Chapter Thirteen—Scouting Can Be Fun and Dangerous

     I left Fort Tyler early the morning following the second of my two walks with Colonel Benjamin Ratliff’s daughter, Julie. I had two horses—my own, Ol’ Paint, and an army horse for a packhorse/backup in case something happened to Ol’ Paint. I gave Ratliff very specific directions and landmarks to where I intended to camp. It was about 5 miles away from the canyon where the Indians were gathering, but with a direct enough route that I could be back on the mesa overlooking their site within an hour. Colonel Ratliff wasn’t going to send anyone that day, but he would the next. I would scout the Indian camp most of the day tomorrow, then meet Ratliff’s runner at my base. I would give him my report and he would spend the night, and then leave very early the next morning to take that report back to the colonel. At the same time, I would head back to the mesa above the Indian camp, and Ratliff would send another runner to my base. I’d gather what new intelligence I could, meet Ratliff’s man, give him the lowdown, he’d spend the night, leave the next morning, Ratliff would send somebody else, etc., etc., etc., and that’s the way it would be, 7 days a week, until the matter was finalized. Hopefully, not long. But hopefully, far enough ahead in the future where the army could prepare a sufficient force to meet this overwhelming gathering of savages. I didn’t know if Ratliff intended to inform the city fathers of Whitewater or not and arrange for an evacuation. That seemed like a pretty good idea to me—unless the Indians were scouting the town. If they were, and saw people starting to leave in mass, they would know that their plans had been detected. I wasn’t sure what they would do, but I didn’t think anybody with white skin would like it. They might move up their time schedule for attack, and that couldn’t be allowed—the army had to be ready for them. Well, all I could do was what I had been asked and then go from there. My current mission was dangerous enough; I needed to keep my mind focused on it.
     It appeared for all the world like the number of Indian warriors was growing. Again, it was very difficult to get exact counts, and, as I was lying on the mesa the next day looking down at the canyon, I also was studying the landscape to the west—my left—to see if there were other locations, with sufficient cover, where I could increase my knowledge. I nodded. I should be able to do it. In fact, I thought I could circle around to the base of the box canyon, and take a look from that perspective. The canyon itself was no more than three miles long, but given the terrain and the route I’d have to take, I’d probably have to travel six miles to get there. Well, it was better than lying in one spot all day, waiting for some Indian to answer the call of nature up here and try to open me up with his pig sticker. I thought idly as I moved down the hill towards Ol’ Paint, I wonder why a knife is called a pig sticker. I never stuck a pig with one. Can’t figure that one out…
     It took me almost two hours to get to the end of the box canyon and it was a worthless trip. Yes, it gave me a different perspective on the Indian encampment, but it didn’t really tell me anything I didn’t already know. I took out my field glasses and studied the Indian base closely. Yep, them’s Injuns all right…and yep, they’ve got rifles and lances and tommyhawks and bows and arrers and a whole lot of other nasty ways to give a feller a hairscut and send him to Boot Hill…I did notice that not every brave had a rifle…about half of them did. which was good—good that not all of them did. I also noticed that they were brewing some concoction and dipping the heads of their arrows in it. I didn’t know if it was poison or some kind of flammable element—probably the latter, they’d want to completely burn Whitewater to the ground. Well, none of this was exactly news, but I’d report it to Ratliff’s man when he arrived and he could take it back to the colonel, who could then do with it as he wished.
     I arrived back at my camp about five minutes before Ratliff’s runner got there. It was some sergeant, not the one I’d met the first day I was there; couldn’t remember his name. Didn’t matter. This sergeant’s name was Alford, and I told him what I’d seen. He made a few notes.
     “This is the biggest bunch of Indians I’ve heard gather since Little Big Horn,” he said.
     “Yeah, it ain’t a pretty sight,” I responded. “Did the colonel, by any chance, tell you what his plans were? Any news from Washington yet?”
     “No, to the first question, and I don’t know to the second. I’m not important enough to be trusted with that kind of information, I suppose. Rumors are circulating around the fort, but that’s all they are—rumors. We know there’s a big Indian gathering, but we don’t know what its for.” He looked at me over his plate of food. “Do you?”
     “Yeah. They are going to hit the town of Whitewater hard. There’s mining being done on Turtle Mountain just north of the town and that’s a sacred mountain to nearly every Nipita within 1,000 miles of here. And a few other tribes as well. I suspect they intend to try to wipe Whitewater off the map, and revenge and protect their mountain.”
     Alford whistled. “That could be a disaster. I hope we can get enough troops together in time to stop them.”
     “Yeah, me, too.”
     He left the next morning, telling me there would be another rider come in that afternoon. I went back to the mesa overlooking the Indian camp, and stayed for several hours, but didn’t really see anything much different. A few parties of Indians, numbering between 15 and 30, showed up during the day, apparently to join the festivities, so the numbers were increasing. I’d never seen an Indian gathering that large so it was a little difficult to judge the figures, but I did what teepee counting I could, got almost 1,000, and it appeared that there were at least two Indians sharing each lodging. That meant 2,000 redskins.
     Where was Ratliff going to find enough troops in time to head off this frightening, and determined, army of bloodthirsty barbarians?

