Chapter 18

Jake sat on the trunk of a fallen tree and stared at the fire. It was a small fire, surrounded by stones, and his coffee pot was to one side of it keeping warm. The air was just starting to get that nip that comes with the onset of evening and he was content to relax after a day in the saddle.

It had been a week since they had started for Johnson City and home, and he estimated they had about another three weeks to go. They had waited for a couple of days while the boots were made and then ridden into town to collect them. Grey Cloud had been very pleased with hers and had given her oversized ones to the bootmaker, while Sally had been - well, just Sally.

The girls had sorted through all the clothing they had, both that given to them by the Shoshone and some bought at various stores. A few last items were bought in town while Jake went to the bank and collected Pete Blackshaw's money. He didn't feel bad about that - if anything it had been Sally's money but she was now with them.

Blackshaw's men had decided to run the business themselves, and Jake had left them fifty dollars to help get it started. The rest, around one hundred and fifty, was now in his pack.

The next day, after one more night at the camp, they had started for home - a home that Grey Cloud and Sally were yet to see although Sue had told them about it. They were all dressed the same - white man's underwear under buckskin pants, boots, a white man's shirt and a bandana with a buckskin shirt over that if it got chilly.

The underwear helped stop the buckskin chafing as they rode. However, it was more clothing than they were used to so, when they stopped to make camp in the evening, everything came off and mostly stayed off. All three girls had buckskin dresses if needed, Sally had one of Grey Cloud's, but if it stayed warm then they wouldn't even bother with those.

Sally had been changing day by day. She started off quiet and detached, seemingly oblivious to what was going on although that wasn't actually the case - she was just out of her depth and totally accepting of whatever happened to her.

The first few days of riding had been tough on her and on her horse. They had ridden for less than they could have so she could keep up, but even so she walked like a drunk when she got off the horse and the girls had to rub ointment onto her buttocks and inner thighs every night. But she was becoming more used to it.

Her horse was getting fitter too. Jake took care of her every night and she was more alert than she had been - she was not a bad horse, she had just never been exercised and, now that she was, she was visibly improving.

So was her rider. She had got into a routine as they were setting up a similar camp every night. She helped with the packs and collecting firewood, and even cooking. She was starting to help Jake with the horses even though it was something new to her.

Every night, after dinner, the girls made sure that Sally sat on Jake's lap so he could talk to her quietly and make her feel wanted. As they were often naked, that tended to have the obvious effect on Jake. However, he had made no move to take things further with Sally - instead the other two had received the benefit. Sally slept with them though, usually cuddling with whichever girl wasn't snuggled up to Jake.

Every day they packed up the camp and rode for about four hours before breaking for something to eat at midday. After eating, Jake would drill the girls in using their guns - if the noise attracted any attention they would be moving on again soon anyway. Sue was getting very good with her revolver while Grey Cloud, although coming along well, had really taken to the rifle. She shot best when the heavy gun was supported by the fork of a tree or when she was lying prone on the ground, but her accuracy was impressive. She regularly hit her target at two hundred yards and was now working on three hundred.

Yesterday, Sally had fired a gun for the first time. She had used Sue's rifle and had jumped when she fired it. But she watched closely every time they practiced and was much more confident earlier today when she had fired three shots and hit her target with the third.

She was also becoming interested in the knife fighting practice that they all did in the evenings. Jake worked with Grey Cloud while Sue had taken Sally under her wing. She was starting to learn the moves and was actually becoming enthusiastic about her lessons.

Jake's thoughts were interrupted as three naked girls emerged from the bushes and descended on him. Sue and Grey Cloud were giggling and Sally was hanging back, but all the same it was quite a pleasant interruption.

The two Indian girls had just grabbed his arm when Jake thought he heard something off in the bushes to his left. "Ssshh!" he hissed to the girls, shaking them off and standing up. He turned towards the sound and made a sweeping gesture with his right arm to put the girls behind him just as a voice rang out: "Hello the camp, mind if we come on in?"

Without waiting for an answer, three men on horseback emerged from the undergrowth. They were all scruffy and unshaven, unlike Jake who Grey Cloud had shaved every day once she found out how he looked without his beard. The horses fanned out with the one in the centre slightly further forward. The leader looked down on Jake, and on the naked girls, and a grin spread across his face though it never reached his eyes.

