ARKANSAS SMITH II: THE TUMBLEWEED TRAIL Page 9

  ‘Brady,’ Arkansas shouted and then when no answer was forthcoming: ‘Brady why don’t you answer me?’

  For several long moments there was silence but then Brady’s voice rang out. ‘You trying to guess positions?’

  ‘Don’t seem any point,’ Arkansas yelled back, his eyes scanning the banking for any movement but he saw nothing. ‘You’ve got yourself well hidden but then so have we. You or your men can’t take a shot without exposing yourselves, just as we can’t.’

  ‘We can wait,’ Brady answered.

  ‘What we’ve got here is what’s called, a Mexican standoff.’

  ‘You’re in the weaker position,’ Brady shouted back. ‘Plus I’ve got more guns. This isn’t any standoff. All I’ve got to do is bide my time and then pick you off at my leisure.’

  ‘What makes you think you’ve got time?’ Arkansas shouted back.

  From the sound of Brady’s voice Arkansas felt he had more or less pinpointed his position. For a moment he considered making a run for the banking, taking a chance that the surprise movement would throw the bandits into disarray, that he would prove too slippery a target, and allow him to pick a couple of them off before they got him. However he had used that tactic on Brady before and then he had had a fully armed posse with him. It was doubtful Brady would be taken by surprise again and so instead Arkansas spoke over his shoulder, keeping his voice too low to travel to Brady and his men.

  ‘You keep your eyes peeled,’ he said. ‘Take a shot at the first chance.’

  ‘I’m ready,’ Jake answered. ‘With Ellie-May and Little Jakie passing me a fresh rifle and then reloading I reckon I can do the shooting of five men.’

  ‘I’m gonna have to make a run for the banking,’ Arkansas said and then took several deep breaths while he readied himself to suddenly spring forth. It seemed to only way to brake the stalemate.

  Before Arkansas could move though Brady and his men suddenly opened fire and he was forced to once more eat dirt. Slugs bounced off the ground around him, Blade’s body twitched as even more bullets tore into him. And several shots tore holes in the wagon canvas.

  Silence fell once more and Arkansas turned around to check on the others. He was relieved to see Jake giving him the thumbs up, signifying that no one had been hurt. Lucy’s sobs could still be heard but they were softer, while the other two children remained silent.

  That was good and so far the children were holding up well under this terror.

  The last thing any of them needed now was a hysterical child.

  ‘Next time we will kill you,’ Brady shouted.

  ‘You’ve got to find a target first,’ Arkansas shouted back. He looked around them and saw a patch of rocks and gorse about twenty feet behind the wagon. That would provide them with better cover but the problem was crossing the ground to the rocks. They would be completely exposed while doing so and Arkansas knew that Brady would be quick to take advantage of such an opening.

  He slid across the ground, heading towards the wagon and was relieved to reach it without further gunfire. He pulled himself those last few feet and lay on the ground next to Jake.

  ‘I figure there’s five of them,’ Arkansas said. ‘Blade’s dead, so that leaves six of them but I can only hear five guns. Maybe they’ve lost another man along the trail somewheres. I know I hit one of them earlier and maybe he bled out,’ Arkansas said, remembering the trail of blood that night when he had first met the Preston family.

  How many days ago was that now?

  Arkansas wasn’t really sure but he knew it felt like months.

  Jake nodded his head in agreement.

  ‘You see those rocks?’ Arkansas pointed and Jake nodded his head. ‘I figure we’ll get better cover there. You think you can get over there fast if I provide cover fire.’

  ‘Sure thing,’ Jake said. ‘But I’ll stay with you. Let Ellie-May and the children get over there first.’

  Arkansas looked at Jake and was about to protest when he had a change of mind and nodded his head. The injured ankle would slow Jake down and Arkansas guessed it would be quicker to drag him over once the women and children were already behind cover.

  ‘With us both firing we can cover double the distance,’ Jake said, logically. ‘Let one of those varmints raise their head and I’ll blast it off.’

  Arkansas smiled and when he next spoke it was directly to Ellie-May.

