1'The Shack at Flowingwater'
By Phineas Redux
—OOO—
Summary:— Henrietta 'Harry' Knappe and Sally 'Snapshot' Nichols, Deputies and lovers in 1870's Red Flume, Arizona Territory, USA, are confined in a mountain shack by a group of unknown assailants.
Note :— Influenced by the 'Wolfville' stories of Alfred Henry Lewis.
Copyright:— copyright ©2024 Phineas Redux. All characters are wholly fictitious representations, and the overall local geography may be questionable, too.
—O—
Flowingwater Lake sat in the foothills of the Kempton Range 135 miles nor-west of Red Flume, Territory of Arizona, USA, this balmy morning of July 187-. At this particular spot, on the southern edge of the 20 mile long 7 mile broad Range, it had formed a deep basin some mile in length and half so wide filled by a smooth surfaced expanse of cold mountain water, its sources several small streams with a single outflow into the Green Pike River on its southern tip. Surrounded by firs up to its extreme edges all round it had generally low stony banks with many shingle strands where easy fishing was available to those who wished such and had, for whatever reason, made it this far into the mostly uninhabited region. The only sign of permanent human activity being a large log-built store, or more realistically a shack, sitting on the southern shore; placed there by some enterprising individual with more imagination than common-sense.
Having failed miserably in its first manifestation it had gone through a series of further individual reinventions as first a Trading-Post, then a pig farm, followed by a corn farm, finally, today, ending its adventurous existence as an untenanted mere stopping-place for intinerant travelers as somewhere with a firm roof where they could bed down for a night or two—hardly more than a shed or barn, in fact.
At present the only occupants were Henrietta Knappe, famous bear hunter and Deputy of the township of Red Flume now some distance over the horizon to the south, and Sally Nichols, a sharpshooter of note and also Deputy of the same town; the ladies being an item, romantically speaking, these many years past. At present they were hardly enjoying a fine day, however—they having spent the entirety of the previous evening and night holding-off a so far invisible but highly active group of assailants who were, it appeared, hell-bent on killing their prey, if the amount of gunfire spent in their direction could be taken at face value. The time was now 7.30am and Henrietta was cautiously peering out a crack in one of the close-shuttered windows in hopes of sighting any of their attackers.
"See anythin'?"
"Nah, nada."
"Helpful! Who the dam' are they?"
"Dunno!"
"Someone we know?" Sally racking her memory, not for the first time since the inception of this unpleasant incident, with a deep frown of concentration. "They sure as hell know us, or why'd they take all this time an' trouble t'bushwhack us?"
"Dunno."
Sally sighed gently.
"Y'have a negative outlook thet's beginnin' some t'pall, dear."
"Can I help not knowin' someone I cain't see nor smell, come t'thet? Gim'me a dam' break, woman."
"Sure-sure." Sally sighing again as she shifted her position to cautiously peer out the second window. "The Bretton Gang, meb'be?"
"Don't think so."
"Why?"
Henrietta turned from her speculative assessment of the exterior landscape to regard her lover with a keen brown eye.
"Jes' don't, thet's all. You got any idee's thet way? Mab'be helpful if'n we could pin who the hell they be."
Sally thought about the question once more with a great deal of intensity, but to no avail.
"Nah, nobody comes t'mind; unless James Kelly, p'raps? Wha'd'ya think?"
It was Henrietta's turn to consider those many, almost unlimited, deadbeat bums who had crossed her path for one reason or another and who as a result might be realistically supposed to harbor a grudge.
"Kelly? Nah, he's more of a grifter than a violent outlaw—brains more'n brawn. Nah, not Kelly."
Sally went off on another tangent as they crouched in the front main room of the old shack.
"We've bin here since late last evenin'; had some chance t'investigate the place—what d'ya think?"
Henrietta shrugged.
"About what? Our chances of surviving the next few hours?"
"Waal, I suppose."
Henrietta glanced around at their immediate surroundings.
"Thar ain't much h'yar thet'll be any good t'us, thet's clar. Haven't found a box of dyneemite lurkin' in a dark corner, or a hidden arsenal. The place's set in a open heath, a dam' lake on one side, forest on the other three sides and an unknown high number of assailants hidden therein—all determined to snuff us out like candles in the wind."
Sally sighed for the umpteenth time that morning.