"We came lookin' fer food," he said. "But seems like you have somethin' else we can enjoy..."

"We can spare you some food," Jake replied. "Get down and come and join us."

He half turned towards the girls but without taking his eyes off the strangers. "Ladies, please go put some clothes on so you don't embarrass our guests."

Sue started towards where her clothes were neatly folded by the fire but the lead man spoke again. "No yer don't - we likes 'em just the way they are. There's three of 'em and three of us so you ladies just stay put."

He leaned forward in the saddle towards Jake. "You're the odd one out, fella. Reckon that means yer goin' ter have ter go."

As Jake was the only one armed, with his revolver in its holster at his waist, the men's full attention was on him. Sue continued to move slowly towards her clothes, now almost within reach. Grey Cloud was also edging away while Sally was just behind Jake, putting him between her and danger. Jake stepped slightly left and back so she was concealed as much as possible.

The man went for his gun, followed by the other two as they saw what he was doing.

Jake pulled his gun, which was easier to do as he was standing and the other three were sitting in their saddles, and shot the leader in the chest. As he reared back, dragging on his horse's reins, Jake spun and, collecting Sally in his left arm, dove to the ground with her underneath him.

Grey Cloud raced off to one side to give the other men as hard a target as possible and distract them while Sue reached her clothes and slid her right hand under them.

The leader of the bandits had slumped over his horse's neck and was starting to slide to the ground. The other men had their guns clear although the one on the right didn't have a good shot at Jake as the leader's horse was in the way. He started to ride forward around the obstruction but the man on the left had a clear shot. He lined up his pistol as Jake, lying on top of Sally, did the same. Both guns fired together but the man's horse was unsteady and his shot just went wide, the bullet burying itself in the ground right by Sally's left arm, showering her in dust.

Jake's shot was better. Sally was lying completely still under him so his shot found its mark on the man's right shoulder, spinning him round and making him drop his gun.

However, the third man was now around the leader's horse and had a clear shot at the full length of Jake and Sally as they lay on the ground in front of him. He was raising his gun as Jake struggled to turn round while still covering Sally and to aim sideways. He suddenly realised he wouldn't make it in time.

The man took aim but, instead of firing, he arched his back, flung his head up and started to pull his horse around hard to the right. That exposed his back and the hilt of Sue's smaller knife between his shoulder blades.

As he continued to turn, Jake shot him.

That just left the wounded man that Jake had hit in the shoulder. He had his horse under control and, having dropped his gun when he was shot, he was feeling for a weapon when a naked girl grabbed his leg and pulled him from the saddle. Grey Cloud, completely unarmed, had reversed direction and, screaming at the top of her voice, had dragged him to the ground.

As Jake got to his feet, Sally wriggled out from under him, pushed herself off, ran over and jumped on the man alongside and partly on top of Grey Cloud. The man was struggling under the two women when suddenly his legs went rigid and he slumped back.

The two girls stood up, blood on their bare chests. Some had come from his wound, some from scratches they had received as he fought back, but a lot of it was splashed on them as he had died. Once the girls moved back, Jake could clearly see that his large knife was buried in the man's stomach. Sally had grabbed it from his belt as she pushed him off her and had used it without hesitation to help Grey Cloud. Both girls just looked at the body, breathing heavily.

Jake checked all three men to make sure that they didn't pose any threat then turned towards the girls. Sue had joined them and there was now a three-way hug going on as Sally was sobbing. They broke apart as Jake approached, blood now smeared on all three of them as they'd rubbed together. Sally left the group and flung herself at Jake. She was clearly shaken up and emotional.

"You saved me," she sobbed into his shoulder. "You put yourself on top of me to protect me. No one ever looked out fer me before."

Jake just held her tight and the other two came over. "He looks after all of us," Sue said, rubbing Sally's back and shoulders. "We are his women and he looks after us."

"But I'm not," Sally wailed. "He don't wan' me. He just got stuck wi' me. I am nothing like you two."

