The Hunter Ch. 03

Sean told Pat that they had another type of cannon too. They had two Mountain Howitzers that fired the same shells used by the mortars but at much longer ranges. There was not enough room to shoot them in this field. Pack mules also carried the howitzers. Sean said that they could raid Seminole villages almost anywhere in central Florida. The plan was to destroy the villages without killing the occupants. They hoped to destroy the food and other supplies the Indians had in each village. The object was to force the Indians to obey the treaties that the Indians had signed agreeing to be removed to reservations west of the Mississippi River. Sean saw this as the only way to prevent the almost total annihilation of the tribe.

Pat thought the idea of moving the whole tribe was wrong. He mentioned this to the two Marine officers. They totally agreed with him, and said they were bad treaties. In the Seminole culture no one person could speak for another. Therefore the Seminole people felt a treaty bound only the signatories to honor the treaty. One of the provisions of the treaties was that no slaves could be taken west of the Mississippi River. Many of the Seminoles had married runaway slaves. Therefore many braves were in the position of being asked to surrender their wives and children to be sold by the white men into slavery if the original owner could not be found. Sean, Orlando and Pat rode back to the plantation house. Pat was in awe of the size and scope of Molly's plantation. There were many fields under cultivation and very industrious Negroes working everywhere. The workers seemed to be happy and cheerful. Pat asked how many slaves Molly had. Sean smiled and said, "None, we don't hold with slavery ourselves but don't try to force our beliefs on anyone else. All the Nigers you see here are Freedmen and women. There are seventy-five workers here but we have over a hundred and twenty living on the place counting wives and children. I have a plantation in Virginia too and all my Nigers have been freed."

Pat asked, "How come you call them Nigers instead of niggers?"

"It's the same thing, Most of them originally came from Niger in Africa. The slaves them selves corrupted Niger into nigger. It is often used by them to mean a slave or a slave's descendant."

"Another thing, what are all these hogsheads on the wagons carrying and where are they going?"

"They carry sugar cane juice to Molly's distillery in St. Augustine to be made into rum."

"I've seen the big Elkton Distillery over there."

"That is Molly's, I am her second husband. She was a widow for many years before we were married last year. I didn't know I had fathered a son by her before I joined the Marines, it's a long story."

"She is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen."

"I agree with you there. "Cinda is her equal I believe."

"They look a lot alike, they could almost be sisters."

"That's true. Say, do you want to try one of our Colt's revolvers?"

"I sure do. Orlando showed me all about his last night. It is an amazing piece of engineering. I can't wait to try one."

Sean grinned, "Let's ride over there where we have targets set up." Sean led Pat to a well-trodden area behind a fence.

Sean dismounted and Pat followed suit. "Look over here, see the five little squares sticking up above the log?"

"Yes", Sean, "I see what you are talking about."

"Here is the game we play, try to hit the little square iron targets. When you hit one it will spin for one minute. The object is to get all five spinning at one time."

"You have to hit all five in one minute."

"Right!"

Sean handed Pat his Colt pistol.

Pat took careful aim and fired. Boom, Wang Wizzz. The first target spun rapidly, Boom, Wang, Wizz, Boom, Wang, Wizz, Boom, Wang, Wizzz, Boom, Wang, Wizzz.

"Hey! Pat! That is great shooting. You have all the targets spinning like crazy. Here is another cylinder, fully loaded. When the targets all stop try it again."

Five more shots rang out with the same results. Pat looked at Sean, "This is so much better than any other gun I have ever seen, and I am speechless."

"Pat, you are one of the best shots I have ever seen. To pick up a weapon for the first time and not miss a shot is really outstanding marksmanship."

That night "Cinda and Pat lay cuddling in each others arms when they both heard something. "What was that?" asked Pat.

"It sounded like a woman in a moment of great pleasure." Said "Cinda. "Kiss me my husband. I want to feel like she did."

Pat pulled down the bodice of her gown and kissed around her full and taught breasts. A trickle of milk ran from her nipple, he could not resist sucking at it. His mouth filled with her milk. She pulled his head closer to her breast. "Oh! Sweetheart, that feels so good. Do that some more. I have more than enough for Jimmy. Suck on the other one too. You know I love that. Oh! Honey you are as hard as an ax handle. I want him inside me."

He moved aside and lifted her gown up around her waist. He crawled up over her and between her open legs. She was wet and ready for him. His cock slipped deep inside her. She was still stretched from childbirth but not as much as before, she was almost back to normal. He loved the way she felt but longed for the tight pussy she had before the baby. She was really feeling the love of his body and had to cover her mouth with her hands. He was thrusting deep inside now. She loved it, it was so damned good. She loved him with all her heart and knew he was the perfect husband and lover for her.

