Mountain Man (Book 5): Final Stand [Last Ditch]

by Jones, Nathan

  Besides, even though he knew how to hide a horse fairly well in this terrain if necessary, there were plenty of occasions where it was much easier to move around unseen without one. With bloodies swarming his mountains, especially in this area, he valued stealth more than haste.

  So he clapped Brandon on the shoulder, then continued easing back through the scrub oak to scout.

  * * * * *

  Well, weren't these bloodies frustratingly on the ball?

  Even though Gray's two fighters had beat a hasty retreat the moment they set off the explosives up along the highway, moving at a punishing pace, it hadn't been enough. Skyler had hoped that their haste would buy them at least half a day before they really started to worry about pursuit, but it had only taken a few hours for Sangue to catch up.

  Then again, he hadn't counted on riders. Or the fact that the half squad of mounted soldiers with their pair of baying dogs were moving at an even more punishing pace, apparently having thrown all caution to the wind in their determination to run down Jonas and his companion.

  Either the bloodies knew they were only chasing a few saboteurs and were confident they could fight their way out of a potential ambush, or they were so pissed at their highway once again getting taken out that they didn't care and just wanted blood.

  Whichever it was, that wasn't going to fly.

  Skyler led Sulky on a roundabout route that would get him ahead of the horsemen and to the east, searching for a good vantage where he could lay down some fire. He didn't plan to let them get close enough to where he could really hit them hard, just intended to take down one, maybe two enemies if possible, keep fire on them long enough for the others to scramble, and then hopefully hop on Sulky and ride hard for safety while they turned away from their pursuit of Gray's fighters and chased him instead.

  And if the bloodies didn't give chase, he'd just have to double back and hit them again. He didn't want to reward the enemy for staying focused on their quarry.

  Skyler found a good shoulder along a mountain slope and shimmied up to the edge, AK-47 held ready. To his relief, the Sangue riders below were still on the path he'd guessed they'd take, a good twenty minutes behind Gray's fighters but catching up quickly. So quickly, in fact, that Skyler needed to hurry up and find a target before they ran right past him and started increasing the distance of his shots to the point where he might not be able to hit anything well enough to present a credible threat.

  Under the circumstances he was feeling pressure to rush the shot, especially since his first target was one of the pursuers' dogs; a small, fast moving target. But years of experience hunting small, nimble game helped him curb that impulse, and he made sure he had a good hit before squeezing the trigger.

  The dog collapsed and flopped bonelessly, a difficult sight even considering the threat the beast posed. Skyler was already shifting aim to the other dog, but when its handler whistled sharply and the smaller animal veered off erratically he abandoned the shot and aimed for a horse instead.

  The riders were veering their mounts erratically too, scattering with impressive coordination to present difficult targets while they searched for the source of Skyler's shots. He accommodated them by firing again, hitting a veering horse in the neck. It went down with a heart-wrenching scream, rolling over its rider and drawing a scream from the man as well.

  He heard a shout from a soldier below, and the next thing he knew the riders were wheeling to pound straight up a clear section of slope towards him.

  Wow, these bloodies really were on the ball. Skyler slung his rifle and bolted back to where Sulky waited, throwing himself in the saddle. Then he nearly cursed when she danced beneath him, skittish at his mood. “Easy,” he hissed. “Now's not the time to balk . . . we need to get out of here before we get run down by bloodies.”

  Unfortunately, whether or not it was time to balk didn't seem to matter much to the mare. And as it turned out, in the middle of being chased by a bunch of Sangue horsemen howling for his blood was a bad time for Sulky to show how much of a liability a half-trained horse could be.

  It wasn't her fault, or at least not entirely. It was just that after years of learning Surly's temperament and limits, and the gelding learning Skyler's personal quirks as a rider, he'd taken for granted how much difference that bond with the cantankerous gelding made. They'd been through some tough situations together and come out mostly fine on the other side.

