“Well, you better get ready to face the Apaches,” Puma said. “Here they come again! This may be the break we’ve been looking for. We can beat them in the open, and it’ll give us a chance to reduce their numbers.”
Running with Puma to get into the fray, Kile called out, “Here comes the survey crew to help. Let’s thin the sneaky bastards out a little.” He had a six-shooter in each hand and dropped an Apache with every shot.
Puma waded into them with his ax and knife slashing. He was cutting a swath as he went. Sergeants Hurly and Grimes, with the troop, were backing them up. The fighting was furious and bloody. The Apaches, seeing that they were losing, retreated. Lieutenant Allen wanted to go into the brush after them. Puma grabbed him and stopped him.
“No,” he yelled, “that’s what they want. They can beat us in that brush. That’s their natural environment. We’re not ready for that kind of fighting yet. Get back, get under cover, and attend to our wounded. They’ll be picking us off from those rocks. We won that skirmish, but this fight is not over by a long shot. I don’t think they’ll try that again, but when night comes, they’ll sneak in and try to catch us off guard.”
Lieutenant Allen directed the sergeants, “You men get all the rest you can. There’ll be no sleeping tonight.”
Adams, the man from the settlers’ camp, came to Puma and said, “We lost one of the surveyors in that scrap. But he took two with him. We’d like to bury him.”
“All right. Sorry to hear about your loss,” Puma said. “Stay under cover while you bury him. We don’t want to lose anyone else.”
Sergeant Hurly said, “It’ll be cold rations tonight, men, and I wouldn’t smoke if I were you. Those savages can steal the boots right off your feet, so stay alert.”
A few hours later, the quiet was broken by the sound of anguish, indicating a trooper had been slain. The first sound was quickly followed by another. The Apaches were doing what they do best, using stealth to reduce the number of the men defending the survey team. The Apaches had no concern about the survey—they wanted the horses and guns. Puma wondered how many warriors the Apaches were willing to lose to get what they wanted. The Apache knew how many defenders they faced, and the troop could only guess at how many attackers they had to deal with.
Puma faced a difficult decision. Should he go among them in the darkness and reduce their number? Then, hopefully, the Apaches would realize the price they were paying was too high, and call off the attack. Lightning was faster than any of the Indian ponies, and Puma could get through the attackers and go for help, but to whom would he go? His father and Joe Martin were looking for the seven gunmen. No telling where they might be. Puma decided to stay with his command and try to outlast the Apaches. He checked on the men. Two had been killed during the attack. He found Sergeant Hurly with the dead and wounded.
He instructed the sergeant, “Station the men in pairs so it will be more difficult for the Apaches to sneak up on them. Get Sergeant Grimes, remove anything that might reflect light, and each of you bring four of your best men and come with me.”
The sergeants returned with their men, and Puma said, “All right, men, we are going to take the fight to them. We’ll move forward in a line, watch for anything that looks different, unusual, or moves in a way it shouldn’t. If you see something move that shouldn’t be moving, alert the men on each side of you, then lay perfectly still. When the object moves again, kill it.
“The most important thing to remember in this kind of fighting is, that the first man to move is the first man to die. Arm yourselves with bayonets, side arms, and knives. Do not use your guns other than to save your life or the life of the man next to you. Silence is our best weapon. Now, get down on your bellies and follow me.”
With Puma in the lead and Kile at his side, they moved forward into the darkened brush like a deadly blade. A trooper touched Puma and pointed to his left at a cluster of bushes. Each trooper signaled to the man next to him. They all lay completely still and watched the bushes for what seemed a long time. Five of the bushes in the cluster moved. The troopers jumped into the brush and attacked with their bayonets and, in an instant, five Apaches lay dead, some still clutching the brush they were using as camouflage.
“Now, let’s move to the other side of the camp and do the same thing,” Puma said.
Three more times they repeated the same method, and each time the results were similar. Three troopers were wounded severely enough to require treatment. After the third assault, the men were in high spirits—they knew they could meet the enemy on their own terms and win. They retired to the camp for food and rest.