     I received a major surprise the next evening when I returned to my camp. Julie was there, with the runner, and it was Alford again.
     “What in the world are you doing here?” I asked her.
     She pouted a bit, and looked at me with those unsure eyes of hers. “You aren’t happy to see me?”
    “I didn’t say that, I’m just surprised to see you, that’s all.”
     She smiled and held up a covered plate. “I brought you a cake. I thought you’d like something different. And sweet.”
     I smiled back, kissed her, and said, “That cake will never be as sweet as you are. Thank you.” She blushed slightly, and I could tell she was pleased. “But how did you talk your father into letting you come?”
     She shrugged. “What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
     My eyes got huge. “He doesn’t know???”
     She laughed at my expression. “I haven’t seen him since Monday. He’s so busy with this Indian business. Sergeant Alford isn’t going to squeal on me, are you, sergeant,” she said, giving him a “you-better-not” glare.
     He grinned. “Now, Mr. Constance, what would you demand in exchange for your silence on something like that?”
     I laughed. “Sergeant, I think I’d button my lip without any conditions. Or you might find yourself busted to Private First Class when she gets through with you.”
     Julie shook her head. “Court martial and firing squad,” and we all laughed.
     “Think I won’t tell anybody,” Alford said. Then he frowned. “But I do have one condition,” he said.
     Her eyes narrowed at him. “You’re treading on thin ice, Sergeant. What is it?”
     He grinned again, this time from ear to ear. “I want a piece of that chocolate cake.”
     Julie smiled. “I guess that’s not too much to ask.”
     She fixed dinner—“I’m not about to eat your cooking,” she told me, and I laughed. Smart girl. And the three of us sat around the fire, discussing the Indian situation. “Any news from Washington?” I asked.
     Alford didn’t know, but Julie did. “500 troops will be on their way to Ft. Tyler by this weekend, and hopefully more by the first of next week.”
     “The ‘more’ is what we need,” I said. “500, plus the 175 is not going to be enough.”
     “Washington also wants the major towns in this area—Dry Gulch, Rogersville, Whitewater, Agua Caliente, and a couple of others—to get some men together and help out. They don’t think they can get more than 1,000 troops here within the next two weeks.”
     I nodded. “That will help, though a lot of those men are not fighting men. That bunch of miners in Whitewater would be a tough group, though.”
     “How many are there, do you know?” Alford asked, chewing on a piece of meat.
     “Haven’t a clue. I haven’t been there in quite a while.” I threw a glance at Julie and she smiled softly. My secret was safe with her. Then, I said to her, “How did you find out all of this information, if you haven’t seen your dad since Monday?”
     A pixy smile. “I have my ways.”
     Alford grunted. “She could charm the rattlers off a rattlesnake. How do you think she came to be here right now?” And I chuckled.
     Julie and I went walking after dinner. It was dark now, and there were a few scattered clouds, but thousands of stars as well. We stopped on a rise, just above a copse of trees. I put my arm around her and she laid her head on my shoulder, looking up at the stars.
     “They are beautiful,” she said.
     “And so are you,” I replied.
     “Thank you. I’ll bet you say that to all the girls you go walking with.”
     “Only the ones as beautiful as you, and I can’t recall any off the top of my head.”
     “Your Julie?” she asked.
     I smiled sadly. “Yeah. She would run you some competition.” And Robin…more sadness at the thought of her.
     Julie looked up at me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have mentioned her.”
     I met her eyes. No, she’s not Robin…and she’s not my Julie…at least not yet, she isn’t…but she IS beautiful…and I’ve got to try to…forget?…no, I’ll never forget…but…salve the pain?…is that even possible?…I didn’t know. But I leaned down and picked her up in my arms. She curled up against my shoulder. I carried her downhill a ways and laid her on a bedding of soft pine needles.
     And for the next hour tried to forget Robin and my Julie…

