.44 Caliber Man (23 page)

Dashing up,
babbling queries about his well-being, Jeanie flung herself into
his arms. Just in time he let the two knives fall from his hands,
then crushed her to him. Lifting her face towards his, the full
flood of Jeanie’s emotions burst and she began to sob almost
hysterically. Colin scooped her into his arms, cradling her against
his chest until the spasm passed. Then he set her on her feet and
held her at arms’ length.

‘
It’s all over, lassie,’ he whispered. ‘But I’m thinking we’d
best get away from here in case there are more of them
about.’

Sucking down a
sob, Jeanie fought to regain her normal attitude of
self-possession.

‘
Sure we had,’ she agreed and worry flickered across her face.
‘Don’t tell Ma or anybody how I acted just now, will
you?’

‘
You don’t need to ask me that, lass,’ Colin told her. ‘It’s
over and forgotten. Where are their horses?’

On turning to
look, Jeanie and Colin found that the horses had continued running
after losing their riders. Already even Matteo’s mount was too far
away for them to hope to catch it.

‘
We’ve got a long walk ahead,’ Jeanie sighed. ‘And I surely
hate walking.’

‘
If you get tired, I’ll carry you,’ Colin promised. ‘What about
your saddle?’

‘
It’ll do there until we can get a hoss to tote it back. Get
your knives and gun while I fetch the rest of our gear.’

Picking up his
Dragoon, Colin looked at Matteo. However he could not bring himself
to search the body in the hope of finding ammunition. So he
gathered and cleaned his knives while Jeanie collected the rope and
bagpipes from the hollow.

‘
I could get that Indian’s rifle if he’s got powder and shot on
him,’ Colin suggested when the girl joined him.

‘
You could,’ she admitted. ‘But I wouldn’t want to chance using
any Injun’s gun. They’re likely to blow up in your face most any
time.’

‘
It won’t be so bad when some of our folk coming looking for
us,’ Colin remarked, walking with Jeanie in search of a place to
climb down to the land below.

‘
Something tells me that they can’t come looking,’ Jeanie
answered soberly. ‘If the Tejas’re siding the Flores boys, it’s
likely to be for an attack on our camp.’

‘
It’s me the brothers are after,’ Colin pointed out.

‘
Yeah. And only Matteo come after you. The Tejas’d want
something afore they’d help out. After the way you boys handled
them, I’d say their price’d be that Tiburcio and the rest of the
gang helped them against us.’

‘
You think they’re attacking the camp then?’

‘
It’s likely. But the Kid was dogging them and’d get back word
of what’s happening to Dusty. Pappy picked that camp because it’s a
good place to hole up and fight. We held off and plumb discouraged
a big bunch of Kiowa bad-hats there one time and with only one
Henry.’

‘
Then your mother and the others have a chance,’ Colin
sighed.

‘
I’d say better’n a fair one with Dusty Fog along. That boy’s
one whole he-coon in a fight and his pards’re no slouches. Still,
sooner we’re back there the better for all of us.’

Once down on
the level ground, Colin allowed Jeanie to lead the way. She made
for the bosque and they crossed the stream at the point where the
horses had carried them over on the way out. Through the trees,
Jeanie continued to keep almost to the line taken by them during
the wild chase from the camp. Although they kept alert, they
neither saw nor heard anything to disturb them. Then the distant
crackle of gunfire brought them to a halt.

‘
It’s from the camp!’ Jeanie said and started
forward.

‘
Come on—!’

‘
Slow down, lass!’ Colin ordered, catching her arm and bringing
her to a halt. ‘We can’t run all the way and arrive in any
condition to fight.’

‘
That’s for sure,’ Jeanie admitted. ‘Only Ma and the
others—’

‘
I’m worrying about them too, lass. But it’ll do them no good
if we rush up and are taken prisoner by those red
heathens.’

‘
How do we play it then?’

‘
Keep walking at a steady pace, watching our step all the way.
Once we get close enough to see what’s happening, we can decide
what to do for the best.’

