Scavengers by David J. West

Author:David J. West [West, David J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lost Realms Press
Published: 2017-01-23T22:00:00+00:00

15. Valley of Goblins

Porter was working as fast as he could to cut the rope into strips, but he took breaks every little bit to take a few well aimed shots at his antagonists. He fired the closest of them, but placed a few stray shots up toward the bluff at Thorn and the Reverend too. They of course answered in kind with a barrage of lead, that peppered the vicinity of Porter but couldn’t quite reach him through the thick red rock. The side facing them was looking gradually peppered and pitted and ironically that was what gave Porter one of his ideas for dealing with the oncoming marauders.

He looped a line around a particularly narrow based stone and ran it at about waist height to another closing a gap of perhaps twenty feet. He had enough line to do it once more for a slightly shorter distance then he ran and did it again for the opposite end that Thorn’s men were coming from. It was only enough line for three spots but Porter deemed them the three most likely entrance points for their attack. Granted they could come from anywhere but he hoped with his random continual shooting it would attract them to this position like bears to honey, and he was planning on giving them one Hell of a sting.

Trying to think of any other obstacle he could give his foes he had one more idea. He had enough line to wrap about the base of a tall toadstool-like piece and he quickly wore away at the base of it with a tomahawk. It was tough work but luckily there wasn’t much to it that it wouldn’t do itself. He snagged a line about it and covered it with dust to his lair.

Dusk came quickly and for that Porter was grateful. The dull, blue sky masked the ground in a darker hue making it even more difficult for his enemies to perceive him and his trap. Waiting for them proved a bigger irritation than Porter had anticipated. He wondered now if they had dismounted and were creeping up on him rather than rushing through the maze of toadstools on horseback. Maybe his rope trick wouldn’t work? Then he heard them, hooves pounding the hard-dusty ground in rapid beats like skin drums on the warpath.

The men on the hillside had a better vantage than Port in that they could see how close they were coming to get him in a crossfire and they opened fire in a lead storm designed to distract rather than hit.

But Port was ready. He put his back into a crevice that conveniently had a retreat tunnel and waited for the chaos to begin. Sure enough, a horseman whipped around the edge and went flying from his mount as it was clotheslined by the rope. Another man ran in behind him but wasn’t dismounted.

Porter shot them both before they realized where he was. He heard another strike the rope on the other side and he opened his remaining cartridges on those far across the other side.

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