Chapter 6

Martha's steady rifle fire was certainly distracting to the Apaches, Otto could tell because he heard them shooting back. Neither side was likely to hit anything useful, but it did keep the Indians' attention diverted from his activities.

Otto and the dogs swept in a big arc around the Indians and crossed the stream out of their line of sight. The dogs were doing a good job of staying with him, so they were no problem. The Indians were west of Martha, and Otto had circled far enough around to be approaching them from the northwest. They were now on what amounted to the Apaches' blind side, so Otto and the dogs were able to creep to within 100 feet of the Indians. Otto thought this was close enough, so he sent the dogs in with orders to attack, and he was prepared to shoot from a "can't miss" range.

The dogs did not bark, so they were right on top of the Indians before they were spotted. Both dogs went after throats and were too fast moving to be shot, but one of the Indians did try to use his knife. The other 5 Apaches were killed by the dogs before they could draw their knives, and the one that did manage to do so was shot in the chest by Otto before he could harm either dog.

Otto waved to Martha in their prearranged signal to hold her fire and trotted over to the Indians to see if any were still alive. No, the dogs had done their job well and the one that Otto had shot was gone, too. He and the dogs left the dead Indians and trotted back to Martha. Martha embraced Otto and almost cried, "Oh, my darlin', I wuz so worried about ya. Ya can't know how relieved I am that ya are safe." She then kissed him with a kiss that practically curled his toes!

Martha didn't forget the dogs. She hugged both of them and said, "Oh, thank ya, ya wonderful creatures! Thank ya fer doing such a good job of taking care of my darlin' man!" Both dogs acted as if they knew exactly what she was saying, and King pranced around as if he were very proud of himself, but Queen looked slightly disdainful, as if to say, "Of course we took care of him, that was our job!"

Otto said, "This victory wuz just as much yers as ours, honey. Ya kept them Injuns distracted pretty damned good. It were easy ta sneak up on 'em the way ya were shootin'."

Martha said, "Well, I'm glad I wuz able ta he'p. But it's gittin' late, an' I don't want my folks ta worry."

"OK, let me hitch up the mules an' horses while ya gather up the picnic stuff. I want to go by that there bunch of dead Injuns an' see what we might salvage. Then we kin leave." They did find enough rifles, knives, and other stuff to make the stop profitable, so they were cheerful as they rode back to the house. Martha was practically sitting in Otto's lap by the time they pulled up to the front veranda.

Martha's folks came out, saw how Martha was sitting, and nodded to each other. It looked like they had found their man! Martha was bubbling over with enthusiasm, telling them of their adventure that afternoon. She went on and on about how Otto and the dogs had saved her again from hostile Indians. Mrs. Smith frowned in indignation about how a body wasn't safe with the wild Injuns around, but Jake quietly signaled to Otto that he wanted to converse with him alone as soon as they could escape the women folks.

Mrs. Smith carried on over the bravery of Otto and the dogs and generally made much of their actions. Then she remembered that she had food cooking, so she and Martha rushed to the kitchen to make sure that everything was safe and in good order. Besides, Mrs. Smith wanted a detailed report on what had happened that day between Martha and Otto. She was suitably sympathetic when told about the interruption just after Otto had begun to rub Martha's nipple. The two began to plan their strategy as they continued to fix supper.

Once they were safely away from the house, Jake turned to Otto and said, "Son, I don't know ifen ya realize it, yet, but Martha has her cap set fer ya. Now, I want ya ta know that I approve, but I don't want to hurt my only child, soz, ifen ya don't feel the same way, I'd appreciate it ifen ya would skedaddle afore this goes much farther."

"I've taken a shine ta Martha, I must admit. I think that she would make a fine wife, soz I'm askin' fer her hand right now, ifen I may be so bold."

"Shore, son, like I said, I'm all fer it, soz ya have my blessin'. But I have a little bit of advice fer ya, based on what I know of her mother. Play a little hard ta git, soz she feels like she has accomplished sumpthin' when she finally does land ya. That way, she'll appreciate ya more, cuz she had to work hard ta git ya. Ya see what I mean?"

"Yeah, I shore do. Thanks fer the advice. I'll try ta play it that way fer a while, but I don't know how long I kin hold out.

"Now, I want ta change the subject. Where are all these here hostile Injuns comin' from? It don't seem right fer there ta be two attacks that close together."

"I ain't shore, son, but the whole country has been overrun with 'em fer nearly the past year. The Injuns seemed to be stirred up like they think that they kin drive us out ifen they just keep on enough pressure. Well, ta anybody what will listen, I say that I might be killed, but I ain't gonna be driven out. I got 4 hands ta he'p me fight, an' now ya with yer dogs, I 'spect that we kin stand off anythin' this side of an army."

I 'spect that ya're right, Jake. Ya kin shore count on me an' the dogs ta stand with ya." The conversation continued for a few more minutes in this vein until they heard the sound of the dinner gong.

As soon as supper was over, Martha and Otto were sent out to the veranda to be alone for a while. Otto kept in mind Jake's advice about not being too easy to catch, but he was having trouble following that advice. There was a swing on the veranda suspended from a sturdy crossarm, so there was no worry about putting too much weight on it, so Otto was not worried when Martha sat down with him in the swing.

Initially, Otto sat at one end of the swing and Martha sat at the other, but, as the evening progressed, Martha slipped closer and closer to Otto until they were both occupying only one end of the swing. Otto became concerned when the beam started to groan as they slowly swung back and forth, but Martha either didn't hear it or ignored it, Otto couldn't tell which.

Once she was close enough, Martha began to kiss Otto. At first the kisses were the conventional kind with the closed mouth, but the kisses progressed to the deep tongue penetration that they had been doing that afternoon. Otto wanted to resist, but he couldn't; when Martha pulled his hand to her breast, he let her guide his hand into place, but he did not massage her breast or rub his palm around. This kind of restraint was really wearing on Otto, but he managed to stick it out long enough for Martha to return her hand to his and to move his hand around on her breast.

Otto figured that this was enough resistance for one night and began massaging her breast with some enthusiasm. Martha moaned very quietly as they continued to kiss, and Otto continued to massage. Otto was not sure how far this would have gone if Jake had not shown up to rescue him from himself. Jake sat in one of the chairs facing the swing, and Martha backed off. Otto was pretty sure that this was the only time that he would be rescued, since he expected that Martha would complain to her mother, and Jake would receive orders to stay off the veranda when the couple was out there "spooning."

As a matter of fact, Otto was not sure that he had really wanted to be rescued, but he knew that Jake had Otto's best interests at heart. The three sat there and talked for a while until it was time for bed. Martha and Otto reluctantly separated and went to their separate rooms. It was hard to tell in the poor light, but Otto was sure that Jake winked at him as they went inside. The dogs were the only company Otto had in his bedroom that night, but he did dream of the day when Martha would join him, and he would banish the dogs to the barn. King would probably be put out about that, but Queen would surely understand.