Predators and Prey

by F. M. Parker

  The men halted to peer out into the opening surrounding the pool of water where Caroline had bathed. Nathan raised his Colt and aimed it between the men.

  Nathan hissed like a cat. Both men whirled.

  He shot the man on the right because he moved most quickly. The barrel of Nathan’s gun swung the short arc and came into alignment with the second man. He squeezed the trigger. The speeding ball of lead tore into the man, shattering his throbbing heart. Caroline heard the explosions of the pistol in the woods and the crushing sound of bullets striking flesh, a sound she would never forget. The first man was flung back. He dropped his pistol and his hands rose to hold his chest. He fell half into the water. The second man crashed down beside him.

  Nathan stepped out of the woods. Gunpowder smoke still curled up from the wicked black barrel of his pistol.

  “My God, you killed them.” Caroline was stunned by the roar of the gun and the violent deaths.

  “Just what they planned to do to us,” Nathan said. “Hurry and finish dressing,” he told her.

  He stepped to the grass where the crayfish lay, and rapidly began to snap off their tails.

  “Put your wet clothes over your shoulder to free your hands,” he said, and scooped up a double handful of crayfish tails.

  Caroline, puzzled, did as directed. The Texan’s tone brooked no delay or argument.

  “Here.” He placed the crayfish tails in her hands. “Hurry out of the woods. Keep everyone from coming here. Show them the crawdads and tell them what a good meal you will have. Explain the gunshots by saying a Texan was showing you how he fired his pistol.”

  “Why not tell what happened?”

  “Nobody must see these bodies. I’ll explain later, when we have time to talk. Go now. I’ve got to get rid of these dead men.” DeBreen must be kept off-balance. He must not find out about the deaths of his two men.

  Caroline trotted through the woods and broke onto the open prairie. Mathias was walking swiftly from the camp. DeBreen and two of his men were riding toward her. She put a smile on her face and held up the double handful of crayfish tails.

  ***

  Nathan slung one of the bodies over his shoulder and hustled off with it down the stream. When he judged he was far enough away from the killing ground that no one would come to search, he dumped the corpse in a dense patch of briars. A few minutes later the second body lay with the first. He pulled the tangled briars over the two still forms and laid some brush over that. He hoped the buzzards did not find the dead men before the handcart company moved on. He returned and obliterated all sign of the men at the creek.

  Blood from the corpses had stained his shirt. He removed the garment and began to wash it in the creek. He was worried. The battle between the Texans and DeBreen’s gang had started. How many of his friends, how many Mormons, would die before the fight ended? Who would win in the end?

  31

  Caroline sat on her sleeping pallet and ate the fried crayfish tails with Sophia, Pauliina, and Ruth. She chewed slowly, savoring the new and very tasty food as she watched the Texans’ camp. Nathan had walked from the woods and begun to talk with his comrades. She thought he would soon come to explain why she should not tell Mathias and the other Mormons about the two strange trappers who had threatened her in the woods.

  “What’s happening with the boys from Texas that’s so interesting?” Sophia asked, noticing Caroline’s frequent glances across the prairie.

  “Oh, nothing,” Caroline replied. “Nathan said he wanted to talk to me. I was just looking to see if he was coming.” She felt guilty at deceiving her friends.

  “So you’re getting friendly with him,” Sophia said.

  “Don’t leave us and go off to Texas,” Ruth said. ‘There will be no Mormons or Mormon churches there.”

  “There are some things that are more important than churches,” Pauliina said.

  “What could that be?” Ruth asked with a puzzled expression on her face. “Aren’t we risking our lives and working like slaves to cross the plains and mountains for our religion?”

  “A good husband is more important,” Pauliina said in a solemn voice.

  “My religion comes before men,” Ruth said. “Doesn’t yours?” Ruth looked at Caroline and Sophia.

  “I haven’t been put into a position where I have to decide that,” Sophia said.

  Caroline did not reply. Nathan had climbed astride his horse and, leading a second mount, was riding toward the Mormon camp.

