Longwood First Hunt Day 03-04

I wake early on this day, the sky is only starting to lighten, the birds what few there are have not woken yet. I listen carefully there is movement nearby indistinct on direction, more like twitching. I grab up a revolver anyway and roll over pointing my gun in the direction. Gwen stares at me Martin is twitching a little saying something under his breath. I get up with a sigh and walk over to Martin and Gwen, she watches me come smiling a little.

Putting a foot on Martin's chest I cock my revolver, he twitches then opens his eyes to look up at me. He groans then points a finger at me and shakes it I walk back to Dan giggling and get dressed. Putting his revolver back wakes Dan, he chuckles looking up at me, I smile back feeling silly for leaving mine behind me last night. I help Gwen get the wood set, she does most of it I do not mind Dan does not like my coffee.

I go wake the Apache up they are not yet, both look up at me when I whistle. Silvia wakes when the one she is lying on gets up then starts giggling they are both saying something in Apache. I tell them to saddle the horses in Spanish having an idea on what they are saying. The sky is not yet fully lit the birds are waking, not yet chirping to greet the sun. Silvia is dressed quickly and sitting at the fire with Gwen and I watching Gwen cook bacon and make more fritters.

"Martin what was the dream?" I ask when he sits down at the fire.

"I'd like to say I was dreaming of you or Gwen." Gwen looks up and smiles. "I was dreaming of a man I went after about six months ago. I found him in a home he had grabbed up a boy and was hiding behind him. The boy's mother panicked when the man shot at me and the boy passed out from fright. She took a pin to him and got herself shot he dropped the boy first so I was shooting him in the process. I just was not fast enough, she died and the boy ended up being carted off to his uncle. I get the feeling the uncle was not the best of men, the boy looked frightened when they carted him off." Dan looks ready to say something, having an idea he wishes to share our version of that I shake my head at him.

"I think we have all been there, I do not blame the men we hunt prison is scary I've seen them. I do not understand hiding behind a child like that, I admit if I was being hunted and facing prison I would panic myself. Perhaps I would hide behind a child, I think not now I have one of my own." Dan says getting a nod out of Martin.

"Yeah I can understand the reason behind hiding from the law with anything. The part that hangs with me is the look on the boy when they carted him off, I can't get over if I had just been a little faster his mother would be alive." I sigh and nod with that as Gwen hands out plates with a sandwich on it.

The sandwiches are the fritters cut in half with bacon, they are better the sweet is tempered by the bacon. Dan gets coffee poured in the tin cups and passed around, the Apache look at it oddly. I know why when I take a sip it's sweet, I think my expression clues Gwen in she sighs and apologizes.

"It is fine Gwen, you are not familiar with injuns we Apache and Cherokee are unfamiliar with sweet besides honey. It is a strange thing to have food this sweet judging by Dan's face he likes it I reckon explains why he dislikes my coffee." Gwen looks over at Dan, he nods and smiles.

"Janet does coffee with no sugar, we always have some and she knows I like coffee with sugar. It gets tiring to add sugar to your coffee every morning on a hunt so she hunts and I cook morning vittles." Gwen giggles and looks over at me.

"Tomorrow coffee with no sugar those of us who want sugar will add it to the cup." I smile at her one of the Apache says something to Silvia she nods and looks over at us.

"Govind said that we need to find a grindstone. It seems the soldiers share coffee and it is best when ground up small." Gwen sighs and looks skyward I giggle and pat her on the shoulder.

"Do not worry Gwen this is your first hunt, we will find a grindstone in the gulch and grind up the coffee there."

"I don't suppose you know what we are doing at the gulch if they stop there?" Martin asks as Dan collects the plates.

"I do not know we need to take a peek at the gulch and see how it lays first." Martin nods Dan chuckles.

"That is Janet's nice version of the earth speaks to me. She means shut your trap and follow along." Martin chuckles I kick Dan.

"I think we will make chili tonight, Gwen if you could chop up two or three fingers of the bacon somewhat small and drop it in the bowl Dan is going to make of beans to soak. I think they are in the gulch." I point there is smoke rising up out of the ground ahead where the gulch is, the Apache had already gotten the tarp packed.

