Chapter 8

Shiply and his fighters had hardly gotten themselves situated on the roof when the first arrows came flying in. John said, "Don't waste yer ammunition shooting when they're out of range. Wait 'til ya kin be shore of yer shot."

About a minute later, there was a boom from down below as one of the hide hunters fired his .75 caliber rifle. Two Comanches actually fell to the ground from this one shot. There was a lot of cheering from within the shed and on its roof as this remarkable shot was appreciated. John laughed as he stuck his head down through the hole in the roof and said, "That wuz some fine shot, but don't waste yer ammunition showin' off. We knows y'all boys are good shots." Laughter and jeers answered his statement, but it was followed by, "Shore, Cap'n. We knows ya're right. We'll quit foolin' around."

It was nearly 10 minutes later before the Comanches were within 200 yards—a good range for the hide hunters, but still stretching it for the men on the roof. Now, the hide hunters started shooting in earnest and picking off Comanches or horses at every shot, though no more 2 for the price of 1.

John ordered his people on the roof to watch in all directions to make sure that the Comanches didn't sneak up on them from an unexpected direction. This was a good precaution, because Seth suddenly fired. "Dammit, I missed him!" he groused as he reloaded that chamber. Apparently, this was an odd scout sent out to see if they were actually watching in all directions.

The Comanches backed off, and the hunters stopped shooting. The hunters had accounted for several Indians, so the Comanches weren't yet anxious to challenge their marksmanship. However, once the Comanches started charging, the heavy guns of the hide hunters would be less effective, because they couldn't swing to follow a swiftly moving Indian.

The Indians appeared not to realize that there were riflemen on the roof, so they were a bit careless with the way they moved around while they were waiting for orders to charge the adobe shed. They had, quite by accident, John thought, moved in to within 150 yards, which was close enough for the people on the roof. He ordered, "VOLLEY FIRE! READY... AIM... FIRE! READY... AIM... FIRE! READY... AIM... FIRE! RELOAD!" They had gotten off 21 shots and hit 11 Indians, a very good ratio, before the Comanches pulled back out of range.

There was now no doubt that there were riflemen on the roof, the pall of smoke made that obvious. Now, the Indians were sure to try to do something about that. The only really successful way for the Indians to attack the people on the roof was plunging fire from arrows. But, to do that effectively, they needed to get within 100 yards of the roof. They would have to shoot at such a high angle that they would not have much horizontal range. John knew that this was coming, the question was, when?

John told his people, "When the Injuns start raining arrows down on our heads, we can't all stay on the roof. I want Jeb and Seth ta stay here with all the rifles; the rest of y'all scoot below as fast as y'all kin move. Come back when the rain of arrows stops, which it will have ta. The Injuns ain't got all that many arrows.

"Send the pistols down now, I don't see us usin' 'em fer a while. Ifen the Injuns git close enough, we'll need the pistols down there, but I 'spect this battle ta be mostly rifle work.

"Jeb, ya an' Seth hug the near wall when the arrows fall, but y'all should be able to git off some shots between arrow volleys. Ifen ya git a choice, aim fer the war chiefs. Ifen we kin kill enough of them, the common fighters will leave."

Abigail said, "Let me rile them up some, an' we may git a few cheap shots."

John answered, "Shore, go ahead. It can't hurt nothin', an' it might do some good."

Abigail went to the edge of the roof and stripped off her shirt so the Comanches could see her breasts. She shouted, in Comanche, "LOOK AT ME! I'M A WOMAN! I WILL KILL YOU ALL IF YOU WILL JUST COME WITHIN REACH! YOU ARE A BUNCH OF COWARDS WHO ARE AFRAID TO COME NEAR ME! I WILL KILL YOU ALL AND CUT OFF YOUR COCKS! I MAY EVEN CUT OFF YOUR COCKS BEFORE YOU DIE! I WILL MAKE YOU EAT YOUR COCKS AND YOUR BALLS IF YOU HAVE ANY, BUT I DOUBT IT! I HAVE TAKEN A WARRIOR NAME—CALL ME 'COCK CUTTER!'

"I WILL CUT OFF YOUR NOSE SO THAT YOU ARE EVEN UGLIER THAN YOU ARE NOW! WOMEN IN THE AFTER LIFE WILL LAUGH AT YOU! YOU LET A WOMAN CUT OFF YOUR NOSE AND YOUR COCK! ALL THE TRULY BRAVE MEN WILL LAUGH AT YOU! YOU ARE LESS THAN WOMEN, YOU ARE COWARDS!

"I WILL STAND HERE AND LET YOU SHOOT AT ME WITH YOUR ARROWS! I WILL NOT USE A RIFLE ON YOU! YOU ARE NOT WORTHY OF THAT! YOU ARE SO CONTEMPTABLE THAT I WILL ONLY USE MY PISTOL! APPROACH ME, IF YOU DARE! I THINK THAT YOU ARE TOO COWARDLY TO DO THAT! I SPIT ON YOU!"

