Man in the Saddle

by Matt Chisholm

  They talked on this way for maybe a half-hour, getting nowhere, Pagley watching the two Indians, Spur watching them and old Two Bulls and Jane keeping an eye on the path below and the one above. Still Eagle Son had not gotten around to admitting that Sarah Grimes was in the village.

  Pagley called to Spur: “Stick your gun in this heathen’s face?”

  Spur gave him a quick look but he didn’t hesitate. His hand slapped down on the butt of his gun and the weapon was presented cocked at Eagle Son’s head.

  Both Kiowas jumped in alarm and drew their breath in sharply.

  Pagley signed: “Call for your people to bring the girl here, or you both die. We shall kill you and scalp you and you shall wander dead forever without gaining paradise.”

  The girl called: “There are men close above and below.”

  Pagley stood up and reached for his own pistol. He went toward Eagle Son, gesturing for him to call out. The Kiowa at once shouted shrilly, leapt to his feet and dived to one side as Spur fired. Before Spur could cock for a second shot, Eagle Son had his knife in his hand and was on the Delaware. Pagley sidestepped calmly and hit him over the head with the barrel of his gun.

  Jane shouted: “He warned them. They’re going to attack.”

  Several things happened at once. Spur heaved on the rope and tripped Two Bulls. Spur ran forward and quickly lashed his ankles together. Pagley leveled his gun at Running Wolf who had had the sense not to stir a finger. Jane lifted her rifle and fired once at the upper path.

  Pagley kicked Eagle Son to his feet, snarling: “You ain’t hurt, you pagan son-of-a-bitch. Get up and holler out.”

  His eyes glazed over, the sub-chief staggered to his feet. He didn’t understand Pagley’s words, but he got the message. Pagley’s gun was looking at him right between the eyes. He shouted hoarsely in gutturals. Pagley called out to Jane: “You get anything of what he said?”

  “Not all, but he mentioned the girl.”

  Pagley took the chief by the arm and whirled him around, snatching his knife from his belt as he went. The Delaware pushed him in the direction of Running Wolf and Eagle Son squatted by him, muttering savagely, no doubt calling him a coward for not making his try. Pagley walked around to the rear of the warrior and took his knife, too.

  “Now,” he said, “we wait till the girl comes.”

  Stones rattled from above, but no arrows came and no shots. They settled down to wait.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Spur was the first to see the girl.

  Suddenly she was there at the top of the path, pushed forward by brown hands.

  So far, he said to himself, so good. Now we have to get out of here. And there’ll be a hundred men up there waiting for us with fresh horses.

  He stood up, walked over to Pagley and gave him the rope that held Two Bulls. Eagle Son was talking to the old chief in their own language but Two Bulls didn’t have anything to say. Shame lay too heavy on him for words. Spur called out to Sarah: “All right, Sarah. Come on over here. You’re safe now.”

  She stood still for a moment, hesitating, but when Jane called to her, she came, walking slowly as if in a dream. Spur went to meet her and put an arm around her shoulder.

  “We’ll get you out of here, Sarah. Your ma’s safe and she’s waiting for you.” The girl said nothing, but put her eyes on Eagle Son and kept them there.

  “He was the one who had her,” Jane said.

  “You mean—?” Spur began.

  “No, I don’t. She was slave to his wives. I don’t think she’s been touched.”

  “Thank God for that. Try talking to her, honey. We have to think of a way to get out of here.”

  She looked at him and asked simply: “Will we?”

  “You bet your life. There’s too much to live for now to die.”

  He handed the girl to Jane, who slipped an arm around her shoulders and led her to a rock where they sat side by side, Jane talking persuasively.

  Eagle Son was making signs saying that he thought it time now that he was returned to his people.

  Pagley said: “Don’t make me laugh.”

  “Tie the three of them together,” Spur said. “These two don’t want to die like the old man. Maybe they’ll stop him jumping.”

  They tied the three of them together. The Indians growled and glared like captured animals. Pagley talked to Eagle Son again with his hands: “Tell them on the upper path to go away. We shall go up that way. If anybody lifts a hand against us, you die.”