"Suddenly I find myself wishing we had brought your bow Janet." Dan says pulling out the beans and getting the pot cleaned.

"Unless Martin insists on Michael alive it is not needed." We all look at Martin, he shakes his head.

"This speaks volumes on guilt for him an innocent man would have stayed put. There probably are wanted posters on some to all of those men, Janet you never said how many there were." I sigh and look down.

"There were twenty at least it's hard to read when they were riding two or three abreast. No telling how many were in the gulch waiting. We are looking at facing twenty to fifty most to all will have guns." Martin sighs, Gwen gulps and looks at us.

"There are only five of you, shouldn't we ride back and get more?" I shake my head Martin and Dan doing the same.

"There are six I remember the warning Sally had I am going up there and shooting. I'd rather be dead than bandit bedmate." Silvia says getting me to smile.

"Gwen we cannot get more, we cannot get a posse from Longwood we lost a marshal prisoner. The soldiers will not help, they are to stand aside and let the law handle things unless they are being shot at. Unless we went to Kansas City and got marshals we are it. Dan and I don't even have to be here marshal business we came along to help a friend." Gwen sighs and nods, I turn to Martin. "Martin that brings to mind one thing, are we paying those four with the bounty money?"

"Yeah, we are all splitting it unless Michael is the only bounty. The next town is only a day away we should be able to get the dead and prisoners there tomorrow." Martin says pointing I look to see the tops of the church off a good ways.

"I'll come up and shoot, like you said I have the basics. A man is bigger than a coney." Gwen says helping Dan pack up the food and plates.

I have misgivings on Gwen shooting at men they are larger yet not easier. The camp is packed up fully and we are on the way with the sun cresting the horizon. There is not much conversation Gwen looks to be scared, Silvia is looking around as if fearing bandits will come out of the ground. Dan and Martin just ride along staring ahead trusting me to point us the right way. A curse out of Dan gets me to look up to catch it a flash from the gulch, I giggle and pull out my rifle holding it high.

"What is going on?" Gwen asks looking at me and Dan.

"They have a spyglass, they know we are coming and how many. Janet's rifle is very distinctive, only dignitaries and the president get one that nice. Michael will be relating Janet to them I don't think we will need to go into the gulch." Dan says with a sigh, I just giggle more.

"It is proper to advertise your presence, the spyglass makes it easy. I was thinking I would creep up above them and shoot one then yell. We will stop a good distance away and walk after having vittles no tarp. Put the horses between the gulch and the campfire." Martin chuckles then looks over at me with concern on his face.

"What if they walk to us during the night like you are having us do?" I grin at him.

"Then they have five horses and what is left of our vittles, we will have their camp, more horses more vittles. I do not think they will they are not very good bandits. That is the good part of Michael knowing me he knows I have needs of a bed sharing nature. They will assume I am getting my rolls, there are four men and three women." Dan sighs and nods.

"I don't like it but Janet is right, holding to this plan is the best option. I want to say Silvia and Gwen stay at the camp and take a roll together, course if they do come they are bandit bedmates. Sally would shoot me for that even if Gwen comes back mostly intact." Gwen giggles.

We ride on with the flash of the spyglass coming back now and then. I raise my rifle to it each time careful to show the emblem on it. The Apache take to the plan with smiles after Silvia explains it to them. When we stop Silvia, me and Gwen hunt about for wood. They keep glancing toward the gulch three miles from us. I just pay it no mind taking apart a dead bush. When we return to the camp the horses are set up between the camp and the gulch and there is a small pile of wood again.

"We took the remaining wood with us this morning and there was some to be found the other way." Dan says helping me get the wood ready.

"I hope they have wood in the gulch I don't want to take the train to Kansas City and back to Longwood." Dan chuckles then shakes his head.

"I wasn't planning on it us taking the Apache on a train would scare people. They would think they were on a rampage or something." I sigh and shake my head then get out of the way of Gwen and Silvia with the spit.

Gwen keeps looking at me and Dan while we cook the chili and add things to it.

"Janet I'm curious, how can you be so calm and talk about a return trip when we are this close to at least twenty wanting to kill us?" Gwen asks finally getting a groan out of Martin.