  Nathan halted the gray horse near the four young women. His eyes fastened upon Caroline. He removed his hat with a sweep of his hand.

  “Would you like to go for a ride?” he asked. “I’ve borrowed Les’s horse. He’s gentle.”

  Caroline looked up at Nathan. His eyes were flat and noncommittal. He was on guard. Did he think she would hurt his feelings again?

  “All right, I’ll try it,” Caroline said.

  Saddle leather creaked as he stepped down. “I’ll help you to mount.”

  Caroline walked to the horse, a tall black animal, and lifted her foot to the stirrup. She grabbed the saddle horn and pulled. Nathan’s strong hand caught her beneath the arms and lifted. She swung up on the back of the horse.

  “Do you know how to ride?” Nathan asked as he placed the reins in her hand.

  “I’ve ridden a plow horse.”

  “Well, this is different. Hold both reins together in your hand. If you want to go right, then swing the reins right so that they touch the left side of the horse’s neck. To go left, just do the opposite. All the rules are simple. For now, just do as I do.”

  He stepped astride his gray and touched its ribs with his spurs. The black horse moved along by Nathan’s side without Caroline having to do anything.

  They rode west from the encampment over the sundrenched prairie. Caroline ranged her sight across the grass covered, slightly rolling land, which stretched away to a hazy infinity beneath an opal sky. A puff of wind flowed past, riffling the grass and whispering the reeds together. She felt lighthearted. She could get to like this America. Then she recalled the deaths of the two men in the woods by Brush Creek.

  “Why didn’t you want me to tell about those two men who threatened me and you?”

  “I think DeBreen plans to stop you from reaching Salt Lake City and that those two are the ones who killed your guards. Why else would they be skulking about? You and the other Mormons might be safer if DeBreen doesn’t find out right away that his men are dead.”

  “If you are right about DeBreen, then he probably killed Anton too. He came to our camp with the mule Anton was riding when he left.”

  “Who’s Anton?”

  “He was one of the missionaries. He went back along the trail to find Ellen, who had started to return to St. Joe. Anton just simply disappeared. And Ellen was never seen again.

  “You’re missing a woman?”

  “Yes.”

  “We found one south of the Platte River.”

  “Where is she now?”

  “She died when we tried to help her. She became so frightened of us that she scared herself to death.”

  Caroline saw the sadness in Nathan’s face. “Did she say anything to you?”

  “She kept screaming that she would never go back. We didn’t know what place she didn’t want to go back to. Then she just simply died. We buried her there on the prairie.”

  “I’m sorry for Ellen. I’ll tell the others.”

  They rode in silence for a time, the horses walking side by side. The wind increased and it was warm. The human figures and vehicles at the camp shrank, seemingly sinking into the prairie. Then even those miniature forms vanished, and for the first time Caroline was completely out of sight of all other humans. Except for the strange man from some faraway place called Texas.

  She sensed the vast emptiness of the mighty prairie. There was nothing before her but the green land, the grayish-blue heavens, and the one merging into the other at some distant boundary that o
nly could be guessed at.

  Finally Caroline spoke to the silent Nathan, who seemed intent on riding on forever. “Maybe we should turn back. We’ve come a very long way.” She swept her sight to the rear.

  Nathan leaned on his pommel and looked at her for a moment before he spoke. “Are you afraid?” he questioned.

  Caroline shifted her eyes to Nathan’s. She wondered if he was asking if she was afraid of him or the prairie.

  “No, I’m not afraid.” She meant it. She owed a great debt to this man. “I wish to apologize for yesterday. I was rude for no reason. Will you forgive me? And accept my thanks for helping me today in the woods?”

  Nathan looked into Caroline’s eyes, wide and luminous as moons as she awaited his answer. His heart raced as it had the first time he’d seen her. He wanted to have her as his wife, to ride to Texas with him and live in the stone house Jason and he had built. He reflected upon the Mormon religion and had a greater respect for their concept of Celestial Marriage, one that would endure on earth and in heaven for all eternity. He would want that kind of marriage. But there was the problem how to convince Caroline of the earthly marriage.