"I git ya, sure; don't suppose it rightly matters at this point, anyway. What we need right now is a plan—a good plan, thet'll see us victorious an' those bums, whoever they be, defeated across the board in record time. What's the state of play at the moment—refresh my memory, lover."
Henrietta shook her head at this request but stepped to the fore anyway.
"We've bin holed-up h'yar, in this shack, since around six-thirty yestern evenin'; our hosses, spooked by the gunfire, ran off God knows whar, leavin' us no alternative but t'dive in h'yar t'save our skins, an' h'yar we've bin since, OK?"
"Yeah, thet covers it, sure." Sally nodding agreement. "So what's the plan for our escape, then?"
Henrietta closed her eyes briefly, taking the few seconds so gained to contemplate Eternity and Everything before returning to the dull, if singular, present.
"They shoot some at us; we shoot some back at them! Seems t'be the way things is scheduled fer the mornin', goin' by the past few hours."
Sally shook her head dismissively.
"An' jes' whar'll thet get us, in the long run, babe?"
"No dam' whar, in course!" Henrietta sure at least of this point. "What we needs is a plan—a good one. So, any thoughts on same?"
Sally shook her head yet again, adding a cold glance at her lover for effect.
"Ain't this sort'a whar I came in jes' a few sentences ago? You're the one should have the dam' plan, lady, not me!"
Henrietta, being otherwise occupied reloading her .45 Colt, took instant umbrage at this suggestion.
"Why me? Cain't ye think on yer own, woman? Try it, see whar it gets ye!"
"Uummph!"
But another aspect of their present circumstances held sway over Henrietta's plans for the immediate future.
"How much ammo ye got left, babe?"
Sally drew back from the window to think about this important point.
"Les'see, both my Smith an' Wesson's is fully loaded now; then thar's the leather pouch of ammo, some thirty rounds, in my duster pocket; an' two full boxes, sixty rounds each, in my saddlebag. You?"
"Loaded pistol; ah, twenty or so in my duster; an' two boxes in my saddlebag—say a hunner rounds more."
Sally mused on this information for a few seconds.
"If'n they stays reasonable quiet out thar, we might see the mornin' through, but not much further. If they takes t'rainin' lead down on us, though, we could be out complete within the dam' hour!"
"Yeah, figur's."
The silence which followed was replete with heartfelt introspection, as the women considered their position; both faces sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought several times overlaid.
"What if they throw firebrands on the roof?" Sally suddenly expressing a major concern. "Try t'burn us out!"
"Won't work." Henrietta sure of this at least. "Heavy storm day a'fore yestern; roof soggy as all get-out, same with the firs all round. Not a dry piece o'wood within miles. We're safe thet way, fer sure."
"Humph!"
Sally however continued her run of silly ideas, unhampered by realistic possibilities.
"We could run out t'the lake, dive in an' swim t'the other side!"
Henrietta sighed yet again.
"The water's fresh from the high mountains, cold as Hell! We'd freeze a'fore we'd swum a hundred yards. And, anyway, what if we made it t'the other side? The bushwhackers'd jes' ride round at their leisure, be waitin' fer us when we reached shore over thar, makin' us look fools."
"Iirph!"
This philosophical, if not entirely metaphysical, discussion came abruptly to a close with the impact on the exterior logs of the cabin of a multitude of incoming bullets, raising dust from the interior walls as both women ducked low.
"They've woken up agin!"
Shuffling carefully over to the two windows they raised heads to peer over the lintels.
"See anythin'?"
Henrietta shook her head.
"Nah, too many dam' trees all round. Look, I've bin thinkin'—"
"About time!"
"What?"
"Nuthin'—so?"
Henrietta continued, talking slowly as if formulating her plan on the hoof.
"We fire a broadside in'ta the trees, over t'the west, thet's whar the majority o'the bums is hidin' out, I think. Then we dive out the rear door back thar, run fer the trees t'the south, they're only aroun' twenty yards off, an' plunge deep in'ta the forest, away from the lake an' the trail. Best bet we got, baby."
Sally pondered on this for a while, then shrugged.
"It's a plan—not much of one but it'll do, under present circumstances—let's do it, lover!"
Henrietta slipped her Colt .45 from its holster, checking the cylinder to see it was fully loaded.
"Before we start let's git the whole thing straight, OK?"
"Yeah."
"We fire a broadside at the front attackers, not thet we kin see any dam' one o'them. We then hightail it fer the rear door, run out an' race fer the trees fast's we kin."
