"Si, many hundred. Ortiz sent us to bring you back while there was still time to get away."
"Make for the wagons. There is no place to make a stand here."
The Mexicans wheeled in behind Ransom as he charged down the gauntlet of fire. Rigundo took an arrow in the back of his right shoulder. Ransom’s horse had several arrows sticking from its neck and rump. As they broke into the sunlight, Ransom could hear a hail of gunfire coming from the caravan below.
"Ride straight for the wagons but don’t dismount. We’re going to try to take them out of here and get into the open."
As they closed the distance, Ransom wondered if he needed to change his plan. The horses pulling Dona Elaina’s carriage were down and several men were dead or wounded. To make matters worse, the Comanches attacking the caravan were mounted and many were shooting rifles.
Ortiz waved Ransom to his position. As he swung down from his mount, Ransom recognized Toby Kaufman’s body beside the carriage.
"Where is Dona Elaina?" Ransom asked.
"She is in the carriage. Paco and the boy are with her."
"Tell her that we’re going to make a run for it and these damned wagons are history."
"She will not like it."
“She won’t like a arrow sticking out of her gullet either. Pack her up. We don’t have a chance here."
Rigundo stepped down from his mount and staggered toward the supply wagon. A bullet ranged through his side and he went to his knees. Ransom rushed to help him Ortega joined and helped Rigundo to his feet. They carried Rigundo the rest of the way to the wagon.
"Where’s Patch?" Ransom asked as Tad Cole rushed to them.
"I don’t know. I ain’t seen him since the shooting started."
"Gather some mounts. We ain’t got time to look for him now."
" I can’t find Toby either, Captain."
"He’s dead over there by the carriage. Took a bullet in the head."
Tad paused and looked toward the carriage.
"Come on, soldier. You know the drill," Ransom said.
Tad nodded and smiled. "Yes, sir. I know the drill. He was a good man."
Ransom nodded. "I know that. I wish we could take him with us but we’re going to need more than luck to get out of this the way it is."
"Yes, sir. Right away." Tad made for the horses and pack mules.
A Comanche rode down on Ransom. Ransom drew his revolver and fired but the bullet glanced off the warrior’s rawhide shield. As the Indian passed he threw a spear at Ransom. The spear buried itself into Rigundo’s chest. Rigundo gasped, clutched the spear with his hands and died.
Ortega shot the Comanche in the back as he passed.
Paco Torres, Earnesto, Dona Elaina and her servants scrambled from the carriage and worked their way toward the horses and mules. One of the servant girls went down with a bullet in her chest. The other stooped to help her and took a bullet in the back. Torres bent over Dona Elaina and protected her with his own body. Ortiz brought her a horse and they helped her into the saddle.
"Time to go," Ransom yelled. "Get to those horses and mount up."
Tad and Kyle Cole gathered the pack mules and swung them around. Ransom climbed into the saddle of Rigundo’s horse.
"Where are we going?" Ortiz asked as he drew up his mount beside Ransom.
"Out of here. Ride for the open plains and make for the creek. Segundo, Ortega and I will drive ahead of you and try to bust through them."
"There are wounded men here," Ortiz said.
Ransom gave him a hard look. "If they can’t ride, they die. Tell them that. There are too many Comanches for us to try to carry the wounded."
Ortiz shook his head. "This is bad. Very bad."
"Yes, sir. But it will be worse if we stay. Look around you. There ain’t a dozen of us left."
Ortiz nodded and swept down the line urging the men to gather whatever mounts they could find.
Some men retrieved team animals, a few grabbed mules and some climbed on horses. As soon as they were mounted Ransom gathered Ortega and Segundo to him and they charged toward the open, the rest following. At such a determined charge, those Comanches that were not shot during the rush wheeled away and let them pass. As the survivors raced their horses toward the river, the Comanches closed in on the wagons and began looting.
Patch Wilkes sighed from the canyon rim as he watched the small band escape. Tanto Corrello shook his head and gestured frustration to Yellow Wolf.
