Homecoming by David Robbins

Author:David Robbins
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: davy crockett, battle of the alamo, us frontier life, coonskin cap, early american explorers, king of the wild frontier, us wilderness
Publisher: Piccadilly Publishing

Chapter Eight

Thirty feet can seem like a mile when a man is flanked by hostile Indians who would as soon see him dead as look at him.

Flavius Harris counted on the Ojibwas being so taken aback by his break for freedom that they would not let an arrow fly or hurl a lance before he reached the water. In this respect he was woefully mistaken, for no sooner had the dun loped forward than a shaft buzzed past his ear like an enraged wasp. Shouts broke out. Feet pounded. A lance nearly added a part to his hair.

Bent low, Flavius flailed the reins. He knew that the dun was as fond of water as he was, but he hoped that in this instance the horse would have the common sense not to balk and would plunge right in. He should have known better.

They were ten feet from the lake when the dun suddenly dug in its hooves and locked its legs, its rump dipping so close to the ground that Flavius was almost dumped from the saddle. He hauled on the reins with all his strength, but the horse kept on sliding, swept by its momentum into the water. The dun flung itself to the right, twisting to scramble onto dry land.

In desperation Flavius flung himself toward the far bank. He would rather drown than be tortured to death. Churning his limbs like a windmill gone berserk, for the first time in his life he endeavored to swim. To his amazement, he succeeded! But not for long. After traveling all of six feet, he inexplicably lost speed, then began to sink.

Panic numbed him. He neglected to churn, and immediately sank like a rock. Inadvertently, Flavius opened his mouth to scream. Water poured in instead. He gasped. He blubbered. He strove furiously to regain the surface. The murky, cold water dragged on his clothes, pulling him lower.

The end was near. Flavius stopped struggling. He had done his best and it had not been good enough. His only regret was that he would never see Matilda again.

An image of her rotund features floated before him. Flavius reached out for it under the impression that he could touch her. His fingers brushed a solid object.

Vaguely, Flavius felt hands wrap around his arms, hands fork under his shoulders, hands grip him by the back of his buckskin shirt. He was wrenched up out of the water and flung landward. His legs wobbled, and he would have toppled had another Ojibwa not seized him and thrust him into the shallows.

Sucking in precious air, Flavius blinked to clear his vision. His legs buckled. He fell to his knees in inches-deep water and wiped a hand across his face.

Half a dozen warriors were in the lake with him. Two others had retrieved the dun. Jamming the shore were scores of Ojibwas, their countenances like those Flavius had once seen at a funeral. At the forefront was Keekweechiweepinank, and he was the most somber of the bunch.

“You try trick me, white man.

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.