  “I accept your apology, though none is needed. And those two men deserved to be killed.”

  “Had you been watching me before they came?”

  “Yes,” Nathan replied simply. He held his eyes steady. This was no time to act like a bashful boy.

  “I’m glad you were there.”

  “So am I.” Let her wonder whether he meant to be there to help her or only to see her in the nude. He smiled at the recollection of the sight of her young, womanly body.

  They reined their mounts around and headed back in the direction of the Mormon camp.

  “Tell me about your Texas. What kind of country is it?”

  “The land is big—bigger than three or four other states. It has many hundreds of miles of ocean coastline. I want to see that someday. There are broad plains, hills, and rivers. Most important, it has millions of acres of grazing land.”

  “Where do you live? On the hills or the plains?”

  “In the hills by a river.”

  “What do you do for a living?”

  “I have a ranch, more than two hundred thousand acres on the upper Red River, a fork of the river called the Salt Fork. That’s in northwest Texas.”

  “How can one so young own so much land? Did you inherit it?”

  “I inherited nothing but life. I laid claim to the land by marking off the boundary of what I wanted. I picked land with grass and water. I have some cattle now. One day I’ll have a grand ranch.”

  “A person can own land merely by marking it off and saying it is his?”

  “No, that’s not all. A formal, written claim must be made in the state capital for the few hundred acres each man is allowed. That lets you own land free and clear. Then you can graze all the surrounding public land that you can hold against the Indians and white men who try to take it away from you.” Nathan smiled ruefully. “Even if you have to kill them.”

  “Can a woman claim land in Texas?”

  “I know of no law against it.”

  Caroline thoughtfully considered Nathan’s answer. “Have you killed to hold your land?”

  Nathan saw a ghost of something in the back of Caroline’s eyes, something he could not decipher, but it was something sad.

  “Yes. There are times when a man must kill to keep what is his. Or simply to go on living.”

  “And a woman too.”

  “I’m sure that is right, though we don’t think of a woman killing somebody.”

  Caroline tossed her head to rid herself of the terrible remembrance of the deaths aboard the African Blac kbird. “Tell me more about your Texas,” she said.

  ***

  Sam talked quietly with Ruth in the shade of a tree at the edge of the woods. Jake and Ash sat nearby, with Pauliina and Sophia. Ash was actually holding Sophia’s hand. Sam wished he had the courage to take Ruth’s hand.

  “DeBreen ambushed my friends and stole all of our furs,” Sam said, concluding his tale. “Now I’ve found him. I’ll take my revenge when it’s possible and not hurt innocent people.”

  “You must have been wounded in that fight,” Ruth said, recalling how ill Sam had appeared that first day she had seen him.

  “I thought I would surely die from that rifle shot,” Sam said. “It went clear through me.” He touched his stomach over the spot. He grinned. “Then an Indian cut me with his knife and started me on the road to healing.”

  “There must be a good story there,” Ruth said. “Tell it to me.” She leaned toward the young trapper. Being near him was very pleasant.

  Sam began, talking slowly and describing the event in much detail. He wanted the interlude to last a very long time.

  ***

  Sophia’s knee pressed against Ash’s as they sat in the shade facing each other. She had made the contact and held it, and Ash knew it was deliberate. He had been too slow in making the first move. Well, girl, I ’ ll not be s low again.

  “How many wild horses have you caught?” Sophia asked, continuing on with the conversation.

  “More than five hundred. I break them to the saddle and to a man on their back. Then I sell them. The new owner must train them for whatever special use he wants.”

  “Are there many wild horses?”

  “Thousands of them. But I catch only the best, and they bring a good price. I’ve saved most of the money. When I get back to Texas, I’m going to start a horse-breeding ranch. I’ll select the very best brood mares and studs, and I’ll sure keep the tough spirit of the wild ones.”

