The Shadow Man (30 page)

Jacob slowed as he drew close to the place from which the gunfire had come. He rode the swales and stayed below the low ridge tops. Soon the baaing of many sheep reached him. Buried in the surf of sound were the whistles and calls of men. He walked his mount to a rise of ground and looked ahead into the breaking day.

In the half-light the plains were alive, moving, undulating as thousands of sheep moved to the west toward New Mexico. A score of Mexican vaqueros were pushing and prodding the animals, snapping laggards into faster movement with their quirts. Jacob had expected to see Americans. Mexicans had followed and taken back their sheep.

On a nearby point of land a man shouted a shrill warning and fired his pistol in the air. A rear guard had been posted by the Mexicans.

Immediately the five nearest vaqueros spun their horses and raced toward the lookout. He sped down to join them. In less than a minute the Mexicans were lined up in a shield to protect those men still driving the sheep.

A slender figure on a tall horse circled the north edge of the flock of sheep at a reckless run. The rider slid his mount to a fast stop beside the formation of vaqueros. He spoke to the men, and they pulled their rifles from scabbards and rode forward, ready for another battle.

The slender rider stood up in his stirrups and peered intently ahead at the new arrival. Then the rider cried out, “Jacob,” in a clear, ringing voice.

Petra spurred hard, and the horse leapt forward. She jabbed him hard again, and the steed seemed to fly over the ground.

Jacob's heart did a drum tattoo high on his ribs. Never could he forget Petra's beautiful voice. He slapped the neck of his mount with the flat of his hand and ran down to meet her.

Petra swept up to Jacob. A wonderful smile wreathed her face. She began to laugh happily.

Jacob felt his own happiness surging, and he laughed with Petra. God! What a woman. He reached out and lifted her from the saddle and enclosed her in his arms. He pressed Petra tightly against him.

Jacob's world was once again complete.

James Kirker is recorded in history as a scalp hunter.

Greg, author of
Commerce of the Prairies
, has this to say about the Mexican bounty on Indian scalps: “This traffic was not only tolerated but openly encouraged by the civil authorities, as the highest functionaries were interested in its success—the governor himself not excepted.”

In 1840, the governor of Chihuahua engaged the services of one hundred American trappers, freighters, teamsters, hunters, and Shawnee and Delaware Indians who happened to be in the state at the time. Led by a soldier of fortune named James Kirker, the band rode out to “go barberin',” as they called it. They brought in so many scalps that the governor refused to pay the full bounty.

This nonpayment for scalps seems strange, since it would appear that the greater the number of Indians killed, the more satisfied the governor would be. Kendall, in his
Narrative of the Texan Santa Fe Expedition,
may have explained the reluctance of the governor of Chihuahua to pay Kirker for all the scalps he presented.

Kendall says, “... a well known American, named Kirker, had been engaged in the business of scalp hunting, and with a party of his countrymen had been very successful, but it was soon suspected that he was in the practice of bringing in counterfeit scalps—or in other words, that he did not scruple to kill any of the lower order of Mexicans he might meet with where there was slight chance of being discovered, and pass off their topknots for those of true Apaches.”

James Kirker's death is not recorded in history.

Copyright © F. M. Parker, 1988 and 2011

F. M. Parker has asserted his rights in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

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This digital edition published in 2011 by Fearl M. Parker

ISBN 978-1-908400-79-6

The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

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