Chapter 10

We didn't know where that gang of 10 Navajos had disappeared to, but Running Fox and I were not comfortable knowing that they could be in our neighborhood. We left to hunt for them shortly after the train reorganized following the Apache attack. At least, we didn't have to worry about the two groups working together, though we would have been in a lot more trouble if they had done so.

Running Fox and I hurried to where we had seen their tracks and immediately started to follow them. The tracks led north, which was not surprising for Navajos. However, there was nothing to keep them from turning south at any time, so we hurried after them as fast as our horses could travel in the loose sand. At this state, it looked like the Indians wanted us to follow, since they did not appear to be hiding their tracks. They were not even making any effort to walk in each other's footprints. This fact was both surprising and disturbing.

We got about two miles north of the trail and became convinced that there was something peculiar going on. The Navajos appeared to be heading home as if they were returning from a successful raid. Shit, could that be what was going on? Well, we should find out pretty soon if that were true. The ground was rather flat around here, and we could see a long way. Finally, we got the answer that we were looking for.

Six Navajos were leading four White children on ropes around their necks. One of the White children, a girl, was carrying an infant of indeterminable sex. All of the children were naked, further emphasizing that they were slaves. Running Fox caught sight of the group before they saw him, so that set up the possibility of us setting up an ambush and rescuing the slaves.

We stopped immediately before we could be seen and planned our next move. From the proper position, there was a very good chance that I could use the Remington to knock out of action several of the Navajos before they could harm their prisoners, but it was reasonably certain that I could not get all six of them before they did a lot of mischief.

Finally, we decided to ambush the Navajos when the group reached a low ridge of rock they were approaching. From the looks of the prisoners, the column would have to stop at the ridge to give the children a chance to rest and drink a little water before they went much farther.

That's where we would mount our ambush. We would hide just over the crest of the ridge with our Winchesters, but we hoped that the Navajos would get within pistol range before we started shooting. No matter how fast we were with our rifles, we could shoot faster with out pistols.

Fortunately, in this kind of sand, our horses did not kick up a lot of dust, so we were easily able to beat the column to the ridge and get ready for them. They almost seemed to know our plan and do what was best for our benefit. The patch of shade was largest just below where we chose to plant ourselves, and we got there soon enough to have 10 minutes to arrange our attack. The plan was to let the children get seated in the shade and for us to start shooting before the Indians had a chance to do anything else. I was going to take the bunch of Indians from the left, and Running Fox was to shoot at the Indians starting at the right. If either one of us finished with his three Navajos before the other finished, then he would take out the nearest fourth man. Naturally, we did not expect this to come about, but we wanted to be prepared for all eventualities.

The scenario played out as planned, another surprise—how lucky could we get? The children were pushed into the shade and signed to sit down. The moment that they did, we started shooting. We were so close to the Navajos that it was another case of one shot, one kill. Three shots from each of us, and the Navajos were dead.

The children were smarter than I expected. At the first shot, they all hunkered down, and the girl lay over the infant for a little added protection. Each Indian was shot where he stood before he had time to react fully to the attack. The whole thing was over in seconds, and I called to the children in English and in Spanish for them to stay where they were. We would be to get them as soon as we picked up our horses.

We reached the children within three minutes, and they were so happy to see us that they all started crying, even a boy who was old enough to have been embarrassed to be seen crying under other circumstances. When they came to themselves a few minutes later, they were startled to see that Running Fox was an Indian, but he spoke to them in English and calmed them down.

We took the breech cloths from the Indians and gave them to the children so that they would have some protection when they rode the horses. There were two boys and two girls, plus the infant who was male. They were all siblings who had been captured when they were caught in a wagon by the Indians. Their parents had been killed, but the children were all young enough to escape that fate, though being slaves of the Navajo might have been worse.

We mounted them on our horses, one in the front and one in the rear. The eldest girl rode with Running Fox and held the infant. A boy and a girl rode with me, and the younger boy, rode in front of Running Fox. That was the best weight distribution we could manage, and we kept to a slow pace as we headed toward the wagon train.

We headed straight for the road and turned west. We had deliberately made sure that we would be behind the wagon train so that we would not waste a lot of time hunting for it. We rode in just as Alice started fixing supper, so she had the warning needed to account for our guests.

We had no milk, but Alice and Sunshine were able to come up with a substitute for the infant. The rest of the kids ate a hearty supper after we found them some clothes in the chest. Even the girls had to wear men's clothes, since there was no provision for dresses, but they did not complain. Having any clothes at all was a welcome relief.

After supper, we got the full story from the children. They had been attacked just two miles from home, south of the road. Their parents had realized that the Indians were just too active for them to stay on their homestead, so they were headed for Yuma, two days away, for what they hoped was safety. Their father had a Winchester for defense, but he had not had much of a chance to use it because he had been killed in the first volley from the Indians. Their mother had tried to us the rifle to defend them, but she, too, had been killed; thus saving her from being raped to death.

The children had been stripped and bound before the Indians had butchered the mule for a victory feast. For some reason, they had not raped Mary, 14. Her sister, Elizabeth, 7, must have been considered too young to bother with. The boys, Joe, 12, and John, 6, had escaped castration. Again, the reason was unknown. The infant, Adam, 1, was protected by Mary, so the Navajos let him live.

Naturally, the children joined us for the rest of our trip to Yuma. We expected to be there in three or four days. Mary, Elizabeth, and Adam moved in with Alice, and the two boys joined Sunshine in her wagon. Running Fox and I slept on the ground for the next few nights. From the funny look in her eye, I could see that Alice already had something planned, and I would hear about it when she was ready to spring the surprise.

The next three days were uneventful, and that was a welcome change from the last few days. We arrived on the outskirts of Yuma late in the afternoon, so we camped and waited until the next day to worry about unloading. Meanwhile, Mr. Jackson took me to meet the commander of the Army stationed in Yuma. In one sense this was purely a social call, since the two men had known each other for several years, but it was also a business call so that our presence could be announced to the Army and would not catch them by surprise.

When we got to the Colonel's home, the place was in turmoil. His daughter was missing and feared captured by Yaquis! Several patrols were out looking for her, but had not yet reported back in. The girl was 14 years old, so it was feared that she would be raped to death if she stayed with the Indians long enough. The Yaquis probably did not know that she was the Colonel's daughter, but that would make no difference to them, anyway.