Chapter 10

They were getting close enough to Mescalero territory that Otto resumed wearing the talisman that Striking Snake had given him to use. They were still on the alert for fear that Chiricahuas would take the talisman as a challenge. Otto was beginning to think that he was starting to sport too much jewelry and was a little uncomfortable at the thought. Nevertheless, he had the good sense to continue wearing it.

They were traveling through a particularly hot and dry territory at the moment, and it was hard to believe that anybody would want to fight and die for such God-forsaken ground, but you never knew what some "crazy" people might do. The children were restive and fretting and giving Martha a hard time, and all three of the adults would love to find some shade, but there was nothing around to serve their needs. Even the dogs, the mules, and the horses were showing the strain from the weather.

They had been suffering from the hot, dry weather all morning, and the sun was about to reach its zenith when the first gunshot was fired in their direction. Suddenly, about 20 Comanches came boiling up from an arroyo and riding full tilt in their direction. The Comanches were shooting at them the whole time, but they were not in much real danger at that point because of the distance and the fact that the horses were not providing a stable shooting platform. Unfortunately, with all of those bullets flying around, some could accidentally find an unpleasant target.

Martha put the children back into the relative safety of the wagon body where they would be surrounded by extra crates and chests which would stop the normal rifle bullet driven by black powder, which most Indians still used. Otto called for Brown Horse to join them in the wagon, and to let the dogs take care of the roaming defense. They did not need to worry about the Comanches harming the horses, except by accident, as they had an almost religious reverence for horses, though they generally only thought of mules as food stuff.

Martha and Otto took positions with their rifles on the wagon bed at the front at opposite ends of the driver's bench, while Brown Horse took up his position at the wagon's tailgate. The three adults in the wagon had Winchester rifles, Smith & Wessen top-break pistols, and plenty of smokeless powder ammunition, so the Comanches were definitely outgunned. Add to that, the 4 Great Danes they had never seen before, and the Comanches were in serious trouble; they just didn't know it, yet!

Like the small children they emulated, the first thing the Comanches did was head for the sweets, or, in this case, the small remuda. This was on Martha's side of the wagon and slightly to the rear, so she and Brown Horse had clear shots at the attackers. When the Comanches got close enough to be sitting ducks, Martha and Brown Horse opened up with a withering fire, directed more at the horses than their Comanche riders. They shot at a man, if he was a really tempting target, but they had no compunction toward killing the horses, if that was what it took to stop the charge.

So many men and horses were killed that the Comanches raced on by without causing any damage to the defenders. They raced away until the defenders stopped shooting, and the Comanches milled around in some confusion. This was when the dogs attacked! The dogs followed their usual practice of leaping for the rider's throat. They always hit with such force that the rider was knocked from his mount and severely injured by the fall if he was not killed by the dog's attack. King was a sure-fire killer, and Queen was just as good, but the younger dogs did not have the experience to be quite so certain with their bites, though they did always unhorse the rider. The upshot was: 4 leaps meant 4 downed Comanches. The Indians simply could not comprehend that dogs could do so much damage, so the Great Danes were assigned the rank of demons; and everybody knew that demons were not to be trifled with!

By the conclusion of the second leap from the dogs, there were only three left of the original 20 attackers, and these three Comanches were not about to wrestle with demons, so they rode away as fast as their horses could carry them. In fact, the Comanches were so panicked that one of the horses stepped into a hole and broke its leg. This catapulted the rider over its head; the Comanche died of a broken neck upon impact. This was just more proof that demons were at work! The two surviving Comanches spread the word far and wide of the demons roaming about in the daytime in the guise of monster dogs.

This particular battle was the last time Otto's party saw Comanches on their way to visit their Mescalero friends. The country was very rough in places, so it took 3 more weeks before they reached the village where Otto had last seen Striking Snake and his grandchildren. All of their friends were there and there was a great celebration. Even Brown Horse was welcomed as a friend, and he quickly acquired female companionship—both of them spoke Spanish, so communication was no problem.

Much was made of Otto's amulet. None of them had known it, but this amulet was the badge of honor worn by a famous Mescalero war chief. It had been lost in battle to the Chiricahuas many years before, and the Mescaleros had never expected to see it again. Otto offered to return it, but Striking Snake refused to take it; he maintained that Otto had earned it properly in battle and deserved to keep it. Besides, Otto had shown himself worthy of such a badge of honor the time he had rescued Striking Snake's grandchildren.

The next two weeks were spent in getting reacquainted and generally enjoying each other's company. Running Bear took Otto hunting several times and tried not to laugh too much as Otto fumbled with the bow and arrow. Otto never did make a kill on one of these trips, but the man and the boy reveled in each other's company.

Martha and Fawn got to know each other quite well, but Fawn was much taken with a young warrior and found it difficult to concentrate on much of anything else. After all, she was nearly 14 years old and was rapidly approaching the time she should be married. If she reached the age of 16 without being married, she would find herself classified as an old spinster and would find it difficult to catch a suitable husband. Of course, by being the grandchild of Striking Snake, she had so much status that there was very little chance that she would not find somebody to marry. No doubt, if she still wanted him, she could probably manage to marry the young man she was chasing, even if he married some other girl first. Unfortunately, that would put her in the position of wife number 2, and she might have trouble living with that reduced status. Oh, well, time would tell.

The four dogs were something of a puzzle to the Mescaleros. They were familiar with dogs, in fact, there were a few in the village, but those dogs were simply tolerated until it was time for them to be put into the stew pot. They had never heard of dogs of war, and were not sure that it was safe to be around them. However, the children had no trouble falling in love with the dogs, and vice versa. King was tolerant enough to let some of the younger ones try to ride him, but the other three dogs would not stand still for that indignity; this was the source of much amusement around the village.

It was at the end of the second week of their visit that a warrior came running to Striking Snake to tell him of sighting a war party of Chiricahuas headed their way. There were at least 30, possibly 35, warriors in the war party, and they were all armed with Winchester rifles. They were on horseback and appeared to be headed directly for the village, as if this was a predetermined target. Otto wondered if the dogs, as demons, were the real target of the raid; demons could be killed, but it was a difficult task.