Leaving the expanse of rock, he came upon a broad meadow and sighted a deep gully that appeared to lead down toward the pines again. It looked to be a reasonable way down the mountain, so he decided to take it. Much to his surprise, he discovered a trail of hoofprints leading into the mouth of the gully.
Dumb luck
, he thought. The gulch led him to a hogback leading to the next mountain. By the time he found his way to the valley and Black Otter's camp, the afternoon was wearing away.
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Seldom taking her eyes off the open valley they had crossed to get to Black Otter's camp, Lacey sat drinking a cup of the coffee Bonnie had made. They had eaten some of the venison that Little Flower had dried before, and while not yet exhibiting cordiality, at least the Indian woman no longer looked at her with a frown etched in her bronze features. Lacey could not blame her for feeling threatened. She would in her place. She glanced away from the valley for a few moments to look at Bonnie. Her sister in the ancient profession never seemed timid in any circumstance, and was already in the process of taking over the camp. She had dived right in with preparing food for them, making coffee, roasting strips of deer meat that Little Flower had provided. Lacey wondered if Bonnie was as fearless as she purveyed. At that moment, Bonnie looked up to meet her gaze and smiled. Then her eyes suddenly opened wide and she exclaimed, “Adam!” They all turned to discover the solitary rider coming across the valley floor. Black Otter immediately grabbed his bow, but there was no mistaking the bold figure riding the bay gelding.
Lacey dropped her cup, spilling the coffee in the sand, as she jumped to her feet and ran to meet him. Bonnie stood up, but remained by Finn's side.
That little girl is working herself up for a big disappointment,
she thought. As far as she could tell, Adam had shown no particular interest in Lacey beyond the concern he might feel for any vulnerable woman. But Lacey was becoming more and more dependent upon their tall rescuer, and Bonnie feared the girl might be interpreting his concern as deeper feelings for her. After all, Jake had planned to carry her away from the evils of Bannack, and Adam seemed to be taking his brother's place.
I hope I'm wrong about this,
she thought, fearing that a second disappointment might be too much for the insecure girl to bear.
“Well, I see you folks got here all right,” Adam said to Lacey when she ran up to walk beside his stirrup.
“I was worried about you, Adam,” Lacey said. “You were gone so long.”
“That's a fact,” Finn called out. “We're all glad you showed up. Thought you mighta got into a little trouble.”
Adam stepped down. Patting Lacey gently on the shoulder, he told her, “No need to worry about me. If somethin' happens to me, you've still got Bonnie and Finn to get you outta here.” To Finn, he said, “No troubleâI waited awhile back up on the mountain for those three fellows to show up, but they never did. I think they musta gave up.”
“That don't hardly figure, does it?” Finn replied, thinking of the amount of gold loaded in the ten bags, of which only he knew the real value. “I ain't sure we're done with them yet.”
“Me, either,” Adam said, “so let's get you ready to ride and get on out of these mountains.” He turned to Black Otter then. The Bannock warrior was standing, waiting to introduce his wife. “Pleased to meet you, ma'am,” Adam said in response to her curt nod, at once sensing a slight hostility in her manner.
Uh-oh
, he thought,
we got Black Otter in trouble with his missus
. Thinking there was no way he could blame her for her attitude, he told Black Otter that he intended to leave right away for the Madison Valley. “I don't wanna bring any more trouble to you and your wife,” he said.
“I help you fight,” Black Otter said.
“You've already helped me, my friend, and I thank you and Little Flower again, but I don't wanna bring those murderers down on your camp.”
“Stay one night,” Black Otter insisted. “Rest, rest horses, go in the morning.”
“All right, we'll leave in the mornin',” Adam finally said, much to his companions' relief. He pulled his saddle off the bay and led the gelding down near the water to graze with the other horses and Finn's mules.
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“Damn!” Cruz swore loudly. “There ain't nothin' but one cliff after another on this mountain.” They had ridden almost halfway around the mountain, and tried climbing up several different ravines that looked to have promise, only to be turned back by a cliff, or a rock ledge. “You're one helluva Injun scout,” he said sarcastically.