"He called that right. Gott damned! By the time those Injuns get through looting and taking scalps, Black Jack will be long gone," Patch said. "Hell, that guy must have nine lives. His horse must have six arrows in it and Ransom didn’t even get a scratch."
"And the gold?" Tanto asked.
"If it ain’t in that carriage then they’ve still got it. And you can bet your ass that if that Valverde woman left the carriage, there ain’t no gold in it."
"There could be," Tanto said.
"Go and check. But I got me a feeling that it’s long gone. Shit!"
As Tanto and Yellow Wolf went for their horses, Patch squatted on his heels and watched the raiding party scalping the dead and looting the wagons. He shook his head, smiled uneasily, and spit. "Shit. Now they’ll be hell to pay. Well, old Jacky, it’s either you or me. Of that I can be damned sure."
Chapter 10
I
When they reached the creek Black Jack motioned his people up stream in the water. As they passed he soberly took count. Dona Elaina, Paco Torres, the boy Earnesto, Ortiz, Ortega, Segundo, the Cole brothers and six vaqueros were all that were left.
Ortiz swung his horse beside him. "What now?"
"I want to talk to Senora Valverde."
"She is heartsick. She greatly loved the senoritas."
Black Jack wasn’t listening. "Did you see what happened to Patch?"
"I did not notice him after the attack began. He rode into the trees to look for sign. I did not see him return."
"Sign, huh? Is that what he said?"
Ortiz nodded. "You think he is dead?"
"He better be." Ransom swung his horse around and joined Dona Elaina.
"I’m sorry to bother you but you’ve got a decision to make. You’re the only one to make it."
Although there were tears on her cheek, she straightened herself and looked straight at him. "What do you want?"
"We’ve got two choices. We can make for the Gomez ranch and you’ll probably make it safely back. The other choice is to ride up this stream for a few miles and double back. I figure we can chance it and ride right up that pass now with no interference."
"And the Comanche?"
"They are doing one of two things. Some of them are whooping it up over the raid. A few may be following us but I doubt it. My guess is that the men following us are no more Comanche than we are."
"Comancheros," she guessed.
He nodded. "That’s my thinking. You’re the one with the big investment here. If we ride back to the Gomez ranch, I’m guessing you’ll never muster another outfit in time to ransom your daughter. If we swing back and through the pass, without the wagons, we can be at the Rio in three days hard ride."
"What you wanted to do from the first."
"Yes, ma’am. What I wanted to do from the first."
"You must think I am a terrible fool," she said as she looked away from his face.
"I think we had the deck against us. I believe we would have been hit whether we had the wagons or not. I’m guessing a double cross and God help the man if I’m right."
"I must think of my daughter," she said after a moment. "But I will ask no man to go on if he would rather not."
"Fair enough. Let’s ask them." Ransom held up his hand. "We need to talk. Gather round."
The group formed a close circle in the stream.
"I figure we got two choices. Head for the Gomez place or try to swing around and come in above the raiders at the canyon. I doubt they’d expect that from us. Senora
Valverde wants to try to sneak past them but she said she wanted no man along who has had enough."
"What are our chances?" Tad Cole asked.
"I think we can beat them back to the Gomez ranch. I also think we can work past them at the canyon. Either way I figure a few of us will have to make a stand against whoever is following us to give the others some time."
"We will go with the senora," Paco Torres said. "Earnesto and I will stay with her no matter what."
Ortiz nodded. "And I. I stay with the senora."
Segundo turned to his vaqueros. "Amigos?"
They all nodded.
"Bueno, we will follow the senora."
Ransom turned to the Cole brothers. "That leaves you boys."
Kyle shrugged and looked at Tad. He smiled grimly. "I wish Toby was with us. Hell, we ain’t no shirkers. We’ll follow you, Captain."
Ransom smiled. "Good. Bravely spoken. With a bunch like this I’d take on Satan hisself. All right, then it’s settled. I want Ortiz, Torres, Earnesto and three vaqueros to head back toward the canyon with Senora Valverde. Hold up on that pine covered ridge a mile or so in front of the canyon. I’ll take Segundo, Ortega, three vaqueros and the Cole brothers. We’re going to backtrack along our trail and hit whoever is following us hard. We’ll burn them good then join you at the piney ridge. Don’t wait more than a day. If we haven’t shown by then…well, you make your own decisions."
