Silver City Massacre (8 page)

“Makes sense to me,” Riley replied.

“Me, too,” Elvira said, surprising them both. It was only the second time she had uttered a word since leaving the wagons. It was still too soon to tell, but Joel was already forming an opinion that Elvira was accustomed to having a say on most any subject.

The game trail soon became too dark to follow comfortably on horseback as it wound through a thick forest of firs, so they dismounted and led the horses. Making their way silently over the narrow path, they walked for what Joel figured to be close to a mile when he suddenly stopped and signaled Riley and Elvira to be quiet. When Riley moved up beside him, he pointed to the faint image of sparks floating up through the tops of the trees.

“Looks like we found their camp,” Joel said. “Let's go take a closer look.”

Leaving Elvira and her Remington there to take care of the horses, Joel and Riley continued cautiously along the trail until reaching a point where it descended to a narrow stream, most likely the same one they had crossed a little way back. From there, they got a good view of the camp. Their horses, including four that were still wearing wagon traces, were on the other side of the stream, while all five of the Indians were seated around the fire. Unable to locate the girl, Joel scanned the area of the camp that he could see in the firelight. Fearing at first that they had decided to kill the girl somewhere along the way, Joel had to fight the urge to raise his carbine and start shooting. He felt a tug at his elbow and turned to see Riley pointing toward the bank of the stream. He stared for a few moments before he finally made out the form of the frightened girl, her hands tied behind her back, and a rawhide noose around her neck. The noose was tied to a spruce limb.

Now that the girl was located, they had to form a plan of attack. Afraid that when the shooting started, the girl might catch a stray bullet, Joel suggested that he should get her out of harm's way before they opened fire on the warriors.

“I oughta be able to go up this mountain a ways, make my way around the camp, and come up from behind her. They're not expectin' anybody to come after them, so I should be able to sneak her away without them even knowin' it.” Riley nodded while Joel continued. “Maybe you'd best pick your spot somewhere on this trail between the Indians and the back trail, to make sure none of 'em get away and wind up in Elvira's lap.”

“Whatever you say, Lieutenant,” Riley replied without thinking.

“I'll take the first shot,” Joel told him. “So when you hear it, cut loose, because that'll be my signal that the girl is safe.”

He checked his carbine then and started climbing up the side of the mountain, leaving Riley to stand between the hostiles and Elvira.

In a matter of minutes, he had circled above the camp and begun to make his way down through the trees until he reached the stream. Moving silently along the bank, he reached a point where he could clearly see the frail body of the girl, Ruthie, silhouetted in the firelight beyond her. He paused there for a moment to make sure he knew where each of the warriors was, and that they had not moved since he circled above them.

When he was certain that all remained peaceful, he moved a little closer, to within ten yards of the captive girl. Not willing to chance a startled cry from the girl, he slung his carbine on his shoulder and inched up behind her. When he was close enough to hear the soft sounds of her terrified weeping, he drew his knife from the scabbard he wore and moved up close to her. Sensing someone there, she started to turn, but not in time to cry out when he clamped his hand over her mouth.

“Don't make a sound,” he whispered. “We've come to get you.”

He felt her go limp as he cut the rawhide line binding her to the tree, and he was just able to catch her before she collapsed.

With the unconscious girl lying helpless across his arms, he backed slowly away, keeping a sharp eye on the five warriors gathered about the fire, lest they became aware of what was taking place. Still concerned that she might regain consciousness at any moment and cry out, he hurried to find someplace to leave her where she would be safe. Unnoticed by him, her eyes fluttered, then opened wide.

“Who are you?” she asked, still not certain what was happening.

Though not loud, her voice was heard by the warriors seated around the fire. One of them got to his feet and started walking toward them. He had taken no more than a few steps when he realized that she had somehow gotten loose. He immediately began to trot toward the place where he had left her.

There was no time to waste. Seeing a shallow gully behind him, Joel dropped the girl into it and pulled his carbine off his shoulder.

“Stay there!” he ordered, and turned to meet the warrior, who was now charging, his skinning knife drawn.

The shot was fired at point-blank range, knocking the warrior backward as his feet continued to run out from under him. Joel heard Riley's rifle only seconds after his, and one of the four remaining Indians keeled over. Four more shots followed rapidly, two from each of them, and that quickly, what amounted to little more than a mass execution was all over. Joel chambered another round just in case.

“Come on in, Riley,” Joel called out. “I think they're all done for.” He turned then to discover the girl still cowering in the gully. “You can come outta there now, miss. Nobody's gonna hurt you.”

She did as she was told, but with an obvious show of hesitation. She was still not sure where she had ended up. She looked toward the fire, seeing Riley walking up to make sure the Indians were dead, then looked back at the man who had snatched her away and told her to stay in the gully. Seeing how the two men were dressed, not unlike the Indians who had carried her away from her parents, she was not at all sure she had been rescued. Seeing her consternation, Joel tried to put her at ease.