"Janet may not admit it but she has a warrior's spirit. Just before an attack she looks calm during the attack she looks upset, after the attack she lets her feelings out. Dan will get a roll tonight, not bleeding time relief he will get a roll, it's her coping method. The last time I hunted with them Janet gave us both a roll and was asking for a third. Dan and I prefer to talk about something else once we head home we will do something, a funny thing that happened." Gwen looks at him and nods.

"I got a funny thing, it's rather not funny and it is. I suppose it is a New York thing. As I was saying in New York there are gangs, these gangs fight and people sometimes change allegiance. It is a safety mechanism from other gangs, you join a gang to try and keep another out of your neighborhood." I sigh and stop here there.

"What is a neighborhood?" Gwen looks at me and giggles for a moment before quelling it.

"A neighborhood is an area of the city usually it is only a few streets along a major street. There are districts which is an entire section of the town where like things are, there is an Irish district, a warehouse district, factory district so on. It mostly is a way for residents of New York to know where they are going." I nod and smile at Gwen. "As I was saying the gangs fight often, there is also the matter of changing allegiance. During one such fight last year sometime an older man was fighting a younger man in the middle of the fight. They are big affairs, fifty to sixty men on each side. Right in the middle of the fight a shout arises, the older man fighting the younger in the middle were father and son. They hugged each other and moved on to other opponents." I look over at Dan bewildered he shrugs.

"I translated what you said they are both as bewildered as Janet appears to be. They want to know why the men were fighting in the first place." Silvia says, Gwen sighs.

"I guess it is a New York thing. They were fighting over a brothel it is right on the border between the two gangs. Brothels are ways to make a gang money, Sally left New York to make money because you get paid poorly in brothels there, fifty cents a roll I think. There is a saving grace, guns are rare in New York it is mostly done with knife and throwing axe. Our father is doing better since she left, working in a bank now. I just could not find a man agreeable to me there, why I am visiting Sally I was not allowed to sign up to be a mail order bride." Dan shakes his head at me when I open my mouth, I pinch his nose.

"You should think about Martin, not just because he's a friend and not bonded and you are not bonded. He is the really nice guy you probably won't find in New York. Probably should get him working as a sheriff someplace, it's safer than being a marshal that's for sure." Gwen giggles and looks at Martin, he sighs and looks skyward.

We get cornbread this time no butter though with chili it doesn't matter, you dunk the cornbread. We eat all of the chili Silvia made tortillas after we ran out of cornbread. Martin does a strange thing with his tortilla, he puts chili in it and rolls it up and eats it that way.

"They were doing this in Texas I had to go around with a ranger looking for a guy two months ago." I spit at the ground at Martin's words I don't like rangers.

"Janet, share the story it's not dark yet." Dan says leaning over to poke me.

"We were in Texas right at the end of the war, apparently there had been a drive for recruits in Texas I don't remember which side. A ranger had ambled over and was talking to Dan saying he should drop the useless injun and join the brigade they were forming. My round eye wasn't that good at the time I still understood what he said I got up and was standing right there asking him what he said about me. Dumb fool turned to look at me and repeated it, said something about how I should lose the clothes and just be a whore like a good injun." Martin crosses himself, Gwen just stares at me. "The bartender had confiscated my guns ranger was the only one wearing them fool bartender let me keep my knife. To make a very fun time short for Gwen, he could only walk with a cane could not hold a gun and never walked straight again."

"What did the rangers do?" Silvia asks this, she had lived near enough to Texas to have seen them I'm sure.

"Five rode out to see us about three days later. After I got Janet to not shoot them, one fired into the air to get our attention they asked why. I explained with a few curses from Janet, mostly in Cherokee scared the crap out the rangers. They left again, if they had tails they would have been tucked firmly between their legs." Martin laughs.

"The one I rode with was an alright sort, didn't much care for the Mexicans, I think because they didn't speak English to him. Texans and Mexicans are not a happy combination Alamo seems to be a sore spot and matter of pride to them." I groan getting a questioning look from Martin.

"Mexicans are injun and Spanish, the Spanish came in took over put as many of the tribe women with child as they could and kept going. There are a lot of tribes with round eye father warriors injuns were never treated very well." Gwen squeaks and looks at me.

"So all of the uprisings we hear about in New York are false?" I sigh and look down.