     We walked back to the camp. She smiled at me, a mischievous smile. “I, uh, forgot my blanket.”
     I glanced down at her, and realized that maybe an hour of her wasn’t enough. “Well, you can’t have mine,” I said softly. “But I’ll share it with you.”
     “I was hoping you would…”

     Alford needed to leave early the next morning to get back to the fort with my report. I expected Julie to go with him, but she insisted on staying.
     I shook my head, exasperated. “You can’t stay. It’s dangerous. I’ve got to go back to that Indian encampment.”
     “Why can’t I go with you? You’ll protect me, won’t you?” she said, with a cheeky little smile.
     “Oh, good grief,” I said, shaking my head. “Julie, I don’t want to have to be watching out for Indians and you, too.”
     Hands on hips, feet firmly planted. “Well, hmph. You won’t have to watch out for me. I can take care of myself.” What kind of logic is THAT? I’ve got to protect her, but she can take of herself…female logic…
     I looked at Alford for help, and he just grinned. “You aren’t going to win, you know that, don’t you.”
     I made a disgusted face. “We could tie her, head down, rump up, over her horse’s back…” Then I smiled wickedly. “Dress hiked…”
     Her eyes got huge. “You wouldn’t dare!”
     I continued to smile and moved towards her. She squealed and ran away from me.
     I glanced at Alford, and shook my head. He grinned. “Get going,” I said. “I’ll take care of her.”
     He nodded, mounted, and rode off.
     Julie came out from behind a rock where she had run. Her face had that questioning expression on it. “You aren’t mad at me, are you?”
     I smiled and held my arms out to her. “I won’t be as soon as I finish spanking your behind.”
     She smiled and came towards me, then stopped, staring behind me. I heard a noise, turned, and saw four men. I saw something coming towards my head and started to duck, but I was too late—something crashed hard into the back of my head. As I was falling, I heard a man’s voice say, “Look what we’re going to have for breakfast….”

     Julie saw the men coming from behind some trees. Her eyes got big, and that’s when Rob turned. But one of the men was already on him, and hit him hard in the head with a rock. She thought, for sure, that the man had killed Rob. She cried out, and for a moment, was unable to move. She also heard one of them say, “Look what we’re going to have for breakfast,” and she turned to run, but they were already on her. She screamed, fought, kicked, squirmed, screamed some more, but she had no way of overcoming the strength of four big men.
     What happened for the next few moments were a blur to her. It all seemed so unreal. The men laughing, holding her wrists, ripping her clothes off of her, dragging her to the ground…she screeched, pleaded, called out for Rob, and when she had a free hand, she punched one of the men in the face. He cursed her, and hit her, hard, three times with his closed fists. It felt like a sledgehammer pounded her. Dazed, she lay still for a few moments, unable to fight back any more, and then thinking of how useless it would be to struggle. They’d use her, then kill her. They couldn’t let her live; she had seen their faces. And rape was a capital offense.
     But then, she heard another voice, a voice from heaven…

