..............The wind was still blowing. The temperature was dropping pretty fast. I knew it had to be down close to freezing. It had a bite to it like it could snow. I was shaking a little like a did that day with the buck only I know now that it was from the cold. I sure wanted a fire, I just knew better than to ask for it. Finally about a quarter mile back from the raider camp Lt. Masters was telling us how we would attack. It was kinda funny cause he would say something, then everyone looked over at Mr. Thomason, Mr. Thomason would either agree or shake his head no then Lt. Masters would come up with something else. I had just about decided to attack that bunch all by myself when I realized that Wilkins was not among us. Furthermore, that there was a fella name Longly that was not there either.
“Where’s Wilkins?” I asked Boston, Pike replied that they left him behind with Longly so’s they We left camp when it was full dark Lt. Masters had ordered that the fires not be lit only after a pit had been dug in the ground to keep the light reflection down. We were on foot. I had to keep Boston in sight cause he wasn’t making any noise to follow, at times all I could see was a darker patch than the surrounding dark. We climbed up a small knoll where sure enough about a mile ahead we could see the twinkling of a campfire. We could see someone walking back and forth in front of it. Both of us figured we had found the raiders. We took our time moving up, after what seemed like hours we was crawling on our bellies peeking through the under brush. I watched as a big Indian stood before the rest he was talking in a booming voice as well as every once in a while he would thump himself on the chest. What ever he was saying must have been important cause the other three was listening awful close. My attention was busy tryin to locate that fifth raider when my eye caught a movement against a tree. I had dismissed what ever was laying against the tree as a pile bedding or trail gear. Suddenly it dawned on me that it was a human, not only just a human, it was Louise. She looked like she could go no further. She was bleeding from a place on her head. She was almost naked. She was laying against the tree where every once in a while it looked like she was trying to get up. Boston was working his way around the group tryin to get a feel where that other Raider was. It was getting awful late, any time now I figured them Raiders would lay down to go to sleep. The big one got finished with his speech,just then another one stood up. He started all over talking loud, pounding on his chest as well as every so often he would make a noise like passing gas. This one must be telling something funny because them other raiders would all at once let out with a laugh. Sam watched as the group listen to the story. Finally, another raider took over the story.. Sam kept trying to find that last raider. Try as he might, that last fella was just not there. Sam saw Boston as he finished the circle of the camp. He back crawled until he could talk to him. “Did you see her”, I asked
“Yep, she is in a bad way.” he answered “What you think we oughta do?”
“ We gotta get her outta there, soon. Did you se that last Raider, I knew we tracked five of them to here.” I said.
“Yep, he ain’t a gonna bother us.” Boston said “ Look up in that there tree above where the girl is.”
I looked up the tree, sure enough there was that last raider. He was laying out across a tree branch it looked like he might be tied up there. Boston whispered, “ He’s daid, that’s what all the fuss is about, them others is sending him on his way with stories of his bravery plus funny things he was involved with. Its suppose to give his spirit courage to cross over into the spirit world so it won’t wander around here. Them warriors is telling all kinds of things so’s the spirit will be relaxed enough to pass over.”
“I’ve never seen Indians that dress or look like them, have you?” I asked Boston
“Naw, I haven’t either but I trapped some with a fella that had spent some time at the head of the big river, Mississippi, they call it, the Indians he described sounded a lot like these look.”
“ You have any idea on what to do next ” I said
“ One of us has to get back to the militia, we need to be back up here in place to take them just before dawn, that’s when they’ll be sleeping good.” Boston answered
“You go.” I said, you’re a lot quieter, sides you can make better time. I’ll stay here to watch to make sure they don’t take off.” I told him.
“ I’m gone.” he said “ Keep you’re hair Sam.”
