Runs with the Wind was up before dawn the next morning to head to
Colter. He had an uneasy feeling about his new neighbors and wanted to see to
it that they wouldn't be any trouble. Life on the mountain had been peaceful,
living in solitude. He never dared to cross paths with travelers, only going to
Colter to scavenge the remains any travelers left behind. In return, travelers
had never strayed toward his cabin - most likely for fear of what they might
find there. He had managed so well to stay hidden from the world, and he wanted
it to stay that way.
Runs with the Wind stepped out of the cabin into the cold morning
air. He rubbed his hands together furiously to try to warm them up. He had
slept without a fire for fear of the smoke being seen by the travelers and he
longer to be able to feel the warmth of the fire once the travelers were gone.
Runs with the Wind brought Taima around to the front of the cabin
so he could be saddled up. After securing the saddle and bridle, Runs with the
Wind retrieved his bow and rifle from the cabin. He didn't intend to use the
weapons, but he didn't want to be caught in a firefight without them. He
secured the weapons to his saddle and mounted up.
As he headed out over the hill east of the cabin, he could see
smoke rising in the direction of the old town - a confirmation that the new
visitors were there.
Runs with the Wind stopped about halfway between the cabin and
Colter and dismounted. To his left there was a large area up the side of a hill
full of rocks and trees that would camouflage Taima well. He wanted to continue
the rest of the way in foot to remain as quiet as possible. Runs with the Wind
hitched Taima to a tree near the top of the hill that was well hidden and away
from danger. He pulled his rifle, bow, and binoculars from his saddle and
continued on.
Once he got a little closer to the town, Runs with the Wind pulled
out his binoculars. The incoming snow and the dim light of dawn beginning to
break made it difficult to see, but he could make out at least two figures
resting by a fire outside one of the buildings. Runs with the Wind had hoped to
make it to Colter before anyone had woken up, but this reaffirmed his suspicion
that this group was trouble. Why else would someone be up this early? He
suspected they had had someone watching the camp all night.
Runs with the Wind made his way closer to the camp, being careful
not to make a sound. He slowly crossed the small stream that ran behind the
town. The icy water sent a cold shock through his body that made him lose is
breath. He quickly crossed the stream and stopped at a tree behind one of the
buildings that was just within earshot of the two men at the fire. By the light
of the fire he could see that one was a young man who was tall and lanky. His
hair was neatly kept and his face was clean shaven. The other man was much
older, with gray hair and a thick mustache to match.
"It's bad business bein' up here in the cold like this. We
were supposed to be halfway to New Austin or Nuevo Paraiso by now, not goin' in
the other direction." Said the younger man as he tried to warm his hands
by the fire.
"We ain't got a choice, Jake." The older man struck a
match with the bottom of his boot and lit a cigarette. "We got every
lawman and bounty hunter in the state of New Hannover lookin' for us."
Jake sat down and pulled out his revolver to clean it. "C'mon
Louis, do ya really think they'll come up here after us?"
"For Christ sake, kid!" Louis said, raising his voice.
"Half of us robbed a train full of payroll headed to Cornwall Kerosene and
Tar while the other half robbed the bank in Valentine." Louis took a drag
of the cigarette and lowered his voice. "I've robbed a lot of folk in my
days, I wouldn't be surprised if they send the goddamn army after us."
"Ya really think they'd do that?" Jake asked, sounding a
little nervous.
"Well sure." Louis replied. "Old Mr. Cornwall ain't
gonna take too kindly to losin' money like that."
A moment later, a third man appeared from one of the buildings. He
was a large, burley man with dark hair and a bushy, unkempt beard. He came over
to the fire and poured himself a cup of coffee.
"Well Butch, how much did we get?" Louis asked him.
Butch took a sip of his coffee. "Tom's still countin', but he
reckons we got about a hundred thousand. Maybe more."
"Jesus." Jake replied, pouring himself a cup of coffee.
"Yeah it'll set us up real nice when we head out West."
"If we ever get there." Jake retorted.
"In due time, kid." Butch sounded annoyed. "We
thought they might push us north. Just have to hold 'em off long enough to make
it back down the mountain through West Elizabeth. It'll be smooth sailin' from
there."
The three men then drank their coffee in silence for a moment
until something caught Butch's eye.
"What's that?"
Runs with the Wind inhaled sharply and held his breath as he
realized the burley man was staring in his direction. His heartbeat quickened
as he weighed his options. Showing himself could get him killed. But on the
other hand, so could running. Any men willing to steal from Leviticus Cornwall
were not to be messed with.
