Chapter Twenty-Four
Ace checked his gun with a steady hand. Two Cherokee scouts had reported seeing five armed men to the north, just outside of Cherokee territory.
Three of their descriptions matched Roscoe, Jack, and Lucien, but the last two scoundrels were new—probably cheap guns Roscoe managed to scrounge up somewhere.
Ace’s plan was to lead half the cattle out of Cherokee territory and use them as bait to see if Roscoe would attack.
Chief Wohali was with Ace. “We will ride with you.”
“It’s not your fight,” Ace protested.
Chief Wohali raised his eyes up toward a clear blue sky holding a strong sun.
“This land is strange to my people. We had to learn how to plant new crops, hunt differently, battle new winters. Even so, this is our home now. My people do not want innocent blood on this land. We have already seen enough to torment our dreams for generations.”
I can’t imagine the blood this man has seen. The misery that makes his dreams mean at night. And he’s still willing to help me, even though it was my people who drove them off their land. I swear, if that don’t beat all, nothing will.
“I’m grateful to you.”
“There is honesty in your eyes.” Chief Wohali met Ace’s eyes. “You would not have harmed my people. We would have lived in peace, side by side.”
“Rightly so.” Ace nodded his head, then extended his right hand.
“Words ain’t enough… I’m just outright sorry for what happened.
I was born on this land. Wouldn’t know what to do back in the country my people came from.
My pa said the old country was awful hard.
My people came here looking for a new hope…
but we sure messed things up awful bad.”
“The white man came from a distant land.” Chief Wohali stared at Ace’s hand for a moment, then took it. “It is not the fault of their children. You cannot bring back the dead.” He gave Ace’s hand a firm shake. “We must have peace now.”
Ace nodded, then looked over his shoulder. “Ready, fellas?”
“Ain’t no cowards here!” Clyde called. “Feel right proud to be riding with these fellas.” He nodded at Chief Wohali and the two Cherokee warriors with him.
“Then let’s get moving.” Ace glanced toward the teepee he’d spent the night in. Bonnie was standing nearby with her horse, watching. She looked small and lost.
The Cherokee will watch after her. If Carver don’t attack, I’ll circle back with Dallas and get the rest of the herd. It’s best she stays here.
Ace started north, Chief Wohali riding next to him. Both men remained silent, studying the land. They’d be out of Cherokee territory in a few hours, and if Carver was waiting, he’d attack.
Moving half the herd didn’t prove difficult. Dallas, Finn, and Clyde kept the cattle moving at a good pace while the Cherokee warriors scouted ahead.
Around two o’clock, just as the herd reached a wide river, the Cherokee scouts returned. They spoke to Chief Wohali, pointing across the river.
“Four men are waiting in the trees beyond the river.”
“Four?” Ace looked back over his shoulder. There had been five—where had the fifth man gotten off to? Deep in his gut, though, he knew.
Bonnie—one of those snakes rode back to get Bonnie!
He kicked himself hard for leaving her behind. “Dallas, take over. I have to get back to Bonnie?—?”
Before he could finish, several bullets cut across the river toward them.
Chief Wohali yelled something in his native tongue. His warriors jumped off their horses and took cover behind trees faster than a whisper hitting the ground.
Ace fired his rifle across the river and then kicked his horse into the trees. As he did, a bullet clipped the top of his shoulder. He gritted his teeth in pain, but managed to stay on his saddle.
Dallas, Finn, and Clyde began firing their rifles across the river.
“Get out of the clearing!” Ace yelled.
Dallas had just turned his horse to run when a bullet bit into his left forearm. He grunted in pain.
“They got Dallas!” Clyde yelled, shooting like crazy.
Ace jumped off his horse and ran back into the clearing.
He grabbed Dallas’s horse and ran it into the trees.
Two bullets nearly took the back of his head off.
When he reached the trees, a bullet tore into Dallas’s horse.
The poor animal screamed in pain, and Ace managed to catch Dallas and pull him free before his horse toppled over.
“Got me good,” Dallas grunted. “Thanks.”
“Stay down.” Ace knelt beside a tree and began returning fire across the river. He couldn’t see the shooters, but Finn and Clyde were still out in the open. A million angels must’ve been protecting them, because bullets were flying everywhere.
“Get out of the clearing and take cover!” he shouted.
Finn and Clyde didn’t need to be told twice. They jumped their horses and ran into the trees like wild lightning.
“Let ’em have it, boys!” Finn hollered.
Chief Wohali was taking careful aim before shooting. Each shot seemed very important and well-calculated.
Suddenly, Ace realized that the chief was shooting at a large tree limb, as were his two warriors.
What in the world are they doing?
Finally, the tree limb snapped and fell free into a thick pile of brush. A group of horses yelled out in pain.
“Horses are running!”
The shooting stopped.
“Get the horses!” Ace heard Roscoe holler.
Ace saw the horses scattering in different directions.
When a dirty-looking man wearing a black hat ran out from behind a tree, Ace locked his sights on him and fired off a single bullet.
The bullet sizzled across the river and tore through the man’s forehead like a hot knife, spraying gore into the air.
“They got Bobby!” a furious voice screamed as a man ran out from behind a tree and began shooting his rifle like mad. “You dirty, lowdown, good-for-nothing, yellow-belly cowards—you done shot my cousin dead!”
