Hard Days

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Hard Days - book excerpt

APACHES

They brought them in, four men,bound, heads bowed as they traipsed through the fort gates. Apaches. None turned and reacted to the many derisory comments and sneers from the civilians lining up to watch them. Some of the cavalrymen who formed the prisoner detail laughed. Cole threw a sharp glance at theofficer in charge. “Shut your men up, Lieutenant!”

The young man turned away, shame-faced, and barked orders at his men. Disgruntled, the soldiers gradually fell into silence, but their scathing looks continued.

Riding alongside Cole, the young trooper who had gone out into the plains to track down the motley looking Indians, leaned closer. “Mr Cole, I’m not sure we should antagonise any of my fellow-soldiers. If we hint at any sympathy for these here savages, then I’m likely to come up against some bad feelings in the bunkhouse later on.”

“Sympathy?” Cole’s eyes grew dark. “These boys were ripped from their homes and forced marched across a hundred miles of scrub to a reservation that bears no resemblance to anything they have known. I don’t blame ‘em for breaking out. But shooting the guards, that was wrong.”

“And that’s why they’ll hang.”

“I believe so if it can be proved.”

“Which it will be, surely.”

“Unless hatred and suspicion get in the way. We have to be certain because if we ain’t then there could be trouble. There are still roaming bands of Kiowa and Comanche out there and I hate to think what they might do if we act too hastily. Besides,” Cole turned in his saddle and peered at the three Apaches shuffling bare-footed across the ground, “we didn’t catch ‘em all. There’s at least two more out there.”

“Including their leader perhaps?”

Grunting, Cole studied the young soldier. “You did well out there, son. I’m impressed. What did you say your name was?”

“Vance,” and he gave an involuntary salute. “I haven’t long been in uniform, Mr Cole. Still learning on the job, as it were.”

“Well, you sure learned a lot these last few days, that’s for sure. Next time we’re called out to track down anyone, I’ll be asking for you.”

Red-faced, Vance quickly looked away, but couldn’t suppress a grin. “My, that is praise indeed. Thank you, Mr Cole.”

“You sound educated, son. I wonder why an educated young man would want to seek out a life in the U.S. Cavalry, especially out herein this godforsaken land.”

“Lots of reasons.”

“Well, I won’t press you none, but I’m grateful that you did, whatever the reasons.” He smiled before pulling his horse away, gesturing to the other troopers flanking the captured Apaches. “Move ‘em over to the jail boys and make sure they is bound up tight.”

“They’re not going anywheres,” said a rough-looking corporal, laughing.

“Even so, you don’t take any chances with boys like this.”

As the Indians shuffled by, the lead warrior stopped and looked up towards Cole. “You are the one they call He Who Comes. To be captured by you is an honour.” He turned his attention to the other soldiers. “But I tell you this. We shall not submit, and we will bring suffering down upon you.” He looked again at Cole. “Even you, He Who Comes.”

Remaining tight-lipped, Cole watched as the scrawny looking Apache were pushed and shoved towards the tiny blockhouse prison.

“What did he mean by that?” asked Vance, rubbing his chin, a deathly pallor falling over his face.

“I don’t know but go tell that Lieutenant to double the guards tonight, Vance. Just to be on the safe side.”

Saluting, Vance eased himself from his saddle, stretched out his back, and crossed the parade ground towards the slowly dispersing crowd of onlookers. After listening to what Vance had to say, the Lieutenant shot a vicious glance towards Cole, who nodded once before turning away, his unease growing.

JULIA

That evening, she made stew and dumplings, piling up Sterling Roose’s plate until it was almost overflowing. Cole, sitting opposite his good friend, laughed. “You reckon you can get all that down you, Sterling?”

“I reckon so,” said the wiry looking Roose as he attacked the stew with gusto.

“My,” said Julia, “seems to me you haven’t eaten for some time, Sterling. You need feeding up.”

Chuckling between mouthfuls, Roose reached for the nearby plate of bread rolls and tore one in half. “I guess you could say so,” he said then dunked the bread into the gravy and slurped it down.

“Sterling’s been helping out old Sheriff Perdew down in Paradise,” said Cole, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

“Really?” Julia asked and sat back, dabbing at the corner of her mouth with a serviette. “Don’t he feed you too well?”

“Usual potatoes and gravy.”

“For every meal?”

Roose nodded without looking up. “Every meal.”

“Sterling has his heart set on being a law-officer,” put in Cole, most of his attention on the piece of meat he was sawing through.

“You’re not happy in the Army, Sterling?”

“Some,” said Roose. “But it ain’t what it used to be.”

“Is that right,” drawled Cole.

“You know it ain’t.”

His face came up and for a moment the two friends stared at one another.