“Well, I ain't got no way of knowin' what's at the end of a gulch if I ain't ever been up it before,” Red Blanket replied. “It ain't got nothin' to do with scoutin'.”
“This ain't gettin' us nowhere,” Seeger complained. “We might as well go on back and try it up that stream again. They mighta pulled outta that camp by nowâmighta come down that stream as soon as we left.”
Seeger's comments caused Cruz to hesitate, thinking that he might be right, and the thought of being snookered by the hired gun and his whores was enough to bring his blood to a boil. He was reaching the point where he was ready to follow Seeger's suggestion and go back to the stream below the waterfall, when they came to the hogback that linked the two mountains.
Red Blanket stared up at the trees that covered the high ridge between the two mountains for a few minutes before declaring, “We can ride up that ridge. That mountain ain't so steep on this side. We might be able to go up it, and go round it, and come out above their camp.”
His suggestion sounded as if it entailed a lot of hard work to take the horses up the mountain, but it seemed a reasonable approach to attack the fugitives' camp from above. And no one had any better solution to their problem, so Cruz said, “What the hell? Let's go. There better be a helluva lot of gold up there,” he added, as Red Blanket led out.
As Red Blanket had predicted, the climb up the hogback was steep, but not a hard climb for their horses. “We're gonna have to get off the horses and walk up the back of that mountain,” Red Blanket advised when they had reached the top of the ridge. He stepped down from the saddle and started to lead his horse back up the slope, but was stopped abruptly by something he saw in the pine straw. “Hold on!” he exclaimed, and held up his hand to halt Cruz and Seeger behind him.
“What is it?” Seeger asked.
“Wait a minute,” Red Blanket replied impatiently while he knelt down to examine the floor of the pine forest. Crawling along on his hands and knees, he suddenly let out a chuckle. When Cruz, equally impatient, asked what he had found, Red Blanket got to his feet to announce his discovery. “This oughta tickle you. Them folks has already left that camp. They're on the run.” He pointed over Cruz's shoulder. “They came down off that mountain and crossed over this hogback.” He turned to point again. “And went yonder way.”
This sparked Cruz's and Seeger's interest immediately. “How do you know it was them?” Seeger asked.
“Who else would it be?” Red Blanket replied. “Ain't no doubt, anyway. The way this straw is tore up, it was more'n one or two horses come through here, and it weren't long ago.”
“How long?” Cruz wanted to know.
“Hell, I don't know,” Red Blanket responded, “not long. I'm an Injun. I ain't no damn fortune-teller, but we can't be that far behind 'em.”
Once again, Cruz's mind was working on the possibility of acquiring a large amount of gold, and now it was out in the open. Plummer had said he knew exactly how much there was, but maybe Plummer was bluffing. The thought of capturing Finn's treasure with just the three of them to know how much was really there was cause to consider all the options available. The immediate priority was to overtake the fugitives and take possession of the gold. After that was accomplished, he could take the time to decide the best way to handle the situation, and whether or not he had further need of Seeger and Red Blanket. “Let's go get 'em, boys,” he finally exclaimed. “Lead out, Red Blanket, and mind you don't lead us into no ambush.”
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The first shot came after they had eaten a supper of more venison with some pan bread that Bonnie had made with some of Finn's flour. The bullet found a victim in the form of Lacey Brewer as the young girl passed before the fire, bringing the coffeepot to fill Adam's cup. She issued no more than a whimper before crumpling to the ground with a .44 slug in her stomach. That shot was followed by a volley of rifle fire that swept the camp, sending the fugitives to the ground to seek cover, and Adam scrambling to drag Lacey out of the firelight. Amid the chaos that ensued, he heard Little Flower scream in fear and Bonnie yell Lacey's name. There was no time to see what Finn and Black Otter were doing. Adam had to assume they were taking cover to repel the attack. He pulled Lacey back in the shadows where he had dumped his saddle, and drew his rifle from the sling. He had to take a moment then to try to see where the shots were coming from and how close they were before he could give Lacey his attention. “Lie quiet,” he said softly. “I'll be right back.” He rolled over several times and inched his way up to a low mound close to the edge of the stream, and waited for the next volley. It came in less than a few seconds, and he immediately sent an answering series of shots toward the muzzle flashes. A few yards away, he heard the distinct sound of Bonnie's carbine. After another moment, the solid sound of Finn's rifle sang out. “Lacey's hit!” Adam called out. “Anybody else?”
