"I reckon I ought to of taken first watch," said Van. "I been layin' there awake listenin' for two-legged coyotes."
"Perhaps you are not hearing them because they are not there," said Rosa.
"With Indians," said Gil, "it works almost exactly the opposite. Think. We've had no real Indian trouble since crossing the Pecos, before we reached El Paso. Those were Comanches. Here, we have not only the Chiricahua Apaches, but the Papago as well, and there may be others I'm not aware of. The truth is, we're overdue for a visit from one of these tribes, and if we don't hear from them tonight, it'll increase the possibility of 'em showing up tomorrow night, or the night after."
"I purely hate sittin' around waitin' for somebody to come after my hair," Van said. "I'd as soon they come or and be done with it."
"When they come," Rosa asked, "will it be for the cows, the horses, or us? The poor man whose bones are back there in the valley, we know he had no cows, and he might not have had a horse either."
"I doubt Indians will be concerned with the long-horns," Gil said, "unless they're in cahoots with Comancheros from below the border. If we have anything they want, it'll be the horses or our scalps, I reckon."
"I am thankful we have Mariposa and Estanzio with the horses," Rosa said. "Now we must only be concerned with them getting the longhorns or us."
"They may stampede the horses and the longhorns first," said Gil, "and take advantage of the confusion to pick off some of us. Remember, the horse remuda we leave alone. Mariposa and Estanzio will do what can be done, and if they can't hold them, then neither could the rest of us, even if we could get there in time. Besides, it's our job to try and hold the longhorns, even if the horses stampede. We may not even be able to do that if they hit both herds at once. If we can't hold the herd, it'll be impossible to head them in the dark. Don't endanger yourself or your horse."
The moon set in the small hours of the morning, and the stars attempted to follow its example, as they receded into the purple vastness of the heavens. The attack came totally without warning, riders hitting the horse remuda and the longhorn herd simultaneously. Indians, screeching like demons, rode with a left leg across the pony's back, a left arm around its neck. There simply were no targets at which to shoot.
Rosa's horse began to pitch, and then lit out running. She thought Van was behind her, and as she turned to look, a powerful arm swept her out of the saddle. There was the mingled smells of buckskin, sweat, wood smoke, and stale grease. She fought to free herself, and her struggle brought a mighty blow to the side of her head. Van had drawn his Colt, but so concerned was he with Rosa's danger, he wasn't aware of his own. A heavy war club crashed against the back of his head, and he would have been flung headlong out of the saddle had a brawny arm not caught him. The Indian riders continued to ride with the running herd for another hundred yards. Then they swung away into the night, taking their silent captives with them.
* * *
The first two riders Gil encountered in the darkness were Mariposa and Estanzio. Mariposa had taken a blow to the head, and both had taken severe blows to their pride. This time they hadn't accounted for any of their attackers, and they'd lost a big chunk of the horse remuda.
"We ride," said Estanzio grimly. "We kill. Find horse."
"Soon as it's light enough to see," said Gil.
Slowly the outfit came together. Nobody had been seriously hurt, but Van and Rosa were gone. Had they been taken prisoner, or did they lie wounded or dead somewhere in the darkness? Gil found one prospect just as unacceptable as the other, and the time that remained until first light seemed forever. In the first gray light of dawn, they found Van's hat and Colt, and a confusion of different trails. The stampede had run south.
"We'll follow the stampede for a while," said Gil. "These coyotes split up after the attack, but I'm gambling they'll come together somewhere to the south."
Following the unshod horses wasn't difficult, and it was Estanzio and Mariposa who came up with the grim news.
"Two horse," said Estanzio, pointing to the tracks. "Each carry double."'
None of the attackers had been unhorsed, and with two Indian mounts carrying double, there was but one obvious conclusion.
"The bastards took Van and Rosa," said Gil. "Let's ride!"
* * *
When Van came to his senses, he had no trouble deciding where he was. When he moved his head, it brushed against the rough hide of a tepee. He at first thought a war dance was going on outside, and then decided the drum was in his head. His hands were bound behind him, and his shoulders ached from the strain. He opened his eyes, and in the gloom he could see a very disheveled Rosa.
