by Greg Dragon
Austin wiped his mouth with a napkin, “Don’t have one yet, but don’t worry, something will come to me. I’d like to address the town as soon as possible since the raiders will be here in a week. How does tomorrow night sound?”
Mayor Collins looked completely flustered and he turned to Antonia who answered for him. “Tomorrow evening should not be a problem, Captain Reynolds. Do you require everyone, or simply the men?”
Austin had finished his first plate and signaled the servant to fill it again. “Every man, woman, child, and infant that is currently residing in this town regardless of their status, rights, or abilities needs to be there. I mean everyone. Old people, criminals, even those tending the flocks. I won’t talk that long, the herds should be okay for an hour or so.”
The mayor seemed to have lost his ability to speak and just looked at Austin with a mixture of shock and resentment. Antonia continued to carry his side of the conversation. “Certainly, Captain Reynolds. Is there anything else you require in the performance of your duties?”
The ranger smiled. “Yes, is that pie I see over there?”
***
Austin rode Ginger around the perimeter of New Hope the next day. The land was flat as a table and it was difficult to determine where the wild plains ended and the town began. Perfect territory for fast horsemen, especially if they knew how to work together. Austin guessed the Red Horde did. This was going to be tough, he Austin.
After leaving the mayor’s house the previous evening, he’d spent more time in the bar listening and talking to tipsy locals. It turned out that New Hope conducted most of its trade at the annual Fall Harvest Festival which was a month away. Traders and merchants from as far as Norman Free City and Nuevo Roswell came each year to buy and sell. The festival had been a disaster the year before due to the Red Horde’s devastation of the town’s people and goods. They could recover from one bad year...but not two. The Red Horde was due in a week at the full moon.
Austin shaded his eyes and saw the flocks spread out around the town in all directions. He also saw a dark figure ahead standing motionless in the hot sun. Austin thought about pulling out his binoculars to see who it was, but decided that wasn’t necessary. He knew who was waiting for him and rode forward at a canter.
“Beautiful sunny day, wouldn’t you say, ranger?” asked Reverend Timmons.
“What the hell you doing out here? You’ll get sun stroke in that black getup.”
Timmons smiled up at Austin and followed him with his sightless eyes. “The sun feels nice on my old bones and is a gift from God.”
“Yeah, I bet it makes you as rank as an old wet dog. You ever take that thing off and bathe?” asked Austin with only half curiosity.
“When the Lord thinks I need a bath, He sends rain.”
Austin shook his head. “Good God Almighty.”
“Exactly,” said the Reverend nodding solemnly as if that answered everything. “You know they didn’t want to send for you. They don’t know what’s getting ready to happen, but I do.”
Austin shifted in his saddle and stretched his back, “What are you talking about, old man?”
“The town, the mayor, none of them. They thought...damnation, they still think these hell hounds can be reasoned with like normal people.”
Austin stared at him for a long moment. “But you don’t.”
“Nope,” said Timmons and letting go of his staff pointed at his two empty eye sockets with both index fingers and then caught the staff again neatly before it could fall.
Austin began to roll a cigarette. “So, what do you think is getting ready to happen here?”
“Death and destruction. The Lord’s furious anger and retribution, not just for these raiders, but for the evil men among us. Those wolves in sheep’s clothing are an abomination and will be exposed.”
“We’ll see,” Austin lit his cigarette, “by the way, what’s an obayol?”
Timmons chuckled. “She’s gotten to you has she? In love with her I bet.”
Austin choked and coughed. “What? You’ve lost your wits, drink water and get out of the sun, old man.”
“It’s true,” he said in earnestness. “I’ve seen it, you just don’t know it yet.”
“You don’t see shit.”
“I see more than you think,” answered Timmons seriously, “more than you maybe.”
Growing bored Austin flicked his cigarette away. “As riveting as this conversation has been there padre, I got to finish my tour of the town.” He gave Ginger a gentle kick and rode past Timmons.
Austin rode for nearly half a minute and his thoughts had turned to other matters before he heard the old man yell out from behind him. He turned his head to see the crazy old man.
“Watch your back, ranger. You have few friends here and many that would turn on you if it suited them.”
“And are you one of my friends here?” jested Austin yelling back over his shoulder.
“Hardly,” snorted the reverend, “but I’m on your side. I’ll be there when you need me...and you will need me. I’ve seen it.”
Austin stopped Ginger to turn and watch the old man make his slow painful way back towards the crossroad.
The ranger sensed he was in danger, which wasn’t surprising.
The trick was to know from where it would come.
***
The tension that night in Elder’s Saloon was palpable, but there was also a strong sense of curiosity and excitement. Most of the town had seen the ranger at some point and a few had even spoken to him. The room was filled with a subdued hum of discussion as the men passed jugs of liquor and beer around.
Mayor Collins and Antonia entered the front of the large room and seeing Austin leaning against a far wall, marched straight over to him cutting a swath through the uncertain farmers and herders.
Tel Collins was clearly nervous, but trying to hide it. “Captain Reynolds, it would be best if you dealt with the people through me. No need to frighten or confuse anyone. These are simple folk and I understand them.”