Grey Cloud couldn't understand the words, but she could understand the emotion. She cuddled Sally from behind and, as the white girl turned to look, gave her a kiss. "You are one of us," she said, though Sally couldn't understand her either. "We are all Djaik's women."

After a little while, the group separated. Jake looked at Sue. "Thank you," he said. "That was well done." Sue just grinned.

Then it was back to the serious business of disposing of the bodies and checking their possessions. This was almost becoming a habit, Jake thought.

The girls stripped the bodies of anything useful - belts, boots, a couple of vest but not much else. One of the hats was better than the one Sally had, so she kept that The three horses were a stallion and two mares. The stallion was certainly better than the mare Sally rode but Jake was worried that it would be too much for her. However, he saw the determined look on her face - she had killed a man for this horse and she WAS going to ride it.

The pistols weren't much and none of the men had a rifle - no wonder they were in need of food if they had been trying to hunt with just pistols. They certainly didn't have much food on them and what they did was mostly spoiled. They did have a couple of good blankets though and the extra water containers would come in handy with so many horses to water at dry camps.

By the time Jake had dragged the three bodies some distance from their camp - he'd used his horse Blaze and a rope though he could tell that the big stallion wasn't too keen on the idea - the girls had a meal ready. Before they ate there was time for a quick bath to get the dirt of the day off, and the blood off the girls. All four helped wash each other, but they didn't take much time over it and they were soon sitting around the fire, still naked and slightly damp, eating the meal.

It was now getting late and, as they sat in the dark afterwards, Sally was much more animated than usual in her normal place on Jake's lap. Whereas before she had just sat there, accepting, tonight she had her arm round him and gave him small kisses when the opportunity arose.

Sue gave Jake his coffee then turned to Sally and said: "I think you should have a cup of my tea tonight." Grey Cloud saw what Sue poured for the white girl and smiled as she sipped her own cup of Sue's special tea.

The next day, Jake woke with a slightly-crushed feeling. Sally was asleep on top of him, the position she'd been in when she'd ridden him to his second orgasm of the night. She's started underneath him, as she seemed to think was natural, but after that first bout and some good-natured playing between Jake and all three girls, she'd found herself on top and in the saddle. Clearly it was a new experience but one she'd loved before the stresses and strains of the day had overtaken all four of them.

Jake woke, as he often did, with an erection, although this time it was waving upwards between Sally's thighs. Sue had noticed and, rolling the white girl off, she took her place and was soon mounted. Jake's moan was swiftly silenced as she kissed him and moved her pelvis slowly to maximise the pleasure she was feeling.

Sally watched from the side, satisfied in herself and seeing the love that Sue had for Jake - her Jake as she now thought of him. She had never really felt for any man before. Her father had traded her to Pete Blackshaw for a debt. It wasn't the first time he'd made her pay with her body for something - he'd been 'lending' her to men since she was twelve. But it was the first and last permanent arrangement.

She'd been with Blackshaw for two years. He beat her regularly when he was unhappy about something, which was often, and he had sex with her every night he wasn't too drunk to do it. She got pregnant once, but the next beating put paid to that before Blackshaw even knew. So she had just lain there under him, as she had done with men before, and let him do what he wanted. She never had any pleasure from it except to be pleased when he stopped.

But last night was different. She had wanted Jake after he had put himself in harm's way to save her - she had never imagined a man would do that for her. And she'd watched him with Sue and with Grey Cloud for the last week and they both clearly adored him and he loved them. Their lovemaking was nothing like she had experienced and she had wondered what it would be like.

But now she knew. She had felt for herself the care that Jake had for her, and how he wanted her to enjoy what they did together. And she had enjoyed it - very much.

Now, as she watched Sue riding Jake as she had last night, she felt love for both of them. If this was to be her life now it would be a good one.

An arm reached over her and a hand came to rest on her small left breast, the fingers teasing her nipple. She rolled over and found Grey Cloud behind her. As they came face to face, the Shoshone girl kissed her, her tongue teasing Sally's lips until she let it in. Her own tongue fought back as the young blonde had another new experience...

For the next two weeks, the routine continued very much the same. They set off every morning after a quick breakfast and rode until lunchtime. An hour or so for pistol and rifle practice and then they were off again until the evening when they made camp for the night, had a meal and practiced knife fighting.