Eyes of Eagles (9 page)

“Perhaps that isn't a bad thing, Jamie. We're heading into a savage land where it will take that wildness to survive. You have to look at it that way.”

“Did you see me back there, Kate? The pistols actually seemed to be a part of my arm and hand. I don't even remember jerking and firing. It was... it was... a natural thing to do. Three men are dead, Kate. Two at my hand. And if you had not screamed, I would have surely killed that third man.”

She did not know how to respond to that, so she said nothing.

After a moment, Jamie said, “If the remaining brothers are as bad as those we saw back there, they'll torture the truth out of that old man and woman.”

“They wouldn't!”

“Oh, yes, they would. And they will. And I've seen brave warriors break under pain. We've got to ride, Kate. And ride far.” He shook his head. “I've got you in an awful mess, Kate.”

She smiled and kissed him. “
We
got ourselves in the mess, Jamie. Us. Together. Just like we planned for months. Together. Forever.”

I just hope forever isn't as short as the future looks right now, Jamie thought, helping Kate to her feet and giving her a hand up into the sidesaddle. 'Cause right now, it looks bleak.

Jamie and Kate had no choice but to head for the river crossing at New Madrid, for this was all new country to Jamie, and he didn't know where else to cross. The river curved just north of the store, effectively trapping them in its upside-down U. He kept them as close to the river as possible, and they saw a few boats on the mighty river. Once they came upon a band of Chickasaw Indians, but they were friendly, and friendlier still when one of them recognized Jamie as Man Who Is Not Afraid.

“Tall Bull and Little Wolf hunt you, Man Who Is Not Afraid,” the Indian said. “They have sworn that you will die.”

“They don't worry me as much as those white men behind us,” Jamie said, in tongue and in sign. “If you see them, stay away, for they are bad.”

“As are most white men,” the leader of the band said. “Even though you were taken by the hated Shawnee, you are a good white man. You learned the true ways and follow them.” He shrugged his shoulders. “You are good even though you are a white man,” he added. “Go in peace.”

A few more days and they found a boatman who would cross them, for a fee that Jamie felt was a bit high, and then they were in New Madrid. The town had been destroyed during the earthquakes of 1811 and 1812, when the upheavals had been so tremendous the Mississippi River had actually run backward and the town they were seeing now had been forced to relocate several times.

Jamie found a boarding house and got a room for Kate, so she could bathe and change clothes, while the lady who ran the place kept an eagle eye on him. Then they found a minister who agreed to marry them and Jamie slipped the ring that Sarah had given him onto Kate's finger and kissed her. They decided to ride on that day, rather than risk a night in the town, for Jamie was sure that the Newby Brothers were hard on their trail. They cut straight across Missouri, heading for the hills. That night they were truly joined and it was magic for both of them, as they made the sweetest of love under God's canopy of diamonds set in velvet. They promised their undying love for each other.

They were both fourteen years old.

When the young couple reached a series of foothills, Jamie cut south, into Arkansas, still a few years away from being admitted into the Union. Behind them and still on the east side of the Mississippi River, Hart Olmstead and John Jackson and their sons were trying to pick up their trail. The country store where Jamie had encountered the Newby Brothers was nothing but charred ash. The surviving Newby Brothers had tortured the old man and woman until they told them that the young couple had planned to cross the river at New Madrid. The Newby Brothers then killed the man and woman and burned down the store.

On the banks of the east side of the river, the brothers cleaned up as best they could and then paid to cross the Mississippi. In New Madrid, they made a few polite inquiries and found that a young couple had been there a few days earlier and had been married. The last anyone saw of them they were heading west, toward Crowley's Ridge.

The Newby brothers were riding westward five minutes later.

* * *

Jamie and Kate were near adults for their time, but really they were still kids, and this trip was a grand adventure for both of them. They were in a wilderness, where few white people lived and Indians still roamed. Here they would find a few Osage, but mostly Quapaw and Caddo. Jamie did not know if the Indians here were warlike or peaceful, and he wasn't about to take any chances.

Jamie led them on game trails, staying away from what few roads there were, and being very careful to stop every so often and check for smoke. Jamie used his bow to hunt game, choosing the silent kill over the more accurate and long-range rifle, which might have attracted unwanted attention.