     I saw flashes of lights, then everything went black for a moment or two. I was on the ground now, lying flat, a pounding, unbelievable pain in my head. I was about to black out for good, when I heard a scream. It sounded like it was 1,000 miles away. But I heard it.
     “Stay away from me! Don’t! Please! NOOOOOOOOOOooooo…. Roberrrrrrt… aaaaaaaaooooooooooooowwwwwwnooooooooooo…..”
     I tried to get up, knowing what was about to happen to Julie. I heard her call my name again, and scream. I managed to struggle onto my elbows, but then the blinding, flashing pain seared through my head, like lightening bolts, and I almost lost consciousness again. Not again, oh God, please not again…please don’t let me be too late again…Julie screeched and pleaded again….

     I heard her calling out to me…calling out to me…calling out to me…screaming, crying, begging, pleading…crying out to me…but they had her pinned…four of them…four of them…standing over Julie…and they were laughing…taking what they wanted from her…and she screamed…and called my name…and screamed…and called my name…”I’m coming, Julie, I’m coming,” I called out to her…but I didn’t get there in time…I never get there in time…I didn’t in real life, and I never could in this dream…I could hear her…but I wasn’t there…they finished with her…and then there was the sound of a gun, and one last cry from her…and her head fell to the side, a bullet hole in the middle of her forehead…
     And there were the flames…flames everywhere…the bellowing and death cries of a multitude of animals…flames…flames…flames…”I’m coming…I’m coming…I’m coming, my darling…I’m coming…” But I didn’t make it…I never make it…
     How many times…since…have I had this dream?…this nightmare…this trip through the most tortuous, agonizing pits of the deepest hell in existence?…

     I shook my head, trying to clear it. I took several deep breaths, and willed the pain into a separate compartment of my mind. I opened my eyes, and gritting my teeth, looked over to where Julie was whimpering and screaming. I saw…four men… standing over Julie…laughing….about to take what they wanted from her. Most of her clothes were torn off, she was on her back, and one of the men was on his knees between her legs, unfastening his jeans. I can’t let it happen again…I can’t…
     I was swaying in and out of consciousness. I had controlled the pain for a moment, but I wouldn’t be able to for long. I heard one of the men say, “Git ‘er, Bud. Bang ‘er good, jes’ leave some fer the rest of us.” And then Julie screamed again, and fought and kicked, even punching Bud, the man between her legs, on the face, albeit ineffectually.
     “Oww,” he said, although there was no way that punch could have hurt him. “You little wench,” he said, and then he hit her, three times, back and forth on her jaws, with his fists. I saw Julie’s head snap to the right, then left, then right, and then she moaned and lay still.
     “That’ll teach you to hit me, you filthy whore.”
     As racked by pain as I was, when I saw that slimeball hit Julie, the anger in me overcame the agony I was enduring. With a tremendous effort that shot blinding bursts of pain through my head, I stood up. I staggered a moment, but then steadied. “Get away from her!” I shouted, and the four men jerked around, astonished to see me standing. They went for their guns and it was the last mistake any of them ever made.
     I fired four times in less than a second, and watched as all three men standing were blown back against a boulder and the fourth man was rocked off of Julie and fell beside her.
     That was the last thing I remembered because I fell to the ground, unconscious.