  ‘When we say,’ he said. ‘You grab the children and get behind those rocks over there. You don’t look back, whatever you hear until you get to those rocks.’

  Ellie-May looked towards her husband for guidance.

  ‘Mind what he says,’ Jake said.

  ‘I’ll stay with you,’ Little Jakie said.

  ‘No,’ Arkansas said, firmly. ‘You go with your mother and sisters.’

  ‘But –‘, the boy protested. He didn’t get to finish before he was cut off by his father.

  ‘Mind what he says,’ Jake snapped.

  ‘Miss Sally,’ Lucy said and tried to break free of her mother’s embrace.’ I can’t leave Miss Sally.’

  ‘Hush now,’ Jake said. ‘We’ll get your doll later.’

  ‘On the count of three,’ Arkansas addressed Ellie-May directly. ‘You grab those children and run for cover. He wiped a cold sweat from his forehead and shivered as the wind intensified further and then spoke to Jake. ‘Fire on three and keep firing.’

  Jake nodded and then smiled at his wife and children. ‘Run like the wind,’ he said.

  Lucy gave a token protest about her doll but the rest of them merely nodded. Their expressions firm, resolute. They understood what had to be done.

  ‘One,’ Arkansas said and took one of the rifles from Jake.

  ‘Two,’ he aimed at the banking edge and sent a slug into the chamber.

  ‘Three,’ he yelled and pulled the trigger and then reworked the breech and firing again, repeating the motion until he needed to reload but before he did so he set off several shots with his Colt. Jake did likewise. His Winchester was quicker than the Sharps rifle Arkansas was using and he kept the bandits heads down while his family ran for and reached the relative safety the rocks provided.

  Their fire was returned and both Jake and Arkansas had to chew dirt until the hail of lead abated.

  ‘You okay?’ Arkansas shouted.

  ‘I’m fine and dandy,’

  ‘They made it?’

  Jake glanced over his shoulders and smiled. His family were now safely out of sight.

  ‘They did,’

  ‘Good,’ Arkansas said and then shouted to Brady. ‘We could keep this up all day. First we fire and then you fire. Seems like an awful waste of good lead.’

  ‘We have much to waste,’ Brady shouted back and several of his men laughed.

  Arkansas figured he knew more or less where Brady and a couple of his men were positioned but the problem was, he was not sure how many men Brady had up there.

  He was guessing around five, but it wasn’t something he was willing to bet his life on.

  It was very much indeed a Mexican standoff. The current situation could continue all day. Arkansas didn’t think Brady would risk any kind of move before nightfall but there was no telling what sneaky move the bandit would try once it was dark. For the moment they were safe but given the current overcast sky it could darken pretty early, by mid afternoon even.

  ‘We’ve got to get out of here,’ Arkansas kept his voice low, for Jake’s ears only.

  ‘What do you have in mind?’ Jake shifted to work a cramp out of his leg. His ankle must have been smarting right dandy but he showed no sign of the pain he must have been experiencing.

  ‘Don’t rightly know,’ Arkansas admitted and once again took a look at the immediate surroundings. Brady’s gang were upon the banking directly left, it rose at a slope maybe twenty feet before levelling out at the top. Ahead of them was little cover between here and the entrance to the vast forestlands but that was still some miles off. The rocks Ellie-
May and the children hid behind offered the only real cover, but even there Brady’s guns pinned them down. There seemed no way of moving without exposing themselves to almost certain death.

  ‘Beats me,’ Arkansas said. He figured the only chance they had was if he tried to rush the banking, get to Brady before he was picked off. That was risky, though. Perhaps too risky.

  ‘Murdering varmints,’ Jake spat in frustration. The wind continued to intensify and the canvas of the wagon fluttered about like a sail in a storm.

  ‘Don’t much like the feel of this wind,’ Arkansas wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. The air was growing humid again.

  ‘Wind, rain, bandits,’ Jake smiled. ‘We got them all.’

  ‘Sure got the wind and bandits,’ Arkansas agreed.

  For a moment there was silence between the men but then Jake prompted, ‘So what do we do?’