Boston then disappeared into the dark, leaving me to watch as the raiders continued to take turns telling stories. There was no moon, clouds covered it. The temperature was dropping. The wind had picking up ,sending chills to the bone, by the feel of it the warm spell we had been enjoying was about to end. I’m not sure how long I watched them, all of them had at least two turns at standing up, talking in that grunting kind of cadence. Every once in a while I would look over at the captive. I wanted it to be Louise, its just that whoever it was, was in bad shape. I just could not tell. I knew it was most likely a girl they had tied up because of the hair, Besides what was left of the clothes looked like it had been a dress.. Every once in a while she would move, She was having a struggle to try to sit up, she just never made it. Finally, them raiders banked the fire. They then rolled up in their sleeping robes. The smaller one walked over to the captive. He kicked her a little. She moaned something then with a force of will I didn’t think she had she kicked out at connected with his shin. That raider jumped back. He looked around to see if anyone had seen it, satisfied that no one had, he grabbed her by the hair before he spit in her face. It was really hard for me to lay there watching it going on, Boston had warned not to move around any. He also told me not to stare at them to hard. He said some of them can tell when they were being watched.
Some time later I must have dosed off a little cause I was wide eyed awake when something touched my foot. I turned around, there was Boston grinning at me He motioned me to follow him. “ Sam, you could loose your hair sleepin on the job” he whispered when we got clear. He said that the company was moving up. They would be here well before daycould travel quieter, seems that Wilkins started preaching. He was real loud about it, some of them said he were pretty good.
I was then asked to draw out the picture of the camp showing where the captive was as well as showing where the raiders were bedded down. I told them about the one being tied up in a branch in the tree. Finally, it was decided that we would surround them. Lt. Masters would give the signal then we would open up. Them Raiders should be in a cross fire. We could then send them raiders on to wherever they go. We where cautioned not to shoot anywhere near the captive. We moved out to take our positions.
************
Louise was cold, the raiders had finally laid down, none of them remembered to give her a blanket. Her head hurt where she had been hit. She didn’t feel right he felt dizzy. Her eyes would not focus properly. They had stayed where they stopped, it seems the one she had smelled the day before when she kicked him was all at once in bad shape. She had gotten a look at his leg when the others had torn up his legging to see. It was festered good. It had a greenish tint to it. He seemed to keeping it to himself real well until she had kicked him, after that he could not stand on it. Soon,it wasn’t long that you could tell he was having a real bad time. Them other ones had made him comfortable, one of them had made a poultice out of something he carried in a bag, however what they were doing didn’t seem to helping much. Just before dark he must have died cause it wasn’t long before they was pulling him up in a tree, tying his body to a branch. They had spent the rest of the day talking. All she gathered is they were taking turns talking about him, none of what they were saying made any sense. She finally had slept. She had been tied up close enough to the fire to stay warm when the wind started blowing, its just that now the fire was dying down. She was sure she could feel snow flakes. Just before that young one had rolled up in his blankets he had kicked her, she kicked him back, she got her hair pulled as well as spit on for her efforts. She fell asleep with it drying on her face. Now she was awake with cold. She was making her way to be closer to the fire. She had reached the end of the rope tying her to the tree when she caught movement in the brush. It has snowed enough so that it was possible to see bushes from flat ground. She at first thought it was a wolf, then she realized it was a bigger than that. The longer she watched the more of the bulk of the object could be seen. Thrilled rushed through her body as she realized that the movement was men, Rescuers! furthermore that they knew where the camp was. She had located three men one of them showed himself to her. She was sure it was Sam Holder, only he looked a lot bigger. Louise blinked her eyes a few times then tried to focus, her eyes just would not clear up enough for her to be sure. The last thing she needed was to be worrying about seeing things.
She heard the hoot of an owl just before the night suddenly erupted in gun fire. The raiders tried to get up when a second volley come from the other side of the camp. They all fell down, Men rushed the camp from every direction, with knives and hatchets in hand they stood over the raiders. Two of them were dead, killed in their blankets, the young one was moaning , the fourth was gone. She cried out as Sam came to her with a bedroll to covered her up.
“ Louise, is it you, can you hear me, It’s Sam, Sam Holder, we’ve come to rescue you.”
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Well there is another little bit of my book.
