Chapter 6

All four of the Jordens wuz big hits when they came ta visit us on Sunday. My wives liked the adults, an' the kids all got along well together. I had been a little concerned 'bout the Jorden's reaction ta Wildflower because of her Muscogee heritage, but they never batted an eye. It looked like we wuz gonna git along well with our neighbors.

They wuz in greater need than we wuz, so I offered our help ta build the new cabin the Jordens needed. Isaac thanked me kindly an' said that he would be happy ta help with the new barn I had in mind. I had a couple of thin's ta do before then, so we agreed ta start work on Wednesday. Danny an' I would be over ta his place as soon as we finished breakfast. That would be 'bout daylight, considerin' when we usually ate breakfast.

Danny an' I showed up on the appointed day, an' we all set ta work cuttin' trees fer the cabin walls. Along 'bout mid-mornin', Ethel Jorden came staggerin' back ta the cabin lookin' like she had been through a rough time. Well, she had. She an' Martha had been out pickin' berries fer a pie when they wuz set upon by six men. They had all raped Ethel, but didn't bother ta kill her, figurin' that she would die on her own in a couple of hours.

They took off taward Mississippi, draggin' Martha with them. They didn't rape her, but went off laughin' 'bout how much money a virgin slave would brin' in Mobile.

Once we got the story out of Ethel, I sent Danny runnin' home ta fetch two of the women ta help Ethel git ta our place. I told him ta brin' back our armor, more powder an' shot, an' all but four of the dogs. Danny wuz a smart boy, so I knew that he would do all of the necessaries. Meanwhile, Isaac an' I tried ta help Ethel feel better an' ta make shore that Aaron wuz ready ta move when the women showed up.

Danny wuz back before I expected him, an' he had everythin' I had asked fer. Elizabeth, Holley, an' Wildflower had returned with him, an' Wildflower wuz wearin' armor an' carryin' a musket. She pointed out that we would need a woman along when we rescued Martha, an' she said that she wuz goin' with us. Well, as usual, she wuz correct, so I shut up an' got down ta business.

Danny had brought six dogs, so we wuz in good shape there. Isaac or I might of had trouble trackin' the bastards what stole Martha, but the dogs could do it with no problem. Isaac made up a pack of necessaries ta take with us, an' we took off fer the place where Ethel an' Martha had been attacked.

It only took 'bout 15 minutes ta find the place with all of us trottin' ta git there. Everybody, includin' Isaac, wuz wearin' our version of armor, soz we wuz well protected fer when we finally found the bastards we wuz huntin'. There wuz plenty of spoor fer the dogs ta sniff at, an' they wuz ready ta go in only a minute or two.

They wuz trained not ta run way ahead of us, so we humans had no trouble keepin' up with the dogs, except fer Danny, of course. He wuz puffin' an' blowin' before too long, so Isaac an' I traded off carryin' him on our backs while he caught his breath. He wuz a little embarrassed at that, but we assured him that we did not think the less of him because of his shorter legs havin' trouble keepin' up with the rest of us.

We had traveled 'bout six miles an' figured that we should be gettin' close, so we took a break. I wanted ta be sure that all of us, includin' the dogs, wuz in peak shape when we finally caught up ta our quarry. This seemed like a good time fer it, so we ate a light lunch from the thin's that Isaac had brought along. The dogs weren't hungry, soz we wuz ready ta resume the chase in 'bout half an hour.

The dogs told me when we wuz gittin' close. I took one of the dogs an' ran ahead ta see what them bastards wuz doin', especially how they wuz treatin' Martha. When I caught up, I saw one of the men carryin' the little girl, so I knew how much they valued her. I could understand why: she would easily be worth $200 on the slave block.

The men wasn't walkin' all that fast, so the rest of my people caught up ta me pretty soon. We poked along behind the slavers lookin' fer our opportunity. There wuz six men, an' Danny had outthunked me by bringin' six dogs, instead of the five I had asked fer.

They pressed on fer another hour or so, but decided ta take a break. This wuz gonna be our chance. That big man wuz still holdin' Martha while the rest of the men wuz breakin' out food an' the makin's fer coffee. I guess the big man wuz the boss.

Anyway, once I saw that every one of the men wuz involved an' not payin' much attention ta his surroundin's, I ordered the dogs ta "ATTACK!" They wuz real good at pickin' a target, soz I knew I didn't have ta worry 'bout watchin' the dogs. I wuz watchin' the big man, an' I don't know that I ever seen anybody react so fast. One of the younger dogs, Jack, attacked the big man, but that man threw Martha at Jack an' pulled out a mean lookin' Injun war club. Jack wuz confused when Martha came flyin' at him so the man had time ta swin' that club an' catch Jack in the head with it. He killed that dog with one swat!

Isaac reacted, too. He ran ta pick up Martha, an' didn't pay no attention ta the big man. The big man caught Isaac in the ribs with a back swin' an' I heard the ribs crack from 10 feet away. The big man then made his only wild swin' at Isaac an' hit him in the right knee as he wuz fallin' down. It wuz easy ta hear those bones crackin', too.

Wildflower an' Danny both came ta their senses at the same time, an' both put musket balls in the big man's chest. He went down at that, an' all of the bad guys wuz now dead. Wildflower rushed ta Martha, an' Danny an' I ran ta Isaac.

Martha wuz OK, but scared. On the other hand, Isaac wuz in pretty bad shape. Danny an' I carefully worked ta git his armor off, an' we found a bad bruise on his right side. That club had smashed some skin an' broken some ribs right through that heavy armor. That side had ta hurt, but it wuz Isaac's knee that I wuz really worried 'bout. The skin wuz not broken on his knee, so he didn't have ta worry too much 'bout gangrene, but it looked ta me like he would never walk on it again.

On the other hand, there wuz no way he could git home before I had ta set his knee an' splint it. I asked Danny ta look after Martha, who wuz cryin' in relief, I think, but needed comfortin', no matter what. Danny could look after Martha while Wildflower helped me with Isaac.

Wildflower agreed with my assessment of the two injuries an' started rippin' up the slavers clothes ta make bandages while I hunted up some sticks fer a splint. Most of the decent sticks wuz in the campfire, so I had ta cut a couple of saplin's, an' that delayed me a little. By the time I wuz back with the splints, Wildflower wuz just finishin' up on bindin' up Isaac's ribs. That wuz somethin' we had ta do before we worked on his leg, anyway, so there wuz no time wasted.

There wuz a bottle of rum in one of the packs belongin' ta the dead men, so I had no compunction in orderin' Isaac ta drink the whole thin' before we started workin' on his leg. Well, Isaac wuz a tee-tataler, so it didn't take but half the bottle of rum ta knock him out. He wuz sleepin' like a baby, so Wildflower an' I wuz ready ta go ta work. I kicked off my boot an' pushed on Isaac's crotch while I pulled on his ankle. When I felt thin's move back inta place, I had Wildflower bind him up with the splints.