Eagle People (35 page)

Luther appeared and said, “Our number of female slaves is short four, so counting the dead one by the door, that means three escaped.”

“Well, aren't you the mathematical genius? Can your ass add, too?”

Zedock had been quietly allowing Masheck to vent, but now he said, “Fighting among ourselves will not bring the women back. It's very likely they'll all freeze to death in this cold.”

Masheck had been so angry, he'd forgotten about the storm, and now he smiled.

“So, no one really escaped to freedom. They'll be dead by daylight.”

“Well,” said Masheck, “There will be no reason to look for them, because their tracks and bodies will be covered with snow. But, from now on, no guard is to enter the slave quarters under  penalty of death. It's just plain stupid for them to want a woman when there are more than enough around for them to take.”

“What of the older woman with the red hair?” Zedock asked.

Luther replied, “From what we learned, she was the brains behind the escape and it was her idea. They used a young girl to lure the man in, then the older one beat him to death with a log. She's one of those missing.”

Well,
thought Zedock,
she's intelligent as well as beautiful. That's a rare combination these days. I think she would have made me the perfect mate, but she's vulture bait by now, or soon will be.

Masheck looked up at the sky filled with snowflakes and said, “Minimum guards. No one but fools are out in this weather. I do, nonetheless, want double guards on the captives. Move the boys and girls into the lodge with the women, so the job will be easier. I'm going back to my wife and warm blankets.”

“Back to your lodges. There is no need for all of us to be standing out in the snow, it's too cold.”  Zedock said and then as an afterthought said, “Luther, see to the movement of the captives and double the guards.”

“It will be done.”

Within ten minutes, the village grew as still as death, and the waiting attackers smiled. The Dog Soldiers were close enough to hear the whole conversation. His hands visible now, in the dim light of the rising sun, Amon signed, “Dooley, tell Mongoose and Colonel to bring the main force forward.  Tell him all is ready.”

By full light, the Colonel and Mongoose were looking the village over closely. Snow was still falling and close to six inches covered the land in white. The leader of the attack would be Amon and he was in position and watching Colonel's arms.

Suddenly, Colonel's arms were raised and then dropped to his sides.  

A loud war cry filled the early morning stillness and warriors began to run into the Snake village. A Snake ran from his lodge, but at least five bullets struck him, sending gore and blood exploding from his back. Men began to exit the lodges, but were cut down like wheat during harvest. A man beside Amon screamed, grabbed at his face and fell squealing. Bullets zinged as they struck rocks under the snow or the sides of lodges, sending lead flying off into space.

Men from both sides fell, with most being Snakes, and few dropped quietly. Screams and loud shrieks were heard as men, and some women, were struck and injured, or killed. Men were seen crawling toward their comrades, often not making the short distance before they were struck again and again. It was a brutal battle with no quarter asked and none given.

A bullet took Sergeant Dooley in the leg and down he went, screaming. Dropping his rifle, the Sergeant grabbed his leg with both hands, as blood ran between his fingers. As bullets kicked up dust and snow around Dooley, three Dog Soldiers pulled the wounded man from danger, and placed him behind a lodge. Ada, moving forward, stopped, bandaged Dooley's leg, and then moved forward with his men, leaving the injured man alone.

The Major ran toward Dooley, but screamed and fell to the snow, his head a mangled mess. The top of his head from his eyebrows up was missing. The Sergeant watched as hot blood melted the snow and a pool of crimson gathered under the man's head. Within minutes, the blood was starting to freeze.

Two women attempted to run across the open space between two lodges, but were immediately struck and killed by one side or the other. Both women landed on their backs and their bodies continued to jerk when hit by more bullets. Over just a few minutes, body parts began to fly into the air.

The sounds of rifles being fired grew intense, especially after the Snake warriors established a holding position near Zedock's lodge, and Amon knew this had to end.

“Ada, take three men and flank them. See if you can get a grenade or two in the group. The rest of us will give you cover fire.”

Ada and three men moved from the firefight and pulled back a few lodges. Then, one by one they ran for the trees. Moving forward they were all on edge, but they knew time was important. The longer the battle raged, the more of their men that would be injured or killed. Snow was still falling and it helped to mask their movements.

Finally, glancing to his left, Ada saw a group of about a dozen Snakes behind barriers. Using sign, he said, “You,” he pointed at the youngest warrior, “cover us as we move forward to toss the grenades.”

The young man nodded.

The three men walked a short distance, keeping trees between them and the Snakes. Finally they got down on their knees and after about twenty feet, they began to crawl forward. Ada finally stopped and pointed to a grenade in his hand and nodded.  

The young man in the trees spotted a Snake warrior looking in their direction and saw his rifle start to turn. He flipped his gun to automatic and pulled the trigger. Bullets began to hit lodges and weapons, ricocheting through the air with loud pings. Men screamed in pain when struck, while others yelled in fear. Then three grenades flew through the air, their spoons going in different directions, and all waited for the explosions. One Snake warrior picked up a grenade and was looking at it with a dumb look in his eyes when it exploded, followed almost instantly by two additional explosions. When the smoke cleared, a few moans and groans were heard, but no rifle fire. The man who'd been holding the grenade was now hamburger and dead.

