Four hundred and fifty Cheyenne warriors quietly waited in a draw on the other side of the ridge. The war chief, Elk Heart, listened to his scout's report. The scout felt that he had been seen but he did not believe that the blue shirt knew of the main band waiting in the hills. Elk Heart pondered on the report then made his decision. Probably the scout did not know the existence of his men. The wagons would come and they would strike on the morrow. If not, they would find them and make other plans. His men were not to follow the blue shirt. They knew where he was and where he would probably be. That was enough for the moment.
***
Collier's report to Roberts that evening was not what Roberts wanted to hear. Collier felt that there were hostiles about but he had no clear evidence of large numbers. Roberts knew that Collier was seldom wrong. Roberts decided to go on to Sand Point. He ordered one of his corporals to be on guard duty with each shift. He turned his attention to seeing that Collier was fed. A plate of beans with a pitiful amount of pork fat thrown in greeted Collier for his evening meal. As he ate, he noticed the Baker camp on the opposite side of the circled wagons. He did not see the woman but was aware of her presence.
John Neill joined them at the camp fire. He seemed eager to make conversation.
"What do you know about those two?" Collier asked pointing to the Baker camp.
"Storekeeper from Missouri. Wants to open a store in Santa Fe. Keeps to himself. Doesn't like anyone talking to his wife."
"Yeah, I could tell. What do you know about her?" Collier asked.
"Seems nice enough. I really don't know. Baker keeps her close to him. Doesn't tolerate much contact."
Roberts remembered the confrontation between Baker and Collier. "What's it to you?".
Collier placed his plate on the ground. "Just curious."
"About them or about her? Listen, boy, married women are nothing but trouble, no matter how attractive they might be. It's women like that one that'll really get you in trouble."
Collier smiled and kicked the dirt with the heel of his boot. "Don't worry, Mother. I don't need more than one guy wanting to slit my throat at a time. Holling is enough."
Roberts eyes narrowed. "Mother, huh? Well, smart guy, I'll remember that when you're in the guard house."
Collier rose to his feet. "You're right, Chunk. It really wasn't fair of me to call you, Mother." He grinned and started walking away. "Grandma fits you better."
Where are you going now?"
"To check the pickets, and pay my respects to Mrs. Baker."
Roberts looked at Neill and shook his head. "Can you believe this guy? I think he thrives on it."
Collier walked up to the Baker camp as though he had been invited with a broad smile on his face. "Good evening, Mrs. Baker. I hope things went well for you today."
Baker came to his feet, his fists clenched, his knees locked. "What do you want?"
Collier looked the woman in the eyes. "I just wanted to pay my respects to the lady and see if everything had gone well today."
"That's my affair. Not yours."
He kept his attention aimed at Nell. "I was wondering if you were alright, ma'am."
Nell smiled. "I'm fine, Mr. Collier. Things went very well today, thank you."
"That's good, ma'am. If any problem develops, feel free to let me know. I'll be only too glad to help."
"Thank you, sir. You are most gracious."
Collier turned to Baker. His eyes narrowed. "Any problem at all, ma'am. Any problem at all."
Baker was silent. He would wait until Collier was gone. Then he would show her. He would show her so this sort of thing never happened again.
"I'll see you again, Mrs. Baker. Good evening." He tipped his hat and walked on into the darkness. He chuckled as he thought of Baker's anger. As he checked his horse, he thought of her. He knew that his attraction to the woman wasn't smart but she seemed too fine a woman to be treated like property. He shrugged and turned toward camp.
Three men were silhouetted between him and the light of camp. He recognized them as Holling, Bates and Crandall.
"Collier, it's time you and me finished things." Holling said as a Bowie knife gleamed in his right hand."
CHAPTER VI
Crandall drifted to the right away from Holling while Bates stepped to the left. Holling, in the center, came a step toward Collier. His knife flashed in his hand. "I figure it's time somebody whittles you down to size."
"With three of you trying, I don't see it as too big a problem," Collier said as he backed away from them. His foot struck something on the ground. The distinctive clink of the chain link in the center against the wood told him that someone had dropped a single tree from a team harness. He picked up the single tree and held it in both hands.
Holling stopped. He didn't like the idea of the single tree in Collier's hands. He was hoping for a knife fight, not a free-for-all brawl that was more Collier's style of fighting. He was planning on cutting up Collier a little but the single tree insured that everyone would probably get hurt.
"If you're going to whittle, get to it,." Collier said.
Holling hesitated as he tried to figure a way past the single tree. Crandall rushed at Collier from the side and met a single tree across his forehead. Holling plunged the knife at Collier's back. Collier caught Holling's arm on the back swing and the knife went flying. Bates rushed before Collier could recover and they went to the ground with Bates on top. Bates drew back his fist and Collier landed blow to his ribs with the single tree. He rolled off Collier gasping for breath. Collier came to his feet and gave him a blow to the back of the neck. Bates collasped to the ground unconscious.