For days they rode south and slightly west, through heavily forested hills and valleys. They saw the smoke from cabins and a few settlements, but stayed clear of them. Their supplies ran out when they were a few miles north and west of the territorial capital, a place called Little Rock, which was once a Quapaw Indian settlement, then a trading post, founded by a French trapper named Bernard de la Harpe back in 1722.

Now the young couple had a hard decision to make.

“If we go into Little Rock,” Jamie said, “for sure we'll attract attention, even though I'm told it's a huge place, with maybe a thousand people there.”

“All together?” Kate asked.

“That's what I was told. And I feel that those tracking us will go there to make inquiries. There are sure to be trading posts along the river, but going to one of them would be worse than the city.”

“I've never seen a thousand people all together,” Kate said wistfully. “The city must be filled with all sorts of grand shops.”

“Do you want to go there, Kate?”

“That's up to you, Jamie. But we've got to have supplies; we're out of everything.”

“And we've got to pick up a pack horse and a new tent,” Jamie said with a sigh. At times he felt like the weight of the world was on his strong young shoulders. “Well... it can't be helped. We've got to go there, and we've got to outfit. We've got to stock up with powder and lead. Kate, when we leave the city, we'll head straight west, into the Ouachitas. That Quapaw I talked to said we could lose our pursuers in there.” The friendly Quapaw had also told Jamie it was a dandy place for him to set up an ambush, and kill those tracking them, but Jamie didn't tell Kate that. Although he certainly kept that thought in the back of his mind.

“Whatever you say, Jamie.”

Kate was tired and her face showed the strain of traveling through the wilderness. Having known nothing but brutally hard work since childhood, this venture was no more than a lark to Jamie. But he knew it was tough on Kate. Riding sidesaddle through the wilderness was awkward and uncomfortable.

“Ah, Kate,” Jamie said, not quite sure how she would receive this suggestion. “There is one other thing we can buy when we get to the city.”

“Oh?”

“A regular saddle and some men's britches for you to wear.”

She smiled mischievously. “Why, Jamie, you know that a proper young lady does not sit a horse astride.”

“It was just a suggestion, Kate.”

She laughed at the crestfallen look on his face. “Oh, Jamie! I think it's a wonderful suggestion. With me not having to sit perched on that stupid saddle like a queen, we can make much better time. And if I get a big floppy hat and loose clothing, I can cut my hair short and pass for a boy.”

Jamie looked at her. He had his doubts about that last bit. Nobody but a babbling idiot would ever take Kate for a boy. But he was learning fast about being married. “Uh ... right, Kate. You're right.”

* * *

“We got a big group of men followin' us,” Trent Newby said, flopping down on the ground and pouring a cup of coffee from the battered pot.

“The law?” Waymore Newby asked.

“What law?” Ford Newby asked. “There ain't no damn law in this territory — at least none that could, or would, tackle us. Mayhaps them folks is trailin' the same two we is?”

“Possibility,” John Newby said. “You mighty quiet, Bart. What you got rumblin' 'round in your noggin?”

“Where are we goin' with this, John? We done left hearth and home way back behind us. Are we west of the river for good?”

“For as long as it takes us to find them two kids and avenge our brothers.”

“That might take years, John.”

“Then it'll take years. What the hell have we got to go back to?”

“Good point,” Waymore said. “Best thing for us is never to go east of the Mississippi. By now, the law has done put together who kilt them old people and torched their store. We cain't never go back.”

The five brothers sat around the fire, morosely staring at the flames, letting that information slowly sink in.

Waymore broke the silence. “I'm gonna kill that kid and use that gold-haired girl hard.”

“And then pass her around,” Bart said.

“Yeah. That too.”

* * *

Jamie paid a farmer on the outskirts of town a dollar to look after their horses, and two dollars to let them use his wagon to go into the city. The farmer hadn't seen three dollars in hard money in months, so he jumped at the offer. He was happier still when Jamie said he would bring the man back a sack of sugar and flour and some coffee.

“Bless your hearts,” his wife said.

Jamie had been astonished when he'd opened the bag of money Sam had given him. He knew it had been awfully heavy, but since he had a little money of his own — Sam had insisted on paying him for the work around the farm, and Jamie had saved most of it — he had not opened the bag until a few days before reaching Little Rock.

