Slocum and the Spirit Bear (9781101618790) (13 page)

Slocum approached the cook, placed one hand on his shoulder, and said, “You did what you had to do. Just like the rest of us.”

“You shot that animal?” Josiah asked while nodding toward the corpse hung up in the wheel.

Franco drew a long breath, looked down at the body, and then locked eyes with Josiah. “He's no animal,” Franco said. “He's a man, and yes, I shot him.”

Josiah offered his hand, but Franco didn't shake it. Instead, the cook took off his jacket and draped it over the corpse lying in the blood-soaked mud.

“Where's Ed?” Slocum asked. “Or Tom?”

“I'll look for them,” Franco said.

Josiah nodded and said, “I will, too.” He then climbed back into his saddle and rode to search the tall grass alongside the trail.

“May I?” Slocum asked as he approached Theresa's wagon. She nodded and stepped aside so he could pull back the tarp and look in on the skinny little boy huddled among the stacks of furniture. “You all right, James?”

The boy nodded.

“Good. Stay put until we come for you, all right?”

James had no problem agreeing to that order.

Next, Slocum went to the McCauley wagon. Little Michael watched him approach and pulled his head back inside when Slocum got too close. He whispered to his mother, and by the time Slocum took a look inside, Vera was already making her way toward the back of the wagon. Theirs had more space inside compared to Theresa's, which wasn't saying much. There was room for two narrow piles of blankets and Elsie lay on the one farthest from the opening.

“What happened to her?” Slocum asked.

Vera's face was taut with rage. Her eyes burned with hatred. When she looked at Slocum, that hate flared before quickly burning itself out. “A spear came through and caught her in the arm. She was . . .” Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks, but she forced them back through sheer will. When she spoke again, her voice was solid as stone. “She was a bloody mess, but the wound wasn't too bad.”

“I heard her screaming after the attack.”

“That was because I was stitching her up.” Vera looked back at her little girl. Elsie was shaking with sobs that wracked her entire little body, but her eyes were bright and her face had color. “She'll be all right,” Vera said.

“Can you tend to others who might need it?” Slocum asked.

“Yes. Can you find the brutes that did this to a wagon full of children?”

Looking at the spot where the spear had torn through the wagon's covering, Slocum had to use every ounce of strength to keep from letting out his own enraged howl. “First we collect ourselves and close ranks. After that, I assure you, we'll make those savages answer for what they did.”

14

Slocum's eyes were still burning when he searched the grass surrounding the trail for bodies. When he found Ed lying on his back, he thought the worst. He climbed down from his saddle, ready to drag the wagon master's corpse back to his wife.

“Take your sweet time, John,” Ed grunted. “Not like I'm about to go anywhere.”

Quickening his pace, Slocum said, “You're alive?”

“Believe so. I don't think dead men hurt this much.”

Slocum bent down to look him over. Ed's legs were bent at odd angles and a portion of his left rib cage was bloody as hell. As far as Slocum could tell, that was the worst of it. “What happened to you, Ed?”

“One of them damn little fellas with the leaf coat jumped up from nowhere and stuck me with a spear or some damned thing,” he grunted while Slocum helped him straighten out his legs and sit up. Nothing seemed to be broken. “We may agree them fellas ain't demons, but they're still the most vicious cusses I ever ran across.”

“I'll have to agree with you on that.” Slocum proceeded to rip away Ed's shirt so he could get a better look. His side was torn open by a gash less than an inch wide. The edges were jagged and blood seeped from the wound. Balling up the shirt, Slocum pressed it against Ed's side and called out, “Vera! Come over here and see about stitching him up.”

“What about the others?” Ed asked. “Anyone else hurt?”

“We all got knocked around pretty good. One of the McCauley children took a grazing blow from a spear. Elsie. She's all right, though.”

“We should'a done a better job of protecting these folks, John. We should've turned back when we had the chance.”

“Don't worry about that now,” Slocum said.

For once, Josiah's timing was perfect when he shouted that he'd found Tom. Ed insisted that he go and lend a hand, so Slocum left him to be tended by Vera.

Tom was right where he'd dropped after Slocum had punched him. Fortunately, none of Spirit Bear's warriors took it upon themselves to finish the big man off. Although Tom seemed to be all right as he was helped to his feet, Slocum felt bad for almost forgetting the big man was there.

“Wha . . . happened?” Tom groaned through a face that was swollen on one side.

“Looks like you took a helluva knock,” Josiah said while propping him up. His head was bowed due to Tom's arm being draped across his shoulders, but he managed to grin at Slocum in a way that made it clear he knew exactly how Tom had wound up there.

