Absaroka Ambush

7

Louis, the boy the group had taken from Bedell’s outlaws, had suffered a slight wound during the Arapaho attacks, but the wound was not a serious one. The boy had done well and proved himself a person who would stand his ground and fight.

The only casualty, Miss Shivley, was buried the next morning, just as dawn was lighting the sky. The ladies gathered around and sang “Where Is Death’s Sting,” Eudora read from the Bible, and the wagon train pushed on.

Broken Nose had taken his band of warriors and his dead, and left, after swearing that his people would not bother the wagons again.

“Do you believe him?” Rupert asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Preacher said. He smiled. “At least for this trip.”

Preacher was keeping a good eye out on the building storm clouds in the west. Only a few drops of rain had fallen thus far, but the lightning was fierce and the clouds promised one hell of a storm.

After only a couple of miles had passed, Preacher ordered the train stopped and the canvas double-lashed. “We’re in for it,” he told the ladies. “You ain’t seen hail ’til you’ve gone through what this country can give you. Pray that them clouds hold only rain and not ice.”

“If it’s rained much to the west,” Snake said to Preacher, “we might have to cross the Platte more times than we want to.”

“If she’s spillin’ over, we’ll cross at the rocks,” Preacher said, looking around and receiving nods of approval from his friends. “If not, we’ll press on and plan on crossin’ at the Buttes.”

This storm held no hail—which the mountain men were thankful for—but it dumped torrents of water on the westward travelers and slowed them down to a mere crawl across the land. Once, Preacher had to halt the wagons because it grew so dark, and the storm was so intense, that the only way the drivers could see the wagon in front of them was by lamplight. By midafternoon he halted the wagons and told the ladies to circle. There wasn’t no point in goin’ on through this.

Squatting under canvas, Preacher told Eudora, “It ain’t worth the strain it puts on the animals and the risk of broken axles and wheels to go on. We’ll just sit it out.”

Covering three times on horseback what the wagons could do in a day, Bedell had linked up with his cohorts far to the west and was laying out his plans.

One man shook his head in doubt. “I know Preacher,” Villiers said. “I been in this country for years. Tanglin’ with Preacher ain’t smart, Vic. And Blackjack, Steals Pony, and Snake is just about as mean. I wish to hell your boys hadn’t a-killed his horse. Preacher set store by Hammer. He ain’t never gonna let you rest for doin’ that.”

“It was just a damn horse!” Bedell said to the Frenchman.

Another Frenchman, Trudeau, added, “Most men grow fond of their animals, Bedell. Out in this country a good horse is the most valuable thing a man can have. I’m in agreement with Villiers. Preacher ain’t never gonna forgive you for killin’ Hammer. But I’m in agreement with you ’bout the wagons. We can’t let them reach no post and make a report. If that was to happen, we could never show our faces in no civilized place again. All them folks got to die. That’s all there is to it.”

“Perhaps the Arapaho finished them off,” Bedell said, a hopeful note to his words.

“Don’t count on that,” a man called Tater said. “And don’t be tellin’ that big whoppin’ lie to no more Injuns we come up on out here. They know Preacher. This is Preacher’s stompin’ grounds. And whilst some of them might not like him much, they respect him a whole bunch, and they know Preacher wouldn’t have no part in harmin’ no woman nor child…no matter what color the skin. They’ll cut your tongue out for lyin’. And they’ll do it, too. I’ve seen them do it. It’s right unpleasant.”

Right unpleasant, Vic Bedell thought with a hidden shudder. Interesting way of stating it. “All right,” he said. “Let’s get to work on planning this out. I want this done right the first time.”

Steals Pony had been gone for several days. When he returned, his horse was tired and so was he. He was covered with dust—they had left the rain far behind them—and he swung wearily down from the saddle.

Preacher handed him a cup of coffee and the Delaware took it with thanks.

“Bedell waits for us about a hundred miles ahead,” Steals Pony told them. “I spoke with several Indians of different tribes. They all told me the same thing. Bedell’s force was just too large for them to attack. The outlaws are well-mounted, well-supplied, and well-armed. Several trappers gone bad are among them, so they will know this country.”

“Who?” Snake asked.

“Trudeau, Villiers, Logan, and Tater. There are many more in the gang, but those are the only ones I could identify from their descriptions.”

“I owe that damn Tater a lead ball or two,” Blackjack said. “He shot me some years ago. From ambush. He’s a no-count from way back.”