Listening,
Jeanie told herself that Colin had a damned good grasp of the
situation and had put up the only sensible idea. With that decided,
she allowed him to set the speed at which they walked and held down
her impatience. Every one of her previous misgivings about the Scot
had completely disappeared. There was a man any Texas gal would be
right pleased to marry, happen he got around to asking her. Even if
he did not, Jeanie decided that the end result would be the
same.

‘
It’s a free country,’ she mused. ‘So why can’t a gal do the
asking if the feller won’t?’

Walking on, she
put aside her flippant thought. The shooting died away, then welled
up for a short time and faded off. Although the odd shots cracked
out, the volume of fire did not rise again. Having been through
Indian attacks before, Jeanie guessed that the assault had failed.
Most likely the Indians were backed off, leaving a few men to
harass the defenders while the rest re-made their medicine. The
idea gained strength as they drew nearer and she could hear the
reports better.

Sharp cracks
from Henry rifles intermingled with the deeper growl of large
caliber weapons.

At last the
nearer shots sounded from over the rim up which they were climbing.
So they stalked cautiously upwards until they could peer over the
top. Lying flat, they could see the camp and were heartened by what
they saw. At least eight Indians and two Mexicans were scattered
before the defenders’ position and the watchers could see no signs
of casualties among their friends. A further pair of Mexicans and a
handful of Tejas crouched behind various pieces of cover,
bombarding the camp. Even as Jeanie and Colin watched, the Kid rose
slightly from where he lay under the chuck wagon. His Winchester
spat and one of the Mexicans lurched out of hiding then
collapsed.

The remainder
of the Indians gathered around Tiburcio Flores and another Mexican
Colin and Jeanie recognized.

‘
Cijar!’ the girl spat out. ‘How did that no-good pelados get
tied in with Flores and the Injuns?’

‘
I couldn’t say,’ Colin answered dryly. ‘Right now, I’m more
interested in finding out what they’re talking about.’

‘
Yah!’ Jeanie sniffed, poking her tongue out at him. ‘So sneak
up on ’em and listen.’

‘
That’s what I was thinking of doing, lass,’ Colin informed
her.

‘
Colin!’ Jeanie gasped, realizing he was serious. ‘It’ll be
risky as hell.’

‘
I’ve stalked deer in the Highlands, lassie. Those feller’re no
sharper in the eyes and ears than a good stag.’

‘
Let’s go then. And don’t tell me “no”. We haven’t time to
argue it out—and you can’t speak Spanish.’

That was a
decisive point, even if Colin had wished to leave Jeanie behind. It
would be of no use him moving unobserved to a place where he could
hear the men and then be unable to understand them. So he looked
around, picking out the safest position for them to use. Along the
rim there was a large clump of dogwood bushes which would fill
their needs. Nodding to it, Colin received a smile of confirmation
from the girl. Carefully backing from the rim, they made their way
to the bushes and eased their way under the shelter of the foliage
until able once more to see the Mexicans and Indians. Not more than
seventy yards separated them and they could hear all the others
said.

‘
Flores wants them to attack again,’ Jeanie whispered. ‘Only
the chief allows they’ve lost enough men already and’s set to pull
out.’

‘
It may be all right then,’ Colin breathed back.

‘
No. Flores’s got Cijar telling the Injuns about all the good
things they’ll get from the wagons. Guns, powder, bullets, the
hosses, food. Dirty, stinking son-of-a-bitch. He’s got them
interested again.’

‘
The black-hearted devil!’

‘
Which one of ’em? Anyways, the chief still reckons they’re not
chancing another attack. Now Flores allows to have a right smart
notion. He wants them to make a rush just after
sun-down.’

‘
That’d be a good time for it,’ Colin admitted. ‘But Dusty’s
sure to be expecting them to do just that.’

‘
Maybe not,’ Jeanie answered. ‘Injuns don’t do much fighting in
the dark. They figure the Great Spirit might not find ’em if they
get killed at night.’

Silently they
listened to the argument carried on between Flores and the chief.
Even Colin could see that the Mexican was making his point and
Jeanie confirmed it.