  On the other hand, Sulky didn't have those years of familiarity with him and he hadn't fully gained her trust in the saddle, and it showed. In the panic of being chased so hard, no doubt sensing Skyler's growing fear as well, he had to constantly fight the reins to keep her going the right way, and once or twice lost control as she veered off the trail.

  It slowed them down, the last thing he wanted with enemies hot on their heels. In fact, he was seriously considering giving up and letting Sulky have her head, trusting her to get them out of there on her own and not run them off a cliff in her panic, when the decision was taken out of his hands.

  The mare abruptly flinched beneath him, screaming in surprise and pain. For a terrifying few seconds it was all he could do to stay in the saddle, ducking low and gripping the pommel and hanging on with his legs for all he was worth. While he was doing that Sulky bolted beneath him, scrambling off the trail and up a precarious hillside.

  A couple times she slipped and once Skyler was sure she'd fall over, crushing him beneath her. He tried to shout soothing words, ignoring how ridiculous that idea was, but mostly he hunched with gritted teeth and held on for dear life.

  The next few minutes gave him plenty of time to think with sickening horror that his horse had been shot, and this surge of desperate effort from her might soon lead to her collapsing beneath him, leaving him on foot against several riders.

  He didn't like his chances if that happened.

  A bit of risky craning, which nearly resulted in Skyler slamming headfirst into a branch as Sulky ran beneath a tree, showed what he assumed was the injury the horse had taken; to his relief, it looked like nothing more than a graze across her flank. An ugly one, definitely, which had gouged a furrow as long as his hand that was splattering droplets of blood behind them, but it didn't look as if his horse would be dropping dead beneath him anytime soon.

  He faced forward again, focusing on staying in the saddle and doing whatever he could to keep them fleeing at the best possible speed. The only thing going for them at the moment was that his pursuers had been pushing hard to catch up to Jonas and his buddy, exhausting their mounts in the process, while he could hope Sulky was better rested and would be able to outlast them in this chase.

  Also, he had to say, his mare was one of the finest horses he'd had the privilege of seeing, aside from Surly of course. He'd put money on her outrunning any Sangue nag.

  But for an eternity that could've been anywhere from ten minutes to an hour it seemed like the enemy horses would go on forever. His mare was snorting with effort, froth around her mouth and sides heaving against his tightly gripping legs with huge panting breaths, and even so every time Skyler looked back he spotted the bloodies just within gunshot range behind, their remaining dog a small furry streak at the lead.

  The chase lasted long enough that Sulky actually calmed from her panic and started to slow, ignoring the redoubled noise of gunshots from behind. Skyler had to use every trick he knew short of whipping her with the reins to keep her running, wondering if he shouldn't think about unslinging his rifle and shooting back.

  That just showed he was feeling more than a bit panicked himself; only an idiot tried to fire at someone directly behind them from the saddle at a dead run. He was barely keeping from falling off as it was, and even if he could twist enough to aim behind him he wouldn't be able to keep the weapon steady enough to line up a shot.

  Finally, though, he heard the sporadic shots the enemy riders were sending his way peter down to nothing. A backward glance showed them farther back, out of gunshot range a
s their horses finally slowed. In fact, it looked as if one had stopped entirely, possibly even collapsed from exertion, since he only saw eight horsemen behind him now.

  Skyler leaned low over his horse, patting her neck. “Just a bit farther, girl, and we'll be able to slow down.”

  He hoped that wasn't optimism speaking, but thankfully only a minute or so later another glance back showed the enemy soldiers reining in at the bottom of a meadow down below. Even from this range he could hear their frustrated shouts and threats as Sulky stumbled up over a rise and they disappeared from view.

  Although he would've liked to push her to go a bit farther at a run, he recognized when a horse was reaching its limits. Not to mention the mare was wounded, further hampering her. So he reined her in to a walk, hearing her snort with relief as she kept going at a pace that allowed her to finally catch her breath.

