Cheyenne Challenge by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone [Johnstone, William W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2016-04-21T04:00:00+00:00

16

Dupre thought Preacher’s idea to be a crazy scheme. He minced no words in telling the mountain man so when he came upon Preacher as he worked on some gourds he had found in a narrow gulley. Preacher chuckled and patted his older friend on one shoulder.

“B’god, it’s worked before, ain’t it? Remember that time those Blackfeet had you an’ me an’ Lame Jack Riley cornered up in the Blue Smokes country? You an’ Lame Jack slipped out an’ done it whilst I kept the fire stoked up and talked to two bedrolls stuffed inside blankets. Skeert the livin’ hell outta them Blackfeet. An’ they knows the mountains. These Dakota don’t. Likely to have ’em mussin’ up their pretty beaded breech cloths iffin I do it right.”

“I agree,” Nighthawk put in his penny’s worth. “They hadn’t the opportunity to make an accurate count of how many we number. Come deep darkness, they’ll not see one man slip away. If anyone can accomplish this, Preacher can.”

Beartooth clinched it with his offer. “Sure you don’t want anyone along for company?”

Preacher cut his eyes around the group and smiled broadly at Dupre. “There you are. It’s settled. I’ll be leavin’ around ten o’ the clock. The Dakota will be drummin’ an’ singin’ up a storm about then. Any watchers they put out will be gettin’ bored and droopy eyed. I’ll catch the ones behind us first, that should start some confusion when they go rushin’ in among their brothers. Then another dose ought to get the whole batch on the run.”

True to his word, Preacher slipped unnoticed out of camp at ten that night. The Dakota had not the slightest idea what awaited them.

* * *

Preacher glided through the chest-high grass in a whisper of near silence. He had with him the gourds he had found near the circled wagons, left from last summer. He had spent a long, careful time preparing them in a special way. They would play a big part in his plan to break the spirit of the hostiles. The grade increased steadily as he advanced toward the beeline to the south of the meadow.

With all the skill he possessed, Preacher wormed his way through the stand of alder saplings and over the crest of the low hill. Once more he went over his plan. Ordinarily, his repertoire of animal and bird sounds would not fool any Indian over the age of ten or eleven. But, added to some special tricks he had prepared, he figured he might get these Dakota thinking something else was afoot besides a nasty mountain man. It all centered on those gourds.

Half of them had rags stuffed down hard around the fuse and cap stuck in them. The others did not. That way, he knew, some would go off with a big, loud bang, while the rest would produce a flash, a whumph, and a whole lot of smoke. Preacher made his way to where the watchers had set up a small camp. Only a handful of the braves had remained on this end of the trail.

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