From Hide and Horn (A Floating Outfit Book Number 5) (10 page)

With each passing day, the order of seniority among the steers
became more firmly established. Once on the move, they ambled along
in the most convenient manner to their needs. Unless bunched
together for some reason by the cowhands, they picked their own
line of march as long as it was in the required direction and
grazed as they walked. However, while a steer could drop back then
revert to its original position, any attempt to advance beyond its
station was resented and discouraged by the beasts ahead. So at any
given time of the day a steer could generally be found in the same
position relative to its companions. Even when thrown off the
trail, stopped to allow more extensive feeding than possible on the
march, or
after being bedded down for the night, they would resume
their positions on the drive’s continuing.

The muleys soon formed themselves into a
group for mutual protection, bedding down clear of their horned
kin, and foraged separately. Bringing up the rear, the weak,
foot-sore or plain lazy animals formed a lachrymose bunch which
needed to be constantly urged on by the drag riders.

Everybody on the drive worked hard from
sun-up until late in the afternoon. Even after that most of the
hands faced a spell of riding the night herd. The cook and his
louse might have things easy during most of the day, but made up
for it by being the first of the crew awake every morning. Good at
their work, they saw to it that the others were well-fed and kept
the coffee on the boil all night for the benefit of the riders
coming to or from the herd.

Not only the steers improved with the
travelling. All the trail hands gained confidence and experience as
the days went by. Dusty watched them all and drew his conclusions
from what he saw. Although there was, naturally, some inter-ranch
rivalry, it stayed on a friendly basis.

Despite his start, Willock proved to be a
good man at his work. He did tend to show off a mite and try to
impress the others with his skill, but avoided incidents of the
kind which had almost brought him into conflict with Dusty. Only
once did his path close with Vern’s; even then only slightly.

Apparently Vern had taken
Dusty’s comments of the first night to heart. He still reacted
eagerly and showed boyish enthusiasm for his work, but not so much
as on the first day of the drive. It seemed that Dawn too had
profited from advice, for she might glance in annoyance when Vern
acted in what she regarded as an unbecoming manner but never
condemned him publicly. Left to himself, the youngster
matured
fast.
He took part in the horseplay around the camp, giving as good as he
got. When joshed about his youth, he no longer grew angry and
commented instead on the age or senility of his tormentor. Only
once did he almost fall from grace.

On the tenth day Goodnight allowed the herd
to rest and graze. With Dusty’s permission, Vern left camp on a
hunting expedition in the hope of varying their diet. Shortly after
noon he returned at a gallop on a lathered horse.

‘
I saw some dust shifting down that
way, Cap’n,’ the youngster breathlessly announced, pointing along
their back trail. ‘And there was something flashing in
it.’

‘
Best go take a look,’ Dusty decided
and ordered some of the men to saddle up fast.

‘
Reckon it’s that Hayden feller?’ Vern
asked excitedly, having been included in the party.

‘
I hope it’s not,’ Dusty replied.
‘Let’s ride.’

Guided by Vern, the party rode
east. On their way, they met the Ysabel Kid returning from a circle
around the area. The Kid confirmed about the dust and explained the
‘metallic’ flashes seen by Vern. About three miles away a large
band of pronghorn antelope were grazing. What Vern had taken for
the flickering of the sun on weapons was the flashing of the
animal’
s
white rumps as they signaled to each other in the manner of their
kind.

Going back to the camp, the men told what had
happened. Willock sneered about the mistake, but had sense enough
to keep his comments to himself. All the older hands agreed that
the youngster had done the right thing by returning. So their
comments about his behavior held no sting. He redeemed himself by
resuming his hunting in the late afternoon and returning with a
bull elk, the meat of which made a welcome change from longhorn
beef.