  Even at a walk he should be able to outpace the bloodies if they were just sitting there, but he kept his ears pricked above Sulky's thundering breaths for the noise of approaching hooves. He also unslung his rifle and held it ready, in case they decided to send the dog ahead.

  He had two priorities now: first, get far enough away that he could stop and tend the wound on his horse's flank. Then, little as he liked it after the adventure he'd just had, he needed to consider whether to double back and either make sure the bloodies were still following him, or hit them again to rile them into it.

  By this point he'd probably led the riders far enough away from their pursuit of Jonas and the other fighter to let them get away safely. But there was still the chance that once the Sangue soldiers rested their horses, and since they still had a dog, they could push hard and pick up the two men's trail again, either riding them down or sticking on their tail long enough for more Sangue reinforcements to catch up.

  Then again, if Skyler wasn't careful those reinforcements would be riding him down instead; that chase had been a bit closer than he would've liked.

  Well, first things first.

  Skyler found a good spot with a long view of their back trail, confirming his pursuers still weren't in sight, then wearily dismounted and tied Sulky's reins around a sturdy tree trunk. She was almost certainly not going to like him caring for her wound, necessary as it was, and he didn't want her bolting off and leaving him stranded with all his supplies in her saddlebags and a bunch of bloodthirsty enemies on his trail.

  Finally able to get his first good view of Sulky's flank, he scowled at the ugly crease of torn flesh; it wouldn't have taken much for that to be a far more serious wound, possibly one that would've hampered his horse to the point where he wouldn't have been able to keep ahead of the mounted pursuit.

  The mare was staring back at him reproachfully, ears twitching with the sort of nervousness that suggested that if he tried to tend the wound, even if he was gentle about it, she was liable to go nuts. Heck, he was surprised she hadn't panicked more than she had.

  Skyler bit back a sigh. Well, nothing to do but get it over with in what little time he had.

  “Sorry, girl,” he said quietly. “It doesn't look too bad, at least. Just needs a bit of cleaning, and we'll be careful to keep the dust out of it.”

  She snorted, clearly dubious, but that didn't stop him from digging through his bags for his limited store of medical supplies. Then, murmuring soothingly the entire time, he got to work.

  * * * * *

  Half a day was all Tom was able to give Brandon.

  He felt bad about that, since his friend definitely had a serious challenge ahead of him in carrying out his insane plan. But since there'd been no sign of Skyler anywhere near the destroyed section of road, and more bloodies had been pouring in by the minute to sweep the entire area, he just couldn't justify staying any longer.

  He returned to report the enemy's numbers and what he'd observed about their patrols, as well as confirming that they were starting to set up a huge camp right next to the demolished cliff. “Definitely looks like they plan to bring in slaves to clear the road,” he concluded.

  Brandon seemed satisfied with that news, at least. “Well, looks like I'll get an opportunity to try something crazy after all.” He hesitated, so obviously wanting to ask for Tom's help again that it was painful.

  But he didn't. After an uncomfortable few seconds Tom patted his shoulder. “Best of luck,” he said quietly. “Any messages you want to send back to Gray or Fiona or anyone in the valley?”

  His friend looked surprised at that. “Going to head back?”

  “Figure I should every now and then, see if there's news,” he replied wryly. Although to be honest, he'd just barely decided that returning to Camptown was the right move.

  He'd been searching for his son for weeks now, going farther and farther away from home. In fact, most of the time far enough that Sangue wasn't even searching for the elusive location of their enemy settlement in that area. In spite of all that, he had yet to get even a hint of Skyler's activities.

  To say he was beside himself with frustration and worry was the understatement of the century. It was hard not to feel like he was flailing around uselessly out here, and if nothing else swinging back around to the valley would give him a chance to rethink his search, even if they didn't have any news for him.

  That, and the longer he was away from Kristy as she got closer and closer to her due date, the more agonizingly torn he was. He needed to find Skyler, he needed to. But he also needed to be there for his wife, didn't he? Of course, she'd told him to find their son even if it meant missing the birth entirely, as an absolute first priority.

