Comanche Moon Falling (The Lone Star Reloaded Series Book 2) by Drew McGunn

Author:Drew McGunn [McGunn, Drew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-12-20T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

The hot July sun beat mercilessly down on Will’s head. His hat rested on the saddle horn as he looked through the telescoping spyglass at a Comanche war party approaching Fort Bee at a slow gait. Even their ponies looked tired and exhausted in the wilting heat. So far, nearly a dozen bands had arrived over the past twenty-four hours. Although the warriors’ countenance remained fierce and defiant, their chieftains, older and wiser, carried an air of resignation as they made camp at the confluence of the Brazos and Bosque Rivers.

Watching over the gathering were the Texas Rangers. Company B normally had thirty men assigned to it, but in the week leading up to this gathering, Major Caldwell had arrived with an additional sixty from the other forts along the frontier. Additionally, Captain Seguin and his remaining company of cavalry trailed behind Will, as they escorted President Crockett to the meeting.

Fort Bee was a typical frontier fort. Four wooden palisades surrounded an area which contained a small parade ground and a corral for the Rangers’ horses. Two blockhouses were at opposite corners of the fort, providing a three-hundred-sixty-degree field of fire. Along each side of the fort, a few cabins were built into the side of the interior walls. Also interspersed between the cabins were narrow wooden platforms, where riflemen could stand to fire through slits, cut in the wooden palisades.

While Seguin’s cavalry bivouacked outside the fort’s walls, Will joined Crockett and Major Caldwell on the ground floor of the blockhouse nearest the gate. The room took up the entire bottom floor of the building. A rough wooden table had been set up along one wall, and a cot for the president along another. As Crockett settled into a chair, which creaked as he sat, he said, “Major, how are things along the frontier?”

Caldwell sat at the table, cleaning supplies scattering before him, as he cleaned a spare cylinder. He looked up when addressed. “Mostly quiet, sir. I’ve received reports from our fort on the North Fork of the Trinity saying they’ve seen signs the Wichita have crossed the Red River, heading north. If their client tribes see the writing on the wall, then I hope even the Comanche should see reason. Otherwise, why would so many of their chieftains show up here?”

Will was about to add his own thoughts to the conversation when the door swung inward. Sam Houston stepped into the room, accompanied by a slender Cherokee, dressed in brown wooden pants and a gray jacket, and closed the door behind them. “Gentlemen. The Cherokee have arrived.”

Both Will and Caldwell were surprised to see the Texian commissioner to the Cherokee show up. Crockett climbed to his feet and offered his hand to his fellow Tennessean. “Sam, I’m glad you got my letter. How many men were you able to bring?”

As Houston sat on the edge of the Table, he said, “We raised a company of Rangers, by God. And I’ve brought them with me. I’d like to introduce De-ga-ta-ga Waite.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.