Having what appeared to be the easiest job on
the drive, the Ysabel Kid came in for his fair share of ribbing
whenever he appeared at the campfire. Ranging far ahead, or
circling the herd at a distance, it was his duty to locate natural
hazards, human enemies or any other kind of danger. He also had to
report to the trail boss on the condition of the land ahead, so
that the route offering the best, easiest travel could be
selected.

With the possibility of further trouble from
Hayden, the Kid kept an extra careful watch on the rear. Nor did
Vern’s abortive alarm cause the dark youngster to relax. However,
day after day rolled by with no sign of their enemies. The weather
stayed fine and the whole crew was in good spirits.

For all that he covered more miles than any
of his companions in a given day, a convention had grown up in the
camp to accuse the Kid of spending his time asleep in the shade of
a bush and only catching up when sure all the work had been done.
When the Kid tried to produce his leg-weary horses as vindication
of his true hard-working qualities, Billy Jack countered by
fabricating a story about a pretty girl the dark youngster visited
each day.

Usually the Kid did not return
until well after dark. So Dusty and Goodnight, out ahead of the
herd, regarded his
appearance with apprehension when he came towards them in
the late afternoon of the fourteenth day. Nothing showed on the
Indian-dark young face and its owner might have been no more than
returning in the normal course of events. Yet Dusty and the rancher
guessed that the Kid bore grave and disturbing news.

‘
All right,’ Dusty said
resignedly as his
amigo
halted the leggy
bayo-lobo
^xv
horse he was using that day. ‘What’s
up ahead.’

‘
Plenty of good grass, a stream of
clear water and a mighty pretty place to bed down just by
it.’

‘
Now the bad news,’ Goodnight
ordered.

‘
Saw some smoke ahead a ways,’ the Kid
complied.

‘
Indians making it?’

‘
Could be, Colonel. It was a fair ways
off and I didn’t take time to go closer. Figured you’d want to
know.’

‘
You figured right. What do you
reckon?’

‘
There wasn’t enough smoke for white
folks to be making it. Or for a whole village. I’d say it’s a small
bunch. Out raiding seeing’s how they’re down this ways.’

Which meant, as Dusty and Goodnight knew, the
braves were on a horse-stealing mission. Not a comforting thought
when the herd had along almost seventy good horses in its remuda.
During his time with Cureton, Goodnight had gained a considerable
knowledge of the Comanche as enemies. However, he was willing to
yield to the Kid’s superior wisdom.

‘
What’re our chances, Lon?’

‘
I dunno,’ the Kid
answered frankly. ‘Down here’s the borders of the
Kweharehnuh
and
Yamparikuh
stamping grounds.
Could be a bunch from either. I’d bet my money on it being
Yap-Eaters, not Antelopes, at this time of the year.’

‘
The Yap-Eaters’re
tough
hombres’
Goodnight pointed out.

‘
Sure, but
us
Pehnane
were allus closer to ’em than to the Antelopes. Happen it’s
either band and not just a bunch of
tuivitsi
on their lonesome, I might be able to get
us by them. It’ll likely cost us some cattle, and maybe a few of
them extra hosses I asked you to fetch along.’

‘
It’ll be worth them to get by without
fuss,’ Goodnight stated. ‘Only a bunch of hot-headed young bucks
aren’t likely to listen to reason.’

‘
Nope,’ agreed the Kid.
‘But, happen them
tuivitsi’we
got a
tehnap
along, he might be.’

‘
Can you get up close
enough to talk, even if there is one along?’ Goodnight asked,
knowing that even
tehnap,
experienced warriors, were inclined to shoot first
and ask questions a long ways second when dealing with white
men.

‘
I’ve got my medicine boot along,’ the
Kid answered. ‘When they see that, they’ll sit back and
listen.’

‘
You want to handle it alone?’ asked
Dusty.

‘
Nope. I’d like to have you along to
talk for Colonel Charlie. There’s another thing, you mind how them
renegade Tejases took on when they saw what our new Henrys could
do?’