Amon's warriors gave a loud cry of victory and ran into the barrier, firing at anything that moved. Minutes later, it grew quiet.

Ada and his men stood and yelled, “We're coming in.”

“Come!”  Amon replied.

When they neared, Ada noticed the ground was covered in blood and gore. The bodies were torn and ripped by the grenades, but they had ended the battle for the village. Blood, steaming hot, was now running downhill under the snow, each line faintly seen by his eyes. He shuddered, because it reminded him of killing large numbers of cattle in open fields during times of snow in the past. It was bloody and gory work.

“Bring Lila to the village and let her look at the bodies! Maybe she can identify this Masheck, Luther or Zedock.” Amon said and then added, “Ada, secure all the women. When we return to the village, keep a sharp eye on them.”

“I hear you. Miller, come with me and bring Thomas.”

Sergeant Dooley limped forward, using his rifle as a crutch and said, “We kicked some serious ass here this morning. Good Job, sir.”

“You okay?”

“Took a stray round to my calf, so I'll heal.”

“Sergeant Dooley, if I can get it done, I want you promoted to lieutenant. It was your training that allowed us to defeat the Snakes. Without the guns and grenades, we'd have been massacred. Thank you.”

Dooley smiled and a runner arrived from Colonel who said, “Five men were spotted by Dog Soldiers as leaving the village just before the explosions. Three of the five were identified by a woman named Lila as being the leaders of this village.”

“Did she physically see them?”

“No, sir, but a Lieutenant Owns gave a pretty good description of the men.”

“Are we to go after them or will the Dog Soldiers kill them?”

“I have no idea; I'm just a runner, and don't make decisions. He wants you to gather the captives, make sure they have warm clothing and blankets, and then start moving back to the village.”

“Return to him and let him know we'll be moving shortly.”

Masheck was terrified, and ran with the others to escape the hail of bullets that flew through his lodge.  His wife had stood and then screamed as a bullet struck her jaw. Blood was flooding down her naked body as she attempted to use her hands to stem the bleeding. When she made eye contact with him as he dressed, he saw her whole lower jaw was gone. Her blood-covered hand reached out for him, but he slipped his jacket on, grabbed his rifle, and ignored her. As he slipped out the door, she fell to her knees and realized he'd never loved her, only used her.

Running for the trees and relative safety, he was surprised to see Luther and Zedock waiting near some briar patches. Both turned their weapons toward him when he neared. Then, seeing it was him, they lowered the barrels.

“We need to move, and do it now.” Masheck said.

“Do we have what we need to survive?” Zedock asked.

Luther said, “Movement, coming from the village and right for us.”

The three men squatted and slipped the safeties off their rifles. When the two forms materialized from the falling snow, Luther said, “Stop.”

Both men stopped.

Zedock said, “They're our men. Come, join with us, and we must leave.”

“The Northern Mountain People have taken the village.”

“We had to run, they were killing our wounded.”

“Shut your mouths, both of you, and follow us.” Masheck ordered as he started walking west, toward the mountains.

All day they moved west and snow continued to fall without letup. It was at the base of a mountain, where the snow was almost to Masheck's knees that he said, “We'll spend the night here. I have flint and steel, so all but one of you gather wood. You,” he said to Luther, “guard us as we get a campsite organized. It will be a long night without blankets or lodges, but we'll survive.”

Soon wood was stacked beside a fire, but the winds howled and screamed as the men worked to construct a shelter made of limbs, logs, and bits of wood. Once the shelter was in place, the men covered the whole thing with limbs of pine. The inside floor was covered with pine boughs as well, because it would make for warmer and softer sleeping.

Later, as they all huddled close to the fire, Luther asked, “What are we to do? We have nothing.”

“We have guns!” Masheck said, his tone filled with anger.

“Damn it, Masheck,” Zedock said, “guns won't fill our bellies or keep our asses warm tonight when the temperature drops below zero.”

“You can last one night. Tomorrow we'll return to the village.”

“Have you lost your damned mind? All is gone! The last I saw, our women and the captives were being led away.”

“I have some weapons, food, and medical supplies buried near my lodge, in the trees. We couldn't risk digging it up earlier, because we would've been seen. Tomorrow there will be no enemies there and we can take it all. Then, we'll move south, to maybe some remote village and with our guns, take control.”

“It's possible, but we're taking one hell of a risk.”

Meeting Zedock's eyes, he replied, “Risks, my friend, is what makes life interesting.”

Chapter 24

BLANKETS WERE PROVIDED
to those captives that didn't have any and Mongoose said, “Ada, take them all to the village. Amon, you will take ten of your Dog Soldiers and go after the five that got away. I will go with you and we must kill them. Not because they're Snakes, but because they have guns. We cannot allow five men to run loose in the mountains armed, or they'll soon take another village. It'll happen with the first good weather, too.”

“When do we leave?”

“Now. We'll move to the village and wait. They have nothing and need much to survive this weather. I honestly expect them to return for any blankets, clothing, or food they can find. I know it looked as if we left nothing, but who knows?”  As she talked snow blew around her head.

“It will be cold.”

“I have a plan. Make sure you bring grenades and the mines we have. I suspect we'll be able to wait in a lodge, away from the village center, and hear if anyone enters.”