“Ruthie, ain't it? Elvira sent us to fetch you back. She's back up the trail a piece.”

The girl still seemed to be in shock. Joel supposed she had not yet accepted the fact that she had indeed been rescued, so he walked back toward the rise where he and Riley had hidden while they scouted the camp.

“Come on in, Elvira,” he shouted. “It's all over!”

He was not sure she could hear him, but in about ten minutes' time, she appeared at the top of the rise, leading the horses.

The sight of the gregarious woman striding down the path, leading half a dozen horses, was enough to bring Ruthie out of her uncertainty. The woman and the girl both cried out a joyous greeting, and Ruthie ran to the open arms of the woman she had come to think of as an aunt. Her sense of relief lasted for a moment only before the cold reality of the hostile attack came back to her.

“Mama and Daddy?” she asked.

Elvira shook her head sadly. “They're gone, child, your brothers, too. Same as my sister and Ed, and my uncle David. Me and you are the only ones left, and we wouldn't be here if these two fellers hadn't come along.”

Elvira cradled the weeping girl in her arms while Joel and Riley checked the bodies to see if there was anything useful to salvage.

“I thought they were gonna kill me,” Ruthie murmured tearfully.

“I know,” Elvira said, “but they didn't get the chance—same for me. Ain't no use tryin' to figure out why things happen, but it looks to me like the good Lord has got more work for me and you. So let's put it behind us, and get on with our lives.”

Ruthie nodded, determined to do as Elvira suggested. Still she was unable to match the older woman's bravado. “I don't know what to do now. What's going to happen to us?”

“We'll just see as we go along,” Elvira assured her. She held her at arm's length and looked her in the eye. A wide smile spread across her broad face. “You've got your ol' aunt Elvira to watch over you. We'll be all right.” She glanced over at their two rescuers, now engaged in checking out the extra horses the attack had provided. “We were damn lucky these two fellers found us. They seem like decent men, and if they ain't, I'll do some ass-kickin' to straighten 'em out.” She gave Ruthie a mischievous wink.

The question before Joel and Riley now was what to do with the two survivors they had saved from the Indian attack. Riley suggested that they could escort them to Fort Hall and leave them to decide what they were going to do from there.

“They closed the fort down a few years back,” he said, “but I expect there's still some kinda settlement there, maybe a town. Hell, the old Oregon Trail went right through there.”

“Maybe so,” Joel replied.

He already knew that he didn't care much for the added responsibility for taking care of two females. There was also the recent expansion of their horse herd to be considered, for they now had a total of seventeen horses to move along to Silver City, counting the horses they rode and their packhorses. Nine of the horses were Indian ponies. In all fairness, Joel reminded his partner, four of the horses rightly belonged to Elvira and Ruthie. If they left the females at Fort Hall, along with their horses, it would be no great loss to Joel. The unshod Indian ponies had proven to be of stouter quality, and much more suited to living off the short grass of the Rocky Mountains.

“We'll have to leave it up to the ladies,” Joel said. “We'll see what Elvira has to say about what they wanna do. But for now, let's get away from here and get back to the wagons, 'cause I expect they'll wanna do some buryin'.”

“I'd done forgot about that,” Riley said. “Damn, that's a lot of bodies to bury.” He was not especially keen on manning a shovel and pick, but he knew it was important to the two who survived to have their loved ones properly laid to rest. “Maybe that big ol' woman will give us a hand. She looks like she could handle a shovel as well as we can.” They walked back to where the women were standing by the fire, and Riley put the question before them. “I reckon if we was to get started right away, we could most likely get to Fort Hall before noon tomorrow. You girls feel ready to ride?”

Elvira didn't respond immediately. Instead she took a few long moments to study Riley's face before commenting, “Fort Hall's been closed down for ten years. We knew that when we left Nebraska. I expect everybody did.”

She paused again to watch the reactions of the two men, not certain if they were simply trying to wash their hands of the responsibility thrust upon them. Judging by the look of surprise on both their faces, she considered it a possibility that they were simply ignorant of the fact.

“Nobody never told me Fort Hall was shut down that long ago,” Riley said. “I knew they was talkin' about closin' it, but I figured there'd still be a sizable settlement there.”

“We have to lay Ruthie's family in the ground before we go anywhere,” Elvira said then. Her tone left no room for negotiation.

“Why, sure,” Riley replied. “We figured that.” He looked at Joel and shrugged helplessly.

“That's what me and Ruthie are gonna do, anyway,” Elvira continued. “If you fellers ain't got time to wait, then you can go along, and we'll come along when the buryin's done.” She was confident that it was not in the nature of either man to ride off and leave them unprotected, so she graced Ruthie with a satisfied smile when both of their protectors immediately assured her that, of course, had been their intention.