‘
I sure do,’ Dusty
grinned, recalling how the repeated fire from their Winchesters had
scared off a band of Indians while on a mustang-catching
trip.
^xvi
‘It’s likely those Yap-Eaters won’t
have seen rifles like them yet either.’

‘
Go with him, Dustine,’ Goodnight said,
even though he might be sending his favorite nephew to an
unpleasant death. ‘Make any kind of deal you have to and I’ll back
you on it.’

‘
Yo! When do you want to start,
Lon?’

‘
As soon as we’ve fed, I’d
say. Further we are from the herd when we meet
’em, the easier we
can dicker.’

Accompanied by Dusty and the Kid, Rowdy
speeded up his team and made for the site selected as their night’s
campground. There he and his louse broke all records in producing a
meal. So well did they work that Dusty and the Kid rode out of camp
just as the first of the night watch came from the herd.

‘
Back to four of us on night herd,’
Willock muttered sullenly, watching the Kid and Dusty pass by.
‘There’s something in the air!’

‘
What’s up, Rowdy?’ inquired Raymar of
the Flying H, having seen the decorative buckskin case across the
Kid’s bent left arm. ‘What’s Lon got that medicine boot on his
rifle for?’

‘
Had he?’ countered the cook and raised
his eyes piously to the sky. ‘So help me, I never
noticed.’

‘
There’s something bad wrong!’ Willock
insisted.

‘
That
stew don’t smell no worse’n any other night,’ Spat Bodley objected.
‘And if it’s anything else, we’ll likely get told soon
enough.’

However the four men had to
return to their duties with curiosity unsatisfied. Goodnight gave
them no more than the usual orders before following the rest of the
crew to the camp.
There he addressed the party at the fire and warned them
what the Kid suspected.

‘
Comanches!’ Dawn breathed.

‘
Shucks, they don’t fight at night,
sis,’ Vern protested. ‘Everybody knows that.’

‘
They may not fight, but they move and
raid in it,’ Goodnight warned him. ‘Only, afore you start looking
for war-whoops behind every rock, I don’t reckon they’re close
enough to make fuss for us tonight. Sure, I know I doubled the
guard. I’d sooner have you all out riding the night herd and see
nothing than get two men jumped and the cattle
scattered.’

‘
Uncle Charlie’s got a real kind
heart,’ Red whispered to Dawn. ‘You’ve just to look real hard to
find it. Most of my uncles’re like that.’

Despite his comment, Red fully agreed with
Goodnight’s precautions. So did the rest of the listeners. Throwing
a glare at his nephew, the keen-eared rancher continued with his
orders in case of an attack.

‘
What repeating rifles
have we along?’ Goodnight asked,
wanting to make sure he knew the
correct figure. ‘All my boys’re carrying Spencers, down to Rowdy
and Turkey—’

‘
Up
to Rowdy ’n’
Turkey,’ corrected the cook, a privileged member of rangeland
society. ‘That’s the right way to say it.’

‘
I’ve a new Henry,’ Mark
announced.

‘
Pappy let me bring along our Henry,’
Vern went on, not without a touch of pride. ‘But Dawn’s only got
her old scattergun.’

‘
It’s a right handy tool though,’ Dawn
continued tolerantly.

Altogether the party could muster twelve
repeating rifles and carbines, the rest of the crew being armed
with muzzle-loaders, single-shot breech-loaders or just their
hand-guns. Quickly Goodnight arranged the positions of the trail
crew so that the repeaters would be evenly shared between the
swing, flank and drag. Should the Indians come looking for trouble,
the flank and swing riders on each side were to join their
respective point man at the head of the herd. The drag hands and
wranglers had orders to gather at the wagons. That way there would
be controlled groups of defenders delivering volley firing instead
of scattered individuals shooting.

‘
Hey, Colonel Charlie!’ Rowdy Lincoln
suddenly hissed. ‘There’s somebody moving out there to the
east.’