"My tribe was slaughtered because they had no food and went to try and get some from the nearby town. I've heard stories of other tribes receiving the same treatment. The soldiers took over the reservations because many of the round eyes they put in charge were bad to tribe, no meat or rotten meat. These are tribes who said we will stay here if you provide meat. The Cherokee are mostly in one reservation, they were marched the whole way by soldiers on horseback most of the ones that fell died. There are a few reservations for those that managed to talk the soldiers into letting them stay there. There are still tribes fighting because the round eye says one thing then does the complete opposite, yet injun are cheaters. There is nothing to gain from fighting besides death, perhaps is better than the death the round eyes wish to thrust upon us."

"I don't understand what death are they trying to thrust upon you?" Gwen asks getting me to look up.

"There is motion trying to be put before congress that injun child be taken from tribe and taught round eye way, only round eye way. Which sounds better, dead because you are dead, or dead because you do not know your people?" Gwen crosses herself and looks at Dan he nods.

"The Apache are turning Christian and building a school because of that. The people trying to make it a motion are religious, it is hoped that if they at least appear Christian and speak English the children will be left here." Silvia says I look up a burning fire in my chest.

"We go now it is dark, bring rifles and bullets this will be long work."

Gwen goes to say something Dan takes her arm and shakes his head. I grab up my saddle bags and Winchester and walk. The Apache catch up quickly, they don't really have much. I notice one has the meat knife stuck through a rope on his waist, the other only has a rifle, I hand him my tomahawk. He smiles and signals his thanks and a speedy return. Dan and Silvia catch up quickly, Martin and Gwen take a little longer talking about something.

"Silvia can you tell the Apache our plan is they go on other side of gorge and creep along the top. I will take everyone else on this side we will go along until we find the camp and shoot down until they surrender or all dead." Silvia looks at me strangely then nods and translates.

"They want to know why only they are going to the far side." Sylvia tells me, I giggle.

I tell the Apache to listen in Spanish, they do then laugh into their hands.

"We're being pretty quiet here." Dan says with a sigh, I shake my head.

As we get closer I slow us down, the Apache move on ahead. Moccasins are quieter than shoes or bare feet in the dirt or on wood. As the Apache get across without raising an alarm we get near to the gulch ourselves. We all walk along each on our side, it takes a while of me peaking over and looking before we find the camp. There are a number of men asleep in bedrolls some are awake still playing poker it looks like.

A scream erupts from the lone tent, there is some laughter coming from the men. Gwen looks at me scared I motion to spread out waiting for a likely target to appear in the tent. Dan gets everyone spread out while I watch the tent get tufted out by a woman being tossed on the bed. I know the bed because the tent is not fastened to the ground I caught sight of bed legs. I smile when I see it being bent out again by an arm, the woman is crying and pleading he is above her and I know where.

The sharp crack of my rifle gets a lot of exclamatory words, it also gets a scream. The Apache start shooting, along with Dan and Martin. I move my aim to find a man just getting up, with a click and another sharp crap he stops getting up. I move my aim around firing and reloading fast as I can, men are falling down in pools of blood everywhere. Martin is shouting about being a marshal and they should give up, in between shooting at them.

Takes me a bit to realize I'm singing the treacherous warrior song, the Apache are as well. Gwen is yelling something as she shoots I am reloading when there are only two left yelling that they give up. Dan and Martin get up to go down there, I get Silvia to get the Apache to go collect two horses and get our horses. I get in the two men's view pointing my Winchester at them. Crying can be heard I get Silvia and Gwen to go to the woman in the tent.

When Dan and Martin reach the two men who have not moved just staring up at me I move to get in the gulch. It is a long walk the two Apache have already left with the horses. When I reach Dan and Martin the prisoners are flat on the ground, a shout from the tent gets me going that way instead of asking why the prisoners are down like that.

I come in to see Gwen and Silvia trying to get the man I had shot off the woman. He is a large man I can see why it would be difficult. The woman trapped under it looks about ready to lose her vittles, the smell in the room explains why. Smelling like an outhouse I prop my Winchester next to Gwen and Silvia's then pull the dead man off her. Not to say it was easy, I needed Gwen and Silvia to help. The woman leans over and exits out the top for a bit, did not seem to be much vittles in her.