“I wonder if that ol' gal has ever had a husband,” Riley remarked to Joel when they went to pick out a horse for Ruthie to ride. “If she did, I'll bet I know what happened to him. She most likely worked him to death. Them dead folks back there don't give a damn if they was buried or not. Besides, if some more Injuns come along, that'll just tell 'em we were here, and how long ago to boot.”

Joel stifled a chuckle. “It's important to womenfolk to know their kin are properly buried,” he told his fretting partner. “And a little pick and shovel work won't hurt either one of us.”

He had to admit, however, that his thinking wasn't far from that of Riley's. He didn't mind the work of digging graves as much as taking the time to do it. And it was already snowing by the time they got their little troop together and rode back up the game trail to the point where it first crossed the stream. Thinking the ladies would prefer not to use the Indians' camp, they made a new camp there, planning to ride back to the wagons to take care of the bodies in the morning.

•   •   •

It came as no surprise to either of the men when Elvira produced two shovels and a pick from the partially burned box under the wagon bed, but they gained new respect for the woman when she took the pick and began testing the ground.

“Here,” she said. “Shouldn't be too hard to carve out a couple of graves over here. Might be a little too rocky over there where you are.”

She nodded toward Riley, standing a few yards away, the point of his shovel in the thin coat of snow that had fallen during the night. Without waiting for discussion, she spread her feet to take a wide stance, spat on her hands, then proceeded to take the pick and attack the ground with a vengeance.

“Yes'm,” Riley said, “that's just what I was about to say, ground's too rocky right here.”

He watched her hacking away at the hard ground, expecting her to give up in a minute or two. When she continued breaking up the ground with no signs of weakening, he shook his head, amazed, walked over to her, and said, “Here, let me take a turn with that pick.” She surrendered the pick, but immediately took one of the shovels and went at it again.

They worked away at the graves for several hours before preparing a suitable resting place for all of the two families' dead. When it was done, and nothing remained but the bodies of the two warriors Elvira had killed, Riley couldn't resist a little tease.

“What about these two? Ain't we gonna bury them, so they can go to the happy huntin' ground?”

“To hell with them,” Elvira said. “The buzzards can fly them to the happy huntin' ground.” She reached down and took Ruthie by the elbow. “Come on, darlin', your folks are in a better place. It's best if we see about where we'll be now.” Turning back to Joel, she asked, “What are we gonna do now?”

“Like I told you before,” he said, “Riley and I are on our way to Silver City to help my brother, Boone.”

“What about us, Ruthie and me?”

“Well, like I said, we thought it would be a good idea to take you to Fort Hall, and let you decide what you were gonna do when you got there.” The woman had a way of looking at him, almost accusing. In fact, he began to feel that she held him responsible for her and the girl's misfortunes. He looked at Riley for support, but Riley looked away, wanting no further part in the discussion. “Maybe we'll strike a little town on the Snake with some folks who could take care of you better'n me and Riley.” Riley nodded at that.

“We'll go to Silver City with you,” Elvira said. “That'll be the best for all of us.”

Riley couldn't understand how that could be best for Joel and him. “You don't wanna go with me and Joel,” he protested. “Why, hell, we're just bettin' on a long shot. Ain't we, Joel?”

“Riley's right,” Joel replied. “It's been half a year since I heard from my brother. I'm not real sure he's still there. And from what he told me then, Silver City wasn't much of a town at all. I'm not sure it's a place where two ladies like yourselves would wanna wind up. From what I hear, it's a pretty wild town that sprang up after they found gold in the mountains around it. If we find a nice little settlement somewhere between here and Silver City, you could most likely hitch up with another wagon train comin' through next summer. There might even be some women there.”

“Yeah,” Riley said. “And maybe you'll get to Oregon, where you was headed in the first place. You probably got some folks out there waitin' for you?”

“Nope,” she replied.

“You musta been headin' someplace out there,” Riley insisted.

“Just Oregon,” Elvira said. “We figured we'd find us a place when we got there, but there wasn't nothin' special about it. One place is as good as another. It doesn't have to be in Oregon, and me and Ruthie ain't lookin' for the same place anymore—not since all our menfolk are gone. I ain't hankerin' to go to farmin' without a man to help out.”

“I'll help you, Aunt Elvira,” Ruthie volunteered.

“I know you will, darlin', but we'll look around and see if somethin' else is more to our likin'. Hell, we might try our hand at pannin' for gold, maybe right there in Silver City. It might not be as wild as they say.”