Austin looked around the room at the sturdy men, the plain and tired women with resignation in their eyes, the ruddy children and adolescents who went forward with each day only because they didn’t know how painful and dire the future would be. He looked back at Tel and Antonia in their rich cloths and refined ways, the contrast was marked.
“I suspect I understand them far better than you,” said Austin. He turned abruptly and walked towards the elevated bar. He stepped on a chair and then up onto the worn and cracked surface, his head missing the ceiling by a few inches. The room instantly became silent and Austin noticed for the first time Reverend Timmons sitting in what was certainly the nicest chair in the building in one corner with a steamy beverage of some sort on a table beside him. Timmons nodded at him in greeting and Austin almost cursed out loud.
The ranger stood for a moment letting the tension build. He fully understood that part of his power and authority derived from presentation and drama. He would need these people to fear and be in awe of him in the coming days in order to willingly go die.
“Good evening, people of New Hope,” began Austin. A number of murmured replies greeted him in return. “My name is Captain Austin Reynolds of the Texas Rangers and I am here on the behalf of the Governor of New Texas. You have asked for his help in dealing with raiders from the north and as loyal citizens of New Texas he could not ignore your plight.” Austin paused and saw that everyone was hanging on his words and even holding their collective breaths.
“I am here to help,” said the ranger with the warmest smile he could muster. The moment hung in the air and then like a wave the tension spilled out of the air and the room was filled with cheering and clapping. People smiled at him openly and warmly. Austin held his hands up and signaled for quiet. With reluctance the room became still again.
Austin turned with an open hand to an apprehensive Mayor Collins. “Your able major here is still the leader of this town and my role is limite
d to dealing with this threat. He and I will work hand in hand, but...” here Austin turned back to survey the room with sternness, “...my authority in this area will be absolute and unquestioned.” Austin laid his hand casually on the butt of his pistol for emphasis.
Now he had to get into the hard part. He knew what to expect because it was so often this way. “Contrary to what you might think, I am not here to bargain for you with these criminals. I am here to help you destroy them. I am here to help you fight.”
The roar from the crowd was instantaneous. Men jumped up and started talking and waving, children looked on uncertainly not sure what was happening. Austin stood impassive and let the worst of the reaction play out before continuing on.
Austin raised his voice over the din, “I know how you feel. You do not believe it is possible to fight because you are afraid of the consequences. That is the main part of their power. They are men just like you and bleed and die the same as you. If you do as I say, we will defeat them.”
A large man in dusty homespun stood from the left side of the room. “But, Sir, you don’t know these animals. They tortured and killed the sheriff and he was tough. Look what they did to the reverend.”
“Don’t you worry about me, Houst,” said Timmons loudly, “they can’t do anything to me the Lord doesn’t allow. We need to listen to the ranger and not those in our midst who would steal our courage. The Lords’ Word says, ‘I did not give you a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power’. Trust in the Lord...and the servant He has sent to deliver us.”
“Be that as it may,” said a loud strong voice from the rear and Austin recognized the blacksmith, “they have horses and move fast. We have no weapons to resist them with or ways to hold them off. And no disrespect, Ranger, but you’re just one man.”
“Why not treaty with them, like we’ve done before?” yelled out a voice from the rear.
Another from closer up, “We try to fight and they might kill us all. Maybe take our children, burn the town, leave nothing.”
“All of this is the reverend’s fault, he talked us into sending for the ranger in the first place,” said a scared woman’s voice.
The mayor looked at Austin pointedly and then started to speak, but Austin put his fingers in his mouth and gave out a loud clear whistle that cut through the noise instantly. The room returned to some semblance of order.
This is going to be harder than I’d imagined, thought Austin. I’m going to have to shame them into this.
The ranger shook his head and chuckled, “I’ve been doing this job for a long time. I’ve helped many a town with many a problem, same as yours. Hell worse than yours. I come in, show them how to fight and then go on my way when they don’t need me anymore.” Austin paused and surveyed the room sternly. “Of all those towns, New Hope has got to be the most pathetic of the lot.”
The crowd was stunned and a low disapproving growl began to grow. Austin jumped off the bar and walked towards the front row of seated men and women. “You let them kill your sheriff and watched them torture him to death and the only one with the guts to even say boo is an old pastor? Is there anyone in this room that doesn’t feel ashamed over that? Is there anyone who thinks back and doesn’t regret not at least trying to do something?”
“Yes,” wailed a shrill voice, “but what could we do? We’re not fighters and these men are animals, vicious. They would have killed and tortured us too!”
“Maybe,” nodded Austin, “but not likely, not if you stuck together and certainly not in the future if you do what I say. There isn’t much you can do about the past, but there is a hell of a lot you can do about the future. Do you really want your sons and daughters to be dealing with this same problem after you’re gone? Wouldn’t you rather they are strong and able to fend off men like this?”
“We would,” said another, “but what about now?”
“It starts now,” answered the ranger, “it starts with overcoming your fear. I know it’s hard, but you have to trust me. You have to be willing to do what I ask and fight. Otherwise, there is nothing I can do for you and I’ll leave you with sadness and a prayer for your crippled cowardly souls.”
