[Texas Rangers 04] - Ranger's Trail (18 page)

That was one thing worrying Andy. Tanner never knew when enough was enough. He could take a good idea and talk it to a slow and painful death. “I oughtn’t to’ve let you get me into this.”

In truth, Tanner hadn’t used much persuasion. Andy had toyed with the notion of becoming a ranger from the time he first heard they might be reorganized. But the closer he got, the less confidence he felt.

Tanner said, “Too late to turn back. They’ve seen us already.”

Andy was aware that three men were watching them. He tried to brace up his nerve. “Which do you figure is the headquarters tent?”

“
The biggest one, naturally. Officers always get a little the best of it.”

The best did not look much better than the others to Andy. Most of the tents were tepee shaped, lined evenly where the heavy foliage would provide partial shade in the afternoon. Beyond the tents and between the trees he could see sun reflected off the clear waters of the San Saba. An officer stood before the larger tent, talking to a couple of men. At least, Andy took him for an officer because his stance indicated authority.

The rangers had no official uniform. They wore what they would wear in civilian life as cowboys or farmers or town merchants. Tanner had told him they did not even have an official badge. Some men made their own out of Mexican silver pesos. Others did not believe they needed one. They expected boldness and a serious demeanor to cow most adversaries. The rest would be dealt with according to the demands of the moment.

Tanner said, “That’d be the captain, I imagine.”

The officer turned his attention to the two horsemen. Tanner made a poor excuse of a salute. “Private Tanner reportin’ for duty, sir. And I’ve fetched along a recruit you’ll be glad to have in the company.”

The officer frowned. “That is a determination I’ll make for myself. As for you, Tanner, your enlistment started over a week ago. If you expect to be paid for time absent, …”

“
Couldn’t help it, sir. Things came up. But you don’t owe me no more than you figure I got comin’.” Money meant little to Tanner except in terms of what he could buy with it, usually as soon as he had the cash in hand.

The officer lowered his voice. “I’ve been notified of your past service record, so I’ll overlook your tardiness. This time.” He turned a critical gaze upon Andy. “You say I’ll want this young man as a recruit. Tell me why.”

Tanner dismounted. “I could talk all day, tellin’ you why you want to sign up Andy Pickard.”

“
I had rather you didn’t. Just the pertinent facts will be enough.”

“
Well sir, in the first place he rides like an Indian. Truth is, it was the Indians taught him. And shoot? He can knock a flea off of a dog’s ear at fifty yards and never singe a hair. And he’s got more nerve than a mouthful of bad teeth. Why, he once slipped into a Comanche camp and—”

The officer raised his hand. “Let him speak for himself. Tanner, you may put your blankets and gear into that farthest tent yonder, then take your horse out and turn him into the remuda. You’ll find it on grass west of camp.”

Tanner accepted the order with a nod. “Whatever you say, Captain.” He glanced at Andy. “Now, don’t you be shy. Tell him everything he ought to know about you. I’ll see you after you been sworn in.”

The officer watched in silence until Tanner led his horse beyond hearing. “Usually I am suspicious of a big talker, but I am told Tanner was a good ranger in the old days.”

“
There’s a lot more to him than just talk.”

“
But you are obviously too young to have been in ranger service before. So come into the office and tell me why I should accept you into that service now.”

Andy tied Long Red to a rough hitching rack made of live-oak branches. He followed the officer through the open canvas door of the tent the captain called an office. He took off his hat and twisted it in his hands. “First off, sir, Len stretched the facts a little. I can ride, but just about everybody I know can do that.”

“
How is your shooting eye?”

“
Ain’t braggin’, sir, but I don’t generally need two shots. Rusty Shannon taught me not to waste cartridges. They cost too much.”

The officer’s eyebrows went up. “Rusty Shannon, you say?”

“
Yes sir, he’s the one raised me, after the Indians. Used to be a ranger along with Len Tanner.”

“
I’ve met Shannon. Spotless reputation. I hope he is well.”