"Why'n hell didn't you stay at Bandera Ranch?" he growled.
"What does it matter?" she replied. "Are you blaming the attack on me?"
"No," he responded grudgingly, "but without you here, I might be able to escape."
"Because I am a woman you are quick to weigh me and find me wanting," she said. "As I rode to catch up to the trail drive, I was captured by Indians, and I took care of myself."
"How did you escape?"
"I killed one and outrode the others," she said.
"This time you won't," he said.
"What do you think they will do with us?"
"Right now," said Van, "I reckon they're rounding up as many horses as they can. We're their insurance against attack. They don't doubt the rest of the outfit will come looking for us, but they don't dare try anything in daylight. They'll be forced to wait for darkness."
"So we are safe until then?"
"No," said Van. "I look for them to have some fun with us. They could strip us, stake us out, and do some things best left unsaid. Or they could just beat us half to death. Not just for their pleasure, of course. They can't be sure we're not part of a foolish outfit that will come galloping to save us in broad daylight. Don't you reckon Gil would come stormin' in here, his Colt blazing, if he saw some Indian about to have his way with you?"
"I do not know," she said in a small voice.
"Well, I know," said Van. "When it comes to a woman, a man's a fool."
"Does that include you? You fought a dozen outlaws for Dorinda."
"Yeah," he said, "that includes me."
* * *
As Gil had expected, the various trails began to converge a dozen miles south of the spring. The Apaches had a camp somewhere, and they were bound for it. While the attackers had separated, once they came together, they made no effort to conceal their trail. Gil didn't see that as a good sign. Was this band so large that they had no fear of whatever retribution the Texans might attempt? Once the individual trails had begun corning together, Mariposa and Estanzio had counted more than twenty riders. There might be twice or three times that number in the camp, Gil thought grimly. The Texans, fewer in number, would be forced to wait for darkness before attempting any rescue. In the interval, Gil didn't like to think about what might be done to Van and Rosa. Within several miles after leaving camp, the riders had begun seeing groups of grazing longhorns, but few horses.
"The varmints is after the bosses, ' said Long John.
That appeared to be the case, it would buy some time for Van and Rosa, Gil hoped. Eventually they met a bunch of more than a hundred longhorns, plodding along, bawling dismally.
"They be returning to water," said Ramon.
It was true. Following a stampede, the longhorns sought the nearest water, whether it be ahead or behind. In this case, it would be the spring where their camp had been. The brutes would practically gather themselves. All the outfit had to do was free Van and Rosa, recover the horses, and somehow escape with their lives. Gil's silence and the hard line of his jaw set the mood, and the outfit rode on.
* * *
Despite their bound hands and cramped positions, Van and Rosa slept. When they awoke, it was to the sound of voices and the arrival of many horses. Even in the gloom of the tepee, they could tell it was still daylight, though they had no idea how late in the d
ay it might be.
"They've brought in some of our horses," said Van.
Rosa said nothing. Once the entire band was together, she suspected they'd begin devising plans for their captives. They didn't have long to wait. The tepee flap was drawn back and one of the men entered. Rosa had seen the face of only the one who had abducted her, and even now she wasn't sure this was the same man. Not that it mattered. He dragged her roughly to her feet.
"Esposa," he said. "Esposa."
Rosa ground her teeth in despair. Didn't an Indian ever look at a woman with anything else on his mind? He shoved her ahead of him, out of the tepee.
"Van," she shouted, "if there is a chance to escape, go!"
Van swallowed hard. He had an idea what was about to happen to Rosa, and fought his bonds. The girl had sand, and deserved better than this. But he was bound tight and could only sit there and listen in dread.
''Esposa, " said the Apache, shoving Rosa into another tepee. This one, she suspected, was his own. Many other Indians waited in anticipation, as though aware of what Rosa's captor had in mind. At least, Rosa thought, for what it was worth, he wasn't going to ravish her in view of the entire village.
