Chapter 10

"Wha-choo-dooing?" Sue screamed at the man as he shot Jake. She shifted her aim and fired back, hitting the rider's horse in the head, dropping it instantly. The rider had no chance to dismount and the horse fell on his leg, trapping him.

Sue sprinted over to where Jake lay on his side, his hat off, blood on the ground under him.

"Djaaaik!" Sue wailed, dropping to her knees and trying to see what was wrong with him while, at the same time, keeping an eye on the other three guards who had pulled up a safe distance away, shocked at all that had happened.

As she rolled Jake onto his back he stirred, and groaned, and opened one eye. His left side, including the side of his face, was covered in dust so Sue tried to wipe it away. The dust had turned into bloody mud on his left arm.

Jake sat up, groaned again, and clutched his arm. While it was certainly bloody, it didn't seem to be seeping out from between his fingers too quickly.

Seeing that there was no immediate threat from the surviving guards, the sight of so many bodies and the speed with which their lead rider had been put down seemed to have shaken them, Sue jumped to her feet and ran to the nearest body - the first man that Jake had shot. His shirt front was covered in blood but he had a scarf around his neck. Sue quickly untied it, dashed back to Jake and began to tie it around his arm to stem the bleeding.

By now it was becoming apparent that Jake had been lucky. The bullet had passed through his arm without hitting bone and, while it had knocked him down as he had anyway been off balance while running down the slope, it hadn't done too much damage. The scarf tied firmly, Sue helped him up.

"How are you Djaik?" she asked while giving him some support.

"Not too bad thank you lass," Jake replied, brushing the dust off his face himself so he could open his left eye properly. "It just knocked me down, is all. Hurts like hell though!"

Now he was steady on his feet, Sue picked up his revolver from where it had been lying next to his hat. Jake checked it over - his left hand seemed to be working at least. The dust on the gun was dry, so he managed to blow the worst off and wiped some more. It would need cleaning thoroughly, but should work for now. He had just one shot left in it.

Sue had two in hers. They would both need to reload, but first they had to check on the shot men to see what threat they still posed.

Sue looked at the wagon, and the one guard on horseback who had ridden forward towards the fallen rider. "You stay back or shoot you too!" she yelled at them, waving her revolver at them. Then, keeping one eye on them, she went with Jake to check out the fallen ambushers.

The two that had been hit by the heavy calibre rifle bullets wouldn't have survived, and two of the others were dead as well. However, the one that Jake had shot in the lung was still conscious and in pain. There was blood in his mouth and he was struggling to breathe, but he was still alive.

Jake and Sue leant over him. "Who are you and why were you here?" Jake asked him, but only got a mumbled sigh in response. "If you don't answer me, my Indian friend here will keep you alive for a long time, in more pain than you are now..."

Charles Taylor had ridden out from Ennistown a couple of hours ago to meet up with the latest wagon coming from the quarry. There were four men with it this time, so nothing should have happened, but the extra two men with him should make sure of it.

A scream rang out from some way in the distance. It didn't sound like a woman's scream somehow, although it was difficult to imagine why a man would scream like that. Whoever it was, they were certainly terrified of something. Charles put his spurs to his horse, his men chasing along behind.

A few minutes later, he came upon the wagon he had been looking for. It was stopped, one rider next to it. In front, the second rider was lying under his horse making pitiful noises. However, the other three men were doing nothing to pull the horse off him.

Closer still, there were two bodies lying on the ground just off the trail. A little further up the slope on his left, those two Indian-loving investigators were just getting to their feet next to what looked like a bundle of clothing.

The man looked in Charles' direction and saw the three of them. He and his squaw started down the slope, leaving the pile of clothing where it lay. They both had guns in their hands, and the woman had a knife too - a small one. Some of the blade shone in the sunlight, but other parts looked dull and dark.

There was a clatter at the top of the slope and a smaller figure appeared leading two horses. It looked like an Indian girl. Didn't that prove that it was Indians behind everything?

She stopped at the top of the slope, looking down.

Charles, who had pulled up when he got to the scene, started his horse forward again and went to pull his gun out. He soon stopped when he heard two metallic clicks, or was it three?

Those damned investigators had their guns pointed at him, and they had cocked them. He pulled up again rapidly, his men doing the same behind him.

"What's going on here?" he blustered at Jake. "Why are you threatening me? You should be doing something about those blasted Indians who attacked my wagon."