“I know him,” Preacher said, “and Trudeau too. They teamed up some years back and killed a friend of mine. Shot him in the back one evenin’ for his furs. Left him to die alone and hard. But they’re experienced men, and you’re right ’bout them knowin’ the country. And they ain’t cowards neither. If Trudeau and Villiers is there, you can bet their partner, Pierre, ain’t far away. Well, we shore can’t go back. All we can do is push on and stay alert.”

It was a strange sense of relief for the men, but relief nonetheless, to know that Bedell was waiting for them, and to know approximately where he was waiting. It ended speculation. The mountain men knew now they had a fight waiting on them.

The next morning, Preacher gathered the women around him.

“Steals Pony brought news yesterday evenin’,” he told the group. “And it ain’t good, but it’s what we all been expectin’. Bedell’s linked up with his gang and they’re waitin’ on us ’bout a hundred miles ahead. You signed on to go west, and that’s where we’re goin’. Y’all done told me you wasn’t goin’ back so we ain’t even gonna talk about that.

“Bedell wants the wagons and the supplies, and he wants us all dead. He has to kill us, all of us. If he don’t, if just one of us gets through to tell our story, he’ll be a wanted and hunted man the rest of his unnatural life. Y’all let that sink in your heads for a minute or so.”

Preacher then eyeballed each woman for a moment. Their faces were set in grim and unyielding determination. They stood, all dressed in men’s britches and shirts, with pistols shoved down behind their belts, and many of them leaning on their rifles. They bore little resemblance to the women who had left Missouri weeks back. The group seemed small and very insignificant against the vast backdrop of lonely land that stretched for hundreds of miles all around them.

Preacher nodded his head. “All right, ladies. Let’s head west.”

Twice during the next five very long, hot, dusty, and monotonous days Indians were sighted. But the Indians kept their distance and did not show any signs of hostility. That was due in no small part to the size of the wagon train. Word had spread quickly—thanks to Broken Nose and his people—that the train was made up almost entirely of women, and also that the women were savage fighters. Mostly, the Indians were curious. They wanted to see what manner of females these were, who rode, dressed, and fought like men.

Both times Indians were sighted, Steals Pony rode over to talk with them. And both times he returned with the same news: A large band of men waited just up the trail. They had some women with them, too. When the wagons were a day’s distance from where Bedell and the men were supposed to be, Steals Pony left the train to scout ahead.

“They sure picked a piss-poor place to ambush us,” Preacher said to Blackjack. The two men were ranging about a mile ahead of the wagons. “Must be a thousand better places on up ahead.”

“I got me a hunch that the Delaware is gonna come back and tell us the gang pulled out,” Blackjack said. “Them trappers with the bunch got more sense than to try something out here in the open.”

“A body would think that,” Preacher agreed. “Yonder’s Steals Pony comin’. He’s takin’ his time so’s I ’spect you’re right, Blackjack.”

“Gone,” the Delaware informed them. “Ashes are cold. They headed west.”

“You called it right, Blackjack. Now we got to worry for another week or so.” Preacher thought about that for a moment while his friends looked at him and waited. “They want us deeper in,” he finally said. “Somebody finally got through to Bedell that this country is lousy for an ambush. Too bad. I was lookin’ forward to endin’ it right now.”

“Yeah, me too. But it sounds right to me,” Blackjack said, removing his battered hat and scratching his head. When the sickness hit them, all the men had let the ladies cut their hair much shorter than they normally wore it. But oddly enough, no fleas had been found on anyone, and not in any of their clothing or blankets. The sickness still baffled them all.

“Bedell has given up on the supplies,” Steals Pony ventured his opinion. “He is going to content himself with our deaths. So when the ambush comes, it will be the most advantageous place he or his men can plan.”

“You’re right,” Preacher said. “Steals Pony? You been talkin’ more on this trip than I ever heard you ’fore. You’ve said more words in a month and a half or so than I’ve heard you say in twenty years.”

The Delaware smiled. “Maybe I just haven’t had anything to say until now.” He rode off, leaving the men looking puzzled at each other.

“Sometimes you can get more sense out of a Chinaman than you can out of that damn Steals Pony,” Blackjack said.

Preacher just smiled and rode on ahead.