“We're all right,” Bonnie yelled. “I don't know about Black Otter and Little Flower. Where's Lacey?”
“She's over by my saddle,” Adam answered. “I'm goin' back to her now. Keep your eyes peeled.” He crawled back to the wounded girl.
“Adam,” Lacey cried when he returned to her side, her voice pitiful and frightened. “It hurts bad, Adam.”
“Where are you hit?” he asked. “Oh, Lord,” he blurted immediately after, when he saw the dark stain spreading rapidly on her shirt. Then, afraid that he might have frightened her, he quickly tried to reassure her. “You're gonna be all right. I know it hurts, but you'll be all right.” Even as he said it, he knew her chances were not good. There was nothing he could do to help her.
There was a lull in the shooting and a few seconds later, Bonnie crawled over to join them. “How bad is it, honey?” she asked Lacey.
“It hurts,” Lacey whimpered.
Bonnie looked at Adam and he shook his head, telling her what she had feared. Then, seeing Lacey's bloody shirt, she understood. Lacey was gut-shot and bleeding internally as well as soaking her shirt. She put her carbine down and put her arms around the dying girl, holding her close to comfort her. Speaking quietly to Adam, she said, “You'd better keep your eye on the others.”
He nodded, then looked again at Lacey. It was obvious that the young girl was fading fast, and it grieved him to see her suffer so, but he felt helpless to do anything that might make it easier for her. The shooting from the valley floor started anew and he told Bonnie he was going to go back to the bank of the stream where he had a better chance of a lucky shot.
Slipping in and out of consciousness, Lacey was fighting to live and she clutched Adam's wrist as he started to leave. “Don't leave me, Adam,” she pleaded feebly. Her words were weak and slurred as the life drained out of her body. “I'd have made you a good wife, Adam.”
Startled by her dying statement, he didn't know how to respond, but he did not want to hurt her feelings. “I know you would, Lacey. You'da made any man a fine wife.” A faint smile parted her lips, she sighed softly, and she was gone. Stunned for a moment, Adam felt his soul filled with rage for the useless killing of the young innocent girl. She had been an easy target, silhouetted against the firelight, so they killed her. It didn't matter that she was no threat to them. They just took the easy shot.
“Adam, you're hurting me.”
In his anger over the unjust murder, he hadn't realized that he had grabbed Bonnie's arm, and the powerful grip of his hand had cut off the circulation. He released her immediately. “I'm sorry. I didn't think what I was doin'.”
“I know,” she said softly, ignoring the random shots that still snapped across the stream, tearing holes in Little Flower's tipi. “It's not your fault. There wasn't anything you could have done to save her life.” Her words were unusually gentle, not at all her normal brashness. “The rest of us need you now. If we don't respond to their attack, they're gonna ride right in here and kill us all. Lacey's gone and it ain't your fault.”
He heard what she was saying, but he could not discard the guilt he felt for Lacey's death. He had told her he would take her home with him. Had he not, she would still be in Bannack, unhappy maybe, but alive. He hoped that Jake might be there to take her hand and lead her across that dark river into the next world, whatever that was. As for himself, he had had enough. He was tired of running, chased by godless outlaws who preyed upon the innocent, like Laceyâand Finnâand Black Otter. Not only was he guilty of Lacey's death, but he had brought the murderers down on the innocent Indian couple. At that moment, he decided that he was no longer going to run from these gangs of outlaws. It was time for them to pay for their sins against decent folks.
Once his decision was made, a calmness came over him, and when he looked at Bonnie's terrified eyes, he realized that she was frightened by this intense episode that had seemed to consume him. Once again, his somber demeanor returned as he told her what she should do. “Leave Lacey for now. Crawl back over there with your carbine and help Finn throw some shots at the muzzle flashes when you see 'em.”