For three days they rode wrapped in blankets,
hunched against a cold driving rain, crossing both forks of the Arikaree and the
south fork of the Republican, trailing along the Big Sandy as the clouds
lifted. The soaked ground bore yellow
and rust-colored hues, rippled silver where standing pools whelmed the bleak sage
in wallows and scattered sloughs. It was
the first week of September, Wah ka nun e
ishi as the Cheyenne called it, the Plum Moon.
They had no fresh meat since
Cottonwood Springs. Bison were nowhere
to be seen, yet the prairie bore abundant sign; its clumped surface was trail-scarred
by herds all the way to the horizon.
On the evening of the fourth day as
they made camp they saw a herd of antelope in the distance, so before dawn
Catcher set out after them on foot. He carried
a bow and quiver and the red flannel cloth he had at the Cottonwood Springs
camp, and reluctantly he allowed Baker to come along, warning the lieutenant that
he must do exactly as he was told.
They walked for an hour, until the
horizon glowed. A slight breeze
gathered. Catcher found a wide, deep buffalo
wallow and gave Baker sign to lie at the bottom and not to move, nor make any
sound. On his belly, near the rim on the
windward side, the Indian peered over the edge.
Another hour passed and the sun broke the horizon, throwing blue shadows
across the prairie, bringing dew-heavy gnats up in swarms from the wet ground. Prairie
dogs stretched and yawned atop burrow mounds.
Baker watched the Indian, who grasped
the bow and three arrows in his left hand, the red cloth in his right. Suddenly the right hand shot up in the air
and pumped up and down four times, the red flannel flapping like the wings of a
giant bird. Catcher stopped and brought
the cloth to his side. A minute, two
minutes passed, and the Indian made the same motion again – four pumps, then
stopped.
This happened three more times, then
ten minutes passed before Catcher waved the cloth again, this time only once. Baker wanted to say something. He began to suspect a joke was being played
on him, that momentarily Pony’s face would appear at the edge of the wallow,
smiling, laughing at his gullibility. He
started to sit up, opened his mouth to speak when Catcher sprang to his knees,
simultaneously drawing the bow and releasing it. Before Baker could speak Catcher had nocked
another arrow, drawn the bow and released it again. Baker rose.
He looked over the edge of the wallow to see dust raised by several
antelope as they ran away, white rumps zig-zagging through the sage less than
two rods distant.
The Indian drew his skinning knife
from his belt and began to walk in the direction of the fleeing antelope. Where was he going? The antelope were almost out of sight.
A motion in the sage caught Baker’s
attention; he realized an animal was down.
The lieutenant could see the ends of the arrow shafts moving as the
antelope tried to regain its feet. From
the wallow Baker watched the Indian and the motion of his arm as his knife
was drawn across the animal’s throat. No
sound, except the sudden rattle of a late season grasshopper as it launched
itself into the warming air.
Catcher quickly butchered the
antelope, leaving most of the carcass and viscera glossy and steaming in the
brush. He and Baker carried the strap,
the liver and heart slung in the bloody hide, each man holding one end, walking
side by side. Baker felt the animal’s
stiff hair and its blood crusting on his hands as he walked. The Indian said nothing.
When they reached camp Pony had the horses
watered and was gathering buffalo chips for the cooking fire.
So lieutenant, he said, you know how
to catch antelope now?
Baker shrugged. I’m not at all sure what I saw out there.
The Indian says they’re so curious,
said Pony, all he has to do is wave that little red cloth and they come in from
miles around. It’s how he got his
name. Known for it among the Cheyenne.
He readied a pot of coffee.
I’ve tried it a dozen times. Antelope didn’t quit runnin til they got to
Texas.
Pony coaxed a smoky fire from the
chips. Baker wondered about such an obvious
sign of their presence in hostile country.
Aw hell, Pony said, Indians could be anywheres out there. Likely to see us first anyhow. Might as well eat. They put the strap on a spit
and cut the heart and liver in strips to fry.
Within minutes coyotes, perhaps ten, had surrounded the camp, slinking
back and forth through the sage. The hobbled
horses whinnied for the proximity and kicked out viciously whenever one came
too close.
When they finished eating they rolled
their blankets and gathered their possibles to make preparations for
travel. Baker was scouring their tin
plates with sand when he looked up and saw Pony and Catcher staring east,
rifles in hand.