Tom's eyes were bleary and red, but at least they weren't the blank, unseeing saucers they'd been when Slocum had been forced to put him down. “Last thing I recall, I was shouting something at John,” Tom said. “I think I was trying to let him know where the danger was and then . . . something hit me.”

“Well,” Slocum said, “the important thing is that you're all right. Apart from your face, were you hurt anywhere else?”

Josiah let him go, and Tom took a few tentative steps. His knees started to buckle and his arms seemed more like thick floppy noodles, but he seemed fine otherwise. “My head's still spinning. Is that what it felt like when you had that peyote slathered on you?”

“More or less,” Slocum said. “But that smoke they got burning out here was something different. Stronger.”

“I can still taste it,” Tom said while smacking his lips and spitting a juicy wad to the ground.

By the time they got back to the wagons, everyone was gathered outside. The children were huddled by their parents and the women tended to the wounded. Franco and Hevo stood like an armed barrier between them and the rest of the world. Slocum, Josiah, and Tom wasted no time in calming the horses and helping everyone get back into the wagons.

“We can't stay out in the open,” Ed said. He was sitting on a crate while Vera finished stitching up his side. To his credit, he didn't even wince.

“And we can't stay here,” Josiah added.

May stepped forward, putting one of Slocum's fears to rest since he hadn't seen her since the shooting started. “We can't stay here?” she said. “And where do you propose we go?”

“West,” Ed told her. “Just like before.”

She wheeled around to face her husband. Vera was tying off the last stitch, but May seemed more than ready to push the other woman aside and pluck all the stitches out one by one when she said, “We were lucky to make it through this alive. You got hurt and I don't even want to think about how much worse it could have been for poor little Elsie.”

“Turning around and going back won't make us any safer,” Ed argued. “Once we get into Colorado, and civilization, we'll have a home and the law to keep watch over us.”

“Civilization,”
she spat as if the word were obscene in itself. “We already
had
civilization before this.”

“But not prosperity. We already discussed this, May. We've come too far to turn back now.”

“We discussed it before blood was spilled.”

“And you didn't think those animals were ready to spill our blood before?” Ed roared. He tried to get to his feet, but was pushed back down again by Slocum so Vera could finally finish her work.

“Fact of the matter is,” Slocum said, “you're both right. What I said before, about you needing to press on, is still true. You all knew this wouldn't be an easy trip. When you folks loaded your lives into them wagons, it was an all-or-nothing bet. You see a place you'd rather make a home? Fine. Plant your roots and make a home. Otherwise, you keep going until you find your home. You tuck your tails between your legs and run back East, you'll always regret it.

“Sure,” he continued. “It was easier to agree with that before today. But this is the real test. This is where you stop talking and start fighting to back up them words we said before. It was too late to turn back yesterday and it's worse than that now. You honestly think those savages won't come back even harder if they smell fear?”

“You already sold us on this much,” Theresa said.

“What I mean,” Slocum replied, “is that you can't go home and you can't stay here. Those men already have this terrain scouted. They've fought here, spilled blood here, picked out their favorite spots. We need to get these wagons to a safe spot. Somewhere that can be easily defended. You won't have to stay there for long, but we should get moving away from here as soon as possible.”

“Once we find this spot,” May said, “how long do we stay there?”

“Just long enough for us to track down Spirit Bear and convince him to let us pass.”

More than a few of the others chuckled at that.

“You think you'll just sit him down and smoke a peace pipe?” Josiah scoffed.

“If that works,” Slocum replied, “I'll do it.”

“What if it don't?”

“I'll think of something,” Slocum told him. To everyone within earshot, he said, “And if it comes down to it, I'll send that murderous lunatic to hell myself. Not just for what he did to us, but for what he and his men did to all the others like us.”

“You will kill Spirit Bear?”

Everyone turned toward the man who'd asked that question. Hevo stepped forward, leading his horse by a hand placed upon its back. His face and body were smeared with war paint and blood. Some of that blood must have come from the wounds he'd picked up in the last hour, but there was so much more of it that a good amount had to have come from other men's veins.

“Yes,” Slocum said. “But I'm no executioner. I'll put an end to this insanity before someone else gets hurt. If that means I have to put an end to Spirit Bear himself, then that's the way it's got to be.”

Hevo studied Slocum carefully while he spoke. Slowly, he nodded. “I believe you. I will also help you.”

“I'm going with you, too,” Josiah said. “I seen enough for me to trust this Injun, but I was the first man hired on to protect these wagons and I ain't about to let nobody else do my work for me.”

“When we find a good spot for the wagons, you're staying behind,” Slocum said. “It should just be me and Hevo that goes on from there.”

“The hell I will,” Josiah said.