The seemingly endless land stretched out before them, hot and dusty. The mules and the oxen plodded on. They were making good time, and Preacher did not push them. They rested when necessary, and made camp early enough so that everybody had good light to do their chores and get supper fixed. The weather held fair, albeit hot and extremely dusty, and so far only a few iron rims had wobbled off and no axles had broken. The shoes on the animals had held, and no hooves had split, but that would come later on. And the Indians continued to leave them alone.

Preacher sent Steals Pony on ahead again, to scout for signs of Bedell and his gang. But the Delaware came up empty. It was as if Bedell and his band of cutthroats had dropped off the face of the earth.

“Our luck ain’t that good,” Snake groused.

The wagons rolled on and the men and women did not encounter another human. They seemed to be lost on a barren, lifeless planet, void of others like them. Many of the women began to wonder if they’d ever see a stand of trees again.

The wagons crossed the Laramie range and made the Buttes. From there they headed slightly south and west toward what would someday be called Independence Rock. In the years to come, thousands of pioneers would chisel their names or initials into the rocks overlooking yet another barren stretch of this westward route. They had left the murky, lumbering Platte behind them now, and few of the women missed it, although it did provide water for the livestock.

And there was still no sign of Bedell or his gang. Preacher knew there was no point in his going out or sending Snake or Blackjack to look for Bedell. If Steals Pony couldn’t pick up a trail, no one could.

A few days later, the snowcapped mountains began looming up in front of them. Soon the women were shivering, although it was the summertime. Preacher smiled and said, “This here’s called Ice Slough. Get your axes and shovels out and dig down about a foot. They’s solid ice under the sod. Makes your water taste a whole heap better. Go ahead. I know you don’t believe me, but it’s true. We’re seven to eight thousand feet up, ladies. We’re on the crest of the Divide. This here’s the Wind River Range.”

The ladies started digging and chopping and squealing with delight at the ice under the sod.

Preacher waited until supper and then told them, “We’ll go through what’s known as the South Pass. A trapper named Stuart found it back ’bout thirty years ago. After that, we’ll take the cutoff,” Preacher added, conscious of Snake, Blackjack, and Steals Pony looking at him. “Day or two past South Pass, we’ll stop and fill every barrel and bucket we got, and I mean brim full.”

“Are you sure about this, Preacher?” Steals Pony asked.

“Yeah. I’m sure. I don’t see no point in pullin’ an extra hundred miles.”

“What’s the problem with this cutoff?” Eudora asked.

“No water,” Preacher bluntly told her and the other ladies. “And I mean, no water at all. It’s a good eighty or ninety miles from the cutoff to the Green. It’s a hard pull, but we can do it. I warn you all now, it sure ain’t no pretty route. Not much grass, lots of ravines, gravel, and dried-up lakes. Alkali lakes. A lot of it is flat as a tabletop, and probably comes close to resemblin’ hell. But we’ll make up for a lot of the time we lost.” He looked into the tanned and windburned faces of the women. They were all leaned down and toughened up. “Are you ladies all game for it?”

“We’re game,” they said in unison.

Snake smiled, then chuckled for a moment. “Wait ’til we get to Soda Springs. The water there tastes like beer and if you add a little sugar to it and maybe some syrup if you got any, it tastes like lemonade.”

The ladies all laughed.

“It’s true.” Blackjack backed up his friend. “They’s all sorts of wonders out here.”

“Outlaws and highwaymen, wild savages, ice under the boiling hot ground, water that tastes like beer or lemonade,” Faith said, her lips curved into a faint smile. “I should have brought more writing tablets. What other wondrous surprises do we have in store for us?”

“Plenty,” Steals Pony said, no humor in his words. “Believe when I say that the worst is still ahead of us.”

Faith cut her eyes to Preacher. He nodded his head. “He ain’t lyin’ about that. These past weeks has toughened up you ladies quite a bit. I know you think I been rough on you, and I have, but I done it for a reason. You’re gonna need all the strength you got ’fore we get to the coast. We got mountains, ragin’ rivers to cross, and there’s still Indians to fight. It’ll turn cold ’fore we get there, so we’ll have to fight our way through winter storms. When we get to the Snake…” He paused. “Well, there ain’t no way to describe that. You got to see it to believe it. Then we got the Blue Mountains to cross. And beyond that it’s two hundred and fifty miles either raftin’ down the river or goin’ over and through the Cascades to get to the valley. I ain’t gonna sadden you no more. But the country behind us was a church eatin’ on the grounds compared to what’s ahead. Get some sleep, ladies. It gets worser and worser from here on in.”