Chapter 15

New Mexico Territory, March, 1895

The main thing I could say for being a bodyguard: the pay was steady. The trouble was that it was usually boring. All I could do most of the time was just follow my client around and keep him to a low profile. Except for that one few hour episode with Helen Spires, for example, being a bodyguard was about the last job I wanted in my line of work. On the other hand, as I said, the pay was steady. After all, no sensible person wants to piss off his bodyguard!

This thought came to mind as I was riding across a particularly deserted stretch of desert. There wasn't even a cottonwood in sight. Hopefully, I would find something interesting before too long.

I finally came to a few trees just after noon. The weather had not gotten hot, yet, but the shade was a welcome change from the glare of the sun. I was in the process of giving my horse some water when another rider came up. He was a young man, an Indian, but he looked peaceable enough. He was armed with a carbine and a large knife, but made no move toward either.

I greeted him and asked who he was.

"Hello, Mat Sullivan, I am Two-Horses, from the Apache reservation up north of here."

I offered to share my camp and invited him for lunch. He accepted and while we were eating we talked about out current activities. I told him that I was a bounty hunter, but I was particularly on the lookout for Mexican bandits.

"Ah!" he said. "I, too, look for Mexicans. They are our traditional enemies. I got bored sitting at the reservation with nothing to do, so I thought to go to Mexico to see what I could hunt. I have no interest in killing farmers and herders; I am looking for warriors to fight. I would call bandits warriors, so we hunt the same thing."

"Yes, Two-Horses, you have a good point. Perhaps we could ride together for company for a little while, since we are going pretty much in the same direction." He agreed, so we headed southwest after lunch.

Early the next day, Two-Horses spotted a cloud of dust on the horizon headed in our general direction. He suggested we have a look, so we did. We found a small hill that looked to be in the direction the dust cloud creators were traveling. We left our horses at the bottom of the hill and crawled to the top. I had my binoculars, but Two-Horses was the first to spot the main point of interest: there were several Mexicans pushing a herd of about forty horses at a fast clip. We could not tell, just by looking, if the Mexicans were bandits or honest tradesmen, so we did nothing and waited for developments to give us a better indication.

I was scanning with my binoculars when I saw behind the Mexicans another cloud of dust. Soon I could tell that these were Anglos and they appeared to be chasing the Mexicans, with the intent of catching them. My first thought was a posse was chasing horse thieves, but I did not want to do anything rash. We decided to let the Anglos get closer before we acted; that way we might be better able to tell who were the bad guys and who were the good.

I didn't take long for me to see faces in the trailing Anglos. I saw one face which really got my attention: he was a horse thief prominent among my new wanted list. Now I knew who was good and who was bad. I explained my discovery to Two-Horses and he agreed that the outnumbered Mexicans deserved our help.

We decided that our best chance was to stay in our present location and ambush the Anglos when they rode by. Therefore, we began shooting when range to the bad guys was about 150 yards. Two-Horses was reluctant to shoot for fear of hitting the valuable horses, but I urged him to shoot, anyway. We might have picked off the whole bunch if we had both been using smokeless powder, but Two-Horses black powder smoke gave our position away. As it was, we picked off four of the bandits and two of their horses, which caused the death of two bandits when they fell. So we had knocked off six of the eleven bandits in our first fusillade.

As I said, we should have been hard to spot from our position in the brush on the hilltop, since the echoes made the sound of our shots hard to follow. Unfortunately for us, Two-Horses was using black powder and the slight wind did not disperse the smoke fast enough to keep us hidden. The five remaining bandits must have thought that we were part of the party of Mexicans they were following, since they did not try to escape by riding on through past us. Instead, they dashed to the bottom of our hill and dismounted. They then separated and begin to approach us up the hill.

