Chapter 14

After the logs our enemies decided to retreat back down the trail for a good camping spot. Darby went among his men, assessing their wounds. Two were hurt bad enough that their figtht was over. He promised them their fair share of the gold when they had it. Five more were hurt, ranging from lumpy noggins to broken arms. Worse, eleven of their men and fourteen horses were dead. Maybe his father should have been a little more careful. They’d had a good thing going until his father had jumped three strangers, one of them a woman. He died in the dirt for his actions, as well as his brother when they went after their killers. Darby had seen the derby nailed to the stick and recognized it for what it was. It had been on his brothers’ head the last time he saw it. Maybe revenge wasn’t such a good idea because it hadn’t worked out so well so far.

If he was wavering Bart Hill, the leader of the other half of the group, was even more determined. “We’re still too many for them boys. He can’t have more than two or three helping him. We’ll get him soon and the gold will be ours.”

One of his followers asked what everyone else was thinking. “What do we do when his brother shows up?”

“Kill him. We’ll have possession by then and we’ll call for more men. He won’t have a choice but to ride away and when he does we’ll follow.”

I grinned in the darkness. I’d slipped down to check them out, ghosting past their sentry. I’d heard it all. I had another little surprise for them. After they retreated, Eion and I spent an hour and a half gathering rattlesnakes. The rocks and logs we had dislodged were their hiding places, and they lay on the ground stunned and sluggish, the hot sun making them very uncomfortable ... We’d pin their heads down and throw them into a burlap bag we’d been soaking in a stream. They immediately went quiet in the dark and the cool. We caught nine before we stopped. The saddles were stacked near the picket line and I managed to get five into saddlebags. The horses could smell the snakes and got pretty restless. They sent a man to see what was bothering them.

I had the biggest rattler by the head, his mouth forced open, his fangs fully extended. When the man passed me I rose up and jammed the fangs into his ass as hard as I could. He screamed and ran back into camp, the snake still dangling. There was a lot of steppin’ and fetchin’ until they got the snake off and killed it. By then it was too late for their man and he died in agony later on in the night.

While they were distracted I got the last three snakes out, holding their heads in one hand, twirling them like a lasso before letting go. They landed in the clump of men, madder than hell and happy to have something to lash out at. Two more got bit before they killed one and the others slithered away. I slipped back up the trail, knifing the guard as I passed. He shoulda been better at his job. I bet they didn’t sleep much that night.

We settled down to sleep a few hours. When I woke up Elsa and Gallison were there fixing breakfast.

“Don’t complain. You’re gonna need our help.”

Gal just grinned and after breakfast we laid up in the rocks. Every one of us with two rifles, our pistols, and I had the shotgun. Every hiding place had a clear path behind for a quick retreat. We all knew we weren’t going to be staying long.

They must have been late risers, because the yellin’ and cussin’ didn’t start until almost nine. Well, they’d found the rest of the rattlesnakes. Thirty minutes later they came into sight, twelve riders looking anxiously about. They must want that gold pretty bad knowing we had high ground and weeks to prepare for something like this. The number of riders bothered me, there should be four or five more. Course the snakes might have took care of some of them, but not all.

It hit me they were trying to flank us so I waved to everybody telling them to watch the sides and behind them. Elsa elected herself watcher, keeping eyes behind us as we let them have it one more time. Eion was a pretty canny old man, and he waited until they hit a patch of trail that had them riding single file. He let loose with the buffalo gun, the big slug going through one man and into the body of another. Both fell from their saddles dead before they hit the ground. Gal and I opened up. He scored a hit but the rider stayed in the saddle and I had a clean miss, the horse jerking slightly just as I squeezed the trigger. It killed the horse, though, and it tumbled back down the trail, the rider trying to kick his feet out of the stirrups. He managed to ride it out but when he stood up one leg was at an odd angle. He was a little dazed and made a perfect target for the buffalo gun. The shot literally lifted him off his feet. We all knew when he fell he was never getting back up.

Elsa let out a yell and started shooting. We had talked about it and Eion kept his eyes forward while Gal and I turned. One was still out in the open and his last view was the barrel of my shotgun. It almost cut him in two. Elsa had gotten another one but there was still two or three out there. Time to retreat. I counted as I ran and figured there were at least twelve to fourteen out there.

We almost made it to our second position when a rifle barked. Eion threw the buffalo gun up in the air and dropped like a rock. Elsa screamed and tried to go back but Gal had her, pushing her forward. The outlaws were shooting at them and forgotten about me. I nailed one and put a hole through the leg of another before they realized I was still alive. I made it over to Eion but one look told me all I needed to know. I grabbed the buffalo gun and the cartridge belt and started running.