“What are you talking about?” Julia, noticing the charged atmosphere looked from one to the other. “Cole? What does he mean?”

Roose got in first. “The southern plains are all but tamed now. Within a year, maybe two at the most, even the Comanche will be in a reservation, but there are rumours of unrest in the north.”

“What sort of unrest?”

“Sioux and Cheyenne,” said Cole, victorious at last over the meat. He popped a large chunk into his mouth and chewed it down with some effort. “The great tribes of the Plains. They’ve just about had enough.”

“But what has that to do with us down here?”

“Not a lot.” Cole’s face came up and caught Roose’s cold stare. “Maybe.”

Shifting uneasily in her chair, Julia’s voice broke a little as she said, “You’re scaring me.”

“No, no,” said Roose quickly, reaching out to pat her forearm. “No need to be scared. It might just … spread, that’s all, so we have to be ready.”

“Not that it’s gonna happen,” said Cole, his eyes settling on the way Roose’s fingers gripped Julia’s arm.

For the rest of the meal they ate in silence, the only sounds ones of cutlery against crockery, satisfied moans and smacking of lips. When finished, Julia gathered up the empty plates and took them into the tiny kitchen before returning with a stone jug. She poured out frothy beer into chipped cups before sitting down and gazing at the two men as they drank.

“So, tell me,” she said. “Those Apaches you brought in?They will hang?”

“Almost certainly,” said Roose, wiping his mouth and sitting back in his hard-backed chair. Behind him the open fire crackled and spat, the stacked logs giving off an intense, yet comforting heat. “I reckon it’s what they call ‘an open-and-shut case’ due to the survivors who will give testimony.”

“I’m surprised such savages will be given a fair hearing.”

“That’s the law,” put in Cole. He took a deep breath. “At least around here.”

“That’s down to you,” said Roose, his voice flat. He gazed into his beer.

“Not only me,” said Cole, shifting uncomfortably in his own chair.

Frowning, Julia looked from one to the other. “What does he mean, Reuben? Down to you? Down to you in what way?”

“He won’t say so himself,” put in Roose quickly, “but dear old Reuben here wrote to President Grant begging him to give his reassurance that Indians would be allowed dueprocess.”

“You wrote to the President?” Julia sat back, amazed.

Cole shrugged, “It was nothing,” he said in a quiet, embarrassed voice.

“And what did the President say? Did he answer?”

“Not to me directly, but the fort received a communication, suggesting they proceed with caution. Trouble is brewing up north and the Government is anxious it doesn’t spread.”

“It will,” said Roose, draining his cup, “no matter how we deal with incursions and the like down here.”

“Incursions? Sterling, this is their land. They’ve lived here for thousands of years. We just charged right in and took what we wanted.”

“Not me,” said Roose, his jawline reddening. “I never posted no claim for gold or anything else for that matter.”

“I didn’t mean you personally, Sterling! You know that wasn’t my meaning.”

“Even so, gold is a mighty temptation, and them Indians have no use for it so what’s the problem?” He produced a small canvas bag and set about rolling himself a cigarette.

“Ooh, just wait a moment,” said Julia and jumped up to cross to the small dresser set against the wall next to the door. She came back with a small wooden chest, opened it, and produced two slim, black cheroots. “I got these from the store. Thought you might like one?” She handed it over to Roose who looked at it with wide-eyed relish.

“She ain’t nothing but hospitable,” said Cole, taking the cheroot Julia offered him and twirling it under his nose. “That smells mighty good, Julia.”

“I thought I’d splash out, seeing as you are back safe and sound.”

Having lit his cheroot, Roose leaned across and, cupping his hands to protect the match flame from a non-existent breeze, lit up Cole’s also. “He does seem to do that with some regularity.”

“Well,” she reached out and squeezed Cole’s arm, “it’s good to have you here. There’s a world of work to do and those horses could do with a run-out.”

“I’ll see to that in the morning.” He caught her look and chuckled, “All right, we will see to it in the morning!”

They all laughed, and Julia seemed a little relieved. “I’ll make coffee.”

Watching herleave the room, Roose smiled as he puffed on his smoke. “She’s beautiful.”

“She is.”

“And yet …” He leaned in closer, lowering his voice. “If I may say so, old friend, you don’t seem … too set.”

“That’s because I’m not.”

Roose frowned. “But I thought—”

“It was never my intention to have a relationship, Sterling. Nor hers, I reckon.”

“I think you’re wrong there, Cole. She’s loyal, caring. Even devoted, you could say.”

“My only thought was to protect her until such time as she feels able to move on.”

“Are you kidding me? You’ll never find another like her.”

“You could be right, but I could never ask anyone to share my life right now, not the way things are. You know how dangerous it is out there.”