“Get down!” Roscoe roared.
Ace saw Clyde take aim and fire. A second later, the man was lying dead with a bullet in his heart.
“Good shot,” Finn congratulated Clyde.
“Not really. I was aiming for the fella’s head.”
Ace quickly reloaded his rifle. “Carver!” he yelled out. “Listen to me! Two men are dead! It doesn’t need to be like this!”
“I’m gonna get my wife, Carter!” Roscoe fumed. “This ain’t over, you hear me? And don’t you mind one bit—by now, one of my guys done got Bonnie! You stupid fool!”
Ace studied the trees across the river. Were there more guns? Probably not. We have the upper hand. Should be just two guns across the river now. There’s seven of us. Well, six, with Dallas injured. We can rush Carver.
The idea seemed right in Ace’s mind, but Bonnie’s face kept appearing in his mind, over and over. What if Roscoe wasn’t bluffing? What if one of his guns had circled back and managed to snag Bonnie? If Ace killed Roscoe here and now, would Bonnie be killed in turn?
“Carver?” Ace yelled.
“Speak your peace, boy!” Roscoe yelled back.
“If you hurt Bonnie, I’ll kill you with my bare hands!”
“Boy, you just signed your own tombstone!”
Ace heard movement in the trees.
“Sounds like he’s moving back—we best get him!” Clyde called out to Ace.
“We will not cross the river,” Chief Wohali told Ace. “We fight on this side only. The army will punish my people if we go any further with our rifles.”
That takes us down to three rifles. I can’t risk Finn and Clyde getting shot up. Fighting in the war taught me that a smart man knows when to stay put. Carver knows he's outnumbered. He’ll fall back. I have to get back to Bonnie.
“Finn, Clyde, stay here with the herd. I’m gonna go get the rest of the beef and check on Bonnie. Tend to Dallas’s arm. Chief Wohali, please stay here with them.”
“We will stay until you return,” Chief Wohali assured Ace.
Ace mounted up and took off like the wind, leaving the stench of blood and death behind him. That stench will be waiting for me when I get back. A man can never outrun it.
The ride back to the village was agonizing. Ace had never run a horse so hard in his life. He whisked over dry streambeds, ducked under low-hanging tree limbs, and skirted large boulders, thinking of no one except Bonnie while keeping his eyes locked for any signs of trouble on the trail.
Leaving Bonnie behind had seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Roscoe had ambushed the herd as expected. Two of his hired guns were dead—but so what? All it took was one sleazy, sneaky gun vanishing into the gunsmoke.
Over and over again, Ace kicked his horse. “Get on!”
Finally, the time came when he had to stop and let his horse rest. He sat down on a rock, put his face in his sweaty palms, and whispered out a desperate prayer. “Lord, why do I care so much about this woman?”
The answer came in a sudden rush of revelation: Because I love her.
The voice in Ace’s head was steady and strong, leaving no room for doubt. He loved Bonnie and wanted to marry her. He wanted to offer her the life she deserved—and give her the love she needed.
Why did I leave her behind? Why?
The sound of approaching horses made Ace jump up. He whipped out his gun and pulled his horse behind a tree.
A minute later, Jack appeared on the trail, pulling a horse behind him. Bonnie was on the horse. Her hands were tied to her saddle.
“You’re all mine, Bonnie. All I got to do now is kill Roscoe and Lucien, and then his operation will be in my hands.”
Ace locked his eyes on Bonnie’s face. Her lip was bloody, and she had a bruised eye.
“Untie me, and I’ll kill you,” Bonnie spat at Jack. “You had no right to kill them Indians! They didn’t do nothing to you!”
Jack let out a sick laugh. “Hate Indians. Killing your two guards was real fun for me. Like taking their scalps.”
“I’ll take your scalp!”
Ace watched Jack bring his horse to a halt and turn on his saddle to stare at Bonnie through vicious and bloody eyes.
“Listen to me, woman! You’re mine now, you hear me?
You ain’t gonna be running off on me like you did with Roscoe!
I’m gonna put you in your place real good…
as a matter of fact, maybe I’ll do that now! ”
“Don’t you touch me!”
“Time for me to get those clothes off you and see what’s underneath, huh?” Jack’s voice became sick with violence. “I’ve always wanted you, Bonnie… Now, it’s time I show you what a real man can do, huh?”
“Come near me, and I’ll kill you!”
“Now, Bonnie, is that any way to speak to the man who’s about to make you a widow?
” Jack slid off his saddle and pulled out a razor-sharp hunting knife from a sheath tied to his leg.
“Roscoe was too soft with you. I won’t make that mistake.
Now, I’m gonna cut you free, and you’re gonna start getting those clothes off.
You hear me? If you don’t, I’m gonna make you bleed real?—?”
Ace took aim at the back of Jack’s head. “Time to die, boy,” he growled.
Bonnie jerked when the gun went off. Her eyes widened as the front of Jack’s head split open like a melon being dropped on a hard rock.
The man’s eyes grew round and white before they filled with blood. His hand jerked and then loosened. The knife toppled free and fell to the ground as his body swayed in place for a second while blood spilled down his face.
Then, his legs caved under him, and he hit the ground.
“It’s okay,” Ace called to Bonnie, stepping out into the open. “I’m here.”