And Hell Followed With Him by Robert Wisehart

Author:Robert Wisehart [Wisehart, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781647345709
Publisher: Wolfpack Publishing
Published: 2021-03-24T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty Four

“You gents understand what’s happenin’, don’t you?” Potts asked, confident that we did not.

“We are on the trail of a whole damn village, close to three hundred lodges, I’d say, fightin’ men, women and children, old folks, provisions, probably more than a thousand horses and mules, a whole bunch of dogs and even a few cattle.”

In his excitement, Potts flapped what remained of his arm like a crippled bird wing. It was as if he was trying to point but forgot that he didn’t have a full arm with which to do it.

“No white outfit I know of has ever been this close to a big Comanche village on the move, not in open country like this. If we stay on ‘em and don’t let ‘em get too much distance on us there’s no way they can hide. For once, they can’t move that much faster than us, not a whole damn village. I know I’m ‘sposed to be the expert but I confess still don’t rightly know how it happened. I think mostly we got lucky. The army sendin’ this many men and then your not givin’ up the way everybody did who came before probably surprised the hell out of ‘em. If you’ll pardon my sayin’ so, Bad Hand, they never figured on just how damn stubborn you are.”

After following the trail for several days, we were more than seventy-five miles from the supply camp we established before the long pursuit began. For us, it was unknown and dangerous territory untouched by white civilization. For the Comanche, it was home.

The trail was so clear even I could have followed it. Most of the time it skirted below the cap rock that made up the hard edge of the Llano and resembled the wall of a gigantic fortress towering above the long line of troopers.

Getting here, we passed several small buffalo herds and rode through the middle of a huge prairie dog village where a careless step could break a horses’ leg, a deliberate move by the Comanche to slow us down. We also came upon an occasional grass and mud hut the Comanche used to tend their horse herds. We tore those down as we passed. Anything to strike at the enemy.

We discovered an abandoned village earlier that afternoon. Every sign indicated that the Comanche left in a hurry. Eager as he was to continue the pursuit, Mac agreed to linger for a few minutes so Potts and Hogan could take a closer look. That is when Potts informed us that we were pursuing an entire village, not just a fraction that split off from the main body.

Even more surprising, we weren’t far behind.

“We sure ‘nuff got lucky,” Potts concluded, mounting his horse to lead the advance party. “After all we been through, I say we’re deservin’ of a little luck.”

Our rising confidence gave us new energy and we spurred the troop forward, with Potts and the Tonks far in the lead. After a few miles

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