigger, just think of how much more we could do. We would be able to go on twice as many raids, steal twice as many horses, kill twice as many of our enemies. The whites would tremble in fear.”
Fiero snorted. “The Americans already fear us. In the settlements they talk of us in whispers. “They are afraid we will spring at them from out of nowhere if they say our names too loudly.”
“What you say is true,” Taggart said, “but only to a point. The whites know there are only five of us. So while they fear us, they do not fear us as much as they would if there were ten or fifteen or even twenty of us.” He gestured at each of them. “My kind have a saying: in numbers there is strength. What we need are more warriors.”
Delgadito shifted and studied Taggart a few moments. “We know this as well as you, Lickoyee-shis-inday. We too would like to have more warriors join us. But no others are willing to leave the reservation because of what the soldiers would do to their families if they were caught.” He folded his brawny arms. “I do not see how this one woman will draw them to us.”
The White Apache squatted. “When you broke out of the reservation many moons ago, Delgadito, you had the right idea. You knew that for a band to survive, it must include women and children. Without their families, most warriors drift back to the reservation in time, no matter how opposed they are to the whites and the Nakai-yes. You were smart enough to take along the wives and children of all those who sided with you, insuring your band would stay intact and the warriors would never give up.”
“I do not think that I was so smart. All the wives and children died.” The reminder disturbed Delgadito greatly. Yes, once he had thought that he’d done the right thing, but he had changed his mind after the scalp hunters had virtually wiped out his band. War was for warriors, Fiero often said, and Delgadito had come to think the firebrand was right. Women and children had to stay on the reservation where they were safe.
Clay Taggart went on. “If we are to see this band grow, we must show the warriors on the reservation that we are strong enough to withstand the whites and the Mexicans at every turn. We must build their confidence in us. And there is no better way to do that than to have women and children of our own. Once the reservation warriors see that we have families, they will feel free to bring their own and join us.”
Fiero saw that his companions were moved by the idea, and he quickly spoke against it. “Women and children are not so easy to come by. They do not sprout from the soil like plants.”
“True,” Clay said, “but there are plenty out there for the taking—like this woman you saw. Each of us wil
l steal a wife and a child or two, and in no time we will be a true band of Apaches. Your brothers on the reservation will no longer see us as isolated warriors fighting a lost cause.”
It was Cuchillo Negro who spoke next. “Your words ring true, Lickoyee-shis-inday. But they are not practical. You were with us when Blue Cap and his men wiped out our families and friends. You saw the slaughter. How can you ask us to risk the same thing all over again?”
“Look at it this way,” Clay answered. “You are at war with the white-eyes who took your land from you and forced all of your people onto the reservation. To win your war, you must take risks.” He paused. “I happen to be at war with those who stole my land out from under me and tried to stretch my neck. And I would risk anything, do anything, to see they get what is coming to them.” He paused again. “How about all of you? How badly do you want to see the white-eyes pay?”
Clay did not wait for an answer. He knew that if he did, a few of them might elect to argue the point. When dealing with Apaches, he had learned it was better to seize the bull by the horns, as it were. Rising, he strode off down the arroyo, saying over a shoulder, “I will go to see if this woman is worth taking. Any who wants to come can.”
Rare hesitation gripped the warriors. Fiero was the first to follow in the White Apache’s steps, but not because he wanted to waste time stealing women. He simply couldn’t resist a chance to spill more blood, and there promised to be plenty spilled if Lickoyee-shis-inday tried to wrest the señorita from her protectors.
Ponce was the next to stand. In order for him to earn the reputation of a great war chief, he must never shirk a chance to go into battle. The thought of stealing women mattered little to him. Not very long ago he had lost the woman he wanted as his wife to an army scout sent to kill the band, and he had not yet recovered from her loss.
Cuchillo Negro and Delgadito stood together and walked from the spring side by side. Cuchillo Negro glanced at the former leader and let the corners of his mouth prick upward.
White Apache 5 Page 1