"With ya so far."
"Havin' reached the trees we barge through the undergrowth an' keep runnin' fer as long as we kin, an hour if necessary."
"Ye-es."
"We got'ta keep runnin' 'cause we need t'put distance between us an' those bushwhackers. Thar bein' so many o'them they'll tend t'stick t'gether, slowin' 'em down in chasin' us. The further we kin git from them the better chance thar is o'them givin' up an' lettin' us git away complete."
"Yeah, thet works fer me, too; 'ceptin' ye'll have ter mind yer speed in runnin' t'mine, if thet's not too much t'ask. I don't think I kin keep up with ye over a long stretch."
Henrietta placed a hand on the shoulder of her lover, smiling broadly the while.
"Don't worry, baby; I won't lose ye. We'll stick it out t'gether all the way. O'course, gettin' t'the tree line, while hopin' anyone out thar doesn't use us fer target practice in the doing so is our primary worry still. We hit the trees, we kin go on from thar, but first things first, eh?"
—O—
"Our pistols ain't much use aginst a whole posse o'others, an' some rifles an' at least one shotgun out thar," Henrietta preparing to lay down fire from her window. "but let's hope it keeps 'em occupied enuff t'let us reach the treeline out back. Ya ready, lady?"
"As I'll ever be. When d'we fire?"
"When I says go—Go!"
The resulting fusillade did indeed have the hoped for effect, if only in the short term; the incoming fire, from the front of the shack at least, stopped as those hiding amongst the trees and scrub outside sought safety from the unexpected incoming fire, letting the women put the second step of their plan into effect. As one they dashed back to the already ajar rear door, but before they could cross its threshold a barrrage of incoming fire made them change their minds, ducking back into the shack to escape the widespread volley.
"Hell'n Damnation! Thar's more o'them out thar than I thought!"
Henrietta, sprawling lengthwise on the bare floorboards, gasped for breath at this setback.
"Gim'me a mo', whiles I shuts thet dam' door!"
Crawling to the open back door she hastily flung it shut with the heel of her boot, cautiously rising to fling the crossbar in place as an added resource before sighing in relief.
"Thet's OK, then! Waal, thet plan fell apart quick!"
Sally nodded, as she too struggled to her feet.
"Not one o'yer best, I admits."
Instead of replying, much as she wished to, Henrietta crouched by the rear window, gazing out to the distant treeline.
"See anythin'?"
"Nah, jes' dam' trees."
"Sh-t! Who the hell are these guys, an' what the dam' d'they want?"
Henrietta growled low in her throat.
"Should'a thought thet was obvious! An' they're goin' the right way about achieving same, seems t'me, if'n we don't come up with a plan sooner rather than later. How's about engagin' all three o'yer active brain cells at once, see if'n thet gets us anywhar'?"
"Baby, thet's right brutal, but I still loves yer t'pieces—God knows why, mind!"
Apparently having made their point—that the inmates had no escape route through the back door of the shack—the firing from the surrounding trees lessened before finally coming to a faltering end; but of course with the veiled threat that another escape attempt like the last would meet with the same answer. Inside the women crouched low seeing to reloading their pieces before anything else; then they sat back against the far wall to consider their next move.
"Parleyin'! Thet's our next step." Sally coming out with this decision after a lengthy pause to think about it as a viable option. "Makin' pes'nal contact, so figurin' out jes' what the dam' these bums want, fer starters."
Henrietta remained doubtful.
"What they want is our dead corpses laid out on the ground outside, no shilly-shallyin' about it! Why, is what yer actil after, dear."
"Well, why, then?" Sally sticking her chin in the air. "Fair enuff question, ain't it?"
"They'll still want t'kill us!" Henrietta facing reality. "They haven't come all the way h'yar—God knows how they knew we'd be h'yar at this time, anyway; but thet's a question fer a later day—jes' t'engage in conversation then let us go on our way. Made thet perfectly plain a'ready!"
Sally shuffled uneasily before returning to the fray.
"Still, we talks with 'em, it stops 'em shootin' at us fer a respectable length o'time, don't it? Thet'll be somethin'."
Henrietta sighed, struggling to her feet.
"OK, if'n ye insists so; we'll give it a try. Let's go t'the front room; the boss man'll probable be out thar amongst the trees. Don't have high hopes, mind, jes' sayin'."
