Preacher's Hellstorm by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone [Johnstone, William W.; Johnstone, J.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
Published: 2016-10-26T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 26

Knowing that Tall Bull likely had an idea where the cave was, Preacher and Hawk circled wide of the village so they could approach it from the opposite direction. The Blackfeet would be alert for trouble from any direction—that was just their nature—but they might not be expecting it quite as much from that way.

It was late morning by the time the two of them drew near to the village on the side opposite the creek Preacher had used to sneak up on the tepees a few nights earlier. He and Hawk paused on top of the long, rugged, wooded ridge that overlooked the village. Invisible in the undergrowth, they studied the collection of dwellings.

Dogs barked and women moved around, going about the usual tasks of day-to-day life. Young children played, but the older ones worked at various chores. Preacher saw a couple old men sitting on a log, not doing much of anything except possibly reliving better days.

Half a dozen warriors were in sight, but he didn’t believe they were the only ones in the village. Others were likely in the tepees. Tall Bull would not have left his village so apparently defenseless.

Hawk thought the same thing. He said quietly, “It is a trap.”

“Yeah, I reckon he thinks he’s one step ahead of us,” Preacher said. “I don’t doubt he sent a search party to check out what Winter Wind told him about the cave, but the rest of the warriors will be somewhere close by, waitin’ for us to think they’re all gone so we’ll try to slip into the village.”

“Which is exactly what you intended to do,” Hawk pointed out.

“But now that he knows what I was thinkin’, I know what he’s thinkin’. He thinks he knows what I’m gonna do.”

“And he was right. So you must do something else.”

“Nope,” Preacher said. “I’m gonna do just what I set out to do.”

“But that means walking right into Tall Bull’s trap!”

“And when I walk right out again, how do you think that’s gonna make him feel?”

Hawk stared at Preacher for a long moment, then said, “We have barely started to avenge the deaths of my people. I will not throw away my life so soon.”

“Ain’t askin’ you to. You’re gonna stay here while I go down there.”

“I do not like that idea, either,” Hawk said with a frown.

“It ain’t as risky as it sounds. Those reinforcements Tall Bull’s got hidden somewhere close by will be waitin’ for a signal from the warriors left in the village. All I’ve got to do is make sure they don’t give that signal.”

“How will you do that?”

“By killin’ ’em all,” Preacher said.

Again Hawk looked at him in silence as several seconds passed. Then the young man said, “You do not lack for courage and daring.”

“Sometimes that is a way of tellin’ a fella he ain’t got any good sense.” Preacher chuckled. “Whether it’s one way or the other usually depends on how everything turns out.” He rose to his feet. “You stay here while Dog and me go visitin’.

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.