Chapter 10

"The girls had been tossed over a horse with their wrists and ankles bound. There are nine bad guys left. If we catch the extra horses the time we spend will easily be made up by allowing us to switch horses and keep riding until we catch them or ride past them to get ahead of them. We need to take them before they reach where they are going or more show up." I said.

Everyone agreed with me and it only took about 15 minutes to catch the extra horses this gave each of us an extra we could switch to allowing one to be rested. We rode hard and by sunset had slipped past them looking for a spot to set an ambush.

Bear Claw was the first to see the other group coming from the south at least five miles away. She was guessing at least twenty. I agreed with her estimate. It was now or never to get the girls back.

The spot was not ideal, a small hill next to an even smaller arroyo. We pulled the horses down and covered their head with a blanket keeping the reigns pulled tight holding their neck twisted slightly. The extra horses were run off since we could not hide them and we did not have someone to watch them as we needed every gun we had the six of us were each going to have to shoot one and at least three of us would have to shoot two.

The bad guys were totally surprised when we let the horses up as we stayed in the saddle and shot all nine dead before any of them even drew a pistol. Keeping the girls bound on their horses and kicking the few bad guys off their horses that were still in the saddle; we rode away as fast as we could.

Bear Claw pointed out the four riders that were coming fast from the group we had seen to the south. They would not be able to catch us but they would be able to follow our trail. I was hoping they would stop to check on the dead. That would give us a little more distance between us.

Once we were out on the flats we cut the girls loose so they could right themselves in the saddle.

Katie introduced the five other girls; Roxie Williams was a 31 year old woman from Ohio that had been taken a week or more ago during a raid on her wagon train.

Doli which means Bluebird a 22 year old Navajo had been traded to the bandits for a couple flintlock rifles.

Koko which means Night was 20 years old and Blackfoot, she had been out picking berries when a couple of the bandits caught her and took her.

Namid which means Star Dancer was a 14 years old Cheyenne who was being taken to another Chief to seal a truce between them.

Danelle O'Malley a 12 year old Irish girl who was also taken in the raid on the wagon train.

Roxie Doli and Koko were raped constantly but the other two like our girls were off limits. But all five of them were afraid that they would be next and the bandits constantly made threats to that end.

Bear Claw said the four riders were closing but were still more than 2 miles behind us. Thomas pointed out a ravine to our Northwest and we headed for it. It would give us a good defendable position.

Quick look around once we reached the ravine and it was decided that Thomas Brenda Bear Claw and I would stay and hold off or kill the four riders then follow the others in the ravine since it basically headed toward the North Northwest. Marge and Karl would lead the others off in the ravine for as long as it lasted.

We built a fire to ensure they would come to us. Thomas and I dug in on either side of the ravine and camouflaged ourselves to keep from being seen until the last possible moment. Brenda and Bear Claw were in the ravine watching so Thomas and I could remain hidden. It was just short of two hours when Bear Claw signaled that the four were coming. I could hear them riding up they slowed down and then it sounded like they dismounted.

I heard the guy to my side before I saw him. I had to pull my pistol to shoot him because I could not move my rifle fast enough without giving myself away. He had crawled right behind me trying to sneak up on the ravine from the side. I hit him in the side and he dropped like a sack of potatoes. I heard Thomas and one of the girls shoot too. I rolled back to my rifle and saw one of the guys jumping on to a horse only to see and hear him get shot off the horse. Bear Claw called out saying that all four had been killed. We checked them all and found them to be bandits like the others each was armed with an Army Colt and Sharps rifle. We took the horses and followed the others.