“Good work, men,” Puma said. “It’ll be dawn in a couple of hours. If the Apaches are going to launch an assault, it’ll come just before sunup. We’d better get ready.”
Every man watched to see when the light would begin to build, foretelling the coming day and perhaps announcing the last sunrise they would ever see. Just as the glow increased, Puma saw a pine branch moving in a way that it should not be moving. He knew it was not an Apache, and it was not a soldier—so what could it be? Then he realized it must be the Arapaho scout trying to attract his attention. He crawled forward to check it out. If he were wrong, he could be lured into a deadly trap.
The pine branch moved in a different manner indicating to Puma that whoever was waving the signal had become aware that his movements had been seen. As Puma got closer, he breathed a sigh of relief that his hunch was right. The pine branch was being held by Little Fox. He motioned for Little Fox to enter the camp. The troopers were nervous when they saw Puma returning with an Indian. Then they saw the yellow band and recognized the Indian as one of the scouts they had been told would be working for the army.
Little Fox said, “Two Moons will lead an attack on the rear guard of the Apaches just before sunrise. Each of the Arapaho warriors will be wearing a yellow headband to identify them.”
Puma turned to his men. “All right, men, help has arrived. The Arapaho will be attacking the Apaches from the rear. We will hit them at the same time with a frontal assault. If the Indian is wearing a yellow headband, don’t shoot him—he’s on our side. Get ready, and when you hear the music, start the dance. We’re going to send these sneaky scoundrels home with their tails tucked between their legs.”
Lieutenant Allen lead the charge. Sergeants Hurly and Grimes were right behind him with their troops. These men were proud to be soldiers, and they were eager to fight. A moment before sunrise, they heard a commotion among the trees.
Lieutenant Allen raised his saber and called out, “Let’s go, men!”
They charged into the brush. The startled Apaches scattered. In a matter of minutes, it was a rout. The Apaches ran in all directions. No doubt they would regroup somewhere, but they wouldn’t be back. That part of the survey problem had been solved. Lieutenant Allen and Sergeant Grimes led a detail to take the wounded men to the base hospital in Santa Fe. There they would make a report to Colonel Hamilton for Captain McBain, the commanding officer the troopers referred to with pride, as Puma Son of Mountain Lion. Puma donned his cavalry officer’s uniform and was again recognizable to his men as Captain McBain. As Sergeant Hurly walked up, Sergeant Grimes moved his head indicating Captain McBain, and said; “Now that’s what I call a commanding officer.”
Hurly smiled and replied, “I thought you might take a liking to him once you got to know him.”
Chapter 29
The Women
Puma and Kile secured the camp and made sure that the survey crew had everything they needed. When Lieutenant Allen returned, Puma and Kile left. They wanted to see how their fathers were doing with the gunmen. They figured the best place to start looking for them was at the ranch where the women were waiting.
Carlos saw Puma and Kile coming and rode out to meet them. Puma knew long before Carlos reached them that something was wrong.
Carlos, in an excited voice, said, “Señor, the women were taken prisoner while the vaqueros and I wer
e away. Señors McBain and Martin were also away. The gunmen learned that the rancho was unprotected, so they came and took the women. No one knows where they’ve taken them.
Kile said, “I think I know why they’ve taken them. They’ll hold them until the governor allows them to file on the land of their choosing.”
Puma responded, “They sure don’t know our fathers very well. If they harm any of the women, our fathers will kill them to the last man.”
“They’ll have to hurry, if they’re going to beat me to it,” Kile exclaimed.
“Carlos, which way did they go?” Puma asked.
“The last time I saw them, they were riding toward the settler’s camp.”
“Let’s go,” Kile called over his shoulder as he rode away, his horse in a full run. Puma, on Lightning, was right behind him, but not for long. Lightning closed the distance quickly. Puma slowed her, just enough to keep pace. While still at a full gallop, Kile yelled, “That’s the fastest damn horse I’ve ever seen.”
“Yes, and she can go the distance if she has to. It was one of the luckiest days in my life when Pat gave me this horse. I’ve often wondered why he would give an Indian kid a horse like this.”
