Return to the Alamo by Paul Bedford

Author:Paul Bedford [Paul_Bedford]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Robert Hale
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Some little time later I sat before a welcome fire, watching my clothes steam and pondering on Shockley’s words. The man was right as usual. We would have to tackle Speirs before going any further. As it was, we could no longer proceed with Kirby’s plan of splitting into two groups. We had insufficient horses to haul both wagons. And what of Kirby and his lone companion? Had Speirs really slaughtered them to obtain their weapons? I felt the colour flush into my face, as I considered the worst part of all this. That we were all in this god awful mess was, in large part, due to me.

I pulled myself up short. Recriminations of any kind were pointless. What I needed to do was find a way out and an idea was forming. Firstly, if we couldn’t take both loads of powder with us, we would leave one. Underground! Bury all the barrels, and retrieve them later. Leave a wagon and hitch the spare horses to the other team for increased speed. That led me on to another scheme. Leaping to my feet, I strode over to confront Shockley. ‘You and I are going to see this through to a conclusion together!’

He stared at me completely nonplussed, but I continued anyway. ‘One wagon must remain here. Tonight, we will all bury its cargo.’

Ignoring the incredulous stares, I continued. ‘Ben, Travis and you, Davey, will leave in darkness with the other wagon, our horses and Miss Fulsome. When daylight comes, or even before, Speirs will most surely come looking. He will find an apparently empty wagon, and an area of freshly turned earth.’

Shockley was regarding me with something akin to respect, whilst the others just appeared stunned. Travis was the first to voice his concern. ‘It’s madness! Where in tarnation will you be, when that bastard Speirs rides in?’

‘Under the tarpaulin, on the wagon floor. With the sides in place, he’ll have no chance to see me until it’s too late. Then Kirkham and I share his horse and come after you.’

‘Just like that,’ exclaimed Travis sarcastically.

Before I could reply Shockley spoke out. ‘You’ve got it all thought out, ain’t you? And you know what? It could just work.’ With that he just turned and walked away.

Taken completely aback, the other rangers could only accept his judgement, but it was obvious that they harboured some serious doubts.

Vicky’s response came later when she joined me by the fire. ‘You damn well better catch up with us.’

Reaching out to my steaming jacket, I took out three gold coins that I had recovered from Flaxton’s body. With a smile, I placed them in the palm of her hand. ‘Just in case.’

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