Chapter 6

Keith and Sam returned to their old neighborhood and set up camp. Keith couldn't help remembering the way Sam looked without her shirt on. Being basically a nice guy, Keith had given Sam as much privacy as possible, considering the circumstances they were living under. He had avoided her when she was bathing, though he had stayed close enough to go to her aid if she was attacked, and the courtesy had been reciprocated. Nevertheless, as the ache from the loss of his wife began to fade, Keith found himself drawn to Sam in ways that were more than just friendship. He was very careful with how he acted around her, since he had no idea how she felt about him.

As their time together had progressed, Sam felt more for Keith that just gratitude for him having saved her life. She was developing a real affection for him as she began to see his better qualities as his grief faded. She, too, was feeling less pressures from the tragic loss of her brother and was beginning to think of other things besides revenge. Both people had advanced far enough to realize that there was more to life than just killing Comanches, though they still delighted in taking the opportunity to do so.

They resumed their patrol around the county, but there just were not as many Comanches in the vicinity as there had been even 6 months ago. They didn't realize that their activities had given this part of Texas the reputation of being haunted by demons and a good place to avoid. Only the most reckless and foolhardy of young and eager Comanche warriors were willing to venture into the area regularly patrolled by Keith and Sam.

This lack of Comanches was both a "blessing" and a "curse" to the pair. It was a blessing in that it meant that the Whites living peacefully in the area were reasonably safe from Indian attacks, and that was a goal that they had been working toward. However, it was a curse in that it meant that the pair had to wander into unfamiliar, therefore dangerous, territory in search of their prey. Just such a situation was forcing them to move on, now.

They chose to move north, not for any particular reason, but just on whim. Before they left, they did swing around to pick up the new bolt points that the blacksmith had been making for them. These points were of excellent quality and uniformity, so that Keith and Sam would not have to make any adjustments in their shooting style to accommodate the new ammunition. Over the next few days, they fitted the salvaged Comanche arrow shafts to the new points; they were now well supplied with ammunition and did not expect to run short for some time.

The new territory was loaded with marauding Comanches, so they did not lack for targets. They usually managed 2 ambushes in a week, sometimes 3. The Comanches in this area had not faced effective opposition in a very long time, so they were very arrogant and rode about as if they were the lords of the world. This made them easy targets as they rode along laughing and talking about the many White scalps they expected to take on this or future raids.

The Comanches were particularly taken with the blond hair that some of the White people had. The novelty of this hair color made such people prime targets for the Indians. They especially went after women because of the longer hair they would have clinging to the scalp. In one such case, they attacked a wagon carrying a husband, a wife, and 4 children, all with long blond hair. This was a bonanza!

Keith and Sam heard the ruckus and rushed to the scene. The Indians were following the conventional practice of riding around the wagon, yelling and whooping and shoot arrows at any possible target. The Comanches were having a grand time and were in no great hurry to finish off the people hiding in the wagon. This lack of a rush by the Comanches gave Keith and Sam plenty of time to set up a counter ambush.

There was enough brush near to the wagon's current position to provide some cover for the pair of rescuers, but it wasn't a complete shield against a well-aimed arrow. On the other hand, the brush was thick enough that they didn't have to worry about facing a direct charge from the Comanches wielding their very dangerous lances.

The Comanches were riding around the wagon fast enough that it was going to be very difficult to score a reliable hit on a man at that distance, but the horses made a much more inviting target. Therefore, the horses it was.

The man in the wagon had a pistol which he was using against the Comanches, but not very effectively. He was very sensible in not exposing any more flesh than he could help as he took his shots, but this limited his ability to aim, so, up to this point, he had not scored a single hit. A concerted rush by the Comanches directly at the wagon would have settled the matter very quickly, but that was not nearly as much fun as what they were doing, so they saw no reason to change tactics. With all of this excitement, the Indians were not paying any attention to what might be going on around them.

Keith and Sam selected targets and tried to take the proper lead on the running horses. They shot with varying success. Sam's bolt caught her target in the chest just behind the foreleg and punctured a lung. The bolt strike was not immediately fatal, but it did cause the horse to stumble, pitching the rider over its head into the path of another horse. This was the horse that Keith was aiming at, so his bolt hit the horse in the hip as it swerved to avoid the falling horse in front. This horse also tumbled, spilling its rider into the path of oncoming horses.

The first two riders were killed by their falls, so they were completely out of the fight. The rest of the Indians were caught by surprise and one more took a fatal tumble as his horse tried to avoid stepping on a downed Indian. The Indians had to give up the attack to try to get their horses back under control, and this gave Keith and Sam time to line up additional shots, this time at men, not horses.

By reloading and shooting as fast as possible, Keith and Sam got off a total of 5 more shots before the Comanches even discovered that they were under attack from a different quarter. They usually were not shot at by anything but firearms, so, when they didn't hear the reports of guns, they were confused by what was happening. These 5 shots took out 3 more Comanches, so Keith and Sam had knocked down a total of 6 Comanches of the 10 originally involved in the attack on the wagon. One of the Comanches finally woke up to what was happening; he shouted and pointed to their assailants.

These Comanches didn't know what to make of the crossbows until Keith and Sam shot at them again. This time they recognized the odd arrows that they had heard about, and one shouted "DEMONS!" This was enough to break the spirit of the attacking Indians, and they rode away as fast as their horses could carry them.

Keith and Sam gathered up their kits and dragged their sleds toward the wagon. Keith shouted, "HELLO THE WAGON! WE'RE FRIENDS! DON'T SHOOT!" The people in the wagon stood up, the woman started crying in relief, and the children all started shouting and waving.

The man said, "We're much obliged! Y'all done saved our bacon, fer shore. I'm Asa Josephson. I shore am glad ta see y'all."

"Hello, folks. I'm Keith Murray and this here is Sam Whitetower. We're glad ta be of he'p. Where ya folks headed?"

"We're from Kansas, and we're headed toward Laredo. My wife has relatives there. There's too much fightin' in Kansas over niggers fer our taste, soz we wanted ta go sommers more peaceable. I ain't so sure we picked the right place."

"Yeah, well, we do have our share of trouble from Comanches, but that's quietin' down, some. Welcome ta Texas. We hope ya like it here. It's a ways ta the next town, soz ya better be on yer way. So long an' good luck."