Chapter 11

I hated ta try the rescue durin' the daylight hours, but there wasn't no choice when we came right down ta it. Sam an' I was drivin' the wagons with our hosses hitched on behind. There was no chance for stealth, since there wasn't nothin' ta hide behind. Therefore, we just drove up like we belonged there. Ifen anybody saw us, he just ignored our presence. That made it easy ta git right up ta the house an' ta park under the window of interest.

Sam was drivin' the first wagon an' pulled right under the window. I drove up right behind him an' set the brake. I jumped down from the driver's seat an' climbed onta the bed of Sam's wagon. I was holdin' a hammer like I was about ta do some sort of work on the buildin'. Well, I was about ta do some work, all right. I marched up ta the window an' looked inside the room ta see ifen there were any guards present. I didn't see any. All I saw was some women sleepin' on the cots an' some more sleepin' on the floor. I rared back with that hammer an' smashed in the window. I kept hittin' the window 'til I had broken out all of the glass. Just in case, I draped an old blanket over the window frame ta protect everybody from stray pieces of glass.

As soon as the blanket was in place, I called ta Sam ta take my place. I scrambled inta the room an' called fer the women ta wake up. That was kind of wasted effort, 'cause they all seemed ta be awake from the noise of the breakin' glass. Well, it didn't hurt ta make sure.

Susan was sleepin' on the floor real close ta the window, an' she was expectin' me ta show up. She ran ta me an' hugged me real tight. Susan was a girl with a lot of good sense. She backed off afore I had ta tell her ta, an' she helped me ta git the other women movin' through the window. Once we had 10 women inta the first wagon, Sam pulled it up far enough ta clear the window an' had one of the women ta hold the reins while he drove the second wagon under the window.

We started ta feed women out the window when the door burst open, an' two guards rushed in with drawn guns. A couple of the women still in the holdin' room started ta scream, but that didn't last long when I fired two shots. The shock of the noise from the gunshots shut up the screamers, an' Susan began practically pushin' women through the broken window.

Since the cat was now out of the bag, I ran ta the door ta watch fer more men with guns ta show up. The grease blob that ran the place came runnin down the hall carryin' a shotgun. Well, ta hell with him! I put a bullet through the bastard's head. I didn't want ta take a chance on him survivin' the raid. I had thought that this might stem the flow of men tryin' ta stop us, but I was mistaken.

At least three men began shootin' at me from the far end of the hall. Some of them bullets zinged right close ta me, soz I figured that I needed ta do somethin' about that. I watched the shooters real close ta get an idea of their habits. Once I could see a pattern, I lined up my aim an' willed the bullet ta travel exactly ta where I wanted it.

That bullet hit the front of the cylinder of a revolver an' caused it ta explode, just like what had happened the last time I shot at a gun. The resultin' explosion tore the hand off the shooter an' sprayed metal, as well as blood, flesh, an' bone, all about. Of course, there was no more shootin' from the man whose gun just exploded, but the others also stopped shootin', probably from the shock an' surprise at the way the gun exploded.

The other men ducked back away from their shootin' positions ta consider what they should do next. I have always believed that the best defense was a good offense; therefore, I ran down the hall before the galoots at the far end could decide how ta cope with me. I shot them both when I got there. I didn't see any more gunmen, so I ran back ta the holdin' room. Susan was just pushin' the last woman out the window an' was climbin' out, herself. I went out right behind her.

Sam was standin' guard with his pistol out. One of the women was holdin' a 12-gauge shotgun an' standin' beside him. Suddenly, Sam said somethin' ta the woman, an' she turned a little ta her right. A moment later, she snapped the shotgun ta her shoulder an' fired. That's when I saw a man fall ta the ground. He had been runnin' toward us with his revolver in his hand, so it was obvious that he was an appropriate target. She was grinnin' like a mad woman when she broke the gun open ta replace the shell. Sam grinned, too, so I didn't say nothin'.

It looked like that was the end of the resistance, so we had some time ta git organized afore we drove away. Sam an' I mounted our horses, an' Susan got in the driver's seat ta drive the lead wagon. Another woman, Harriet, got ready ta drive the second wagon. Four women in each wagon were issued shotguns, since they claimed ta know how ta shoot them. One of these women sat with the wagon's driver, an' the others manned the sides an' the rear of the wagons to protect those quarters.

Several of the women wanted ta burn the whore house, but I wouldn't let them. It wasn't that I wanted ta protect the property. Rather, it was a case of not attractin' extra attention to us by wakin' the town up with a fire in their midst. A couple of the women wanted ta take the money from the safe afore we left.

Now, I liked that idea. It was a cinch that the money would be stolen if we left it where it was, an' the rescued women certainly had earned the money. Therefore, we paused long enough for two of the women ta take Sam along with them ta empty the safe. They was gone fer over half an hour, an' I was beginnin' ta worry about them. Finally, they showed up with a huge bag made of a blanket. The bag was so heavy that they couldn't carry it. All they could do was ta drag it behind them. Half a dozen of the women helped ta lift the bag into a wagon. They climbed back into the wagon, an' we was finally able ta leave. Later on, Sam told me that they had no idea how much money was there, but it was all in gold and silver coins.

That bag was so heavy an' it was exactly over the rear axle of the wagon, so that the tracks of those two wheels really dug into the ground, even though the dirt was plenty dry. Ifen anybody was interested, there wouldn't be any problem with followin' our tracks.

We lucked out, an' nobody followed us. As soon as we crossed over inta Texas, we stopped long enough fer me ta go inta town ta buy a dress fer Susan. I returned ta the wagon with the dress, an' she put it on. She had the sizes fer the other women, soz we emptied one of the wagons of women an' drove back ta town. We had ta visit three stores afore we could find everythin' that Susan said we needed. I didn't argue, since I know absolutely nothin' 'bout women's clothes.

Anyhow, when we got back ta the other wagon, there was such chaos as the women tried on various clothes an' decided that they wanted ta swap some of them that we never made it any farther. This time, Sam went inta town with Susan an' a couple of other women ta buy food fer us ta git us as far as the Diamond H ranch where Buford Hobart lived.

When we finally got there, there was a celebration ta end all celebrations. The other 18 women was welcomed as Susan's friends, an' a grand time was had by all. Hobart was more than happy ta pay us fer returnin' his daughter, an' didn't even argue 'bout payin' us our $5/day expense rate. He was a good man ta work fer, that's fer sure.

However, there was that last naggin' detail that we had not caught the kidnapper. Susan gave us a very good description of him, includin' that he had a long scar from his left nipple ta his right hip. He had used her a couple of times on the way ta sell her, an' that's when she had seen the scar. He had also lost the top part of his right ear. Those two things was good enough ta make a positive identification, even ifen we didn't have a picture of him, or even know his name. Susan said that he wanted her ta call him "master," an' she never did git his name.