“Yeah, but … If she is willing to take the risk, to be with you, to make sure you don’t do anything too stupid, why not allow yourself to—”

He stopped abruptly as the sound of approaching horses from beyond the front door made themselves heard.

Cole quickly pulled out the handgun from its holster hanging on the back of his chair just as Julia came rushing in, face ashen. “What is it?”

“I don’t know,” said Cole as Roose took down the Henry repeating rifle from the hooks above the door. “Cut the lights.”

She did so, moving across to the large oil lamp on top of the dresser first. The one in the centre of their table followed, the only glow remaining was that coming from the kitchen.

The darkness seeped over them and Cole went to the shuttered window adjacent to the door and eased up the wooden bar. He peered into the night.

A voice called out, “Mr Cole? It’s me, Hyrum Vance. We’ve got a problem back at the fort, sir.”

Cole let his breath out long and slow. “All right, thanks.” He turned away and if it wasn’t for the dark, he felt sure he would see Julia wringing her hands, glaring at him.

APACHE BREAKOUT

On the ride back to the fort, Vance outlined what had happened.

“Seems like the ones we didn’t find came back, climbed the walls and broke into the jail.” The wind lashed against them, forcing them to bend low over the necks of their horses. Vance was shouting to make himself heard, but Cole managed to get the gist of the story. Two guards had been knocked down, but not killed, a point not lost on the army scout. Even so, when they came into the parade ground, Captain Fleming was standing waiting, with a face like thunder. He hadn’t had time to dress correctly and appeared somewhat comical in long-johns, riding boots and hat. Behind him, sprawled out in front of the jail, two troopers were being tended by a subaltern who cleaned their bleeding heads.

“You took your time,” growled Fleming, holding onto Cole’s horse as the scout dismounted.

“That’s my fault, sir,” said Vance quickly, stepping up beside them. “I rode out as fast as I could but got lost.”

Fleming silenced him with a glowering look. “I’ll settle you later, private. Right now, Cole, we have a situation. Come into my office.”

Inside the cramped office,one of Fleming’s men had stoked up the pig-stove in the corner and both captain and Cole pressed up close to it, warming their hands. “This is mighty welcome, Captain.”

“This is only the onset of winter,” said Fleming, “soon it’ll feel like death.”

“Maybe for those Apache too.”

“I want them caught, Cole. All of ‘em this time.”

“I underestimated ‘em,” admitted Cole grudgingly. “I never expected the others to come here, least of all to attempt a breakout. They must be desperate.”

“So they should be. They know the noose is waiting.” Fleming shook his head. “Beats me why they didn’t kill the guards. They are already as guilty as sin.”

“Maybe they don’t see it that way.”

Fleming turned, his eyes colder than the night. “I’ve heard you muttering about savages before, Cole. Seems to me you’re a little too soft on ‘em.”

“No, sir. I do not condone anything they have done; I just feel justice should be served in its proper manner.”

“Same as us, you mean? Bull!” He turned away,his shoulders tense as the anger seized him. “I have fought them many times and the only justice they recognise is that delivered by a bullet. So, you get out there and bring ‘em back. Dead or alive, I don’t care which.”

Cole turned to go without a word.

“You should take that other scout with you, to ensure success this time. What’s his name, the scrawny one?”

“Sterling Roose, Cap’n. But no, I asked him to stay at my ranch, just in case.”

“Just in case of what?”

“They know me. Who knows what they might do once the killin’ starts … which it will, I guess.”

“Your heart ain’t in this, is it Cole.”

“From where I’m standing, I think those boys will try and make it down into Mexico and we’ll never see ‘em again. But if we start bringing down some wrath of God upon their heads, they may just repay us in kind.”

“They killed a guard at the reservation. They must be brought in to face that.”

“I wonder if we’d be so desperate to see justice served if the guard had been Kiowa.”

Fleming blew out a breath. “Get out of here, Cole, I’m sick of your sanctimonious drivel. And, furthermore, I’ve decided I’m coming with you.”

Cole’s eyes widened. “To babysit me, Cap’n?”

“To make sure you do what is required, Cole. You’re getting soft.”

Stepping out into the night, Cole crossed to where Vance stood next to the horses. The young soldier brought himself stiffly to attention. “Are we setting out straight away, Mr Cole?”

“As soon as the good Captain is ready, yes.”

“Oh.” Vance looked over to the light burning in Fleming’s office window. “I guess that means we’ll be taking an entire troop with us. That’ll take some time to prepare.”

“Seems so, and the longer we delay the farther away those Apache get.” He shook his head. “Julia ain’tgonna be happy, I know that.”

“Mr Cole,” said Vance in a grim sounding voice, “ain’t none of us gonna be happy.”