The Last Pilgrims (14 page)

“Father, hear me out.” She paused and
concentrated on not being emotional, and on not sounding scared or
childish. “Father, no one knows the area like I do. No one can ride
as fast, hide as well, or get in and out like I can. Even Tim says
that only Phillip himself rides like me. I promise you, I will stay
safe, Father.”

She raised her eyes, sat up in the saddle,
and looked her father in the eye.

“When I left home, I had every intention of
riding all the way to Bethany, of disobeying you, and of joining in
the battle… but I know that such an emotional and rushed decision
was wrong. I did as you said, Father, and I listened to my
conscience. You know I will do as you say, but you also know that I
can do this. Please let me go, Father.”

Her father shifted around in his saddle and
looked back down the road as if he were waiting for some kind of
sign. Then he turned back towards Ruth. “Stay off of the roads once
the battle starts. Keep your eyes open, and your back to the sun
when it comes up in the east. Don’t allow yourself to be
silhouetted against the sky. The Aztlani army has been hesitant to
send out scouts because the militia kills them all, but that
doesn’t mean that they won’t do it. Keep an eye on your
surroundings, and don’t let anyone get behind you. Pick a point far
enough away from Bethany to watch without being seen, and stay out
of shooting range. Do not get involved! If things go bad, head east
into the Thicket; you know your way around there, and no Aztlani
unit will be able to follow you.”

“Yes, Father.” She stifled her desire to
shout with joy.

“Your job is to watch from afar, and get
word to us if the army moves northward from the town. That is it,
do you understand me?”

“Yes Father. Thank you.”

He rode up to her and embraced her, patting
her on the shoulder. “Be safe, little girl.”

“Yes sir.”

As her father rode away, he looked back over
his shoulder and smiled at her. She knew that he did not want her
to go, and that others would likely second-guess him for doing so.
Still, he was responsible for thousands of people, and he knew that
she was the best at what needed to be done.

She pulled Peloncio around, and rode off
through the oaks heading south.

Ruth arrived outside of Bethany at almost
the same time as Tim and Jack entered the town. She turned eastward
and rode until she was into the Thicket, just east of the
easternmost mesa. She tied Peloncio to a low mesquite branch and
then hiked back a quarter of a mile to the west, where she
scrambled silently up a low hill until she commanded a good view of
Bethany and the twin mesas. It was still quite dark, but light was
just starting to spread across the sky to the east. She stayed
lower on the hill and beneath a salt cedar bush, so that she would
not be silhouetted against the sky, as her father instructed.

As the early light of morning began to
spread across the land, she could make out a few of the men as they
made final preparations for the assault.

She didn’t like this spot. While it gave her
a good view of Bethany and of most of the pass, she was still too
low to be able to see if the Aztlani army had arrived. From her
vantage point, the view to the south was blocked by the twin mesas.
She needed to get closer… and higher.

Everything her father had told her replayed
repeatedly in her mind. She did intend to stay safe, and she wanted
to obey her father, but she knew that she needed to get up on the
east end of the easternmost mesa in order to be able to command a
good view of the battle.

The militia would have at least two and
maybe three men on each of the mesas looking down into the pass.
However, the other end of the east mesa—the end she was near—was
slightly more elevated and would allow her to see everything
clearly.

She started moving before she could have
time to talk herself out of it.

It’s just like hunting,
she told
herself, as she moved stealthily through the brush and mesquite
that dotted the foothills of the mesa. From where she was, only a
few hundred yards to the east, was the Thicket where Peloncio
waited patiently. The Thicket curved around from northeast to
southwest and ended at the easternmost tip of the east mesa. If she
was forced to run, she was confident that she could be back in the
Thicket in minutes.

When she reached the base of the mesa, she
concealed herself in another cedar bush and sat perfectly still for
another ten minutes. If some Aztlani scout was trying to come
around the mesas, or was intending to get up to the top of the
mesa, she wanted to know about it before she began her climb.