"We don't try, we'll never know, will we." Sally determined to see the bright side, against her usual nature. "They kin only say no."
"Or nuthin', an' commence t'blastin' even heavier than a'fore!" Henrietta sounding the Song of the Fates this time.
Having prepared as much as they could Sally started by edging the left hand window shutter open a few inches; this action resulting in a barrage of incoming fire that made them both fall to the floor amongt the dust of Ages already there.
"Y'see? Thet's jes' what I expected."
"Don't be so gloomy." Sally taking a deep breath, though cradling one of her .38's in her left hand. "Lem'me see how they responds t'reason an' rationality."
Carefully she rose to her feet, standing off to one side of the partially open wooden shutter before shouting at the top of her lungs through the glassless void
"Hey, out thar! Who be ye? What's the problem? Ye knows we h'yar're Depities out'ta Red Flume? This h'yar affray ain't gon'na end well fer ye, ye knows. How's about us havin' a cool friendly conversation? Sort this thing out like resonsible grown-ups, so's we kin all git on our several ways friendly an' happy? What say ye?"
As they crouched each side of the window in the cabin's main room for answer more bullets hit the front of the building, causing reverberations inside akin to a thunderstorm immediately overhead.
"Looks like the folks out front've taken heart from their partners out back." Henrietta giving her personal interpretation of the rapidly disintegrating situation. "Shot an' shell from every conceivable direction an' then some, dam'mit!"
"What was it we did, whenever, thet riled 'em all so?" Sally still struggling for an explanation. "So, it don't look like talkin' is part o'their schedule after all, dam'mit! How many o'them are thar, y'think? Ten? Twenty? Thirty?"
Henrietta gave this important point a deal of attention.
"At least twenty-five, I'd say; meb'be even ten or so more. Only a wild guess, mind; there could be up'ta fifty fer all we knows."
"Thet doesn't hearten me none, lady. So, what's t'be done? Hightailin' it out the rar havin' run it's course, fer sure."
"Lem'me think; thar'll be an answer, allus we needs is'ta find it's all."
Sally shook her head.
"Likes the way yer mind works, lover; but could ye speed it up some, all the same?"
Henrietta frowned darkly, waving at the open window with her pistol barrel.
"Lets give 'em some return fire a'fore they thinks we've bin hit an' so git some frisky about fallin' down on us in force."
For the next hour everything remained on an even keel, sporadic fire from both sides letting each camp know the other was still alive and intent on staying that way. Round about midday, the firing from the front having tailed-off considerably to almost nothing, Sally retreated to the kitchen again, where Henrietta had been for some time previous firing from the single window there in reply to desultory incoming fire.
"Kin make a pot o'coffee an' meb'be fry a coupl'a steaks an' beans. How much food an' water we got in h'yar, by the way?"
Henrietta had made this the major point of order almost in the first hour, the previous evening, when they had been forced to seek shelter in the empty cabin.
"Someone must'a restocked jes' a coupl'a days a'fore we arrived; enuff food an' water t'last at least a week, meb'be several more days. Don't worry, we'll have escaped long a'fore the food nor water runs out."
"Or the other thing!" Sally never one to ignore the gloomier consequences of any situation.
"Baby, git a grip."
"Sure-sure."
The meal, when ready, served to boost their spirits a great deal and even Sally began to see a faint silver lining to the whole sorry situation.
"Could be worse, I suppose. Jes' as well this cabin was h'yar at all."
"Yeah, curious they, out thar, bushwhacked us h'yar-abouts; lettin' us reach this haven o'peace an' tranquility. Some bad plannin' on thar part; shows they ain't the masterminds they thought they was, meb'be. Means we've got a good chance o'outwittin' 'em, given the right breaks."
"Glad y'think so, lover." Sally reverting to her natural frame of mind. "Jes' out'ta curiosity what would ye consider a good break, given our present circumstances?"
But in the interstices of this conversation Henrietta had experienced a brainstorm.
"Nightime!"
Sally was a trifle at sea in deducing any meaning to this seeming irrelevant ejaculation.
"What?"
"We waits fer darkness, t'night, slip out the back quiet as fieldmice, slide through the grass an' scrub like c'yotes an' so slip through the attacker's lines without them noticin'. It'll work."
Sally, however, could see a church in daylight as well as anyone.
