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we'd need.
First off, I saw how the ground slanted away toward the big creek,
and I figured that wall offered fair protection. The maple was alive, but in
some storm the wind had broken off a big limb, with a lot of branches on it,
and it lay there on the ground. Maple burns mighty well, and makes a hot fire.
That big tree would give some shelter, and the wall would make a
reflector for my fire. One branch of the tree extended across a corner of the
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wall, and I ducked under it and rolled away a couple of fallen stones that lay
there. The big fallen limb and its branches offered partial cover for the
comer, so I cut some pine branches and wove them in among the branches of the
maple until I had a fair shelter.
Tying the black horse under the maple, but on a rope long enough
so he could graze, I carried the saddle and gear to the shelter. The boy was
already seated in the corner.
From under a couple of fallen trees I peeled some dry bark,
gathered twigs from the fallen maple limb, and in a few minutes I had a fire
going. It looked good, and felt better.
I had built the fire close against the wall so the heat would be
reflected, and there we huddled in reasonable comfort. The wall, the
sheltering trees, and our improvised shelter kept off most of the rain. After
a few minutes, the boy fell asleep.
I checked my guns, made sure my rifle was fully loaded, and
trusting to the black to warn me, I huddled against the wall on the opposite
side of the fire from the boy, and slept too.
Chapter 8
The night wind moaned in the passes, and the small fire sputtered.
The fuel burned down to coals, and the coals were a dull red except when
touched briefly by the wind. The rain had come to an end, but big drops fell
now and again from the leaves of the maple.
From time to time I opened my eyes, looked around, land slept
again. It was always so with me ... I can remember few nights when I slept the
hours through without awakening, usually to lie awake listening for a while,
sometimes to get up and prowl restlessly.
The black horse, now that the rain had stopped, moved away from
the tree to crop the thick grass. Up on the ridges the grass had been sparse
and had little nourishment, but the grass that grew around the fallen stones
was rich and green.
You know how it is when you hear something a long time before you
are really aware of it? It was like that now with riders coming down the
trail. Most likely I didn't hear much ... maybe only a whisper of sound ...
maybe some hidden sense felt the difference in the night, for they came like
ghosts in the darkness, or like wolves, soft-footed and sure of their prey.
They must have been puzzled, and worried too, for I'd come down
the trail of the Old Ones, where no one ever rode.
It was a spirit trail, and they would not have liked it,
especially in the night. Their horses would be mountain-bred and sure-footed,
and more than likely they had known this valley of the ruins when they ran
wild, for there was grass here, good grass and water.
These riders must have been slow in getting away from
theirrancheria, coming after my tracks had crossed the trail of the Apaches
that pursued my compadres. Seeing the tracks of my lone horse, they had
followed, sure of a kill.
My small fire gave off so little smoke as to remain undetected,
and its slight red glow would be hidden by the tree and the wall. Yet they
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found me. I suppose they heard my horse cropping grass.
All was still in my camp. A drop fell hissing into the coals, and
my horse stopped cropping grass and lifted his head, blowing softly through
his nostrils. I came clean awake.
An instant I lay there, listening, and then I rolled over and left
the blanket in a long smooth dive into the darkness, and heard the whip of an
arrow as I went. When I looked back, I saw that the arrow had gone through my
blanket into the ground.
They came in fast, and my butt stroke missed the head of the
nearest attacker, and hit his shoulder, staggering him. Then my rifle was
knocked from my hands.
Now, back yonder in the mountains where I hail from, the boys and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]