“
Healthy enough, but he lost the woman he was fixin’ to marry. It tore him up a right smart.”

“
Sorry to hear that. But we’re supposed to talk about you. What’s this about an Indian raising?”

Andy explained that he had been carried off by raiding Comanches when he was small and lived with them until he was around twelve or thirteen. He decided not to go into the circumstances under which he had fallen into Rusty’s hands. He doubted the captain would take kindly to the fact that he was trying to emulate his Comanche brothers on a horse-stealing foray. Most people did not like to hear that part of his story.

The captain said, “I’m glad you were rescued. A lot of young people remained prisoners. Grew up Comanche, ruined for life.”

Rescued
was not exactly the word for it.
Captured
would be a better description, for at first Andy had been an unwilling convert to the white man’s road. He had tried to escape back to Comanchería. He judged that this was another aspect of his story best left out. Most white people did not understand how a boy could prefer living in a tepee and following the buffalo with a band of what they considered wild savages most akin to the wolves that also stalked the shaggy herds.

The captain frowned again. “How do you feel about the Comanches now?”

They were still his brothers, most of them, but this was something else the captain would not appreciate. “I’ve been away from them a long time.”

“
Part of our job will be to protect settlers from Indian raids. Mainly Comanches to the north, Apaches west and south. If it came to that, would you be able to fight them?” He stared at Andy with an intensity that would not permit evasion.

“
I don’t know, sir. I guess I could if I had to.”

“
I need a better answer than that. I can’t afford to have men in my command that I could not depend on in an emergency.”

“
I’ll do my duty, whatever that is.”

“
No matter how difficult it may be for you?”

“
If it breaks my back, sir.”

The captain chewed his lip in deep thought. “From what I know of Rusty Shannon he would have made you tough enough to do whatever has to be done, however unpleasant it may be.”

“
He tried awful hard.”

“
Very well, there are certain requirements to be met. First, you must furnish a horse.”

“
That’s him, the sorrel I tied outside.”

“
It may be that the state will furnish weapons in the future, but for now you must arm yourself.”

“
There’s a rifle on my saddle. Got a six-shooter and a skinnin’ knife on my belt.” Tanner had made sure he brought everything he needed.

“
Then it would appear you meet the principal specifications. We need to fill out and sign some papers and administer the oath. Have you ever taken an oath?”

“
I swore a time or two to tell the truth and nothin’ else.”

“
The ranger oath is a solemn obligation between you and the state of Texas, taken in the sight of God. I don’t know what God’s punishment is if you break it, but Texas’s punishment can be severe.”

“
If I make you a promise, I won’t back away from it.”

“
Spoken like a good Texan. Now let’s see about this enlistment form. I assume you can read.”

“
Fair to middlin’.” Andy’s reading ability was about average, he thought, for most Texans aside from teachers, storekeepers, and lawyers. Schooling was sporadic. Many people living in the country and in small towns had no more than a smattering of formal education. Rusty had seen to it that Andy took schooling whenever it was available.

The captain filled out the forms. Andy ran his finger down the pages, lips moving as he slowly read to himself what was written. He signed where the officer pointed.

The captain said, “You understand that you are being accepted on a conditional basis? I have the right to dismiss you at any time you fail to obey orders or live up to expectations.”

“
Any time I feel like I’m not totin’ my load you won’t have to fire me. I’ll quit.”

“
That’s the proper attitude for a ranger of the Texas frontier batallion.”

The captain administered the oath after calling up two rangers to stand witness. He said, “There is room for you in the farthest tent, where I sent your friend Tanner.”

The two rangers shook Andy’s hand and welcomed him into the company. One introduced himself as Sergeant Bill Holloway. He was a tall, broad-shouldered, flat-bellied man of roughly Rusty’s age. His face was burnished brown. His pale blue turkey-tracked eyes had a permanent squint brought on by life in the Texas sun. He said, “I heard you mention Rusty Shannon. I rode with him under old Captain Whitfield ’til the war drawed me into the army. Southern, of course. How come he ain’t joined up again?”