“The only reason you don't have to bury anyone right now is because you did not allow Spirit Bear to split your numbers,” Hevo said. “Spirit Bear works through fear and cunning. He has also grown proud. That can lead to the end of a warrior. He will not see what happened today as a defeat. Even now, he fills his warriors' minds with fiery words and promises of victory to come.”

Seeing the confusion on Josiah's face, Slocum explained, “What he means is that this savage in bear skins has gotten too big for his britches. He's grown cocky, and that makes him careless. He'll just keep coming until someone stops him. But he's got so many crazy followers that a string of attacks will be the death of us. Bushwhackers like their ambushes, and they expect to be able to hit us harder each time they come at us. I'm guessing we can take him by surprise if we go after him for a change.”

“You're guessing?” Theresa asked. “Don't you think anyone's gone after him before?”

“Maybe. Maybe not. All I know for certain is that
we
never took a run at him before. Sure, this Spirit Bear may have some mighty strange tricks up his sleeve, but in the end he's just another outlaw gang leader. I've locked horns with more than my share of those.”

She was clearly troubled, but did her best to keep her voice from trembling when she said, “If something happens to you, we won't know where you are. How can we send help?”

“Don't worry about that,” Slocum told her. “If something happens to me, you won't be in any position to do anything about it anyway. I know what I'm getting into.”

“How will you find them?”

“I know where Spirit Bear likes to make his camp,” Hevo said. “I can find him again.”

Slocum nodded confidently. “I'll take a look at the tracks they left behind here. We'll follow them as much as we can and we'll find those sons of bitches. I promise you.”

Although Theresa wasn't going to argue any further with him, it was plain to see she wasn't happy about his decision. And she wasn't the only one.

“I still say I should go with you,” Josiah groused. “I ain't about to put my life in the hands of no Injun.”

“I'm the one paying your salary,” Ed said. “I'm the one who hired you to protect these wagons and the good folks inside of them, and damn it, that's what you'll do. If you want to ride off and leave us here, then you can keep riding and forget about your shares in those mines while you're at it.”

Although there was still a fire in his eyes when Josiah turned to face Ed, it wasn't burning as brightly as it had a moment ago. “I'm just looking out for all of us.”

“So am I,” Ed told him. “We can't withstand another attack like this one. If they hit us soon enough, they'll most likely wipe us off the face of the earth.”

Those words hit everyone hard. Theresa clasped her hands together tight enough for her knuckles to turn white. May put her arms around her husband and held him as if she meant to protect him against anything to come. Vera got up and went to her wagon to be with her children.

The men didn't go anywhere, but were affected just as greatly.

Ed propped himself up and looked at Slocum. “I suppose you'll want to leave before the trail gets cold?”

“That's right,” Slocum replied. “The sooner the better.”

Shifting his eyes to Hevo, Ed struggled to get to his feet so he could stand in front of him when offering his hand. “I know you got your own reasons for going after these men, but I want to thank you.”

Hevo shook Ed's hand. “Spirit Bear has harmed many. It ends now.”

“That's what I want to hear. When this is over, you've got a place among us. We can't offer much, but I have some land in Colorado. I hear it's mighty pretty.”

“My land is here,” Hevo said.

“Then perhaps I can offer—”

“We're burning daylight, Ed,” Slocum cut in. “The decision is made. We need to get moving and so do you.”

Ed smirked sheepishly. “Always was bad at good-byes.”

“Hopefully this isn't good-bye. We'll catch up with you as soon as we can. Do you have anyplace in mind to take the wagons?”

“I'll have to go over my maps, but I think I know someplace that should serve us well enough.”

With that, the meeting was disbanded. Slocum and Ed scoured the maps he'd brought and decided on a good-sized town less than a day's ride from the trail they'd been following. The reasoning was that the town was big enough to have some law and so far Spirit Bear didn't seem anxious to lay siege to something larger than a wagon train. Riding into a town with men dressed in netting and riders rolling in with a smoke cloud was even crazier than what had already happened and would surely give the Army a dozen good reasons to put Spirit Bear at the top of its bounty list.

After gathering supplies and loading his saddlebags, Slocum bade farewell to the others with a longer farewell to Theresa. She didn't seem the least bit concerned with whether or not anyone knew her feelings for him. She just wanted to give him one more kiss before he left her sight. It was the kind of kiss that Slocum could still feel even after taking time to revisit the spot where they'd been attacked to check for any tracks that had been left behind. They weren't in short supply.

Throughout most of this time, Hevo had made himself scarce. After the plans had been made, he told Slocum he had to make preparations of his own and said he would catch up with him after he left. Although Slocum would have preferred to keep the Indian close, there was no good way of stopping Hevo before he rode away. The wagons were a mile behind him when Slocum heard a horse riding to catch up to him. He slowed his pace and watched as Hevo closed the distance to come up alongside him.