"Who's there?" Butch boomed as he sat his coffee down
and removed his revolver from its holster.
Runs with the Wind looked behind him. The first fifty feet or so
was covered by trees, but let out into a clearing after that. He knew the
terrain well, if he could get a far enough head start, he thought he would have
the advantage. Runs with the Wind looked out toward the trees, took a deep
breath, and ran.
"It's a goddamn scout!" Butch yelled. He cocked the
hammer on his revolver and aimed at Runs with the Wind.
"Don't shoot!" Louis shouted as he lowered Butch's gun.
"We don't know how many others are out there, we don't wanna give 'em a
reason to shoot back."
His plan was working. Runs with the Wind weaved in and out of the
trees and rocks, unaware of the orders given not to shoot. The thick snow made
it difficult to run, but he pushed himself to run faster.
"Kid! Get after him!" Butch yelled at Jake as he himself
ran to one of the buildings.
"Why me?!" Jake snapped.
"You're the youngest and fastest outta all of us. Hurry up
before we lose him. I'll wake up the others and meet up with you with the
horses."
"And keep him alive!" Louis reminded him. "We wanna
know who he's working for."
Jake ran after Runs with the Wind, following his tracks in the
snow. His tall build made it much easier for him to trek through the snow and
he was quickly beginning to shorten the gap between them.
"Stop!" Jake yelled out. "I ain't gonna ask
again!"
Runs with the Wind looked back and could see his pursuer moving
through the trees behind him. He was quick. When Runs with the Wind reached the
clearing, he darted back into the stream. This time, he paid no attention to
the frigid water seeping into his clothes, all he could feel was fear. He moved
in and out of the large rocks on the banks to keep in cover. He was beginning
to tire, but kept going.
It wasn't long before Jake broke out into the clearing as well. He
was much faster than Runs with the Wind and had no trouble catching up to him.
Jake ran along the stream instead of through it. It wasn't long before Jake was
only fifteen feet or so behind him.
Jake called out again. "You don't know who you're dealin'
with! Thomas O'Creagh will skin ya alive when I catch you!"
Runs with the Wind said nothing, he was too focused on the path in
front of him. In a desperate attempt to slow his pursuer, he grabbed rocks from
the stream and threw them at the young man. Jake dodged the first rock but the
second rock hit him in the arm causing him to stumble slightly.
Runs with the Wind moved to the next large rock and reached down
to grab two more smaller rocks, but it was no use. Jake ran forward and lunged
toward Runs with the Wind. He grabbed the bottom of Runs with the Wind's coat
and pulled him down into the water.
The two men struggled in the icy water of the stream as each man
tried to take advantage over the other.
"Who sent you?!" Jake yelled as he pushed Runs with the
Wind into the water. It was cold and now seeping into their clothes.
"I don't know what you are talking about!" Runs with the
Wind answered.
He grabbed Jake's leg and pulled it out from under him. Jake fell
with a sudden thud against the rocky bed of the stream.
Runs with the Wind stood over top of Jake, but he did not move to
get up. Runs with the Wind guessed he had hit his head when he fell.
Runs with the Wind pulled Jake out of the stream and onto the bank
so he would not by lying in the water. Out of the corner of his eye Runs with
the Wind could see movement. He looked up to see a figure on horseback
barreling toward him as he broke through the trees. Runs with the Wind
cursed under his breath and took off toward the cabin.
His breath was short and labored as he pushed himself through the
snow. The cold was beginning to bite at his skin as his wet clothes clung to
him.
A little ways ahead he could see the spot where he had turned off
the path and hitched Taima. But then what? By the time he reached Taima the man
on horseback would be able to catch up to him, and the path between where he
was and home was mostly out in the open once again.
He couldn't risk running in the open, any good shot would be able
to pick him off. He needed to lose his tail.
Runs with the Wind turned to go up the hill, temporarily out of
sight from Jake and the man on horseback. He grabbed a loose branch from a tree
and used it to drag behind him to cover up his tracks. He weaved in and out of
the gatherings of trees and rocks until he reached a large rock about twenty
feet from Taima.
While Runs with the Wind was covering his tracks, Butch caught up
with Jake. He dismounted and rushed over to him.
"Y'okay kid?"
Jake came to and realized Butch was talking to him.
"Yeah yeah, I'm fine. Just a little beat up is
all."
Seeing that Jake's clothes were wet, Butch quickly took off his
coat and handed it to Jake.