When nothing moved, she began her ascent. It
took her 20 minutes to scramble to the top, and when she did, the
gray light of morning had chased away the darkness of the long
night. She crouched low and moved forward, keeping her eyes trained
to the surroundings, looking for danger. There were several large
boulders on top of the mesa, and she used them for cover as she
crawled forward quietly.

Near the south edge of the mesa, she found
the perfect vantage point. Crouching behind some very large
boulders, she could now command a view of the entire area. She
could see Bethany, and most of the Bethany road that came down from
the north. There were no militiamen on the top of the mesa, but she
figured they were just below the peak, making sure that they could
not be seen from the south. Stretched out below her to the south,
she could see for miles and miles, and she caught her breath when
she saw that the Aztlani army had arrived. With banners flying,
they were forming up, a half-mile south of the pass.

She could also see Aztlani scouts, two of
them, sneaking up towards the south entrance of the pass, staying
low, and creeping from cover to cover. She wanted to scream out a
warning to the militia, but she knew that it would not help. She
reached for an arrow from her quiver, but stopped herself when she
remembered her father’s command.
Do not get involved!
The
men were too far away anyway. It would be a miracle if her arrow
reached them.

She was just starting to notice the warmth
of the new day, and the light changing from gray to more
orange-yellow, when she saw one of the Aztlani scouts pitch
backward, an arrow sticking out from his throat!
Yes!
The
other barely had time to register the fact that his partner had
been killed, when another arrow entered his chest and he too
flopped into the dirt.

Ruth could not tell from whence the arrows
came, but she was ecstatic and felt the adrenaline pump through
her, knowing that the scouts had been spotted.

It seemed like forever, but it was probably
only another 15 minutes, before the Aztlanis tried again. This
time, there were ten men, all approaching from the West. They were
close to the westernmost mesa, and hoped to use the mountain as a
shield to get close to the pass. Again, she felt the scream rise up
in her throat as she strived with every thread of her being not to
do something to warn militiamen guarding the pass.

Death, in this instance, did not come by
arrow, at least not at first. As the advance unit came close to the
entrance to the pass, each man clinging as closely as possible to
the face of the mountain, they did not see until it was too late as
five or six huge boulders came crashing down the mesa on top of
them. This time, she saw the militiamen moving quickly back away
from the edge of the mesa, and she saw a single arrow strike the
back of the only Aztlani soldier with the ability to crawl away
from the pile of rocks. Then all became still again, except for the
moans and cries of broken men, crushed from above by rocks not much
smaller than horses.

As she wiped away a bead of sweat, and tried
her best to calm herself, she heard her brother David’s voice as he
shouted to the men guarding the pass.

“They’ll come heavy this time boys! Shoot
and move. No more than two to three shots from one place then move!
Keep under cover! Remember… Shoot for the officers! Shoot anyone
giving orders first! Then anyone on a horse! If they are wearing
armor, the throat and under the arm are the weakest spots! Shoot
and move! Don’t let yourself get trapped! Keep a way out behind
you! Make them panic! Make them crawl over their own dead bodies to
kill you!”

She had to steady herself from the effects
of fear and excitement. Timothy had told her that the body goes
into shock at the beginning of a battle, and that there can be an
intense fog and confusion. It happened to everyone, but the men who
could remain calm and let it pass were the ones who survived. She
forced herself to concentrate on her breathing and used every
method she knew from hunting to remain calm.

Off to the south, she could see that the
army was preparing a full-out assault on the pass. A hundred men
and twenty horses stepped out from the mass of men, and began to
advance—slowly at first, and then faster as they got nearer the
pass. When they were 50 yards from the south entrance of the pass,
they were moving as fast as they could go.

Arrows rained down from both sides of the
pass, and it wasn’t long before all 20 of the cavalrymen were
unhorsed and lying wounded on the ground. The infantry hesitated,
as they realized that they were going to have to climb over the
rubble to advance. For many of them, their hesitation was their
last cogent thought, as arrows pierced their bodies. A young
officer tried to rally the men by brandishing his sword and pulling
out a pistol, but his cry was cut short by an arrow that passed
cleanly through his head.