  ‘Guess we play the waiting game,’ Arkansas said.

  ‘You still thinking of rushing them?’

  ‘Maybe. I don’t rightly know.’

  ‘It’d be risky, maybe too risky.’

  ‘I know, but it don’t look like we have many more options.’

  ‘Damn,’ Jake said, obviously in full agreement with Arkansas’s appraisal of the situation. The longer they waited though the more dangerous it would become. And how long would it be before one of the children lost their nerve and popped up from concealment.

  ‘I don’t like it,’ Jake said. ‘Waiting don’t do no side any good.’

  ‘I agree with you there,’ Arkansas checked each of his Colts in turn, spinning the chambers and then returning the weapons to their holster.

  ‘So what do we do?’

  ‘Guess we just wait awhile,’ Arkansas said. ‘Work on their nerves some before making a move.’

  ‘Sure is working on my nerves,’ Jake said and checked his own rifle. There was no read need but it gave him something to do.’

  It was then that the situation suddenly and dramatically changed.

  Twenty-One

  Gunfire sounded in the distance as a group of riders suddenly appeared on the horizon.

  ‘Looks like your posse’s finally caught up,’ Jake said and had to shout when he noticed both his wife and son had broken cover to see what was going on.

  They quickly scampered back behind the rocks though when they saw Jake’s expression.

  ‘Look at that,’ Arkansas said, his mouth hanging open.

  Arkansas should have been jumping for joy at the sight of his posse, which effectively placed Brady and his men in the middle of a deadly crossfire. Likely he would have been, was it not for the sight that greeted him.

  A sight that filled him with a feeling of dread that ran soul deep.

  ‘She’s a big one,’ Jake shouted to be heard over the raging wind.

  ‘Too big,’ Arkansas said and stared at the spectacular sight. He had all but forgotten Brady and the posse as he concentrated on the biggest twister tornado he had ever witnessed.

  In the distance wolves, shaken up by the storm, driven half crazy by the tension they could feel in the air, howled out in rabid sounding terror.

  The tornado was sweeping across the valley floor, moving northwards on a direct course with them. Huge chunks of wet earth flew around in the tornadoes funnel and Arkansas saw a small tree ripped from the ground, roots and all, to be sent smashing into the ground many feet away. Large rocks were lifted from the ground and then cast aside as the tornado carved up everything in its path.

  ‘We’ve got to get to cover,’ Arkansas shouted and casting caution to the wind, he got to his feet and pulled Jake to his own feet. The posse had now grown closer and were exchanging fire with Brady’s men but the gunshots faded away as everyone stared at the awesome sight nature was providing.

  Arkansas and Jake reached the rocks behind which the others were sheltering with not a shot being sent in their direction. The tornado had grown closer still and both men could feel its pull as they threw themselves down onto the ground. The horses used to pull the wagon started to buck and the terrified creatures broke free of their restraints and ran off from the rapidly approaching swirling winds.

  Arkansas watched as the tornado neared them. It was heading directly for the wagon but, as wide as it was, he felt it would miss them. The outer winds were hitting them hard now and Jake was holding his family bunched into him, as they felt the pull of the winds that surround the incredible looking but extremely deadly tornado.

  Arkansas noticed that the posse had dismounted and were now sheltering somewhere themselves. Neither Brady nor his men could be seen and, save for the roar of the tornado, everything seemed eerily silent.

  ‘Hold onto each other,’ Arkansas shouted and watched the tornado approach ever closer still. It was now almost close enough to touch and all he could do was stare at it in awe, marvelling at its sheer power. It was capable of a level of destruction that even the most murderous of men could not hope to match.

  ‘Miss Sally,’ Lucy suddenly screamed as she watched the rotating windstorm bear down on the wagon. She suddenly broke free of her mother’s grasp and ran for the wagon, screaming for her cherished doll.

  Arkansas got to his feet to go after her but was immediately thrown backwards by the winds. He landed painfully and saw Lucy disappear through the doorway of the wagon just as the tornado struck and lifted the wagon into the air as if it were nothing more than a child’s toy. The mule, still tethered to the wagon, went with it, being swung around and around in the air until its reins snapped and it was thrown to the ground. Incredibly the beast got immediately to his feet and although stunned started pulling at the long grass with its powerful teeth.