     Julie Ratliff was dazed, but awake. Her clothes torn off of her, she lay almost totally nude, three men standing over her laughing, lusting, drooling, with another man kneeling between her legs, jerking his pants down. That man had hit her, hard, three times, and left Julie with no strength to fight back. She was going to be gang-raped, and then murdered. It was the last thing she would ever know…just like Rob’s wife…
     But then…a voice. His voice. She thought he was dead. “Get away from her!” She tilted her head up, and Robert Constance—Rob Conners—was standing there with a face like carved granite—granite from hell. The four thugs went for their guns, but Rob moved with unbelievable speed. One moment, his hand was by his side, the next, a gun was there, belching fire. Four shots in rapid succession, four men grunting and falling back, and then Rob collapsed to the earth.
     It took Julie a moment to realized what had just happened. But then she called his name again, and jumping up, she covered herself as best she could with her torn clothes, and ran over to Rob. She heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that he was breathing, then rolled him over and grimaced at the nasty, bloody gash on the back of his head. Then she heard a groan behind her, and quickly picked up Rob’s gun and turned around. But it was only the fourth man, the one who was about to rape her first, in his dying gasps.
     She went over to him, just to see. Perhaps she could do something for him, but she could tell he was too far gone. He saw her and said, “I’m…sor…sorry, miss…you… too…purty…” He gritted his teeth in pain. “Who…is…that feller?”
     “Rob Conners.”
     “Oh…no…no…wonder….’s’all…all right…t’ be…kilt…by the best….” And he died. Julie sighed, and went back to Rob. He was breathing heavily. She got up and went to her knapsack and got some new clothes to put on, then took some bandages and medication from Rob’s saddlebag. Getting some water from the stream, she cleaned up his wound, medicated it, and bandaged it. She made him as comfortable as possible, and sat down to wait…

