Chapter 5

Billy, Ann, and Maria swung into action. They started riding toward the fight, and Maria had an inspiration. "Billy, I just had an idea. This rifle has a longer range than the repeaters that ya an' Ann have. Let's find a good place where I can get a long range shot at the war chiefs. If I kin put one or two of them down, the Indians will probably break contact while they elect new chiefs."

Billy said, "That's a wonderful idea. How long a shot can ya manage?"

"I think that I can do well at 600 yards with this wind behind us. Find us a good place, and I'd like to give it a try."

Billy had found the war chiefs while he had been looking through the binoculars, so he had a good idea of where to head. They rode in a sweeping arc around the battle to a clump of rocks a little more than 500 yards from their quarry. They dismounted and picketed their horses to some low bushes a convenient distance from the shooting position.

Maria was ready for her first shot within minutes of dismounting. The other two had their rifles along, but they hoped not to have to use them. Maria carefully lined up her shot and squeezed the trigger. The noise of the shot was lost in the general clamor of the battlefield and the smoke was blown away quickly by the stiff breeze. There was an agonizing wait for the bullet to travel from Maria's rifle to the most prominent of the war chiefs.

He was involved in an animated discussion with the other four war chiefs on hand, and they were all caught by surprise when the man suddenly jerked even more erect on his horse. He slowly slid off his horse onto the ground, and the other chiefs were completely shocked and surprised at his action. A few moments later, they saw the large stream of blood issuing from the gaping hole in his neck. This had not been Maria's exact aiming point, but the fates had conspired to give her a hit that could not be better. Purely by chance at this range, the bullet had passed through both carotid arteries in the chief's neck, severing them both. Billy had been watching through his binoculars and announced, "Excellent shot! But it was just a smidgeon high!" He turned to Maria with a big grin and congratulated her on a spectacular shot.

Maria was already reloading her rifle for another shot, once the remaining war chiefs stopped running around like the proverbial headless chickens. They were at a complete loss as to where the bullet had come from. None of them could conceive of a shot hitting its mark over such a long distance; therefore, they were looking too close to be able to spot the three Whites on the little hill. Maria was ready for her next shot before the chiefs stopped moving around. The range was such that the flight time of the bullet was important to scoring a good hit. The target had to be stationary before she was confident enough to fire.

Maria fired her second shot the moment that she was certain that the target would stand still for at least 10 seconds. It didn't take the bullet that long to fly 500 yards, but she just didn't want to be rushed. This sniping was hard work! Her second shot hit more nearly to her aiming point: right in the target's chest about two inches high.

The man just toppled over with a slight groan, and he went unnoticed for two full minutes. Oh, Great Spirit, where were these bullets coming from? This battle was definitely not going the way the Indians had hoped. Two of the war chiefs were dead. The loss of one more would end the battle. Maria was working on that at that moment.