“Oh, I know why he did,” Kile said. “He owes his life to your father, and he was just trying to settle some of the debt.”
Puma and Kile slowed their pace as they drew near the settler’s camp. They wanted to size up the situation before the gunmen knew they were there. As soon as they got the camp in sight, they knew the gunmen weren’t there. The settlers were moving about, doing their chores with no sign of anything unusual.
As Puma and Kile rode into the camp, the people gathered around explaining in excited voices that the gunmen had been there with the women but had taken them across the river where they said they would hold them until the governor signed a bill allowing them to settle on the land of their choice.
“Don’t they know that won’t work? The governor will simply say he signed under duress and change it all back, as soon as the gunmen release their hostages,” Puma said.
One of the men in the camp remarked, “The leader of that bunch is not the brightest candle in the candelabra. That’s what makes him dangerous. He’s fast with his gun. He’s killed two men in a gunfight since we’ve been with him and his gang. We were afraid to confront them.”
“Why did you join him?” Puma asked.
“We believed he was telling the truth,” the settler answered. “He seemed all right when we signed up and paid him money. He said he could show us good land in the Rio Grande Valley that we could have just for filing a claim on it. It sounded good. I guess we wanted to believe him. We became aware of what kind of men we were following when they killed those two Mexican families, simply because they wouldn’t leave their homes and turn their land over to him.”
Another man stepped forward and said, “I’m worried about the women. The Adams family are friends of ours, and I think Krugg will make good on his threat to kill them if the governor doesn’t do as he demands.”
“We’ll get them back, and you’ll get your land just as soon as the survey crew completes their survey, so you’ll know what land is available,” Puma said. “I wish we had the marshal with us. I’m not sure what my authority is in dealing with civilians.”
Patting his guns, Kile said, “Well, I know what my authority is. If they harm any of the women, especially Carmen, I’ll put an end to that Krugg’s career as a gunman. We have no idea where the marshal is, and we’ve got to find where they’re holding the women. Did any of you see which way they went?”
“Yeah, they crossed the river and were riding into that canyon country,” one of the settlers replied.
Puma said, “We should be able to trail them. With that many riding together, they’re bound to leave a lot of tracks.”
Puma and Kile rode quickly to the river.
Puma said, “We’ll pick up their trail on the other side. It’s kinda shallow here—I’m sure this is where they crossed.”
They picked up the kidnappers’ tracks on the other side of the river with no trouble, and then followed the tracks west into the mountains.
Kile remarked, “This is wild country. I’ve been here only a few times, but from what I’ve seen, you could hide an army in these canyons, and have another army looking for it, and it would still be difficult to find.”
“Yeah,” Puma said, “we’ve got to find them before it gets dark. I don’t like the idea of the girls spending the night under the control of that riffraff.”
Sunlight reflected off the sandstone walls of the canyon and shadows lengthened in the valley.
“It’ll get dark early in this canyon,” Puma said. “It’ll be hard to follow their tracks but will be easier to find their camp. The light of their campfire will reflect off these canyon walls, and we’ll be able to locate their camp long before we get to it.”
Kile said, “They’re sure to post guards. We would be sitting ducks for men with rifles hiding up on the walls of this canyon.”
“I can tell by their tracks that they’re moving fast. I don’t think we have anything to worry about yet, but we’d better keep a sharp lookout anyway.”
The gang ahead had followed the dry, sandy streambed, leaving a trail that was easy to follow. After continuing upstream for about an hour, the bottom of the canyon was in shadows.
“They’re slowing down,” Kile noticed. “I think they’re looking for a spot to make camp.”
Puma agreed. “They’ll be looking for a place with water and grass. When they find it, they’ll send two men back to act as sentries. Let’s continue, but move slowly. We’ll keep under the cover of these brushes along the sides of the wash.”
A rock rolled down the side of the canyon. Kile whispered, “Something dislodged that rock.”
Puma nodded. “Let’s tether the horses in this side canyon. There’s enough water for them to drink, and grass for them to graze until we can get back. We’ll proceed on foot from here.”