  At the same time, he was sure she'd be happy to see him if he came to check in.

  Also, and probably one of the most practical reasons, was that he wanted to pick up Horse. He smiled wryly as he continued. “Besides, I'm getting too old to trek all over these mountains on foot.”

  “Well, I hope you luck out and find the kid there.” Brandon paused to consider his offer of delivering messages. “Jonas should give a pretty thorough report to the Sheriff. You can let him know the camp's going up and we'll probably make the attempt, though.” He hesitated. “Maybe you can also make sure Fi's doing okay while you're there. No reason to assume she's not, but . . .”

  Tom understood that well enough; he hadn't stopped worrying about his family since, well, since he'd first started to care about them, out in the badlands on the trip to Newpost all those years ago. Although his fears for their welfare had certainly ratcheted up several notches in the last few months.

  He offered his friend his hand, returning a firm handshake, then swiftly retreated from the scrub oak thicket again and started south.

  Chapter Nine

  Lone Wolf

  It wouldn't exactly be accurate to say Tom's trip back to Camptown was uneventful.

  For one thing, he felt like he was traveling through a war zone for half of it. Not only were the bloodies swarming the area near the destroyed section of road, but he kept running into groups of soldiers scouring the mountains searching for the hideout of their reclusive enemy. Between that and the distance from the highway to the bowl valley, it took him three and a half days to get back.

  It would've taken longer if he'd paused to snipe at groups of Sangue soldiers as he passed them. But considering he was headed straight for Camptown, even if he'd wanted to deal with the delay of grabbing the enemy's attention and then slipping away clean, the idea of potentially getting them chasing him straight back to his family seemed like a fundamentally stupid one.

  As it was, on the way in he nearly got his head blown off when he was still hours away from the valley, courtesy of a team of defenders set up protecting one of the less likely approaches to the place from the north.

  Thankfully they quit shooting once Logan Williamson, who was leading the team, recognized him and called them off.

  Tom stopped only long enough to exchange news with Fiona's brother, disappointed to learn that he hadn't heard anything about Skyler. “Of course, w
e've been stationed here for days now without much news,” the young man added. “The only time we've moved was once when half of us headed out to help one of Sheriff Gray's teams with an ambush farther out, before heading right back here to resume our posts.”

  If the defenders had no news for him, what they did have was a horse he could borrow. That gave his exhausted body a chance to rest, and sped up the last leg of his trip home.

  As he entered the valley, he couldn't help but notice that in spite of the fact that both towns now sported even more buildings and looked better set up than when he'd left, they also had the look of a place under siege. People moved with a sort of frantic purpose, posture showing fear and desperation; even the kids stuck close to their homes, rather than running and playing in the meadows or exploring the lower hillsides of the peaks overlooking the valley.

  Tom made straight for the summer retreat, hoping against hope that he'd see Sulky waiting in the corral, and Skyler busy doing chores. Instead, he saw Fiona and Keri out at the tables, watching baby Thomas and Molly while they worked some pieces of leather to make clothing.

  His daughter caught sight of him first, and with a happy shout bolted towards him with the precarious, carefree run of toddlers who looked as if they were on the verge of tripping and falling face first at any moment. In spite of his weariness Tom wasted no time dismounting and rushing forward to meet her, dropping to one knee to sweep her up in her arms. She hugged him tightly, showing surprising strength in those pudgy little arms, while he kissed the top of her head, blinking away a blurring in his eyes.

  However else the last few weeks had gone, his little girl was still safe.

  When he looked up, he saw Kristy rushing out of the retreat to meet him. It struck him that he wasn't sure he'd ever seen a woman who looked more heavily pregnant than his wife, which was even more pronounced given her slender figure. With a surge of guilt and alarm he realized that even though he'd assumed she was due any day now for a while, and had even half wondered if she'd have had the baby by the time he got back, now he realized that she was due any day now.