Rocky Raccoon Ch. 06

The others boiled out of the house, almost ignoring Dark Horse until he let go with both barrels. It took about fifteen minutes but all the men were down as well as two of the women who were foolish enough to snatch up weapons. None got back up.

Walks Badly had a hole in his leg, and Dog caught a bullet right in the face, but the rest of us weren't hit. We gathered the other women and kids in the yard after letting them get some clothing and food. We burned the house, the bunkhouse, the cookshack, the barn and we even fired the outhouse. We left the shed that had the infected blankets in them. Skunk pulled them out with a stick and onto some tarps, rolling them tightly and putting them on a pack mule. We had a need for them.

We had the women turn the children and we scalped everyone, including the fallen women.

*****

Five days later we were looking at the home of Bret Wilson. It wasn't quite a mansion, but it was definitely more upscale than the normal house. It was two story, with columns across the front and reminded me greatly of the architecture of New Orleans. The man had gotten away with so much for so long it made him arrogant. He felt safe on his ranch and only had about four hands near the house. Two were asleep, and the other two were splitting a bottle of whiskey when we found them. We didn't kill anyone and the Indians kept in the darkness so they thought it was just Skunk and me.

We left them tied to their bunks. The knots weren't that tight and I figured they could get loose in an hour or so. That would be more than enough time for what we had planned. Pulling the bandanas over our faces, we broke through the front door, catching Wilson and his wife by surprise. He was game enough, but a bullet through the shoulder stopped any further attempts to reach for a weapon. He was outraged.

"Do you know who I am? I'll have you hanged for this!"

I stood before him. "I know who you are. You're a backstabbin' thievin' bastard. A man who would kill people wholesale if it meant he got what he wanted. I thought about what I wanted to do to you for a long time, how I could make your death as slow and miserable as possible. My friend here had an idea that beat anything I could think of. You look a mite chilly, Mr. Wilson. Let's get you a blanket."

Skunk had unwrapped the blankets and gone through the house. He put one on their bed, one on the dining room table, one on their fancy horsehide settee in the parlor. We wanted to contaminate the house so bad he'd be forced to burn it down. While Skunk was doing that, I tied Wilson up and put a gag in his mouth. Skunk came in and wrapped the last blanket around him tightly, tying it on. Then he took the blindfold off.

Wilson looked mad enough to bite the heads of snakes until he looked down. His face lost color when he realized what he was seeing.

I grinned at him. "That's right. We got you a special blanket like the ones you gave to that Indian village a while back. I thought if anyone could appreciate the gesture it would be you. We'll be goin' now. You have a short, very painful life ahead of you, Wilson. You think about this while you die. All your schemin', all your backstabbin', and the people who helped you ruin or kill to get what you want can't do a damn thing for you now. You'll die screaming and crying and I want you to have my name on your lips when you die. I'm Rocky McGill, but you would probably know me by my Indian name. I am North Sun of the Comanche. Husband to Doe Eyes, husband to Smiles Slowly, father to Little Dove, father to Big Buck, father to Little Sun. All killed because of you. I intend to buy everything you have at auction. Your widow won't have a pot to piss in when I'm done. Let's hope she has family to take her in. Too bad it won't include this house, but it'll have to be burned to the ground. "

His wife was in the front yard kickin' up a hell of a fuss. I came out and tipped my hat to her. "You should have hitched your wagon to a different star, ma'am. Your husband is in there, alive, but you can't go to him. He's wrapped in a blanket that's contaminated with the smallpox. There are other blankets through every room of your house. You can't go back in. The gold, the jewelry, your wardrobe, everything is contaminated. You literally have just the clothes on your back."

I paused, thinking. "Consider yourself lucky. I could have done to him what he did to me. I could have killed you, your son and his wife and daughters, your daughters and their husbands and children. The difference is, while it destroyed me, he would have tried to use it to his advantage and probably not lost a minute of sleep over it. If I were you, I'd get to the bank as fast as I could and hope there's money in the account. Your husband leveraged everything he had for this deal, and owes some very bad people a lot of money."

Skunk came out, naked. He'd left his clothes inside and would change into new buckskins after he'd purified himself. He must have saw it before I did, the woman had a little madness in her eyes. Everything she had was gone and never be recovered, so she had nothing to lose. She held her hand out and I was surprised to see a derringer in it. Skunk pushed me and caught both bullets. Dark Horse didn't hesitate, gave her both barrels at ten feet and it literally blew her in two.

I reached for him and he staggered back. "NO! Do not touch me. I'm contaminated!"

He leaned against the door jamb wheezing. "I think I'll go sit down on that fancy furniture in their parlor. Give me a few minutes and then do me a favor. Burn the place to the ground so no one gets sick."

He shut his eyes for a second before pushing off the jamb. "It was a pleasure to ride with you Rocky. Dark Horse, Walks Slowly, I'll meet you in the happy hunting grounds. I bet they have buffalo the size of elephants, and I'll scout them out for you."

Even though I didn't think he had the strength, he grabbed Mrs. Wilson and started dragging her inside. "Burn it, boys."

He shut the door and we stood for a few minutes trying to work up the nerve to do as he asked when we saw the flames. Apparently, he'd taken things in hand and started the fire himself. As it grew, we suddenly heard a scream. We'd forgotten Wilson, all trussed up in the parlor. The screams and howls lasted about a minute before they stopped.

We rode away and didn't look back.

*****

A week later we were on the ridge above the remains of our village. Dark Horse and Walks Slowly had two lances stuck in the ground, festooned with the scalps of the Comancheros. I hoped it put their spirit at peace. There was another lance a little higher on the ridge with long blond hair fluttering in the breeze.

Dark Horse had cut it off for me. I rubbed my stubble as I turned away. Northern Sun of the Comanche would ride no more.

I suspected this would be the last time I saw Dark Horse, but I made him promise me if things got bad to gather as many as he could and flee north to my ranch. He agreed, but I knew he would die on these plains.

I watched until they were specks on the plains before I turned South for Mexico. I was going to see Don Carlos and his family, see if I could get some peace before I returned home.