Holling felt for his knife in the darkness. "Damn you! You have the devil's own luck!"
Collier threw down the single tree, took hold of Holling's shirt and gave him a crashing blow to the face with his fist. Blood flew from Holling's mouth and nose as he fell back into the ground. As he started back to his feet, Collier stuck again splitting a cut above Holling's left eye. Holling's face was covered with blood as he lay in the dirt.
John Neill and the Bakers rushed in. Nell gasped as she recognized Collier standing over the three unconscious soldiers. By the time Roberts arrived, Holling was climbing to his feet.
"What the hell! Corporal Holling, do you have an explanation?" Roberts shouted.
"We....We stumbled in the dark coming up from the river, Sergeant."
"Good God! Holling! How stupid do you think I am? Any fool could come up with a better story than that!"
Holling sat in the dirt, a thoroughly defeated man.
Roberts turned to Collier.
"You need to do something about those clumsy troopers of yours, Sergeant," Collier smiled.
"That cuts it!" Roberts roared. " Before this is over, I'll see all four of you in the guard house!"
"I saw Collier standing over these men when we arrived. I believe that he assaulted these three in the dark," Baker said.
"You saying you saw the fight?" Roberts snapped.
"Well.....no.....I was saying....."
"I'll tell you what! You take care of your business, Baker, and I'll take care of army business!
What do ya think?"
Baker stepped away as soldiers arrived and gathered what was left of Bates and Crandall.
"Consider yourself under arrest," Roberts said to Holling. "And you, Collier.....come with me!"
Collier and Roberts walked back to camp, leaving Neill and the Bakers alone.
Baker turned to Neill. "Well, isn't this a damned fine mess? We get an escort to keep the Injuns from killing us and watch them try to kill each other."
Neill looked into the darkness and shook his head. "We have to remember the kind of men that we are dealing with. These are fighting men with violent ways."
Baker turned toward his wagon. "Make excuses for them, Neill. I intend to complain to their superiors once we get to Fort Dodge."
Nell Baker remained silent as she listened. She found
herself dwelling on what a mysterious man Collier was. How could a man who seemed so awkward and boyish at the river, be so violent? He had shown her nothing but kindness, and yet, she knew that he had purposely baited her husband in camp. In many ways, she had never been attracted to anyone as she was to Collier, yet he was a dangerous man. Was he any different than her husband?
"Are you coming?" Baker's voice was harsh.
"What? Oh, yes, I'm coming."
"What's your problem?"
"Nothing." As she made her way back to camp, she saw Collier by the campfire across from her wagon. He was just sitting, staring at the fire. It seemed odd how in control he seemed.
Their eyes met. Collier smiled with an innocent expression that unnerved her. She couldn't imagine what he was smiling about. He had just finished almost killing three men. She realized that she was smiling back. She wondered if she shouldn't be outraged by his actions. Nathan's cruelty so unacceptable and yet she was attracted to a man like Collier. She turned away and went to her wagon.
Baker came to her after a while and crawled into bed. She turned away and stared into the blackness that was her wagon, her thoughts, and her life. She laid awake for several hours thinking of Collier, her marriage, her circumstances and the child that she so desperately wanted but would not allow Nathan Baker to father.
CHAPTER VII
Camp was quiet that morning. Crandall and Bates had come to after the fight and neither seemed seriously hurt. Crandall was bleeding from his ears and complaining of a bad headache but seemed to be improving. Roberts had been very short with Collier when he had left to check the trail again to Sand Point. Roberts felt that Sand Point was a critical point and if the Indians were going to give them any trouble, it would be in that area. As far as the fight was concerned, Roberts felt that he knew the men that were involved. If Holling had enough then it was over. If not, he would try to kill Collier. Roberts watched Holling. There were no oaths or threats and he guessed that Holling had been through enough. As for Collier, he probably didn't start the fight or even ask for it. Lane did not carry grudges and didn't ride the men. The Indians were a much more serious threat at the moment. As he thought, Roberts found himself constantly watching the horizon for sign.
Nell looked for Collier when she arose but realized that he had left before sunrise. She thought of him several times as she performed her morning's chores. It would be another grueling day with the wagon and her husband was more sullen than usual. She consigned herself to the fact that he would be more difficult to live with for a while. Collier had humiliated him and he would be out to even the score. If he couldn't get even with Collier than anyone else that was available would do. She figured that she was in for a rough couple of days.
The caravan moved out at daybreak and was well on its way to Sand Point by mid-morning. Roberts was in the habit of riding in the seat beside the driver of the lead wagon but occasionally he would step down to the ground and work his way up and down the string of wagons to examine the condition of men and machinery.
After the two troop wagons was John Neill's wagon with Charley Pitts just behind him. Normally the Baker's wagon came third and the rest followed. Unless some landmark or emergency dictated otherwise, the caravan would pause at 10 AM to rest and water the stock. When the column halted, Roberts walked with John Neill back along the wagons looking for any equipment or livestock problems. As the two passed the Pitts wagon, Charley stepped out from watering his mules.