‘
He’s got it all figured out. They pull back over the rim and
make like they’re fixing to settle down for the night. Just do
enough to let our folks know they’re still on hand. Then him and
his men’ll take the Spencers and move around to the side. Soon as
the sun drops, they’ll start shooting and the Injuns’ll go down the
slope like the devil-after-a-yearling.’

More talk
followed, which Jeanie said was a discussion on whether the attack
would be good medicine or not. At last it was decided to put the
plan into operation. Leaving the few men armed with rifles to hold
the defender’s attention, the remainder rode over the rim. They
passed within a few yards of the bushes, never suspecting Jeanie
and Colin lay hidden so near.

‘
What’ll we do?’ Jeanie asked, her mouth close to Colin’s ear
in the interests of added silence. ‘Charging down like that,
they’ll at least run off all our hosses.’

‘
We can’t do anything yet,’ Colin replied. ‘How will they make
the attack?’

‘
On their hosses, if I know Injuns.’

‘
If they do, we’ll see what their horses make of pipe music,’
Colin stated.

Settling down
as comfortably as they could manage, Colin and Jeanie prepared to
wait out the long hours until dark. Colin placed his dirk close to
his hand and gave Jeanie the sgian-dubh, so that they would have
the means to defend themselves if discovered.

None of the
enemy came near the bushes. However a few braves rode off in
different directions. Jeanie guessed that they had been sent out to
gather food for the rest of the band. One of the hunters brought
back something unexpected when he galloped up leading four
horses.

Flores
recognized his brother’s mount and started to demand that a search
be made. Having become enthusiastic over the idea of an unexpected
night attack, the Tejas chief refused to let the Mexican go.
Instead he sent off six of his own men. They returned shortly
before sun-down and told Tiburcio of Matteo’s death. Learning that
the braves had not tried to track down the man who did the killing,
Flores cursed them. Their insistence that they thought he would
wish to avenge the death of his brother struck Tiburcio as a mite
unconvincing, but he accepted it. Realizing that there would be
insufficient light for him to search for the girl and the man in
the skirt, he gave his attention to preparing for the attack.

Slowly the sun
sank beyond the western horizon. In its last light, the Mexicans
took their rifles and horses to the position from which they would
send covering fire into the camp. Gathering their mounts, the
Indians formed up behind the rim and waited for their chief’s order
to attack.

In the bushes,
Colin knelt and took up his pipes. Jeanie kissed him lightly on the
cheek as he tucked the bag under his arm and rested the raised
pipes on his shoulder. Giving the girl a comforting smile, Colin
filled his lungs with air. Then he placed the chanter in his mouth
and began to blow.

The noise
caused by the horses moving restlessly and riders muttering drowned
the first murmur of the pipes. Slowly the sound grew louder, rising
through the night with all its wild beauty of tone. Never had Colin
played as he did crouching among the dogwood bushes at the side of
the woman he loved and whose mother and friends he sought to
save.

If the
mustangers’ horses had displayed aversion towards the tones of the
bagpipes, it was nothing to how the Indian ponies reacted—and the
Tejas showed that they too had little taste for Highland music.
Snorts of terror broke out as the skirling wails reached the
ponies, mingling with the startled yells of the Indians. Never had
the Tejas heard such a sound and they formed their own
interpretations of what caused it. Despite Flores’ assurances, none
of the braves had felt happy or comfortable about breaking the
age-old tradition by fighting in the dark. So, hearing the—to
them—unearthly noise lifting from so close at hand, they decided it
must be an expression of the Great Spirit’s wrath at their
impiety.

With the music
ringing louder, the horses started to pitch and tried to run away.
Three braves were thrown from their mounts in the ensuing chaos.
Then the whole band began to scatter. Scooping up their un-horsed
companions, the Tejas lit out as fast as they could go.

‘
Damned heathens!’ Colin snorted, lowering the chanter for a
moment. ‘Don’t they know good music when they hear it?’

‘
It sure looks that way,’ Jeanie replied, hugging him. ‘But I
like it. What do we do now?’