We were immediately at a five to two disadvantage, since they were now as hidden by brush as we were. Two-Horses had no trouble recognizing our predicament; he carefully laid down his carbine and took out his knife. He then disappeared into the brush. Our adversaries had not realized the problems of trying to use a long-barreled weapon in thick brush, so continued to carry their carbines. I, too, recognized the long barrel problem and put down my carbine in favor of my pistol. Now, again using all that Sue had taught me, I faded into the brush.

It was only a few moments later that I heard an anguished scream and knew that Two-Horses had found his first victim. One down and four to go! It was now a contest between Two-Horses and me to see who could count the most coup, and he already had a lead.

Two-Horses had gone to the left, so I went to the right. I had not gone far down the hill when I heard a rustling noise to my right. I moved carefully in that direction and saw a stranger creeping clumsily through the brush. As soon as I had a clear shot, the count was now two down and three to go. Also, Two-Horses and I were tied in our little contest.

I cut back to my left and went hunting for my next point. This one was a little more difficult, since he was not moving. However, I did catch a glimpse of where he was hiding and moved toward him. I got off my shot just as I heard another scream, so I knew that Two-Horse and I were still tied. Four down and one to go!

I was searching up near our original shooting stand but couldn't find the last bandit. I decided that he had not gotten that far up the hill and started back down. I had moved back to my right as I was hunting, so I missed the bandit. I had almost reached the bottom of the hill when I heard the scream of the last man. I immediately shouted for Two-Horses not to take any scalps until I had a look at all the corpses.

We retrieved our carbines and our horses and moved to where the bandits had left theirs. We pulled all eleven of the corpses to near the horses and searched them for valuables. We found nearly $500 and two were on my wanted list to the tune of $475. I told Two-Horses that I needed those two unmutilated to turn in for the reward, but he could have the other scalps, if he wanted them. I also suggested that he let me have two of the horses to carry my two corpses, and he could take the rest, along with their tack. He could also have all of their weapons. Further, that we should split the cash that we found. He was agreeable to this newfound wealth and very happy with the division.

That evening, as we sat beside our campfire and ate supper, I asked what his immediate plans were. He said that he wanted to take his new wealth home and show it off to his clan; he would now be rated as a great warrior and would have no problem finding as many wives as he wanted. I asked if he could manage that many horses by himself, and he said that he did wish he had some help. I suggested that, since I did not have any other plans right now, if he wanted, I would help him get the horses to the reservation, but I would have to stop off to turn in my two bandits. He thought that was a great idea and welcomed me to join him.

Two-Horses, who would surely now change his name, complimented me on moving so well in the brush. He thought many Indians would have trouble doing so well. I blushed and thanked him, and then told him that I had been taught by a young white girl.

He said, "I would like to meet this girl."

I replied, "I just hope it is on friendly terms."

The next day we headed north toward Two-Horses home. It was a ten-day trip, and we talked about many things. One of the first things we discussed was his new name; I told him I liked "Many-Horses."

He thought about it for a while and said, "Yes, Many-Horses is a good name. I like it. That will be my name from now on."

I asked what he planned to do with his wealth. I told him that if he planned to sell anything, I would be happy to do it for him in town. I thought that he could get more money that way. He said that he thought that he now had all of the money he needed and he would use the other things to trade for wives and to use as gifts. Such valuable gifts would gain him much prestige in his clan. I said that I couldn't argue with that.

We reached Many-Horses home without encountering any adverse situations. Moving nine horses even over rough ground is not too difficult for two horsemen and we made good time. He was greeted as a returning hero and I was made warmly welcome as Many-Horses guest. Several beautiful, and some less so, Indian girls visited my bed during the two weeks I was there; I never want to hurt a woman's feelings.

Many-Horses negotiated for four wives while I was in the camp. He said that was enough for even him! All seemed to be happy to be the wife of such a successful warrior. This visit was so much fun that I really hated to leave. Many-Horses said that I was a good friend and he wanted me to visit whenever I could. I thanked him, but told him that I rarely came this far north. He said not to worry, I would never be forgotten.