"No, it dam' well won't! Never heerd sich a id'yeet idee in all my life! I want no part o'it, lady!"
"Oh, well, jes' tryin' t'help's all!"
"Waal, try harder, dear!"
The unseen attackers had, meanwhile, ceased to fire on the cabin for an extended period, which had made Sally curious.
"What's happened? They run out'ta ammo, or what?"
"Midday—lunchtime. They's jes' doin' what we've jes' done, make some steak an' beans! Probable start firin' agin in the next half hour or so, on full stomachs."
"Bunch of dam' bums! Parasites! Wish the hell I knew why they was doin' this!"
"Does it matter?"
"Nah, but at least I'd know." Sally growling through set teeth. "If'n someone wants so hard t'kill ye, ye at least would like some t'know why, eh?"
"Yeah, well; could be almost anybody, we bein' Depities o'some note an' yar's experience thetaway."
"Yeah, suppose." Sally, replete with food done just the way she liked, she having been the chef, had started to cast her eyes around the interior of the cabin with more than the quiet polite interest of a mere friendly visitor.
"Say, what's in thet wall-cabinet over thar in the corner?"
"Dun'no. Why? Ye want more clean plates fer dinner t'night?"
In answer Sally rose cautiously to make her way over to the piece of furniture in question. Raising a hand to the left-hand door knob she twisted it open to gaze at whatever the cabinet contained.
"Lady?"
"Yeah, what? Found some Sèvres China?"
"Come over h'yar, some quick."
Taking her lover at her word Henrietta stepped over to join her by the cabinet.
"Look."
The cabinet consisted of a low unit with small doors, on top of which another unit rested; inside this top unit, it was now revealed, were several vertical racks in which a Spencer rifle, two carbines, and a shotgun rested—all seemingly in perfect condition. Sally crouched to open the lower unit, revealing wide interiors wherein lay several carboard boxes of a kind easily recognised by the two Deputies.
"Jeez, a bucket-load o'ammo—an' weapons t'match. Hell's-teeth!"
Sally was ecstatic.
"Lover, it's payday, an' we've earned a dam' bonus on top! Hee-yah!"
Henrietta, however, felt it right to sound a more cautious note.
"Some fine, sure; but thar's still only us two, mind, t'fire all these weapons. We kin only do so much, still."
Sally, being much more pragmatically down to earth, had already formulated a plan to get round this very objection.
"How's about we send out another message t'parley with the Big Palooka in charge o'this bunch o'trigger-happy wasters; argy'fyin' some strong this time t'make 'em take notice? We waits till we has the whites of his eyes in our sights as he stands out on the open ground in front o'the cabin, then blasts him with the heaviest calibers we has here? I'd choose thet shotgun with solid shot, thar's a box o' same thar, fer choice; the impact'll blow him apart fer sure. Then, leaderless, the others'll jes' give it up an' disappear. How's about it?"
Before replying Henrietta took the opportunity to study her partner's face in detail.
"Sal?"
"Yeah, lover?"
"Ye recalls, jes' a minute or two ago, when ye called me a id'yeet?"
"—er, waal?"
"Jes', now's my turn t'call ye the same, OK?"
Before Sally could formulate an adequate reply their attackers, clearly replete themselves with food and drink, opened up a further barrage on the cabin, from both front and rear.
"Oh, God, h'yar we goes agin'. You take the kitchen winder, I'll take the front; use whatever weapon comes t'hand, meanwhile."
"Sure dam' will, lover!"
—O—
The day had swung along through what a sailor would refer to as the afternoon watch and had just reached the close edge of the first dog watch when something other than sporadic fire from the trees disturbed the equanimity of the two women holed-up in the shack.
What had till then been a slow but steady fire from the trees and undergrowth at the rear of the cabin now took on, for a short space of time, the appearance of an all-out war; the firing emanating from this direction becoming all-encompassing as if a small army were firing broadsides in a rather chaotic undisciplined manner. Then, just as suddenly, all went quiet out in the forest to the cabin's rear, the side away from the nearby lake. The curious incident associated with this being none of the myriad of heard shots seemed to have been aimed at the cabin. Whereas before the exterior logs of the shack had taken the brunt of the incoming fire, raising dust from the interior walls, now there was nothing, no bullets hitting the cabin at all though the firing outside seemed to have reached a rapidly rising extended crescendo before stopping entirely.
"What the hell!"