"What do ya think?" Pitts said in a low voice.
"Think about what?" Neill replied.
"About those Injun bucks back there?"
Chunk Roberts took a step toward Pitts. "What Injuns? Where?"
"Them two Injuns about two miles back on the ridge south of the river. You mean to tell men you didn't see them?"
Roberts stepped on past Pitts and his team and scanned the horizon south of the river. "No, I didn't see them. Are you sure?"
"Hell, yes, I'm sure! I ought to know a damned Injun when I see one even if you soldier boys don't!"
"A couple of Indians shouldn't be that alarming, should it?" John Neill asked.
Roberts scanned the hills. "Normally, no. But we're in a different situation. Pitts, are you sure you saw Injuns?"
"Damn it! There were two bucks belly down on that rocky rise. I figured someone else had seen them or I would have said something earlier."
Roberts ordered his men out of their wagons and into two columns marching on either side of the line.
John Neill drew Roberts aside as he directed the columns. "Sometimes Charley exaggerates a little. Maybe he was mistaken?"
"I really can't take that chance and neither can you. Collier felt that Injuns were about yesterday."
Neill scanned the hills to the south. "Maybe we should turn back."
"It's six of one and a half-dozen of the other. We're as close to Fort Dodge as Fort Larned. We'd gain nothing from turning back. We'll go on and see what Collier reports tonight. In the meantime, tell your people to keep sharp and watch close."
The column hadn't gone two miles when Cheyenne appeared on the sand hills south to the Arkansas. Their war paint was clearly visible to the whites. Roberts made his way to Neill's wagon.
Neill's face was ashen.
"I think that we better fort up against the river," Roberts said.
"Whatever you say," Neill said. "God! It looks like too many for us to handle."
Nathan Baker broke his wagon out of formation and brought it up along the side of Neill's.
"I don't see why we don't make a run for it!"
Roberts could see in Neill's face a relief that comes from someone saying what he was thinking.
Neill looked down to Roberts. "Why don't we run for it?"
"Running is the worst thing that you could do. These teams can't outrun Cheyenne on horseback. We've got a lot of fire power. Neill, I want you to swing up against the river bank. We'll fort up and make a stand."
Baker's face became red, his voice hysterical. "Make a stand! By God! Look at them! It's suicide!"
"Listen you fool," Roberts snapped. "It's suicide to run. You wouldn't make it a half a mile before they cut you down."
Neill reached for Baker's arm. "Please, Nathan, do what the sergeant says."
He jerked his arm away from her. Spit flew from his mouth as he spoke. "You shut the hell up, woman!"
Baker cracked the team forward. The mules jumped and broke into a run. Nell reached out to stop him but he backhanded her across the neck. She rolled out of the wagon seat into the box behind.
Roberts was taken off-guard. The wagon lunged forward out of his reach. He grabbed the bridle of Neill's wheel horse. "Neill! Neill! Don't do this! You'll spread out the column and they'll kill us all!"
Neill's mouth hung open as he watched Baker's wagon bolt away and felt his own team begin to follow. He was barely aware of Roberts' words. He pulled back on the reins and held his team in place.
Several Cheyenne let out war cries as they broke from the hill toward Baker's wagon. Neill looked down for an order from Roberts. Roberts leaned against the wheel horse with an arrow lodged deeply in the back of his right shoulder. Neill looked north. Cheyenne warriors were boiling down on the column from behind a low rise. Corporal Bates ran up to Neill's wagon. "Damn it! Do as he says or we're all lost!"
Neill swung his team toward the river. Shooting and shouting was all about him. Soldiers were forming a skirmish line. Neill made the river and jumped from the wagon to wave the rest toward his position. He saw Roberts being helped toward him as the wagons began to close up. He turned to see the Baker wagon already a hundred yards away in full flight. He turned again to urge the wagons on when a Cheyenne bullet struck him in the back of the head. His arm dropped. He fell face down in the grass, dead the instant the bullet struck.
Elk Heart could not believe how the Great Spirit had favored him. He had taken the caravan completely by surprise. His warriors had hit the troops and wagon
s so quickly that they were strung out and unable to get organized. At close range, he had the foot soldiers beaten by shear weight of numbers. He watched as the soldiers frantically tried to reload their muzzleloaders. The teams and wagons went out of control as panic stricken teamsters jumped from them. The whites were running for cover or dying with their wagons. He watched as soldiers formed into small clusters to protect themselves from the onslaught of his men and ponies. He watched the hated enemy die before him. Many coup would be taken that day. The hated whites were paying for years of oppression. Vengeance was, at last, in Elk Heart's hands. He thought of his own son and woman dead at the hands of the whites. He did not show emotion. He only watched his warriors do to the whites what had been done to his people so many times before. The slaughter was total. No white was left alive. When the vengeance was complete, he gave the signal. This fight was not over. It had only begun.
Fort Larned Page 3