As the groups separated, Senora Valverde closed her horse to Ransom’s. She took hold of his forearm. "Why? I know what you think of my people. Why are you going on with this when you should be returning?"
Ransom cut his eyes to the water. "Duty, I guess."
She tightened her grasp. "No, Senor Ransom. I do not believe you. You owe me nothing. Why?"
Ransom brought his eyes to hers. They glistened with emotion. "All right, let’s cut to the chase. I don’t give a damn about you or your daughter. I’m here for one reason only; to kill Rafael for what he did to my family. No one will keep me from that. I’d have gone on even if you hadn’t."
She gulped with surprise at his sudden transformation and closed her grasp even tighter. "He must have done a terrible thing."
"He brained my infant son, stripped my wife naked and skinned her alive."
Her features hardened yet tears welling in her eyes betrayed her. "I understand. Is my daughter alive?"
"If she is, I figure she’s a hell of a lot worse for the wear."
She pulled him toward her, her eyes flashing. "Then we ride together, Capitan. We will see Rafael dead together. I am not the woman you think I am. You have my oath, senor."
"Until Rafael is dead. Nothing else will matter. Not the ransom, the others or ourselves. We have a blood oath, senora, and I will kill you if you break it."
"God help us. And I you if you betray me."
Ransom smiled wickedly. Here was a woman after his own heart. A woman who could hate as much as he. A woman to fear and a woman to honor. "Fair enough."
She nodded and set her horse forward.
Tad Cole brought his horse alongside. "That must have been some conversation. She fair-the-well had you in her clutches for a moment there."
"Check your loads, boys. We’re in for a fight," Ransom said as he urged his horse downstream."
II
Yellow Wolf held up his braves and studied the trail. Patch Wilkes and Tanto Corrello rode to his side.
"How long?" Corrello asked in the Comanche language.
"A few hours, no more," Yellow Wolf answered.
Wilkes cut his eyes up the trail. "Then we are close."
"They are riding hard. I doubt we will catch them before they make the Gomez Rancho," Corrello said.
"Ask him if he thinks we can catch them," Wilkes said.
Yellow Wolf began to answer but stopped. He pointed to the horizon. "They wait for us."
Ransom, the Coles, Segundo, Ortega and the vaqueros rode slowly towards them through the mesquite in a frontal line. Carbines flashed as the men carried them upright, ready to fire.
Wilkes smiled and shook his head. "Damn, Jackie. You got balls I’ll give you that."
"We outnumber him four to one. He is crazy," Corrello said.
"Four to one in a running horse fight. I doubt that’s enough to put down Black Jack Ransom. Ask this Injun if he’s man enough for a showdown with an hombre."
Yellow Wolf’s features hardened as Corrello translated. His eyes flashed hatred toward Patch. He raised his carbine into the air and screamed the war cry.
The braves drew up their rawhide shields and assembled around him.
"We riding with them?" Corrello asked.
Wilkes shook his head. "No, let them make the fight. That’s what we’ve paid them for."
Yellow Wolf spit with contempt. He understood Wilkes’s decision. He waved his men into a charge.
Black Jack watched them break toward him. "Stay together. Ride for the center. Make them split around us. Once they pass, wheel around and give chase. Keep the pressure on."
"Shit, Captain. There must be forty of them," Tad Cole said.
"If we run, they’ll wipe us out. Stay together, keep the pressure on and most of us will live to see another day. Don’t shoot until you’re at point blank range. Otherwise your bullets will simply glance off them shields."
Ransom started his horse into a gallop. The men brought the line even. He broke into a run and his men followed.
Yellow Wolf and several braves fired their carbines as they neared the Texans.
"Hold your fire, boys. Wait till I fire. That fool’s gun is empty and now all he has is a club," Ransom yelled.