"Desnudo," said the Indian once he had closed the tepee flap. "Esposa."
"I am not your wife," shouted Rosa in angry Spanish, "and I do not wish to be naked!"
The Indian laughed. He caught the waistband of her trousers, popped off the buttons, and she stood naked from the waist down. Next came her shirt, but he had to free her bound hands to get her arms out of the sleeves. Rosa's hands and arms were numb, but her feet and legs worked. She drove her right knee into his crotch, and he doubled up with a grunt. Since he was blocking the te-pee entrance, Rosa threw herself against the side of the thing. A pole snapped, and she flung herself against the other side. By now her furious captor had recovered and was trying mightily to get his hands on her. But Rosa had become a kicking, screeching, clawing demon. Again she threw herself into the side of the tepee, and a second pole gave way. She dropped to the ground as the burly Indian came after her, and he charged into the wall of the tepee before he could stop himself. Sturdy as the tepee was, it had been weakened, and it began to collapse. The wooden pegs securing the bottom edges to the ground gave way, and Rosa roiled out. For a blessed moment she thought her captor was trapped in the collapsed tepee, but he had managed to grab one of her ankles, and was escaping as she had.
The spectacle had excited the rest of the Indians, and they seemed to have all gathered around in a circle, laughing and shouting. Once the two of them were in the open, Rosa used her free foot and kicked her tormentor in the face. That loosed his grip for a second, and she broke free, only to have him catch her again. She clawed his face, yanked out a handful of his shoulder-length hair, and bit him. When he smashed a huge fist beneath her left ear, everything went black before her eyes. When she again came to her senses, she was facedown. The big Indian sat astraddle her, binding her hands behind her back. Finished, he got up, took her by the ankles and slung her over his shoulder. His comrades were whooping, and she could only conclude that he had been disgraced. She had no idea where she was being taken or what her fate would be. Finally, he leaned forward and she literally fell from his shoulder. She came down flat on her back on the hard ground, and found herself before the tepee from which she had been taken. Her captor, vicious now, drew the flap aside and literally flung her inside.
"Loco gato monies," snarled the Indian as he drew the flap closed.
Despite her ordeal and her many hurts, Rosa laughed. Van, aware that the girl was stark naked, averted his eyes. There was a long, painful silence. Irritated, Rosa was the first to speak.
"Why will you not look at me? I know you have seen at least one naked woman in your life."
Embarrassed, Van was thankful for the poor light in the tepee. Finally he found his voice.
"'What did he… do to you?"
"Broke some of my bones, I think. He wanted me for a wife, but I believe I changed his mind. What will they do with me now?"
"You'll get a dose of whatever they have planned for me," said Van. "Do you know what time of day it is?"
"Near sundown," she said. "Why?"
"Once they've had supper, they'll let us entertain them, I reckon. You might want to reconsider that big war whoop's proposal and become a wife."
"I'd sooner be dead," Rosa snapped.
"That's a damn good possibility," said Van. "Pray for a miracle."
"Gil and the rest of the outfit will do something to help us."
"I don't know what they can do," said Van, "until dark. That'll be too late for us."
* * *
A shallow arroyo on the west side of the Indian camp ran within a hundred yards of the nearest tepees. There were places where the arroyo was barely deep enough to hide a man on his hands and knees, and it was from here that Mariposa, Estanzio. and Gil observed activities in the Apache camp. While they were aware of the commotion that had resulted from Rosa's resistance, they couldn't see from their position, and were unaware of her fight. However, they could see the evening meal being prepared, and from the positions some of the Apaches were taking, Gil thought he knew what they had in mind for Van and Rosa.
"Let's go." he said. "We have to get back to the rest of our outfit. I think I know what they aim to do, and we'll only get one chance to help Van and Rosa."
They crept away on hands and knees until sagebrush and greasewood grew high enough along the arroyo to conceal them on their feet. Reaching the other riders, Gil tried to tell them what he felt was about to happen.