  The Kiowa glowered for a moment, then decided. Lifting his voice, he howled his wishes to the men above. Spur went forward with his rifle in his hands and watched the upper path. Feathered heads came into sight; painted faces were turned in his direction. One man shook his rifle in rage, then they turned slowly and began to climb.

  Spur called back: “They’re on the move.”

  He walked slowly back to them.

  “You lead the way,” Pagley said, “an’ I’ll bring up the rear with these three beauties.”

  “We’ll have to lead a horse a-piece - nobody can handle more than one animal on this path.” He fetched the horses from under the cliff wall and handed the reins to the owners. He wound half the split rein over his left arm. He looked at Jane and the Grimes girl. Jane nodded slightly as if to tell him that she was all right. The Grimes girl looked at him dumbly and he felt sorry for her. He said: “Stay close,” and led the dun to the foot of the path, craning his head back to watch the Indians above. They retreated slowly and reluctantly. He did not doubt that they would wait at the top taking advantage of all the cover they could find.

  He changed his mind about carrying the rifle, thinking it an encumbrance on the difficult climb, and slipped it away in the boot on his saddle. He reckoned they would have been wiser to have held Two Bulls to ransom at the top of the cliff. Although Pagley would not have been able to negotiate from an impregnable position and that counted for a lot. But Spur didn’t see how they were going to get their captives onto the bench above and then ride off safely. There had to be more shooting and more men would have to die.

  It was very hot, climbing and pressing back against the rock that threw the heat of the sun back at you. In a moment, he was running with sweat. He badly missed his hat. He hoped to God that the two girls could stand up to this. He mounted another twenty feet before he allowed himself a look back to check on Jane. A bend in the cliff barred his view of her, but he could see Sarah Grimes. The girl climbed steadily with a wooden face. Far below he could see the women and children of the tribe watching, shading their eyes against the glare of the sun with their hands. There seemed to be not a man in sight.

  Another twenty feet. Breath coming hard. All the punishment he had received from the Indians telling on him. Muscles and bones aching. His head started to swim. He lifted his eyes and was able to see no Indians above. A small voice in his head warned him there might be an armed warrior behind the next rock. He drew his revolver and found the butt painfully hot to touch.

  From behind he heard a shout from Pagley. He stopped and the dun nudged him with his muzzle.

  Pagley shouted: “They’re right up my butt down here.” There was a pause. “I’m goin’ to give ’em a shot. Keep your eyes skinned above.”

  Spur’s tired mind raced. If firing started at close range on this precarious path, it could end in disaster. But there was no chance for further talk with the Indians. The three captives were out of sight of Pagley and he could not tell them to shout warnings to the other Kiowas. Spur seemed to fight with the problem for hours.

  The shot boomed out, echoing from the cliff, cutting his confused thoughts off.

  Spur jerked his head up.

  Several feathered heads popped into view not far above him. He lifted his gun, but, fearing to draw fire onto the girls behind him, he held his own fire.

  A warrior stepped into full view on a rock, bowstring pulled back. Spur shouted, pointing backward, warning that if the man shot, it would mean deat
h for his chief.

  A full minute passed, while Spur clung dizzily to the wall of rock and sweated. Then slowly the man relaxed the bowstring. He called down some threat and jumped back out of view. Spur tugged on the dun’s line and led the way on up again. His ears were sharp for any trouble below and his eyes never strayed from the rocks above. After five minutes’ panting ascent, he reached the rock on which the warrior had stood and there was not an Indian in sight. The way was easier going now and glancing behind he saw Jane. She climbed grimly, pushing Sarah ahead of her when the girl slowed. Spur waited, watched the three prisoners come into view and then Pagley leading his bay. It was not possible to see beyond him and check how close the Indians were, so he pushed on, lifting his leaden feet, grasping the cliff with his left hand that held the dun’s line. He thanked God for the animal’s tractability, for it followed him as obediently as a dog as if knowing that any bad behavior on its part would send it and its owner plunging to their deaths.

  Five more minutes and near exhaustion, he saw the rim-rock just ahead of him. He climbed a little further to get his breath and called back: “This is it. We’re nearly there. I’ll go on alone. Stay put.”

  Pagley yelled: “Don’t be a damn fool. They want us separated.”

