Chapter 5

I rode into the village expecting to arrive to a quiet little place where nothing ever happened. Man, was I in for a surprise. Today was a wedding day for one of my sisters. The women always go all out for a wedding, so this was a big deal, and a bigger deal than usual, since Gray Eagle was now the headman of the village. He wasn't a chief the way Whites think of it, but he was the one that everyone came to for problem solving when the problem was too big for them to do it themselves. This gave Gray Eagle fantastic power among the people, but he never abused that power, which proved to me just how wise he was.

Anyway, the feasting and dancing and story telling went on way into the night, long after the bride and groom had adjourned to the hut that she had just finished building. This was judged to be the best wedding celebration ever held in living memory, and Gray Eagle's wives were congratulated right and left for putting on such a grand affair.

After things had calmed down the next day and the hangovers had dissipated, I told Gray Eagle of my adventures since I had last seen him. He was fascinated by the story of J. Oswald Witherspoon and his fantastic revolver. I showed it to Gray Eagle, and he agreed that it was a weapon worthy of any warrior.

By the time I had returned to the village, I had over $20,000 in gold, most of which I had no use for. I asked Gray Eagle to take it to use to help the community. I told him that I didn't want any credit for the money, just to use it as he saw fit. I took out $1,000 to have for emergencies and promptly forgot about the rest, with considerable relief. I had not realized that having that much money was a real burden, and I was finally able to relax now that it was somebody else's problem and concern.

I wasn't worried about Gray Eagle. He would hide the money in a chest, somewhere, and just take out enough to solve problems as they came up. I had complete confidence in Gray Eagle, and I planned to add to the stash as more money came my way.

I still was a long way from being ready to settle down, so I was polite to the unmarried girls who courted me, but I refused to spend the night in anyone's hut. It's not that I didn't like girls, I just was not ready to be tied down. I got all of the relief I needed from my hand, since I was still only 13 years old, well ... almost 14, though I looked 18 or 20. Gray Eagle had counseled me to be careful not to knock up a young maiden until I was ready to settle down. There was no stigma attached to an unmarried girl having a child, since her mother would see that she received proper love and care. However, it was a significant blow to the girl's self esteem to be "fucked and forgotten," so I just exercised some self control and stayed a virgin. This got me some funny looks among my peers, but I just ignored them.

I stayed in the village about six weeks until I could stand it no longer and had to get back on the road. I headed toward El Paso, not for any particular reason, but I did plan to stop in to visit with Hannah Shipley, who had been so nice to me that last time I had seen her.

El Paso was also a good place to pick up leads on wanted men. There was even a rumor that the famous outlaw Red Eye McCall was just over the line in New Mexico Territory. What the hell, I had never been in NMT, so I bid goodbye to Mrs. Shipley and headed north. I figured that I would see some new country, even if I never ran into Red Eye.

It was kind of funny the way I never had to ask about McCall in any saloon. He was the major topic of conversation, and almost everyone of the talkers had claimed to have seen him someplace else. Most of the talk placed him in Carlsbad, so I headed that way. Humph! New Mexico Territory looked enough like Texas along here that it could have fooled me. Oh, well, at least I was going somewhere with a purpose.

I was still traveling with my customary three horses, one to ride, a spare, and a pack horse, so I guess I looked fat, dumb, and rich. Whatever it was, I seemed to draw people who wanted to take a shot at me. I was riding along, not paying much attention to my surroundings (even Indian warriors did that on occasion) when I heard a shot and saw my saddle horn disappear in a shower of splinters.

This guy may not have been a great shot, but he sure got my attention! I hunkered down in my saddle and dashed for a hillock with some trees about 50 yards away. As soon as I got there, I bailed out of my saddle and grabbed my Winchester, canteen, and extra ammunition. I made a habit, nowadays, of keeping some jerky in my shirt pocket, so it would be a little while before I got hungry. I dropped down behind a tree, at least, I hoped it was behind a tree, since I didn't know where the shooter was. This guy was smart enough to be using smokeless powder, so there was no tell-tale plume of gunsmoke to point him out.

I knew roughly where he had been when he fired, because of the way the splinters flew when the slug hit the saddle horn. But, that didn't tell me a hell of a lot, because any sensible murderer would have moved some after that first shot. I figured the best thing for me to do was to work my way away from my horses far enough to protect them from a stray bullet.

I began slithering through the grass, making as little ruckus as I could manage. I had gotten about 50 feet from my horses when another bullet whizzed by. This time it went over my head too close for comfort, but far enough away to cause no harm. Well, he knew where I was, now, so I might as well shift into killing mode.

Just as the shot rang out, I saw out of the corner of my eye some movement that wasn't likely to be natural in a stand of brush over to my right. I figured that I would place my assailant there until some better information came along.

I was neither hungry nor thirsty, but I thought that it would be a good idea to charge up now while I had the time. A few minutes later, I noticed some movement in the brush closer to my horses. It looked like my assailant was headed for the horses, possibly to steal them and leave me stranded here in the middle of nowhere.

Well, I wasn't overly worried. As opposed to my opponent, I am a good shot with both my rifle and my pistols. At this range, I figured that I couldn't miss, so I would just lie here and wait him out. I was certain that he would be a dead man as soon as he showed himself.

After about an hour of waiting, I saw some stirring in the brush right next to the saddle horse that I had been leading, rather than the one I had been riding. There was some more movement in the brush and a figure started to rise from the ground as if to try to mount the horse.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, OR YOU'RE A DEAD MAN! I'VE GOT YOU IN MY SIGHTS AND I WON'T MISS AT THIS RANGE!" The potential thief froze in position, so I didn't have to shoot. "DROP YOUR GUN! STAND UP! HOLD YOUR HANDS OVER YOUR HEAD!" My orders were followed, and I walked over to see what I had caught.

Shit! It's a girl! When I got closer, she started crying. "Stop crying! I won't hurt you. Now, tell me what's going on."

"Please, Mister, have ya got sumpthin' I kin eat. I ain't eaten in three days, an' I'm starvin'."

"Sure. There's pemmican in the pack on that other horse. Look in the gunny sack to your right. You'll find it there. Just don't eat too much right away or you'll get sick."

"Thanks, Mister. Do ya have anythin' ta drink? Water is kinda scarce around here."

"Yeah, there's a canteen on that third horse. Help yourself, but don't take too much at first."

I put down my rifle, but kept her covered with my pistol until I had some explanation of what was going on. I let her eat and drink some, then I asked her for her name.