  Mathias left the Mormon camp and walked to the group of people sitting at the edge of the woods. He looked down in a disapproving manner at Sophia, who was sitting and touching the Texan.

  Ash thought the missionary was going to reprimand Sophia. He primed himself to tell the Mormon to go to hell.

  Mathias’s expression changed and he knelt near Ash. “I’d like to ask a favor of you,” he said. “One of our men left early this morning to find a mule that had strayed. He’s been gone for hours. Far too long. Would you ride and look for him?”

  “Sure,” Ash said, glad not to argue with the Mormon. “I see Nathan coming. He’s also a good tracker. I’ll ask him to go with me.”

  Mathias looked in the same direction as Ash. His face became strained at the sight of Caroline with Nathan.

  Ash caught the Mormon’s expression. The missionary was very possessive of his female converts. That ’ s too bad, fellow, Ash thought, for we Texans plan to take some of them from you.

  “That’s generous of you to help,” Mathias said.

  “Which way did the man and the mule go?”

  “Northeast,” Mathias replied, pointing. He climbed erect and walked off as Caroline and Nathan drew closer. He did not look at Caroline again.

  32

  Nathan and Ash rode at a trot. The tracks of a mule and a man walking upon its sign were plain on the sandy ground. The broken stems of grass made the trail visible for several yards ahead.

  “The mule’s path is as straight as a string,” Ash said. “You’d think he’d stop to graze some. He must’ve had some special place to go or was being rode hard.”

  “I think he had a rider,” Nathan said.

  “Yeah. That’d best explain his behavior.”

  “I’ll be damned,” Nathan said, halting his horse and staring down at the grassy ground.

  The tracks of two shod horses came in from the east and turned to follow the sign of the mule and the man.

  “Nathan, the mule did have a rider. Now here’s a man bringing an extra horse. It’s all a trick to get a Mormon off by himself.”

  “So he can be killed without anyone knowing what happened.”

  “We’ll be too late to help him, but let’s ride,” Nathan said. He kicked the gray into a full run on the path of broken grass.

  Two miles later Nathan called out to As
h and pointed at the sky ahead. A buzzard was circling, working up the wind on the scent of something dead. As the riders drove in under the buzzard, the carrion eater began to pump its wide black wings, scooping air, pressing it down as it climbed back into the sky.

  The horsemen stopped. A brown mule and a blond man of forty or so lay motionless on the ground at their feet. The blood was black and congealed around a wound in the man’s chest.

  “The shooting is hours old,” Ash said. “It was a trap. The poor bastard never had a chance. The killers rode off on the two horses.”

  “DeBreen means to kill all the Mormon men. And he’s killed the mule to slow them down so he’ll have plenty of time.”

  “Why does he want the men dead?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll bet it has something to do with the women. It’s obvious he doesn’t want them to find out what he’s doing.”

  “Then he must have some plan for them, or else he wouldn’t care.”

  Nathan speculated on what should be done next. “We must warn Jake and Les not to be caught out alone. And Sam, too, but he’ll be on guard. DeBreen will see all of us as a threat to his plan.”

  “The Mormons must be warned too,” Ash said.

  “I don’t believe we should do that. Let this man’s death be the warning. That’ll scare the Mormons enough to keep them in camp. We’ll not tell about the shod horses and the two men. We don’t want DeBreen to attack in force before we figure a way to beat him.”

  “We’ve got to whittle down the number of DeBreen’s men.”

  “Right.”

  “You reduced the number by two this morning.”

  “I thought that would’ve stopped the killing of the Mormons. I was wrong. DeBreen has sent other men after them.”

  “We can put the dead man across my horse’s back,” Ash said. “I’ll ride double with you.”

  ***

  The funeral was held under a baking heaven in the late afternoon. Nathan stood on the outside of the congregation of Mormons and listened to Rowley’s eulogy for the dead. The order was given to fill the grave. Several women gathered around the widow to comfort her.

  Sam spoke to Nathan. “If I’d shot DeBreen yesterday, maybe this man would still be alive.”