“Sam is very wealthy, Jamie,” Kate told him. “He comes from a very rich family back east. So does Sarah. Both families see to it that they want for naught.” She smiled and her eyes sparkled. “Did you ever hear why two educated and sophisticated people like them left the lights of the city and came to be in the wilds of Kentucky?”

“No. But I often wondered.”

“Well, I don't know all the story, but Sarah has told me a little bit about it. Sam and Sarah were quite young when they fell in love. Even younger than us. But another family wanted their son to marry Sarah. There was a fight, and Sam killed the boy's father and had to flee just ahead of the law. The warrants have long since been cleared, but they like it on the frontier and just don't want to go back.”

“That's why he was so eager to help us,” Jamie said slowly, as the two of them bumped and lurched along in the wagon.

“I'm sure that's part of the reason. The main reason is they both love you.”

Jamie didn't know how he felt about that. He did know that it made him feel bad, sort of.

Kate picked up on his mood and put a hand on his arm. “Don't feel badly about it, Jamie. Sarah told me they could never expect to hold you back there. She said you were like an eagle, you had to fly and see through the eyes of eagles. Sam was there and he agreed. He said you were born for the wild country, for the mountains and desert and the wilderness. They questioned me at length about my love for you and the type of life I would probably lead if I left with you. It isn't going to be easy, Jamie. I know that. We're going into country that few white people have ever seen. But it's what I want. That, and to be with you.”

“I don't really know where we're going, Kate. Not yet. But no man could ask a woman for more than you just said. And there's the city, Kate.”

Neither one of them knew if there really were a thousand people in the city, but it was more people than either one of them had ever seen all gathered in one place.

“I'd love to shop some,” Kate said. “But I know that we cannot risk lingering long. We'll shop together as quickly as we can, and then leave. All right?”

Jamie nodded his head and pulled the wagon around to the side of a huge general store. He let the horses drink and then he and Kate walked into the store. Place had more stuff in it than either of them had ever seen. It would make Abe Caney's store back in Kentucky pale in comparison.

Jamie had spread his money around to various pockets of his homespuns that he had changed into at the farmer's cabin. Kate had also sewn pockets at the top of his high-top moccasins for most of the money. He knew better than to flash a lot of gold around. While Kate did her woman's shopping, Jamie bought lead and powder and a mold. Then, after signaling Kate he was stepping outside for a moment, he went next door to a gun and leather shop and bought four used pistols, another rifle, more powder, and a saddle. He could make powder if he had to, for he'd watched the Shawnees do it, combining saltpeter, found in certain types of caves, sulfur, and charcoal... but the homemade stuff was not dependable and tended to be very volatile, igniting when one least expected it, often with disastrous results to the party not expecting harm. He loaded that in the wagon and returned to Kate's side. The store was very busy, and that was good, for it gave no one a chance to really stare long at them or to ask any questions. Jamie bought several sheets of canvas and a small container of tar, which he would use to thinly coat the material to make it waterproof. He bought lengths of rope, two good knives, two hatchets and two axes and a small sharpening stone. Then they loaded up and drove on down the street to another store and bought the rest of their supplies, including eating utensils and britches and shirts for Kate. At the livery, Jamie dickered some with a man and left leading two strong pack horses and rigs to carry all their supplies.

“It's so much, Jamie!” Kate said.

“It'll seem like nothing when we're on the trail, Kate. And I've still got most of the money Sam gave me ... us.”

Kate smiled. “You're catching on real quick, Jamie.” She laughed and hugged him, and Jamie had him a thought that maybe the horses needed a rest and while they were resting, he and Kate could find some bushes to get behind and...

He shook his head. Best to not think about that. Kate had told him there was a time and a place for everything.

He gave the farmer and his wife their promised sacks of sugar and flour and salt and a few other articles that Kate had picked out for the woman and her two young children, a boy and a girl. The man and his wife were embarrassed by the generosity of the young couple.

Jamie leveled with the man and the wife while the kids ran off to play with their new geegaws. “We're running, folks. We've committed no crimes and we're not living in sin. We were married back up the trail. But there are some killers after us. They're bad people. If they should stop here, and they might, you never saw us.”