Several braves fired their arrows but Ransom’s riders were able to dodge them. At forty feet Ransom gave the order to fire. The carbines smoked and several braves in the center fell from their horses. As Ransom planned the Comanche broke to the sides, many rolling to the off sides of their ponies for protection. Ransom drew his Colts and dropped several as they swept by. His men did the same with their pistols. A dozen braves littered the ground after they passed.
"Wheel about and reload on the run," Ransom ordered.
As the riders came about Segundo hunched over in his saddle, an arrow lodged in his shoulder just below his neck. Ortega fell to the ground, a bullet hole in his chest.
Yellow Wolf swayed to keep his balance. A bullet hole gushed blood just above his groin. He signaled for his braves to regroup. As they wheeled about, Ransom’s men bore down on them raining another round of fire. Yellow Wolf shuddered as a bullet ripped into his breast. He dropped his carbine and took hold of his pony’s mane with both hands.
Ransom rode to within a few feet of Yellow Wolf and leveled his Colt. As Yellow Wolf straightened to show his courage, Ransom blew out his brains.
The raiding party broke into a retreat.
"Keep up the pressure," Ransom yelled. "Kill as many of them as you can."
The Texans bore down hard on the retreating Comanches laying down a withering fire. Riders only a few feet behind them killed several. After several hundred yards of punishment, Ransom signaled for his men to break off and regroup.
Tad Cole rode to Ransom. "Have you seen Kyle?"
Ransom shook his head. "Better see if you can find him. I saw Ortega go down. We need to check on him as well."
Segundo was sitting on the ground beside the dead Ortega holding his mount. The arrow had gone completely through his shoulder and he couldn’t raise his head because of the pain.
Ransom dismounted and knelt behind Segundo. He took hold of the arrow and broke off the tip. Without waiting he stepped to Segundo’s front and jerked out the arrow without hesitation. Segundo shuddered and let go of the reins of his mount. A vaquero rode by and retrieved the horse.
"Let’s get you on your horse. We don’t want to tarry here," Ransom said.
Segundo nodded and struggled to his feet. "Gomez is dead."
Ransom held his horse while Segundo stiffly climbed into the saddl
e. "Yeah, he was a good man. We can’t wait to put him under. Those Comanch may regroup and hit us again."
Tad Cole rode up to them leading his brother’s horse. His face was ashen.
"Kyle?" Ransom asked suspecting the answer.
"He’s dead over there in the mesquite. Took a bullet in the neck. I doubt he knew what hit him."
"You want to load him on his horse? It might be we can bury him later."
"I’d like to. I really would. But we need to get out of here. I know he would understand. I’d want him to save himself if the tables were turned."
Ransom nodded and mounted. "See if you can keep Segundo in the saddle. I want to fall back to the creek before we take some time with that wound. How many did we lose?"
"Gomez, Kyle and a couple of vaqueros. We burned the Comanches bad. I figure we must of killed or wounded at least half of them."
"When they learn how to use them guns in a running fire fight, they’ll be hell to pay. They would have been better off with their bows for this fight. We were lucky." Ransom signaled for his men to follow and swung his mount round for a retreat to the creek.
Patch Wilkes sighed as he watched Ransom lead his men away at a gallop.
"What now?" Corrello asked.
"We’ve whittled them down some. Old Yellow Wolf ain’t going to be much good. I doubt his warriors will want to keep up this fight. Our best bet is to try to follow along and put the sneak on that gold if we get a chance."
"That Ransom is a fighter and he must have the lives of a cat. He’s shot us to pieces several times and still doesn’t have a scratch."
Patch nodded with a grim look of resignation. "Yeah, and I’ve got to kill him. Hell of a note. I like old Jacky. Too bad I like gold so much better."
Chapter 11
Dona Elaina stepped from behind the bushes, adjusted her pants underneath her wool poncho and carried her neatly folded black dress and cloak to her saddle. Her vaqueros had not seen her dressed in common clothes before and stared at the change in her appearance.
"I hope the clothes fit, senora. They are the smallest I could find," Paco Torres said.
"They are fine. They will serve my purpose well, thank you," she said as she stepped to her horse. "How long should we wait for the Capitan?"
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