  Spur looked around. Just ahead of him was space enough to maneuver as the path widened in its final stretch to the rimrock. As he reached this place and halted, Jane and the Grimes girl came up with him.

  “They’ll be up there waiting for us,” Jane said.

  “Sure. But we’ll fix ’em.”

  The three captives filed up with Pagley behind them. Spur looked beyond him, but did not sight any Indians immediately below, though he saw men climbing some thirty feet beyond. He had to move quickly.

  “I’ll take these three,” he told Pagley.

  “Will you hell?” the Delaware declared.

  Spur said: “Watch behind?”

  Pagley protested violently, but Spur took the rope from him and led the captives on up the narrow trail. Eagle Son was starting to get uppity and hung back, shouting at him angrily, but Spur stuck the revolver in his face and he quietened down. He shoved the sub-chief and signed for him to go ahead. The man stopped and refused.

  Above and out of sight, a man was calling in a high-pitched voice. Eagle Son answered, or started to, and Spur tapped him on the head with the gun-barrel. The Indian made haste to go ahead and dragged the two other Indians with him. They almost dragged Spur on the end of the rope; they were eager to get this over with.

  As soon as their heads were over the rimrock and before Spur could see what was going on up there on the bench, he heard the cry that went up. He jumped up the last few feet and heaved himself up onto level ground.

  The sight that met his eyes appalled him.

  Sitting their horses in a great half-circle around the head of the path were at least fifty warriors, knee to knee.

  For a moment, both he and the horsemen were still. But suddenly every warrior there moved, lifting their weapons and shouting. Horses fidgeted and tried to run, the iron hands held them down. Eagle Son tried running toward them, but Spur moved quickly and tripped him. Even as he hit ground, Spur had turned and pushed the muzzle of his gun into Two Bulls’ neck. He shouted for the Kiowas to stay back. They did not understand his words, but they got his meaning all right.

  Pagley came panting onto the level, telling Jane to keep an eye on their back-trail as he came. He gasped when he saw the Indians, recovered himself and walked out in front of the prisoners.

  A Kiowa wearing buffalo-horns trotted his horse forward a few yards and halted, raising his hand and shouting angrily at the Delaware. Pagley got talking with his hands, telling them what would happen if they didn’t clear out of the way. The man turned and shouted to the line of warriors and they raised a great shout. Then they sat their uneasy horses and eyed Spur and Pagley, their appetites for scalps whetted.

  “Brother,” Pagley told Spur, “we’re going to have to shoot our way out of here.”

  “We wouldn’t get ten yards. Tell ’em we’re taking Two Bulls and these other two a few miles along with us. If they behave themselves, we’ll let them go.”

  Pagley didn’t have much hope, but he tried. His hands talked to buffalo-horns. Sounds of rage came from the warriors. Buffalo-horns replied that the whiteman and his Indian slave were liars and cheats and the Kiowa did not trust them. Either the prisoners were released now or the Kiowa would attack.

  The Delaware said: “They mean it, Spur. They kill us if we release these three. They kill us if we don’t.”

  Spur felt sick in the stomach when he thought of the two girls back in Kiowa hands again.

  “Jane,” he called, “come on up here. Bring Sarah with you.”

  As the two girls came into view, there was a prolonged murmur among the warriors.

  Spur said: “Jane, take my gun.” She came forward and he pushed the revolver into her hand. “Now, I’m going to shoot that fellow out front there. We need another horse and we need a couple of minutes to get clear. We take the initiative. The Kiowas’ll raise hell when I shoot and that pony’s coming towards us. Pagley, you catch it up.”

  “Can’t be done.”

  “You’ll do it.”

  He dropped the rope that held the prisoners and reached back for his rifle on the dun’s saddle. As soon as he touched it, the clamor arose. Several Indians jumped their horses forward. Spur moved as fast as he could. Working the lever, he slammed the butt of his rifle into his shoulder and fired.

  The heavy lead from the Henry, at such close range, lifted the buffalo man over the rump of the pony and dumped him on the ground.