Kile said, “We’ve got to get by those sentries undetected. If the men ahead hear gunshots, the women will be in danger.”
“I agree,” Puma said. “I’d like to let the women know that we’re here.”
“That’s going to be a difficult,” Kile said.
“I’ve got a pocket mirror the army issues to its officers," Puma remembered. "We use mirrors to send Morse code when we get separated. I showed it to Cathleen the last time I saw her. She’ll recognize it, if I flash a light to her.”
“How are you going to do that?” Kile asked.
“We’ve got to get close enough to their campfire to flash the reflected light of the campfire to the women without the kidnapers knowing we’re here,” Puma said. “But first, we’ve got to get by those sentries without being seen, and we’ve got to find them before we can get by them. You watch that side, and I’ll watch this side. When either of us sees something, we’ll let the other know.”
They continued slowly, taking care not to make noise. Puma was in the lead. The valley was getting darker. Puma stopped and signaled for Kile to stop, pointing to a pile of boulders on the wall of the canyon. Kile stopped and remained silent. He looked at the spot indicated by Puma and saw a shadow move. He nodded his head. They moved forward, watching the other side of the canyon. They heard the movement of sand sliding down the face of the cliff and waited. They saw the second sentry hiding under a bush.
Puma whispered, “Cover me while I go through, and then I’ll cover you.”
Without waiting for a reply, Puma moved forward. Kile was amazed at Puma’s skill at moving without making a sound—he moved as silently as a breeze. After a few seconds, Kile lost sight of him. Kile waited. Then from between the cover of two boulders, he saw movement that was concealed from either of the sentries. He continued waiting. There! He saw it again! Kile knew he lacked Puma’s skill and craftiness, so to prevent making sounds, he walked in the soft sand of the stream. There was no way he coul
d prevent leaving tracks, but he doubted the tracks would be noticed. They would be mixed with everyone else’s tracks. It took him a while to reach the spot where Puma was waiting. He didn’t see him until Puma grasped his arm. The touch was so unexpected that involuntarily he jerked away.
Puma whispered, “Shhh.”
Silently, they continued up the stream, and after passing a bend in the canyon, they saw the light of a campfire reflected off the steep, narrow canyon walls. Almost immediately, they saw shadows of men around the fire. The women were nowhere to be seen. Puma and Kile moved closer. They had to find where the women were being held. They heard a child crying; Mrs. Adams and her two children were among the hostages. Looking carefully where the sound of crying came from, they saw the women seated against the wall of the canyon with their hands and feet tied. The women were talking among themselves and trying to sooth the children.
A course male voice with a drunken slur called out, “If you don’t shut those damn kids up, we’ll shut them up for you!”
One of the women pleaded, “They’re tired and hungry. Don’t you have something for them to eat?”
“They’ve had beef jerky and black coffee, just like everyone else. What more could they want, unless they want some of this rot-gut whiskey. I’ll bring some of it over. It might do you women some good, too. We’re all going to have some fun pretty soon. Maybe this whiskey will loosen you up a bit.”
A female voice replied, “My husband will find you sooner or later, and when he does, he’ll loosen you up more than a bit.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard about that husband of yours. When we meet, we’re going to see if he’s as fast as they say he is. I’ll bet I can stir him up by making him watch, while you and I have some fun.”
As this exchange was going on, Kile and Puma moved closer to the fire. Puma kept the fire to his right. Soon he was in a position where the darkness was complete. He then removed the mirror from his pocket and manipulated it to focus the reflected light of the campfire at Cathleen. At first, she didn’t seem to notice. Puma knew she wasn’t expecting a signal, and the light was faint. He continued reflecting the firelight into her face. In a matter of minutes, Cathleen noticed that something unusual was happening. She looked directly at the light. Puma continued flashing it into her face. Her face grew somber for an instant, and then she smiled faintly and nodded three times. He gave her three more quick flashes, and then put the mirror back in his pocket. He and Kile watched the women to see their reaction to knowing that they were no longer alone.
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