Chapter 4

The Redsticks were coming our way! We got the word by a militia horseman who was following the same road the Redsticks were expected ta use. They were marchin' through the territory killing an' burning everythin' they came ta. All of the towns they had hit so far had been burned ta the ground, an' all of the people had been killed, but none of those towns were as big as Henryville, so we were hopin' fer the best. However, we were, very sensibly, preparing fer the worst.

The word wuz that the Redsticks were three days away, so we had a pretty good lead ta be ready. Everybody who was livin' in outlyin' farms came ta town and were put up in the inn and private homes. We took in a couple of elderly folks who had no place else ta go. The old man had two muskets, an' he claimed ta be a pretty good shot; his wife loaded fer him. They wuz skeptical of our crossbows, but we were confident, since we now had 117 bolts, an' all three of us were accurate shots.

When the word came that the Redsticks had been seen less than a mile away, everybody in town ran ta his assigned defensive point an' we waited fer the enemy ta show up. Me an' Ezra climbed ta the loft, an' each one of us took an end window. Cindy took a loophole beside the front door, an' the Emerson couple took a position at a loophole at the rear of the house. We only had ta wait 'bout 20 minutes afore the first of the Redsticks showed up. We heard shooting an' yelling at the south end of town, an' we figured that we would see some action in the next few minutes.

Our house faced east, so I was the first one ta see a Redstick. I held my fire until he got closer, since I didn't want ta chance wastin' a bolt. When he got ta 'bout 20 yards away, I let off my first shot. I quickly levered in my next bolt an' was ready for whatever happened. That first bolt had drilled its way into the Redstick's chest an' he jus' flopped over on his back. Some damn-fool Redstick came out ta see what wuz wrong with his friend. I let him get fully exposed afore I drilled him, too. Now, I waited ta see if there were any more damn fools among the Redsticks.

Y'all would of thought by now that the Redsticks would of seen the error of their ways in their choice of weapon. They had ta git within arm's reach of a victim ta do any damage with that warclub. But there was no way that they could do much damage ta people at a distance. As long as they were facin' jus' two or three shooters with muskets, there weren't much of a problem. Ifen a bunch of Redsticks all charged at once, two or three muskets couldn't do much ta stop a charge, even if they did make a fatal hit with every musket ball. The Redsticks could rush up ta a house an' hug the wall while they wuz getting' set ta burn it down. Once the house wuz burnin', the folks inside would rush out an' could be attacked by the warclubs.

But that wouldn't work at Henryville. We had too many muskets, an' the houses were close enough together that they could give each other coverin' fire. A' course, ifen they tried ta charge our repeatin' crossbows, they were goin' ta get a real surprise! So far, I wuz the only one who'd had a chance ta shoot, but we all 'spected that ta change any time now.

Suddenly, Cindy yelled out, "HERE COMES A WHOLE BUNCH OF 'EM! THERE'S TOO MANY FER ME! I NEED HE'P!"

I yelled out that I would cover her, an' I ran ta a small dormer in the front roof. I pushed open the shutter an' saw what looked like hundreds of Redsticks chargin' right at us. I'm shore that it couldn't have been more than 20, but it looked like a vast sea of Redsticks headed our way. Cindy wuz already shootin' an' I opened up as soon as I got inta position. They were so crowded together that we couldn't miss, an' an Injun fell everytime we fired. They were awful close afore it happened, but the charge finally broke afore they actually got ta our house.

Even afore the charge in front broke, I heard a musket go off in the back of the house. I yelled fer Ezra ta cover from the back dormer, an' I hear him run by. I could hear him firing, as well as the musket downstairs. I figured that those two could hold back there while I watched the two ends of the house. Cindy wuz certainly doin' a good job with the front. That let me roam back an' forth between the two end windows.

Every few minutes, I ran from one end of the house ta the other; I didn't accomplish much fightin', but I shore got my exercise. The attack on the town lasted 'bout 45 minutes afore the Redsticks gave it up as a bad job. I make that estimate based on not hearing musket fire after that, but everybody stayed in their houses fer another hour, jus' ta be safe.

After I wuz shore that the fightin' had died down, I went out front, but I made shore that Cindy wuz coverin' me, jus' in case. I found a few wounded Redsticks what I got rid of with my pig-sticker, but most were dead. Once I had checked all around the house, I signaled that it was OK fer people ta come out. Me an' Ezra spent more than an hour retrievin' our bolts. We got most of 'em back, but I guess there wuz a few Redsticks what took with them a souvenir of their visit ta our house.

When we got back ta the house, I made a point of congratulatin' the Emersons on the number of Redsticks that they had taken care of. Ole man Emerson said that he was 'sprised at how many we took out with our crossbows. He was so impressed that he wanted one. I told him I'd have ta see what I could do. Every one of our neighbors wuz as impressed at the effectiveness of the crossbow an' wanted ta buy one from me. Doggies, maybe I should start sellin' the fool thin's; Ezra, Cindy, an' me shore could turn them out ifen I could get enough iron. I'd have ta look inta that!

A town meeting wuz held ta git rid of the dead bodies of the Redsticks. We stripped 'em of what we could use, it weren't much, an' burned 'em in a big pyre. It shore weren't no funeral—it wuz a big celebration, with food an' whiskey from everywhere. There shore were a heap of hangovers the next mornin'. Ezra couldn't even git out of bed.

I was shore down when I saw what wuz left of the smithy. It was a heap of junk an' burned ashes. Well, at least, iron don't burn in that kind of a fire, so I should be able ta recover all my tools an' raw materials. But I wuz gonna have ta build a new workplace from scratch. I thought 'bout it fer a bit an' consulted with Cindy an' Ezra. We decided that we had the room on our lot, so we would rebuild the smithy in our back yard. That way, we would have a better chance of protectin' it ifen the Redsticks came back. Also, that way, I would be able ta see more of Cindy, which I liked.

Thin's calmed down a bit after that attack, so I started looking fer a steady source of iron fer makin' more crossbows. With the three of us workin', I figured that we could turn out three crossbows a week, around the regular smithin' work what came in. I got lucky when a drummer came through town what said he could sell me all of the iron I needed. I stupefied him by orderin' enough iron fer 20 crossbows an' 300 points. That was so much iron that he was gonna have ta contract fer a wagon jus' ta haul that much iron in. He asked fer 50% down an' the rest on delivery, but I gave him 10% down, which was still a passel of money. The biggest pain wuz that it was gonna take six weeks ta git delivery, but there was nothin' we could do 'bout that.

I wuz gonna charge $15 fer a crossbow, and three cents fer every bolt. Me and Ezra agreed ta teach each customer how ta shoot. The first lesson wuz free, after that, we were gonna charge fer 'em. Each customer had ta put down $3 when he placed his order, an' that slowed some of 'em down a little bit, but I needed the money ta buy the startin' materials. This price was based on hard currency, a' course, nothin' but silver or gold—I couldn't afford ta git stuck with paper I couldn't spend. Spanish pieces of eight would be the most convenient, but I'd take anythin' I could spend.

Hoskin Emerson showed up fer his crossbow with his $12 in hand. I included a practice bolt with the sale, so he would have a bolt ta practice with. It wuz late in the afternoon, so I told him ta come back tomorrow fer his free lessons—we'd need the daylight ta make the lessons worth while. He promised ta be back as soon after breakfast as he could make it, probably 'bout 6:30.