Sundance 13 by John Benteen

Author:John Benteen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: western ebook, john benteen, benjamin haas, jim sundance, us frontier fiction, 1880s gunfighters, american western ebook, frontier fiction 1880s
Publisher: Piccadilly Publishing

Chapter Seven

Dillon was better next day, his fever gone, the wounds made by Eagle’s teeth already beginning to heal. Sundance stood over him, eyes hard. “Well, you’ll live,” he said. “For a while.”

Dillon’s face went pale. “Sundance—” He licked his lips. “For God’s sake, I’m helpless. You’re not gonna kill me?”

It was hot here inside the teepee; a couple of flies buzzed droningly. “I was helpless, too, upside down on that wheel,” Sundance said. “But ... all right. Maybe you got a chance to save your life. Where did Steelman aim to take the Duke and hide him out?”

“I ... Sundance, I don’t know.”

Sundance sighed. “Well, then, my friend, I’m sorry for you. I guess the old women here in camp will have a lot of fun with you. If you’re lucky, if won’t take you more than twenty-four hours to die.”

Sam Dillon hitched up on his good arm, eyes wide. “You mean torture—? You wouldn’t let ’em do that to me. I’m a white man.”

“That’s the whole point,” said Sundance, grinning coldly. “Well anyhow, you made things simple for me. You see, you’re my captive. It’s up to me to decide what to do with you. Now, if you had known somethin’ that was true and useful to me, I’d have had some reason to show a little mercy. But since you know nothin’, I might as well turn you over to the Sioux. I need all their good will I can get, and there’s nothing makes the old women happier than gettin’ their hands on a captive they can skin alive or slice up into little bits. That’s the way they handle enemies, and anybody that came up here tryin’ to kill that white buffalo is about the worst enemy they can imagine.”

“Sundance—”

“They got all sorts of little tricks. Might cut you open, haul out your bowels, nail ’em to a post and make you run around and around the post. Or cut your eyelids off and stake you out face up in the sun and let it bake your eyeballs ... just for starters, of course. Or ... ”

“Stop it!” Dillon rasped. “God, man, stop it!”

“Looks like by tomorrow you’ll be well enough to last a long time, give ’em some real sport. And don’t try to get away, Dillon. You’re surrounded by about seven hundred Oglala and you ain’t got a chance. Well I reckon I’ll let ’em start on you come sunrise. That way, maybe they’ll be wound up with you come midnight.” He turned away.

“Sundance!” It was a strangled scream. “Wait—!”

Sundance turned.

Dillon was sitting up. Voice and body were both trembling. “Sundance, for God’s sake! Suppose I do know where Steelman took Andre? Suppose I tell you? What then?”

“Then,” Sundance said, “you might live to get back to Fort Laramie and be turned over to General Crook.”

“All right, I’ll talk, I’ll tell you everything, only in the name of heaven don’t—”

“Get on with it,” Sundance said.

“Okay. The minute I first met the Duke, I knew I was on to somethin’ big.

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