     The Indian drums were pounding again. But this time I noticed that they were all around me. I mean, there must have been 100 of them, completely surrounding me, and they were beating those blasted drums as hard as they could.
     Then I began to realize that the pounding was in my head. My eyes were closed, and the ache was something terrible. It all started coming back to me—the four men, something hard hitting my head, almost knocking me out, the attempted rape of Julie, the gun battle…I guess I survived. Or maybe this is what hell feels like.
     I groaned and started to reach a hand up to my head. But somebody, or some thing, grabbed it, and I heard an angelic voice say, “No, lie still.” Couldn’t be an angel; heaven can’t hurt like this.
     I finally opened my eyes and I saw Julie above me. She was doing something to my head. She saw me looking at her and smiled. “How do you feel?” she asked me.
     I tried to speak, couldn’t form any words, then tried again. Weakly, I said, “Like I ran head on into a granite wall.”
     She laughed softly. “Well, that’s close. One of those men hit you hard with a rock. I didn’t think there was any way you could survive that.”
     “What happened?” I asked her.
     “You don’t remember?”
     I thought back, and grimaced because that hurt. “I think I remember…hearing you scream. Yes. Looked over and saw that man beating you.” I looked at her face. Both her jaws were, indeed, discolored a little. “That made me really mad. I recall standing up. I think I told them to get away from you. They went for their guns. I went for mine. That’s all I remember.”
     “You hit every one of them dead center, Rob,” she said. “None of them even got a shot off. I’ve never seen anybody move so fast.” She smiled. “One of them lived for a few minutes after you shot him. He asked who you were. I told him your real name. I hope you don’t mind.”
     I was starting to get some semblance of my wits about me. “No, I don’t reckon he’s going to tell anybody. Are you all right? Did they…?” I left it hanging.
     “Except for my jaw where that man hit me, I’m ok. And no, they didn’t but they obviously intended to.” She leaned down and kissed me. “Thank you, Rob. I’m sure they would have killed me after they had finished with me.”
     “Probably,” I replied. I asked her for some water, and she gave me some. “What time is it?” I asked her.
     “About two in the afternoon. You’ve been out for a few hours. You might have a concussion. You’ve got a pretty nasty bump on your head and there was some bleeding, but I cleaned it, applied some of the medicine you have in your saddlebag, and bandaged it. I’ll check it later to see if it’s getting infected. If it is, we’ll have to get you back to the fort.”
     I nodded, and tried to sit up, but laid back down when my head began to spin. “You probably ought to stay down and rest,” she said to me. I nodded, feeling nauseous for a few moments. “Are you hungry?” she asked.
     I considered. “Yeah, I am.” Then I smiled. “You got any of that chocolate cake left?”
     She laughed softly. “Some. But I think I’ll give you something a little more substantive than that first. Soup would be good. Don’t go away.” She got up and walked over to a fire she had obviously started. I noticed that she had changed clothes and was wearing a mustard-colored blouse and Levi’s. I grinned wryly. She must have been planning on staying a few days when she came if she brought a change of clothes. I distinctly remember that the thugs who attacked had pretty well ripped and shredded what she had been wearing earlier.
     She helped me sit up, slowly, while I ate the soup. My head was beginning to clear some. I remembered now, right before the rock hit my head, that I started to duck, so I was moving away from the blow when it struck. Thus, it wasn’t solid, and that probably saved my life. I still had a headache that throbbed unmercifully, so I closed my eyes, and I think I fell asleep again…
     …because when I woke up it was nearly dark. The runner for the day, a man named Peterson, was there. “How you feelin’,” he asked me, looking down at me.
     I took inventory. Still had a headache, but not nearly as bad. “I’m better, thanks. Where’s Julie?”
     “Fixin’ up some grub, if’n you feel like eatin’.”
     I nodded. “I hope it’s a horse because I’m hungry enough to eat one.” He laughed.
     I was slowly able to sit up. It made me dizzy, but I closed my eyes until it passed. Julie came over, smiled, and kissed me again. “How are you feeling?”
     “Well, if you’ll do, for about the next 10 hours, what you just did”—meaning kiss me—“I’m sure I’ll be well in no time.”
     She laughed. “We’ll see. First of all, let’s eat…”
     Obviously, I didn’t have a report for Peterson to take back to Fort Tyler. “Hopefully, I’ll feel up to going over to the Indian camp tomorrow.”
     He nodded. “I’ll pass on to Colonel Ratliff what happened here.” He said to Julie, “Incidentally, your father said for me to tell you that you are to go home tomorrow, emphasis on the tomorrow, or he’s going to paddle your backside so hard you won’t sit down for a month.”
     Julie rolled her eyes. “He’s threatened to do that for years, and he never has. He’s just a big blowhard.”
     Peterson grinned. “Well, blowhard or not, he was some angry when he found out you had come here.” Then he said to me, still grinning, “Says he’s going to fire you first chance he gets.”
     “Tell him he can any time he wants to and I’ll head on north like I intended to.”
     “And,” Julie said, “tell him that I’ll come home when I’m good and ready to. I’ve got a sick man to take care of.” She gave me a cheeky smile, and I snarled at her, then smiled back.
     “And,” I added, “tell the colonel that I’ll do the duties of paddling her backside while she’s here. Save him the trouble of doing what he ought to do but won’t.”
     “Hey!” Julie said. “Just for that I will go back tomorrow.” But I could see the twinkle in her eyes.
     “Sounds like I got a lot to report after all,” Peterson said with a smile.
     Julie stayed.

     And she went with me to the Indian canyon the next day. I wasn’t about to let her out of my sight. I liked having her company, but I really wished she would go on back to the fort. She would be safe there and I wouldn’t have to keep an eye out for her. But she said she was tired of staying at the fort and that this was the most adventure she had had in a long time. She was having a grand time.
     “You call almost getting raped ‘having a grand time’?” I asked her.
     She smiled. “But I didn’t. You protected me like I knew you would.”
     “Aw, horse manure,” I said, with an annoyed expression on my face.
     "And who would have fixed you up if I hadn’t been here?”
     I wasn’t going to argue with her about it. She was strong-willed and I could understand her desire to get out of the fort and do something semi-exciting, though I didn’t especially consider watching a bunch of Indian braves get ready to massacre people an exciting thing. But it was something different for her to break the monotony of fort life.
     And she could cook a whole lot better than I could. And I didn’t get cold at night, either. But I looked up at the stars one night before I fell asleep, and I was just positive I could see the word Robin spelled out in one of the constellations…
     But I also felt like Robin was as far away as that constellation.