Chapter 6

We still didn't know what ta expect from the main Redstick force, so we kept on the way we were headed. We were tense, now, as we got closer an' closer ta meetin' up with more Injuns than we could hope ta handle. Since they didn't carry nothin' but warclubs an' stabbin' spears, we didn't have much ta fear as long as we stayed beyond arm's reach.

We figured that ifen we wuz alert, we could spot trouble far enough away fer us ta turn around the mule an' wagon an' run away from it. Ifen worse came ta worst, we would abandon the mule an' wagon an' run fer it. The Injuns would likely stop to cotch the mule, since they put so much store by mule meat. That wuz our safety magic—the Injun's absolute hunger fer mule meat. Poor Martha wouldn't like it, but that wuz the harsh reality of life on the frontier.

We went on fer about a mile afore we spotted any more Redsticks. The trouble was, they spotted us about the same time we seen them. They started running toward us, an there wuz a passel of 'em. There weren't no way we could fight that many Injuns, so I turned the wagon around, an' had Martha run as fast as she could. Now, Martha was kinda old an' mules don't run all that fast, anyway, so there wuz a chance of us bein' caught. Y'all kin bet money on it: we didn't want ta git caught!

Poor old Martha was runnin' her heart out, so we had no complaint there. I was a better shot with the crossbow, so Ezra took the reins while I started shootin' at them Injuns what wuz chasin' us. There weren't no way we could recover our bolts, so I was careful ta wait 'til an Injun got close enough that I couldn't miss.

I admit that I was more than a little scared, so I started out shootin' them bolts with the attached whistles. I wish I had a picture of them Injuns faces when that first whistlin' bolt came flyin' at 'em. The first man I shot wuz pretty close, so that there bolt went clear through him when it hit him in the gut. He jus' folded up an' rolled along the ground when he fell.

That was enough ta slow down the rest of them Redsticks, an' I managed to git off two more shots afore we wuz out of range. Both bolts had whistles an' both bolts hit an' killed an Injun. They stopped chasin' us after that third shot, an' I found out later that them Injuns said that they wuz attacked by a "whistlin' death." That wuz the first time any of 'em had ever seen a crossbow bolt, so they didn't know what ta make of it. A lot of 'em thought that it was some kind of magic!

Ezra slowed down poor Martha as soon as it looked safe enough ta do so. He walked her fer a few yards an' then came ta a stop ta let her cotch her breath. I hoped we didn't have ta use the wagon fer a bit, cuz Martha was purely winded. That ole mule had done a good job, though; it were a shore thin' that she had saved all our lives!

Well, we had most of the information that we had come fer, so it wuz time ta head home. It were a shore thing that there wuz enough Redsticks that we were gonna have ta bunch up in the tavern ifen we wuz gonna fight them off. Me an' Ezra put our heads together an' estimated that there wuz at least 75 Redsticks in that bunch, an' we wuz gonna have a tough time fightin' 'em off. The only thin' that wuz in our favor wuz their choice of weapons: ifen they'd had bows or throwin' spears, we'd a been in a heap more trouble.

We headed back ta Henryville ta report our findin's an' start preparin' the defense. We got home in mid-afternoon, an' I looked up Asa Johnson while Ezra spread the word fer everybody ta come ta the tavern/inn at first light, tomorrow. A few people lit out as soon as they got the word, but most said that they would be there ta he'p in the fight.

We had one advantage with the arrangement of the town: the ground was pretty well clear near ta the inn. Except fer some big pecan shade trees, there wuz an open green in front of the tavern which gave us a good field of fire. Because the tavern got kinda noisy in the evenin', people had kept their houses back away from the sides an' back of the place, so it was clear all around fer at least 150 feet, except fer the shade trees. That meant that we had pretty good fields of fire all around.

I wanted most of my defenders on the second floor, so they could lean out the windows a long ways an' shoot at anybody what had made it ta the walls below. I figured that was a good place for Cindy with her crossbow, since she was too big in the belly ta do much runnin' an' carryin' on. I changed my defensive plans a little bit once everybody had shown up the next morning. I put five crossbowmen upstairs with Cindy an' scattered 'em around the windows. I filled in with muskets an' did the same sort of thin' on the first floor. As usual, the wives were there ta reload the muskets so the men could keep shootin'.

Me an' Ezra an' Cindy had been busy makin' bolts, so we had over 400 ready fer use that mornin'. I knew we didn't need that many, but it was good for morale. That was over $12 worth of bolts, an' I knew that I would never collect a penny fer them, but I figured that them bolts were an investment in keepin' Cindy an' her baby alive. Besides, I would recover most of 'e ifen we lived through the next few hours, since I had marked every one with my initials so they could be identified.

I don't know why, but the Injuns blew their best chance of gittin' us, cuz they didn't attack with the risin' sun. It was close ta 9:00 o'clock afore they showed up. Lucky fer Henryville, there wuz good discipline in the Injun band; I say that cuz there weren't no lootin' an' burnin' of empty houses. Whoever wuz leadin' them Redsticks had winnin' the fight as the first item on his priority list.

They came chargin' at us from the east, a couple of hours late, yellin' an' brandishin' their warclubs an' an occasional spear. I told everybody ta hold off on the first shot 'til I gave the word. Muskets are notoriously inaccurate, so I wanted to hold our fire 'til we had a good chance of hittin' somebody. Also, I figured that a volley of musket fire wuz impressive an' might shake the Injuns' resolve. Anyway, I let the Redsticks git close before I yelled, "FIRE!"

There was a tremendous crash of sound as the muskets went off an' a lot of the Injuns fell dead or wounded. I had set up with the crossbowmen not ta shoot 'til I ordered it, so when the noise of the muskets had a chance ta die off, I yelled, "CROSSBOWS, FIRE!" Everyone of them bolts had a whistle on it, an' the scream was deafenin'. The scream when the bolt struck an Injun was pretty deafenin', too.

The muskets had made a dent in the charge, but the whistlin' crossbow bolts wuz the final straw. The attackin' Injuns turned around an' raced back out of musket range. I made a point of goin' around an' congratulatin' everybody on breaking the charge with only two volleys; while I was there, I warned everybody 'bout wastin' ammunition.

Injuns ain't much on layin' siege ta a place, it usually lasts only a few hours, unless there is some White man around ta keep them at it. Injuns seem ta git bored right easy, an' there ain't nothin' much more borin' than a siege. The rest of the day was spent with watchin' out fer another charge an' takin' an occasional shot at a Redstick what had wandered too close.

As it wuz gittin' dark, Asa Johnson came up ta me an' said, "Cap'n, ya know that them Injuns ain't gonna hold off on burnin' the town much longer. Kin ya think of anythin' that we could do ta make 'em leave afore they starts that kind of devilment?"

"I don't know, Asa. Let me think on it. I'll talk ta some people, an' maybe we kin come up with sumpthin'." I talked ta several of the old-timers, an' everybody agreed that we couldn't drive 'em off, but we might scare 'em off. The only thin' we had ta scare 'em from a distance was the bolts with the whistles, but they were no good after dark. Then I had a bright idee.