Henrietta, drawn from her position in the front room, slid into the kitchen to peer carefully out the wndow there.
"Couldn't see anythin'." Sally reporting as best she could. "Helluva firestorm thar, but not directed at us, seeming."
"Who, then?"
"How'd I know?" Sally snorting dismissively. "Meb'be they got fed up with the whole set-up an' mutined amongst themsel's? Could be a good change fer us."
Henrietta was more guarded about the mysterious happening.
"Could be—"
Before she could articulate whatever she meant to say an astonishing alteration to the whole scenario occurred—an arrow whistled through the partially open window, embedding itself in the log wall on the far side of the kitchen, its red tail feathers making it all the more dramatic as it quivered where it had landed.
"Jeesus! Injuns! What the f-ck!"
While acknowledgeing this reading of the position with a grunt Henrietta slid across to retrieve the missile, pulling it free with a jerk of her gloved hand.
"Look, baby, a message on a piece o'paper wrapped round it."
Sally raised her eyebrows, entirely astonished at this sudden turn of events.
"I cain't git no grip on what the ever-lovin' hell's happenin' roun' these dam'med parts, lover; tell me?"
In turn Henrietta carefully unwrapped the message to read it silently to herself, Sally soon becoming less than patient with this.
"Waal? What? Who is it? Those redski—"
Henrietta waved her free hand, cutting her partner off in mid stride.
"Lem'me read—listen. Hi, folks, we corraled yer loose hosses a ways back in the hills. Ye bein', no doubt, Harry Knappe an' Sal Nichols from things we found on same. This h'yar be me, Laredo Dawes, an' my friends White Cloud an' his Paiute brothers. Looks like ye're in some trouble, but don't despair, me an' my partners is about t'launch a attack on these bums thet'll do fer 'em entire. Keep yer heads down an' wait till the firin' stops an' I comes along an' knocks some polite on yer door. Laredo Dawes.—Waal, I'll be dam-med!"
"Not a'fore me, ye won't." Sally as much astonished as her lover at this swift change to their circumstances. "This's past belief. Laredo Dawes? I'll be dam'med!"
"Yeah, the foremost cattle rustler in the Territory!" Henrietta, from past experience, well up on their likely saviour's history. "Who'd have thought? Anyways, dam' good fer us!"
But Sally snorted again, constitutionally unable as she habitually was to look on anything other than the dark side.
"Probably hold us hostage in her turn till Sheriff Donaldson pays her in gold bars, mark my words."
"Least we'll still be alive, ducks."
"Thar's thet, sure." Sally morosely allowing there might well be a silver lining, if even of the thinnest texture, to the ongoing drama.
Interrupting their conversation another broadside of firing engulfed the cabin's front elevation, again none seemingly aimed directly at it, though some stray shots did, here and there, ping off the thick walls nonetheless. After around ten minutes, with the sporadic firing amongst the trees ever lessening, another silence finally descended on the trees and cabin by the lake. The women, assidiously watching from the front windows of the shack, saw dark figures moving in and out of the treeline here and there, before a single figure, that of a tall long-haired woman in dark-blue linen trousers and short grey jacket, strode determinedly across the open ground to the front door.
Tap-Tap-Tap.
"Hallo inside, it's Laredo, ye all safe an' well? Open up so's we kin say hallo, ladies!"
—O—
The resolution to the strange affair was soon made clear, as the three women stood in the cabin's main room, Laredo explaining to the two Deputies exactly what had brought her and her Indian friends to their rescue.
"I fell in with White Cloud, Head of his tribe of Paiute, while I was holed-up in the North o'the Territory some months back. Him'n me makin' out like long lost relatives 'cos of my gran'ma havin' been Paiute hersel', an' me knowin' some thar language, thank the Lor'. Hereaways we've bin what ye may call on a warpath down h'yar in the south-west, jes' kind'a lookin' fer what we kin find in the way o'loose cattle an' sichlike. Nuthin' outrageous, jes' stealin' from the local tribes an' ranches as we finds 'em; not too much blood spilt; not enuff t'call the White Law down on us anyhow, at least not yet. An' you two? Right fine t'make yer acquaintance agin, but what finds ye holed-up in this h'yar shack, with a whole army after yer blood? Some lawless Gang or other lookin' fer revenge fer past attentions aginst 'em or what?"
Henrietta took on the burden of explanations; what there was available of same, at least.