“But my paw could die,” said a small boy right in front of Austin who seemed shocked he had spoken out loud.
“Indeed,” smiled Austin laying his hand on the boy’s shoulder gently. “I won’t lie, many of you could die, but many of them will die too, I promise you that.”
Eyes shifted from Austin to his rear and he felt movement. “So what it comes down to...,” said Antonia’s musical voice, “is do we fight and risk death or do we continue to try to deal with the Red Horde as we have in the past? That is our decision and one which will define the very future of our existence. If we—”
Timmons interrupted her, “Do not be afraid. This is the choice; this is the time to have faith. Do we want our descendants to live in bondage as slaves to a heathen race? Do we want them to look back in future generations on us as the pitiful cowardly ancestors who didn’t have the guts to even try?”
The room was silent and still. Men and women looked at each other. Several met their neighbors eyes and nodded ever so slightly to each other.
“So what do you say, friends?” asked Austin. “Can you fight or are you slaves already in spirit? Can you overcome your fear?”
There was no talk or vote, but Austin saw the change in the people’s look and the straightness of their backs. Some even looked pleasantly surprised, as if something new and interesting had been shown to them. Fear was still there, but not as supreme as before. They would trust him...at least for the time being.
“Okay then,” said the mayor, “it appears we’ll try it your way. So, how do we begin, what now?”
“There’s a valley three days ride south of here. It contains a lake of clear water and lush grass with defensible hills all around,” explained Austin.
“Devon’s Valley,” said the blacksmith. “We sometimes drive the herds there when the droughts get bad.”
Austin nodded. “Tomorrow morning all the woman, the sick or infirm, children under twelve, and men over fifty will take all the livestock and herds to Devon’s Valley. They will drive far to the south around Amarillo before turning back northeast so the Horde doesn’t happen to pick up their trail when they come in. They will stay there until they get word it’s safe to return.”
He saw concern and confusion on their faces, even some additional fear.
“These are horsemen we’re dealing with,” explained Austin, “we can’t defend the flocks and herds. We need to drive them away so these raiders can’t take them. Also, won’t you feel better about fighting knowing your loved ones are safe and out of harm’s way?”
Most nodded at his logic and several looked relieved. “Everyone else needs to be in front of the mayor’s house at dawn tomorrow. You need to mentally prepare yourself for the most grueling and difficult thing you’ve probably ever done.”
The major looked concerned and spoke for them all, “Are you going to teach them how to fight?”
“No,” answered Austin, “not yet. I’m going to teach you all to dig.”
***
The next morning was complete and utter chaos. Sometime in the night Austin gave up trying to sleep over the ruckus and went out on the old sheriff’s front porch to smoke a cigarette as the sun rose. So much for starting at dawn, he thought unsurprised.
Fathers said tearful farewells to wives and children. Everyone carried a bundle of some sort and the town’s few horses, mules, and donkeys were hitched to small carts or wagons filled with provisions. Austin also saw the mayor’s wife for the first time. She was carried carefully out of the mayor’s house and lifted into a small litter strapped to the top of a loaded wagon. Either the frail and thin lady was sleeping through all of the activity around her or severely ill, Austin suspected the later.
One of the town’s matriarchs, who had either been selected as the caravan’s leader or assumed the role, finally gave t
he word to set out with another final round of farewells. It took nearly twenty minutes for the long line to clear the crossroads. In the distance Austin could see young boys and girls along with their trusty dogs gathering the flocks and herds into a long dusty line headed south.
Austin finally stood up and walked slowly down the street to the mayor’s house. The men watched him and then reluctantly fell into step behind him. As he was nearing the blacksmith’s shop, Austin remembered something else they would need and took a hard right towards the thick and strong man standing there gazing at him.
Austin stuck out his hand. “We haven’t met yet, I’m Austin Reynolds.”
The man slowly stuck his own hand out and grasped Austin’s in a near crushing grip. “Edgar Rodrigo.”
“I’m going to need a few things from you,” said Austin.
“Other than digging and dying?” asked Edgar.
“Yes, I’ll need every digging tool and bucket you have. I’ll also need you to make as many pike-heads as you can in the next three days.”
“Pike-heads?” asked the smith.
“Yeah, like spear-heads except the points are smaller since the shaft of the lance is much longer,” explained Austin.
“I know what a pike is,” said the smith, “just not sure why you need them.”
“Don’t worry about that,” said the ranger as he turned back towards the mayor’s house and continued his advance with the men gamely following along behind. At the front of the house Austin saw the mayor, his giant goon, and Antonia waiting for them. Seeing the beautiful woman still here annoyed him, but he decided not to make an issue of it. Besides, she seemed to have a calming effect on the entire town.
Austin grabbed a shovel out of the hands of a slack-jawed man nearby. He walked up to the goon who held his large stick trying to look menacing. The ranger took the stick easily out of his hands and tossed it aside, thrusting the shovel into his arms without a word. The big man took it and stepped back sheepishly. The mayor looked disgusted.