“
He’s had some bad luck lately. Got about all his plate will hold.” Andy decided to say no more until he had time to size up the company. He had already told the captain more than he intended. Rusty might not want his personal troubles advertised all over the country.

Holloway said, “A couple more things the captain may not have mentioned. No drinkin’ in camp.”

“
I don’t drink.”

“
And no card playin’.”

“
Never learned no card games.”

The sergeant shook his head as if he could not believe. “I guess you don’t cuss, either.”

“
Yes sir, I do. Sometimes it’s the only thing that helps.”

The sergeant’s squinty eyes laughed, and his mustache lifted at the edges. “That’s all right. Just do it judiciously.” He turned toward the tent but stopped. “Know any Comanche cusswords?”

“
A few.”

“
I wish you’d teach them to me. Sometimes I use up all I know in English and Spanish and it’s still not enough.”

Andy untied his blankets and a small war bag of possessions from the saddle. He expected a row of cots inside the tent, but he saw only bedrolls spread on the ground.

Holloway said, “Find you an empty place anywhere. When you’re tired enough, the grass will feel like a feather bed.”

Andy had slept on the ground during his years with the Comanches and many times since when he was on the move. The Indians had considered it healthy to lie directly upon Mother Earth. A bed put distance between a man and nature, though Andy enjoyed the luxury when he had it.

Holloway said, “A bed just spoils you. Can’t take one with you on scout, and the captain sees to it that the nights are short anyway. He’ll have you up and goin’ before daylight.”

Andy said, “I’ve always heard that beds are dangerous. Lots of people die in them.” He dropped his blankets on the ground near the back of the tent, beside the ones he recognized as Tanner’s. “How’s the food?”

“
We have a good cook, blacker than the ace of spades. Old Bo’s biscuits would make the angels want to give up their wings and come back to earth.”

“
Len Tanner will be tickled to know about that.”

“
I remember Tanner, too. He ever run out of conversation?”

“
He hasn’t yet.”

“
He’s a man I’d want beside me in a fight, but I wouldn’t want to have to listen to him talk about it afterwards.”

Andy dropped his saddle on the ground and hopped up on Long Red’s bare back. The sergeant pointed. “You’ll find the horse herd out that way. One of the drawbacks of ranger service is standin’ your day of horse guard every so often.”

It stood to reason that the rangers would be careful of their horses. A ranger afoot was essentially useless. Though Indian raids had become less common, they still occurred from time to time. Comanches and Kiowas continued to steal south from the high plains and the reservations to add to their wealth, measured in horses. White horse thieves had increased even as Indian activity had declined. In a state still short of cash money, horses were a leading medium of exchange.

Glancing back once, Andy saw that Holloway still watched him. He decided serving under the sergeant should be pleasant enough, for in some ways he reminded Andy of Rusty. The captain seemed more businesslike and abrupt, but that was probably necessary for an officer. He could not be just one of the boys and still expect them to jump to his command.

Andy met Tanner walking back, carrying his bridle over his thin shoulder. Tanner said, “Looks like the captain taken you in.”

“
For forty dollars a month.”

“
Save it and you’ll get rich. If you live for a hundred years.” Tanner’s face took on a worried twist. “You’ll find one of your old friends on horse guard out yonder.”

“
An old friend?”

“
Farley Brackett. He’s always wanted your horse. He’s liable to take him and ride off.”

Resentment stung Andy. Of all the people he might run into, Farley Brackett would have been among his last choices. “If he lays a hand on Long Red, I’ll …” He could not think of anything severe enough to say. “How’d he ever come to be a ranger? The state police rode some good horses to death tryin’ to catch him.”

“
They weren’t tryin’ near as hard as they made out. They took care not to crowd him too close. The state police are long gone anyway, and good riddance.”

“
He shot a couple of them that I know of.”