A lone figure appeared on the ridge of
a hill perhaps a half mile away. The man
was afoot, approaching at a steady pace.
Halfway he stopped and raised a hand.
A white man. He wore a caped army
overcoat, woolen army trousers and carried a long staff. He had an army blanket rolled and tied over
his right shoulder, a warbag, a canteen at his hip. As he got closer they saw his clothing was torn,
a long beard covering his unwashed face.
He was hatless; a faded red silk scarf covered his head. His brogans were wrapped with rags.
Howdy to ye, every man, he said. Name’s Louderman. Phineas.
With a P-H. Late of Ohio.
Neither Pony nor Catcher
replied. Baker rose.
I was wonderin could ye spare a piece
of tug? It’s been two days since I
et. Small animal. Gopher, I think. All gristle.
Like to puke my guts dry from it.
He drew up his canteen, pulled the
stopper, tilted back his head and swallowed twice. His thin throat was caked with rings of dirt. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve.
We was just about to be on our way,
said Pony.
Baker interrupted. Sit down, stranger. We got time.
My name is Baker. Artemus Baker, Lieutenant,
United States Army.
Pony and Catcher exchanged glances as
the lieutenant refilled the coffee pot and cut Louderman a long slice of the backstrap,
which the gaunt man ate with noisy relish, seated cross-legged on the hard caliche. The soles of his shoes separated from the
cracked uppers, exposing his toes.
Mister Louderman, you got any idea as
to your whereabouts? asked Baker.
The man licked his fingers, looked
around.
Not to a certainty. I reckon to cut the mountains fore too long
though. Am I right?
Appears you lack certain requirements
for the journey, said Pony. Where’s your
horse?
Louderman took up the coffee cup,
blew on it.
Horse? Waugh, won’t have one. Knotheads.
Kickin, bitin knotheads. He
tapped his shoe. It’s shanks mare for
me, he said. I’m a walker. Learnt to in the army.
He looked at his feet, smiled. Don’t believe these here ankle boots will
take much more, though.
You walked out here? asked Baker.
I mean to say so. Ever damn mile of it.
Well now, said Pony.
Yessir. On my way to Californey.
Catcher said something to Pony in Cheyenne. Both men picked up their rifles and walked
off toward the horses. Louderman watched them walk away.
Don’t appear either of your friends
cares for my company, said Louderman.
Not my friends, replied Baker. We’re… business associates, you might say.
Thought you said you was in the army.
We’re in search of a little girl, kidnapped
by the Cheyenne. Family was murdered.
Injuns? Just you three is out here huntin’ Injuns?
The girl. We’ll trade for her, if we can locate their
camp.
I’ll be damned, said Louderman.
You said you were in the army at one
time, Mister Louderman.
Louderman took a long sip of coffee,
smacked his lips, wiped them on his sleeve.
He coughed.
As a matter of fact, lieutenant, I
suppose I still am, he said.
What do you mean?
I am an Ohio man. Mustered in at Camp Dennison
in sixty-one. Me n my brother Albert. Company C, Delaware Guards, fourth Ohio
Volunteer Infantry.
He looked at Baker.
Have ye seen any mischief with the
rebels, lieutenant?
No, not yet.
Ah, yes, well. Louderman stared into his coffee cup.
We was, uh, we was on the peninsula
with McClellan, he said. Me n
Albert. Yorktown,
Gaine’s Mill. Malvern Hill. Sharpsburg,
too.
He pronounced the names slowly,
rhythmically, like the chiming of a clock.
He looked at Baker, a faint smile on his lips.
We was a fightin’ outfit. Yessir.
The smile faded.
We was at Fredericksburg, too.
He shook his head.
Oh boy, there was a fight. Yessir.
He set his cup down, clasped his
hands and began kneading them, as if they were cold. He stared at the ground.
We was in the tenth assault. The tenth.
Me n Albert.
He paused and seemed to shrink within
the overcoat.
I can still see the Johnnies up there,
flags wavin. There they are, the colonel
said. There they are.
His voice trailed off to a whisper: The tenth assault.
He cleared his throat. That was a fight, by God.
He looked up at Baker, eyes brimming.
A hunert and fourteen of our regiment
went in. Only twelve come out. Twelve, lieutenant.
He shook his head.
All them boys. Shot to pieces. Albert…
He looked at his hands.