"I believe they're going to force Van and Rosa to run the gauntlet. Some of you may not be familiar with it, and here's how it's done. The Apaches line up in two rows, facing one another. The captives, stripped naked, are forced to run between these two rows of Indians. The Indians are armed with knives, lances, and clubs."
"We purely can't let it happen," said Long John. "Our folks won't never git't' the end o' that gauntlet alive."
"That's how I see it," said Gil, "and there's damn little we can do to help them. We just counted twenty-one tepees, and that's all we could see from our position, but there's more. I'd say there's at least sixty fighting men in this bunch, maybe more. That means we're outnumbered at least five to one. While that's a hell of a risk, it's the only edge we have. There are so many of them, they'll be overconfident and won't be expecting us to try anything in daylight. 1 can think of only one way Van and Rosa might be saved. This arroyo is shallow, especially where it's closest to the Apache camp. We had to take to hands and knees to avoid being seen. A man hidden in that arroyo with a rifle could likely pick off an Indian once they've gathered for the gauntlet run."
"We draws the coyotes away from Van an' Rosa, an' brings 'em down on us," said Long John.
"I'm afraid that's what it amounts to," said Gil. "We kill enough of them, and we become more important than Van and Rosa. Now here's the problem, pards. Once we've emptied our rifles, we don't dare try to reload and stand our ground. They'll overrun us by force of numbers. So that means we grab our hats and run for the horses. Retreat. Because this arroyo is so shallow, we'll be forced to go afoot. Once our damage has been done, we'll be more than half a mile from our horses. Now this bunch of Apaches will not only know our position, they'll have horses, and they'll outnumber us. Van is my brother, and Rosa… well, I can't risk the lives of all of you when those I'm hopin' to save may die anyway. Now, I aim to be in that ditch with my rifle, to do whatever I can, but I won't fault any man who chooses not to take the risk."
"By God," said Long John, "them's our people. I'll be alongside ye."
"And I," said Bo.
The rest of them stood fast in their loyalty, backing him to a man. For a moment Gil couldn't speak; he couldn't get the words around the big lump in his throat. When he did speak, he offered no thanks, for they would have been insulted if he had.
"One shot for each of us," he said. "Be sure your Colts
and your extra cylinder are fully loaded. If they crowd us too close, before we're able to reach the horses, we'll use our Colts. But don't stop to fight. Shoot on the run. Our only chance is to reach our horses and outride the bastards."
* * *
"When they take us from here," said Rosa, "we must escape."
"They'll be lookin' for that," said Van. "One wrong move, and they'll run you through with a lance or knife. They'll not let down their guard until we're spread-eagled stark naked and staked down."
"Is that the only… Is there nothing else… they might do with us?"
"Nothin' you'll like any better," said Van. "We might run the gauntlet."
"The gauntlet?"
"They line up in two rows, facing," said Van, "every Indian armed with a knife or club. We will be made to run between the rows, and they'll beat and cut us as we go. When we're beaten to the ground, if we're still alive, we'll be staked out for other torture. I don't know how they feel about women, but they especially enjoy building a fire in a man's crotch."
"Madre de Dios!" cried Rosa. "How can men be so heartless and cruel?"
"I" reckon the Spanish made a bad impression on them," said Van, "and this is their idea of revenge."
There was the tantalizing smell of roasting meat, but no food was brought to the captives, nor were they given water. They waited. Suddenly the tepee flap was drawn aside and two Indians entered. Van and Rosa could see the sun was down. Supper was done, and it was time. One of the Apaches got Van to his feet, loosed his belt, and ripped his trousers open. His shirt got similar treatment, and when the Indian yanked down his drawers, he stood there naked as Rosa. Van's bound hands were freed, so the shirt could be ripped off. Van fell when the Indian tried to force him through the tepee's open flap. The trousers and drawers wouldn't come off over his boots, so the Apache ripped off the boots and flung away the ruined trousers. Van was again forced to his feet, while the second Indian dragged Rosa to a standing position.
California Trail Page 16