  The whole line of warriors surged toward them. The little pinto pony bounded forward. Spur fired into the thick of the Indians and knocked a horse over. Jane lifted his pistol and fired two quick shots. Pagley fired once and leapt forward and caught the trailing single line of the Indian pony as it swerved to avoid him.

  Eagle Son cried out and tried to crawl clear, but Two Bulls was trying to get away in the opposite direction and Running Wolf was caught helplessly in between them.

  “Mount,” Spur bawled.

  Jane almost lifted Sarah onto her horse. Spur was in the saddle and firing. Pagley fought the fighting pinto, vaulted onto its quilted saddle and kicked it near to Jane, who grasped the free bay of Pagley’s and swung onto its back.

  Pagley swiped the barrel of his gun across the rump of the pony Sarah rode and as it bounded forward, rode alongside yelling and firing. Jane and Spur were not half a jump behind, both firing.

  The din was indescribable as guns went off, shrill cries rent the air and the dust rose in blinding billows. The four horses drove straight for the center of the half-circle. Already the Indians were wavering under the heavy fire. As soon as they saw the riders coming down on them, those in the way swung their horses aside. Riders collided and the four of them darted through the gap, the girls riding close between Spur and Pagley.

  A war-club struck the dun on the shoulder and staggered him and a gun seemed to explode near Spur’s right ear and then suddenly and miraculously the open grassland of the bench was before them. As soon as they had covered fifty yards Spur brought the dun to a rearing whinnying halt and Pagley followed suit. Already some half-dozen of the Kiowas were stretching their ponies out in pursuit. They were well in range of Spur’s Henry and he emptied the magazine at them. They broke at once, swerving out on either side. One came within range of Pagley’s revolver and he dropped him with two shots.

  Both men turned their horses again and raced after the girls.

  Wild whoops came from behind and glancing back Spur saw that the men on foot were streaming up from below and all the horsemen were starting in pursuit. Spur didn’t hold out much hope. The Indian ponies had full bellies and were no doubt fresh. Three of these animals were tired and they hadn’t eaten well in days. They might keep a lead for an hour, but after that the Indians would have it their
own way.

  Jane was looking back at him over her shoulder and he waved a hand to reassure her.

  It took them fifteen minutes of hard riding to cross the bench and the Indians behind had not come within rifle shot. Spur had loaded the Henry as he rode and told Pagley to go ahead with the girls while he delayed the enemy a while. Pagley didn’t like it, but there was no time for protest, so he herded the girls into the timber and went on. Spur flung himself from his horse, took cover behind a low ridge and spent five minutes discouraging advance with a few well-placed shots. The Kiowas scattered out on either hand under his fire and several of them entered the timber to north and south of him, keeping well out of the range of the Henry. Time to go. Spur mounted and spurred the dun after the others.

  The trees were close here and the riding was difficult. He prayed that the Indians had no time to circle and come between himself and his party. He followed their sign out of timber onto a small meadow and down a steep grade to a swift deep stream. Pagley had gone down a hundred yards and crossed on some rocks. Spur dismounted and followed, leading the dun. He rode now through a jumble of rocks and brush and in ten minutes caught up with them. Jane was so relieved to see him that he reckoned this was all worth it,

  Pagley snarled: “You took your time.”

  They rode on. The worry in Spur’s mind now was that the Kiowas, knowing the country so much better than he did, would find some way of getting ahead and laying an ambush. He had forgotten that Jane had been here before. When they came to another stream and dismounted to ford it, the girl said: “If we go upstream from here, we come to rock.”

  Pagley and Spur quickly considered the possibilities. The sides of the waterway were precipitous, the stream took abrupt twists and turns. There might be a chance of getting around the first corner before the Indians came in sight.

  “Yeah,” Pagley said. “Maybe we can do it.”

  “Go ahead, Jane,” Spur said and the girl jumped her horse into the swiftly flowing water and rode it against the stream. Sarah cast Spur a scared look, so he leaned over and slapped her animal’s rump. It skittered, tried to turn and Spur urged the dun into it. It nearly went down under the drive of the heavier animal, staggered and stumbled down into the water. Jane was calling to Sarah to come on and hurry. Spur and Pagley turned and looked back the way they had come. There wasn’t an Indian in sight. They jumped their horses into the stream and urged them after the girls.