Chapter 5

The next morning, Otto hitched up the mules and they left town, headed west toward Yuma. This was very dangerous country they were entering. Not only were there Chiricahua Apaches, but there were Navajoes and Mexicans to look out for. Many people of Mexican heritage were still pissed about the Gadsden Purchase and would be delighted to take a shot at a stray Anglo. When that was coupled with the Indians, it paid to be as alert as possible when traveling through here. Otto was grateful to have the dogs to help him keep watch for trouble.

They had been on the road less than an hour when Queen suddenly made a dash away from the wagon. King went flying off the driver's seat after her, and the two disappeared behind a sand dune. There was a screech of pain from one of the dogs, followed by a human scream that was cut off in mid path. Otto halted the mules and, taking his rifle, went trotting toward the sounds.

He found what he had expected to see. There was a dead Navajo with his throat torn out and a slightly injured dog. King was standing guard with a very bloody mouth over Queen, who was industriously licking at a superficial knife wound in her side. Otto made some soothing sounds as he came up to Queen to examine the wound. Fortunately, it was no more than a scratch, so Queen's tongue was all of the medical treatment that it needed, though she would carry a scar for the rest of her life.

Once he was satisfied that Queen was not seriously injured, Otto looked into the Indian's situation. Presumably, he had planned some sort of attack on the wagon, though it was impossible to know for certain. He had been carrying a Henry rifle, but it was not cocked at the moment, so it probably had not been when he was attacked by the dogs, since there had been no sound of a shot. Apparently, Queen had appeared on the scene, and the Navajo had thought to defend himself with his knife. Probably the first inkling he had of King's presence was when the dog leaped at his throat, and that was the last dealing that the Navajo would have had with this Earthly existence.

Now that Otto had appeared, King relaxed and licked the blood from his lips. He had ignored the Navajo from the moment he had completed his attack; King had concentrated his concern on protecting queen while she attended to her wound. Otto's presence appeared to relieve any worry that King had over Queen's welfare, and he was ready to return to the wagon as soon as Queen and Otto were ready to go. Otto relieved the Indian of his few possessions, and they returned to the wagon.

Otto was worried that Queen would have trouble jumping into the wagon, but she had no problem. Apparently, the knife wound was more of a nuisance than anything else. Queen assumed her normal place curled up on the seat beside Otto and ignored her wound, except for an occasional lick.

The Indian's Henry rifle appeared to be in good condition; it may have been a recent acquisition from some unlucky traveler. The Indian had not had time to strip it of its "unnecessary" metal parts, such as the butt plate or to decorate it with carving, etc., so Otto would probably be able to sell it at their next stopover for a reasonable price. The Indian's knife was a bowie in the expected excellent condition, so Otto planned to hang on to it.

The mules plodded on with the usual stoicism exhibited by all such beasts, so Otto had no idea how they felt about the situation, but his horse tied on at the rear was beginning to object to his demeaning position. Otto was probably going to have to saddle up and ride the horse for an hour or so that evening to calm him down; he was in real need of some vigorous exercise.

They found another settlement at which they could spend the night, so Otto saddled the horse and rode away from the livery stable with the dogs following along behind him. Once they were out of town, the dogs raced away to get some of their own exercise by running as fast as they could go. It took only a moment for them to disappear, so Otto was left to himself as he rode the horse at a fast lope. Otto didn't want to get rid of the horse, since he provided valuable insurance in case something happened to the mules while they were traveling, but he did need to pay more attention to the animal's needs than he had done so far.

Otto had been riding for about 45 minutes when he heard a rifle shot, followed by several pistol shots. He immediately turned toward the source of the noise and pulled his Winchester from its scabbard so that he would be prepared for any sort of eventuality. He crossed a low dune and saw a woman lying on the ground behind her horse, which was obviously dead. Two Indians were sitting astride horses just out of effective pistol range and threatening the woman with their rifles. They appeared to be waiting for the best time to charge in on the woman, probably when she had to stop to reload.

Otto pulled his horse up short and began firing at the Indians. In the fading light, it was difficult to draw a good bead on the Indians, but he did appear to wound one of them. In any case, it was enough to discourage them, and they quickly rode away. Otto shouted to the woman, "DON'T SHOOT! I'M ON YER SIDE! I'M COMIN' IN!"

She shouted, "COME ON IN! I WON'T SHOOT!" and Otto rode up to where she was. She said, "Thank God, ya came along! I'm much obliged ta ya. I'm Martha Smith. Who might ya be?"

"Howdy, Miss Smith. I'm Otto Bendrich. What happened?"

"I was headed back home ta my father's ranch when them two Chiricahuas started chasin' me. I got this far afore my hoss gave out. He must of taken a bullet in the chest that I didn't know about, but he was able to run fer a while afore he gave out. Fortunately, he slowed down afore he collapsed, soz I wuz able ta jump off without breakin' anythin'. But, curse the damned luck, he fell on the side what had my rifle, soz all I had ta shoot was this here Colt. I heard the stock break as he fell, so I didn't waste my strength tryin' ta git ta it.

"My father's ranch is about 2 miles thataway. Could ya give me a lift ta it?"

"It would be my pleasure, but I suggest that ya take the time ta reload afore ya do anythin' else."

"Good idea. I was so happy ta see ya that I fergot all about that." There was a pause while she reloaded, then she climbed on his horse behind Otto's saddle. He took it kind of slow as they rode, since she didn't have any stirrups, so her crotch was banging against the horse's backbone at every step. Some women may like that, but it can become painful after a short time.

Very shortly after she mounted, the dogs arrived on the scene. She was startled and a bit frightened at first, but she calmed down when Otto explained that they were his dogs and harmless to his friends. It was dark by the time they reached the ranch house, and there was some concern about Martha's whereabouts. Had she not shown up when she did, they would have sent out searchers to try to find her, and that would have been difficult and dangerous at night. The people at the ranch house were also fearful of the dogs, but calmed down when she insisted that they were harmless to Otto's friends. King and Queen quickly made friends with the new people, and everybody relaxed.

Since it was so late, Otto was invited to stay for supper and spend the night, both invitations were gratefully accepted. Otto and Martha spent most of the time talking to each other, both at the dinner table and later on the veranda where it was cooler. The rest of the family noted this interest and smiled to themselves. As had become their usual practice, the dogs spent the night in the bedroom with Otto, though it was warm enough that they did not climb into bed with him.

The next morning, Jake Smith, Martha's father, invited Otto to stay with them for a few days. He and his wife were busy looking for a husband for Martha, and they wanted an opportunity to check Otto over as a prospect. They had already rejected most of the locals as not being suitable, and had a very short list of those that were distantly possible. Otto agreed, but said that he wanted to go into town to pick up his stuff from the livery stable; Jake agreed that it was silly to pay for boarding his mules in town when he had a perfectly good barn and pasture where the mules could be as happy as mules ever were.

Martha offered to ride in with Otto, and this pleased both Otto and her family. They figured that there was no better one to evaluate Otto than Martha, herself, so they encouraged her to go. Martha's mother, Jane, even sent along a picnic basket for them to use on the way home. She told them not to hurry. So Otto, Martha, King, and Queen all trekked into town to retrieve the mules and wagon.