It unstrung me. My hands got to tremblin so’s I couldnt even hold
my rifle. So I… I took the big bounce, is what I done.
Deserted? asked Baker.
I was no use to myself nor anyone
else.
He looked up at Baker.
I s’pose you aim to arrest me now, eh,
lieutenant?
Pony was not a Christian, nor an
educated man. His prejudices were
informed entirely by experience. He
could barely read his own name, so he paid less attention to language than
motive when in the company of other men, especially whites, most of whom were
fearful and contemptuous of his relationship with Indians.
As he walked away with Catcher he
knew something was wrong. He had survived on the plains by reading the messages
that men send with their eyes, the giveaways that betray intention. The ragged man was after more than food.
Catcher had spotted it too. Leave this
stranger behind before he steals our horses, he said to Pony. So they rose and took their rifles with them.
Their suspicion proved authentic when
they saw three men bellycrawl behind the low rise where the horses were
picketed.
As they walked Catcher checked his
pistol and reloaded his Sharps and waited for Pony to move around behind the
horses, where the guise of readying pack saddles allowed him to slide the
barrel of his Spencer across the withers of his horse. They were over 100 paces from where the
lieutenant was talking to Louderman.
Pony suspected the ragged man would make a move as soon as the commotion
started; he would shoot or stab Baker, whose inexperience would allow his
attention to be drawn away from the man who intended to kill him. Pony had no particular concerns about Baker –
he believed every man’s life was ultimately his own lookout – but if they were to
prove successful in retrieving the girl he thought the lieutenant could be
useful in collecting the reward. At
least Baker provided an extra hand, even without experience. So Pony drew a bead on Louderman’s chest. He saw Baker turn away to lift the coffee pot,
and the ragged man reached inside his coat to bring forth something that caught
the light. Pony’s finger touched the
trigger lightly.
Baker heard the impact of the
Spencer’s 350-grain bullet, then the boom.
The rifle tended to fire high; though aimed at Louderman’s chest, the
round struck him in the throat, producing a hollow, slapping noise as it tore
away a large portion of the man’s larynx, just above the junction of the
sternum and collar bones.
The sound of the shot carried to
Louderman’s accomplices, who brought weapons up as Catcher appeared at the top
of the rise, thirty yards in front of them.
The Indian fired his Sharps at the
closest man, knocking him backward into the second man, who was kneeling. The third man, seeing both companions hit,
turned and began running back down the depression. He was fleet; he made twenty yards before
Pony reached Catcher’s position and fired, exploding dust from the ground on
the man’s right side.
Damn, Pony said, levering another
round into the chamber. He drew a deep breath and fired again, this time
hitting the runner squarely between the shoulders, the impact driving him face-first
into the sage.
By this time the second man had
disentangled himself. He wore his
partner’s blood splashed brightly on his face and in a dark swoop across the
shoulder of his tattered frock coat. He
carried a pistol in his hand, and he pointed it back as he scuttled up the side
of the gulley. He snapped off a shot at
Catcher, who was walking down the rise toward him, his own pistol in hand.
The ball went wide, so the panicked
man fired twice more, missing both times.
Catcher closed the distance between them to no more than twenty paces,
stopped, and raised his own weapon. He
brought up his left forearm and laid his right arm across it to steady his aim,
cocked the pistol, and shot the man in the chest. The man went down, rose again unsteadily, and
went down for good when the Indian shot him again.
The lieutenant came running, hurdling
the sage, revolver in hand. Where are they?
he said, white-faced and breathless. Catcher
was reloading. Pony pointed toward the bodies on the other side of the
rise. Who are they? said Baker. Pony shrugged. How’s yer friend? he asked. Finished his coffee yet? You nearly took off his head, said Baker. Pony smiled.
Still got yourn though, aint ye lieutenant?
Baker let out a deep breath. We don’t have shovels, he said. Pony began walking toward the horses,
stopped, turned back to face him.
What?
We haven’t any shovels. To bury them.
Pony turned again, resumed walking.
They can bury their own goddamn selves.
Stop, said Baker. We’ve got to bury them.
Pony stopped, turned again.
Is that so? The same as they’da done for you?
That doesn’t matter. We’re not like them.
No we aint by god. We’re still breathin.
That isn’t what I mean.
I know your meaning,
lieutenant, Pony said.