Abigail turned her back on the Indians and put her shirt back on. One of the hide hunters could speak Comanche, and he gave a running translation of what she said. This caused gales of laughter among the Whites and raised her status among her friends even higher, if that was possible.

It didn't take long for Abigail's taunts to have an effect. Men rode out, but only a little way, and shook their lances or bows at her. She just laughed at them, which made them even more agitated. Finally, one of the men could take it no longer and started riding toward her while fitting an arrow to his bow.

Abigail let him shoot his arrow and didn't even bother to dodge when she saw that the arrow was too poorly aimed to hit her. She raised her Dragoon Colt with both hands and fired a shot which caught the Indian in the chest—admittedly a lucky shot. He very artistically rolled on his back and right over the tail of his horse. Abigail stood in plain sight and laughed!

This was too much for the other Indians. They came riding in a bunch toward the shed, firing their arrows as they came. Abigail crouched behind the adobe coping and aimed her rifle, along with all of the other defenders. As soon as the charging Comanches closed to 50 yards, John shouted, "FIRE!" A mighty volley of lead was launched at the oncoming Indians, and a dozen fell with that first group of shots. The firing continued and Comanches fell until they broke off the charge and retreated out of effective range.

There must have been over 30 Indians lying dead in front of the shed. Abigail stood up and shouted, in Comanche, "YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TRY TO CHEAT ME? COME ONE AT A TIME SO I DON'T NEED MY FRIENDS TO HELP! I WANT TO DO THE KILLING, MYSELF! I AM JUST A WEAK WOMAN! I DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO ASK MY FRIENDS TO HELP ME FIGHT YOU COWARDS! IS THERE NOT A SINGLE BRAVE MAN AMONG YOU? I DOUBT IT. HERE I AM, COME GET ME, YOU COWARDS!"

This was enough to bring out a Warrior to try to shut her up. He rode toward Abigail slowly and deliberately. This made him much more dangerous than the last man she had faced. By riding slowly, he had a much better chance of aiming his arrow accurately, so she watched him carefully. He finally came within a good shooting distance for her pistol and she took careful aim, holding her Dragoon Colt with both hands. When the Indian got ready to shoot, she beat him to it. The bullet went through his bow, breaking it in two pieces. The bow was pulled to its maximum tension, so the smaller piece of the bow whipped around and stabbed him in the neck, tearing a carotid artery. Blood flew everywhere as the man grabbed at his neck. He was dead within one minute!

Abigail let out a cry of triumph and made a little dance where she could be seen. "YOU SEE HOW POWERFUL MY MEDICINE IS! HOW MANY DO I HAVE TO KILL TO FILL YOU WITH FEAR OF COCK CUTTER? THAT WAS A BRAVE MAN. I MIGHT LEAVE HIM HIS NOSE, BUT I WILL STILL CUT OFF HIS COCK! WHO WILL BE NEXT? IS THERE ONE AMONG YOU WHO IS NOT A COMPLETE COWARD?"

The next Comanche to challenge Abigail rode toward the shed as fast as his horse could run. He was bent over, hiding behind the head of his horse. He must have been sure that Abigail would not shoot his horse, something an Indian would never do on purpose. He must have hoped to get close for a sure shot before Abigail could get off a shot. She fooled him! She let him get close enough to make for an easy shot and put a bullet through the horse's head. The Indian was killed when he fell with his horse.

"YOU COWARDS CAN'T HIDE FROM ME! I WILL KILL YOU ANY WAY I CAN! WHO WILL BE NEXT?"

The Indians must have started taking Abigail seriously. This time, an Indian rode out with his coup-stick waving around his head. There were too many eagle feathers to count tied to the staff. This was a truly accomplished warrior! It was obvious that he was no threat as long as he was brandishing his coup-stick as he rode toward Abigail. He was riding neither very fast nor very slowly, just at a comfortable lope. He got quite close to the shed without drawing any fire, but he was watched closely. He stopped about 50 feet from Abigail and let out a loud war whoop, celebrating his own bravery. He wheeled his horse around and walked it slowly back toward his fellows while singing a song of triumph.

Abigale let him get about 30 yards away before she raised her pistol. Taking a careful aim, she squeezed the trigger and blew the warrior's head into a bloody mess. Abigail then began to sing of this warrior's stupidity in thinking that he was immune to her fighting skill and anger.

This must have been the last straw! Every Comanche warrior charged at the shed, whooping and firing their arrows. John pulled Abigail down behind the coping before she could be hurt. He ordered, "VOLLEY FIRE! READY... AIM... FIRE! READY... AIM... FIRE! FIRE AT WILL!" These two volleys cut down charging Indians very efficiently. The random fire that followed made a continuous roar as the defenders continued to pick off Comanches while the Indians were able to wound only one defender.