  Arkansas noticed Blade’s body as it was picked up by the storm. It dancing gruesomely in the swirling winds before it too was cast aside, coming down with a sickening thud against the rocks they hid behind. A dead hand reached over the rocks and Arkansas shivered as he pushed it back over and out of sight.

  The wagon was thrown violently though the air, it spun around several times, the canvas fluttering like crazy. The barrels snapped under the force of the wind and the canvas was pulled tight, like flesh over the skeletal frame.

  Again Arkansas tried to get to feet but the wind hit him back down like a punch to the jaw.

  ‘Lucy,’ Ellie-May screamed and had to be held down by her husband to prevent her from trying to get to her daughter who was somewhere inside the wagon that flew around them.

  ‘Stay down,’ Jake ordered and watched, his heart feeling as if it had jumped up into the back of his throat as he watched the wagon fly around and around within the pulsating funnel of the tornado.

  For a moment the wagon seemed to hang suspended in the air before crashing into the banking and breaking into pieces.

  Then day became night as the storm moved across the banking, mutilating the ground, as if following a set course, planks of splintered wood, chunks of earth and stones flew through the air like the fire from a Gatling gun.

  Twenty-Two

  It left behind it a silence like the end of the world.

  ‘Lucy,’ Ellie-May said and tried to scramble to her feet but she was still held down by her husband.

  Jake looked around and then his eyes landed on the wreckage that had been the wagon but there was no sign of his daughter.

  ‘I’ll take a look,’ Arkansas said, reading their concern as clearly as words in a book.

  Now that the tornado had passed the air seemed perfectly still and the temperature had risen several more degrees. Arkansas got to his feet but he didn’t move before Brady’s voice sounded out.

  ‘We’ve got the little girl,’ the bandit shouted, as if in answer to Ellie-May’s concerns. ‘We ain’t gonna’ hurt her just as long as everyone stays calm.’

  Arkansas looked at Jake and had to hold his hands out to stop the man getting to his feet and trying to rush Brady’s position. Ellie-May and the children looked frantic and it was clear to Arkansas that
the woman was close to hysteria, which would be the worse thing that could happen at this particular time. They needed to remain calm. If they were to save the girl they needed to keep themselves under control and not provoke a shoot out, for he had no doubt that Brady would kill the little girl with little regret if he was placed in such a position.

  ‘What you got in mind?’ Arkansas shouted. He didn’t think Brady would shoot now, not with the posse one side of him and Arkansas the other. The old Bandit was in a no win situation and the old bandit would be smart enough to know that holding the little girl was now his only chance of escape.

  ‘We’re going to ride past you,’ Brady said. ‘Take the girl with us. When we reach the forest we’ll leave her there to wait for you. By the time you get there we’ll be long gone.’

  ‘No,’ Jake said and once again tried to get to his feet but Arkansas pushed him back down and gave him a stern look.

  ‘Take care of your family,’ he said. ‘I promise you I’ll get Lucy back.’

  Ellie-May started to cry and Jake held her to him, comforting her.

  ‘Call your men off,’ Brady shouted. ‘I don’t want to harm the child but one shot comes our way and she’s dead.’

  Arkansas walked closer to the banking, each step slow though purposeful. He held his arms limp at his side but he was ready to draw immediately if Brady sent any fire his way. Once he was only a few feet from the banking he looked for the posse and saw Marshal Emery standing in the distance, a rifle at the ready in his hands. He had three other men with him, all that was left of the once strong posse.

  ‘Emery,’ Arkansas shouted.

  ‘I hear you.’

  ‘Hold your fire. They’ve got a young child.’

  ‘Understood,’ Emery said and Arkansas noticed him talking to his men, obviously warning them off any heroics.

  ‘You accept my terms?’ Brady yelled down. The old bandit had now come out of concealment and stood at the banking edge, Lucy held in his strong arms with the ugly eye of a Colt pressed to her forehead.