The Aztlani assault faltered as man after
man went down. Within seconds, those who were not wounded or dead
were retreating as fast as they could run.

Ruth was so focused on the assault, that she
had neglected her duty to stay aware. Her error occurred to her in
a flash when something moving off to her left caught her eye. She
swung around the boulder she was lying against just in time to see
an assault force of 20 men moving in towards the east.
They are
trying to flank the militia by coming around the mountain!

She knew that she was not supposed to get
involved, but before she could stop herself, she let go a flurry of
arrows, five in all, in a long arc in front of the flanking force.
Her intention was not to hit and kill anyone; she wanted it to seem
like there were many men guarding the easternmost edge of the
mesa.

Her ploy worked, as the men, who had just
seen the slaughter of almost a hundred men trying to take the pass,
thought better of their orders and fled back to the main body of
the army.

There was obvious confusion among the ranks
of the Aztlani army. Many of the highest-ranking officers had been
killed already, and most of the 350 men remaining really wanted
nothing to do with trying to force the pass. Someone finally took
charge, assembled the rabble back into ranks and ordered a full out
charge on the pass. This time, they were all coming.

Terror filled Ruth’s heart as she saw the
army approach. She had never seen, or even imagined, such a
terrifying sight. One hundred men on horseback and twice that
number on foot. Panic was evident on the soldier’s faces, most of
them screaming as they ran. These men were 600 miles away from
home, away from any base of resupply.

No doubt, the officer that had rallied the
troops told them that they were all going to be killed if they did
not take the pass. Each man had rape and pillage before him if the
pass could be taken, and almost certain death waiting for him, if
he retreated and returned home beaten.

Many of the men pulled out pistols as they
rushed forward and began firing wildly into the rocks and boulders,
hoping to frighten the men waiting there. The men in front were
slowed again as they had to traverse the last 50 yards over the
bodies of their fallen countrymen. Several horsemen had their
horses killed beneath them, and the panic-stricken animals often
trampled living infantrymen who got in their way. All the while,
the steady stream of arrows flowed forth from the defenders
stationed in the gap.

As the Aztlani army surged forward, they
were so intent on a last, desperate attempt on the pass, that they
did not see the huge force of militiamen sweeping up behind them on
horseback. Ruth saw them, and she did scream this time. It was
Phillip and the main Ghost militia force!

Ruth cheered aloud as she saw Phillip, who
rode standing up in his stirrups, his sword gripped tightly in his
hand. Alongside him were Gareth and the man they called The
Mountain, leading the charge.

It was too late when the Duke of El Paso’s
army discovered what was happening to them. Some of them may have
heard hoofbeats coming from behind, but most of them did not. The
front echelons fell from arrows fired by the men in the pass and,
as the assault slowed upon crashing into the boulders, Phillip and
the militia cut the army to shreds from the rear. The entire action
lasted less than five minutes, but the five minutes of battle
resulted in a bloody slaughter.

None of the enemy force was left alive, and
no one was allowed to surrender.

Later, as they gathered themselves and
tended the wounded militiamen that were brought into Bethany,
Phillip explained that the men were free to surrender before the
battle had begun. “Once the battle begins,” he said, “the time for
surrender is over. We do not have the time, the manpower, or the
inclination to babysit Aztlani prisoners. The whole nation of
Aztlan may surrender right now, if they like. But if they come here
to take the spoils, we will water the ground with their blood.”

She found Timothy and David tending to the
wounded in the makeshift hospital that had been set up in the
Public House. It seemed to her that not many had been wounded at
all. When she walked in, both Tim and David greeted her with a
scowl of contempt and confusion, but after she explained that she
had received permission from her father to scout the battle, they
relented. She gave them a quick report about where she had been
throughout the battle, and what she had seen. She carefully omitted
the part about the five arrows she had shot.