"We some don't know; cain't figure same no way, as yet; we jes' got bushwhacked yestern, rode h'yar, lost our dam' hosses an' shuffled hugger-mugger in h'yar jes' ahead of around fifty bullets. Bin h'yar since, makin' plans ter escape in a variety o'ways till ye fortunately showed-up so sparin' us the trouble."
"What's yer plan now?" Sally still as suspicious as all get-out.
"Plan? Ain't got one." Laredo shrugging her shoulders, apparently wholly unconcerned by the way her day had turned out. "From what I kin see meb'be some ten o'yer attackers is presently lyin' out amongst the undergrowth all roun', preparin' ter be food fer the b'ars an' c'yotes later t'night; the rest, some fifteen—meb'be twenty or so,—havin' caught thar own steeds an' made off t'pastures new. They won't be comin' back, mark my words. Paiute, in a rage, havin' thet effect on folks, especial White Folks."
"So we kin jes' ride on out, then?" Sally looking for clarity.
"Yeah, sure, why not." Laredo nodding obligingly. "Jes' one thing though."
Henrietta glowered darkly at this.
"Which'd be, what?"
"Jes' thet ye don't try'n gather a well-meanin' posse within the meanin' o'the term, an' chase us back up North's all." Laredo giving her listeners a wide grin. "Thinks ye're up t'thet, gals?"
Henrietta glanced at Sally before replying.
"Take us the best part of a week, anyways, t'reach Red Flume agin. Imagine some by thet time makin' up a posse t'return h'yar'd be a waste o'time."
"Probably, yeah."
"Waal, in thet case, it's a promise; ye an' yer Injun friends kin go about yer business as ye sees fit. Jes' don't blame us fer whatever someone else decides t'do aginst ye, if'n ye provokes same some hard any time in the immediate future."
"Sure, sounds good; we'll take our chances." Laredo nodding agreement. "We're thinkin' o'headin' back home soon anyways; this whole raid not comin' up t'Hoyle booty-wise anyways so far: better chances o'rustlin' up north in my experience. Yer hosses is outside, in fine condition. Ye kin leave whenever ye sees fit."
Sally, embarassed but aware of the social niceties, bit the appropriate bullet.
"Thank's ye kindly, on savin' our necks so providential. Dam' white o'ye, sure."
"White, but mostly Red too, ye might say." Laredo grinning again at her opponents' discomfiture. "See ye both aroun', no doubt!"
—O—
The Paiutes, led by White Cloud and Laredo Dawes, had disappeared into the woods as mysteriously as they had materialized; the surrounding fir forest had returned to its tranquil everlasting silence, and Flowingwater Lake sat quiet and mirror-like in the late evening sun; the whole area looking the ideal setting for someone to relax by their cabin and enjoy the benefits of nature untrammeled. Sally, however, wasn't having any of it.
"Come on, let's git t'ridin', the sooner we're out'ta this dam' hellhole the better!"
Having bid their saviours a fond, if restrained, farewell Sally and Henrietta had spent another hour sorting themselves out, packing their saddlebags and seeing that their providentially returned steeds were indeed in good condition. Now there was nothing left to keep them in the area, while the possibility of some if not all of the remaining attackers coming back to renew their aggression still lingered in the womens' minds.
"Come on, what's keepin' ye, gal?"
Henrietta had been standing by the front of the shack by the lake, examining its wooden logs with a professional eye.
"Place's shot t'sh-t! Hardly a log not ripped apart by multiple bullet-hits. Most o'the two winder lintels is shot t'sh-t too; given another hour or so an' the dam winders would've fallen out entire!"
"Waal, they didn't, so let's git on."
Henrietta strode over to her steed, mounting carefully while taking a last glance round the scene of their dramatic unscheduled visit.
"How's about we comes back here sometime, jes', y'know, t'enjoy the peace an' quiet. A lot t'be said fer the Lake, y'know."
Sally was up for this imbecility without pausing for breath.
"All's I got t'say about this h'yar place is—the quicker I leaves it behind me the better, an' the likelihood o'returnin', fer any reason whatsoever ever, is beyond comprehension, OK?"
"Have it yer way, dear, have it yer way, then. Come on, mosey along, you head on out ahead o'me; we ain't got all day, y'know."
"Har!"
The End
Another 'Red Flume' story will arrive shortly.
—O—