"Here, put this on, it'll warm ya up. I'll go catch this son
of a bitch and come back for ya."
Jake took the coat and worked to take off his own. "He headed
up a hill to the right just up ahead. Careful, he's a slippery one."
Butch mounted again and took off toward the hill.
Runs with the Wind pulled out his bow and an arrow. His hands were
trembling - out of both nervousness and the cold - making it difficult to set
the arrow in place. He sat crouched behind the rock waiting and listening for
the sound of hooves crunching through the snow.
When he finally heard the sound of the horse approaching, he
peeked over the top of the rock. He saw the burley man he had seen by the fire
come into view at the foot of the hill and dismount.
Butch pulled a shotgun from his saddle and slowly began to make
his way up the hill, carefully scanning each rock and tree.
"I know you're up there you bastard. Come on out, I just
wanna talk."
Runs with the Wind crouched back down behind the rock and waited
nervously. He knew men like Butch were rarely true to their word.
Despite being cold, he could feel beads of sweat forming on his
forehead, and his heart felt like it could beat right out of his chest. There
had only been one other time when he could recall feeling this nervous, and
that was when he had woken up chained to a tree in Tall Trees at the mercy of
Samuel Wyatt. There was no worse feeling than being helpless, and sitting on a
cold mountain waiting for a gang member to hunt you down with a shotgun felt
like just the same.
"Ya got nowhere left to run. Why don't ya give up
now."
He was getting closer.
Butch kept slowly making his way up the hill until he spotted
Taima among the trees.
"Well, what do we have here?"
Runs with the Wind took deep breaths, trying to steady himself. He
pulled back on the bow and waited for Butch to pass by.
As Butch got closer to Taima, he readied his shotgun at shoulder
level.
"Can't go nowhere without your mount, now can't ya."
As soon as Butch came into a clear view, Runs with the Wind
released the arrow. Butch howled in pain as he fell to the ground; the arrow
hitting him in the leg. Reflexively, Butch had pulled the trigger of his gun on
the way down, thankfully aimed up and away from Taima.
Butch laid on the ground grasping his leg and cursing profusely.
Runs with the Wind kicked the shotgun out of reach, then walked over to Taima.
He reached into his saddlebag before mounting up and pulled out a bottle of
whiskey. There wasn't much left, but it would be enough.
He rode over to Butch and tossed the whiskey at his feet.
"Here."
Runs with the Wind did not wait for a reply. With a short
"hyah!" Taima and Runs with the Wind took off for the cabin.
--------------------------------------
Runs with the Wind rode back to the cabin as fast as he could, not
wanting to waste any more time. The other men at the camp would have likely
heard the gunshot and would come to investigate.
When he reached the cabin, Runs with the Wind jumped off Taima and
ran inside. He had decided it was too dangerous to stay; his time on the
mounted was coming to an end just as the spirits had told him. He couldn't risk
the gang finding him here. Shaking off two men had been tough enough, he
wouldn't be able to fight against an entire gang.
Runs with the Wind scrambled to grab everything he could fit into
his satchel and saddlebags. Canned goods, cigarettes, salted meat - anything he
could fit that would hold him off for a while. He frantically rummaged through
everything in his possession and stuffed his saddlebags full until they could
barely close.
Now that the adrenaline of the chase had started to wear off, he
realized he was freezing. He wouldn't have time to change out of all his wet
clothes, but he threw off his coat and replaced it with the worn fur coat he
had been wearing when he first arrived.
Once the cabin was emptied, Runs with the Wind went around the
back of the cabin and removed the plank of wood that covered his stash of elk
meat. He fit what he could into his satchel, but there was still a lot that he
would not be able to take.
"What a waste." He said quietly to himself.
After he was finished, he left the plank off of the stash, hoping
wolves or bears would be able to find it.
Runs with the Wind walked back around to the front of the cabin. A
feeling of sadness washed over him as he looked back at the only real place he
had been able to call home in the last few years. After his brother was killed,
everything had gone from bad to worse. He had shuffled from place to place
outrunning bounty hunters, and he had been drug all over the midwest at the
mercy of Samuel Wyatt.
The small cabin tucked away in the Grizzlies of Ambarino had been
his safe place, where he could do as he pleased. He hated to go, but he had no
other choice.
As he mounted up, Runs with the Wind took one last look at the
cabin before setting off once more. He wasn't quite sure yet where he was
going, it had been so long since he had been anywhere else. But he figured the
safest place to escape to would be where the gang couldn't go. He would head
south to New Hannover.