Joel cast a worried glance in Riley's direction. He couldn't say that he was enthusiastic in the least to take the two females all the way to Silver City, and he knew damn well that Riley was against it. He tried to appeal to Elvira's feminine side to fully consider the hardships that might befall her and Ruthie, but it was to no avail. He was ready to conclude that the woman had no feminine side.

Elvira listened patiently until he had finished before she had her final say. “I understand what you're sayin', but we've decided we'd rather go to Silver City this year, instead of waiting to go who knows where next year.” She turned to Ruthie. “Ain't that what you say, Ruthie?”

“I don't care anymore,” the girl answered. “I just wanna go with you wherever you go.”

Elvira turned back to Joel. “I know what you're thinkin'. You don't need a woman and a little girl to worry about, but you don't have to worry about takin' care of us. I'll take care of Ruthie and me. And in the bargain, you'll get a cook and an extra hand with those horses you've picked up. I've been workin' with horses since I was old enough to walk. Me and Ruthie will go with you to Silver City, and if we find out there ain't nothin' there, we'll pick up and go somewhere else. We're mighty obliged to you for comin' along when you did, but we don't expect you to adopt us. We'll just travel with you, if you don't mind.”

“Course we don't mind. We're glad we can help, but it's a long way to Silver City from here,” Joel tried again. “To tell you the truth, I don't even know for sure that we won't get caught by the winter and have to hole up somewhere till spring. And you don't know anything about us.”

Elvira smiled. “I know you're a decent man, Joel McAllister. I saw that right off. Otherwise, Ruthie and me woulda been on our way to Oregon by ourselves before now. Same goes for you, Riley. I doubt I could find anybody I could trust more than I trust the two of you. Somebody was lookin' after Ruthie and me when they sent you two.”

Joel couldn't think of anything else to say to discourage the woman. He shrugged and looked at Riley. “Whaddaya think, partner?”

“Looks to me like we're all goin' to Silver City,” he said sheepishly.

“Good!” Elvira said. “Let's get started, then. We're burnin' daylight.”

•   •   •

Thanks to Elvira's fierce defense of her uncle's wagon, the Indian raiders had not gotten the opportunity to plunder it. So she was able to save the cooking implements that she and her sister had used but that she had not taken with her when they had hurried off to rescue Ruthie. Most of the possessions that were burned were not of necessity to her now, including all but a few pieces of her clothing. Most of what she carried away with them were her brother-in-law's clothes, which she found more suitable for the task ahead of her.

The wagon of Ruthie's parents suffered the most fire damage, leaving the young girl with little more than what she was wearing when she was captured. Elvira told her that she would improvise suitable clothing for her from the trunk of clothes that belonged to her sister.

“We'll be all right,” she assured Ruthie. “What I can't make, we can buy.” She gave her a mischievous wink of her eye. “Damn Injuns didn't have enough sense to steal our money.”

Before they set out, there was a short discussion between Joel and Riley to decide if it was necessary to go to Fort Hall anyway, even after learning the fort was no longer there. Ruthie and Elvira had no interest in staying there. That much was certain.

“Sure as hell, there must still be a tradin' post there if we need anything in the way of supplies,” Riley said. Upon considering that which they had gained from the misfortune of Elvira and her friends, they decided they were well supplied. “Hell, we've even got us a coffeepot now—won't have to boil it in that bent-up pot no more. And we can save a little time if we head west through those mountains runnin' alongside us instead of ridin' on into Fort Hall. If I ain't lost my recollect altogether, there ain't no more mountains for a long spell on the other side of those we're lookin' at. So we can follow that valley right to the Snake.”

That seemed agreeable to everyone, so they started out toward an obvious pass in the mountain range to the west. Joel and Riley drove their little herd of horses ahead of them. Without being asked, Elvira pushed the chestnut up on the flank and kept the herd going in the right direction. Riding one of her father's horses, Ruthie followed along behind. Riley looked at Joel and grinned.

It ain't a big herd, but it is a herd,
he thought.

•   •   •

Riley's memory was reliable. When they found their way through the mountain chain, they rode out on a gentle valley floor. After camping at the foot of the hills for the night, they started out again the next morning, holding a northwest course until finally reaching the Snake River on the evening of the second day.

“They weren't foolin' when they said it wasn't an easy river to cross, were they?” Joel murmured to himself.

Overhearing him, Riley said, “No, especially if you're talkin' about crossin' it with a wagon and a team of horses. You ain't seen this river at her meanest yet. About a hard day's ride west of here, it don't even look like the same river, a place where somebody named it Shoshoni Falls, after the Injuns, I reckon. Damnedest waterfalls you've ever seen—and fish, this river is full of fish—best place to catch salmon is at the falls. You see, the falls are too high, the fish can't swim up it, so they're just waitin' there for you to catch 'em. The easiest place to cross is about three days from here at a spot called Three Island Crossin', and it ain't an easy crossin', just the best one.”