She heard his breath get louder and knew he was close to filling her with his seed. She prayed they were making another baby. That was her reason for being, to bear him strong healthy sons and daughters. Her orgasm hit her harder than she was expecting. She tried to muffle her joyous scream but she was not too successful, she didn't care, she felt so good it didn't matter. He relaxed and moved off of her. She got up and hurried to the washbasin and soaked a cloth and cleaned herself. She rinsed the cloth and cleaned and dried Pat. She put a towel in the wet spot and cuddled up to him and was content.

The next morning Sean winked at Pat and asked if they had slept well. Pat grinned and said that they had a very comfortable night.

Sean said that he and Orlando were going on a raid against a Seminole Indian village about twenty miles away that night and asked if Pat would like to accompany them. He said he would like that. "Cinda looked upset about it. Sean told her that it was very safe; he said they had only suffered one casualty and that was an accident in camp and not on a raid. 'Cinda looked at her husband and nodded her approval. He knew her concerns and she knew he would feel himself less of a man if he didn't go. She knew her man and he had to go. His pride would not let him refuse the invitation. She knew the kind of man he was when she had married him. He was fearless, honest, brave and true. That was part of why she loved him so much.

Sean and Orlando outfitted Pat with a uniform; one of Sean's, a hat, a Colt revolver and two loaded extra cylinders.

They would leave after dark. Each man would carry food for the trip in his small daypack worn on his belt. They would be traveling light, no shelters, only a rubberized ground cloth and a blanket rolled together behind the saddle.

There was a nice family meal at the main house and in the camp out back the men going on the raid were served a hardy early meal. The food Sean's men received was ten ties better than the Army troops received. Some of the regular Army food dated from the war of 1812, almost twenty years old and naturally inedible. The army troops averaged only about forty percent of their men able to perform their duties. Sixty percent were sick or wounded.

The horses and pack animals of the Army were in worse condition than the men in the field. The lack of grain for feed put the horses and mules in bad shape, most of the local grasses didn't provide much nourishment and wagons to carry feed could not keep up with a detachment of troops moving over three or four miles a day.

At dusk Sean moved the detachment consisting of twenty men and four mortars with one howitzer down the road at a walk. Everyone was silent. Any jingle or rattle of harnesses or tack was silenced by wrapping the offending item with strips of cloth carried for that purpose. Soon the column of men and animals moved almost silently along the sandy road.

Pat was surprised at how quietly the 23 horses with riders and the 12 pack mules moved along the road in the dark. Periodically native scouts would appear out of the darkness and consult with Sean. He whispered to Pat that every thing was looking good.

About midnight they stopped and dismounted. All the pack animals were checked and the loads adjusted. They stood or walked around some to ease their butts. Most of the men chewed on some of the smoked sausage they carried in their little packs. A sip or two of water from the canteens tasted good too. They were a little ahead of schedule so they rested for almost an hour.

They mounted up and moved out listening for noise from the gear. Pat had a clinking from his horses bridle. Sean moved up by Pat's horse's head and tied a rag around the ring on the bit that was at fault.

Just before dawn three scouts met them. Everything was quiet in the village and it was fully occupied including about forty braves. The normal size of that village was only about forty people all together so most of the braves were a warpary.

The mortars were set up on spots chosen by the chief scout. There were aiming stakes for each position and the scouts had carefully measured the distance to the village. The howitzer was set up to cover the trail or road they were on. The village was on both sides of the road at an intersection of several trails.

At first light Sean checked that everyone was ready. He raised his pistol and looked around and got a thumbs up from each cannon team leader. He fired the Colt and screamed the cry of a hawk at the top of his lungs. The village came to life. They could hear people screaming and children crying. It was light enough to see people running from the village. Some started towards them then saw the detachment and turned and ran the other way.

Sean was watching through his small telescope and saw the braves trying to organize some resistance but the effort failed and the braves fled with everyone else. Sean waited until he felt sure every one in the village was clear. He raised his right arm and checked again with his men. He dropped his arm and one mortar roared. Sean counted softly, one potato, two potato, three potato and as he finished five potato he dropped his arm and the second mortar fired, he counted again. By the time all four mortars had fired the first was reloaded and fired again. When each little cannon had fired three times Sean screamed, "Load 'em back up." The mortars were quickly loaded back on the mules. The howitzer stayed in place. The mortars and their crews started back up the trail with Orlando in charge.

Sean and Pat waited and watched with the howitzer and it's crew to see if any pursuit was organized. None was apparent so a mule was moved between the trail legs of the carriage and they headed after the main force. Sean and Pat waited a few minutes more then galloped after the cannons. As they caught up with the howitzer a scout ran up to Sean and told him he had seen a signal from another scout that a war party was approaching from the east down a small trail, the Indians were about a mile out. Sean quickly situated the howitzer just off the smaller trail behind some brush. Two more rounds of ammunition were extracted from the ammo box on a mule and placed near the little cannon. Sean and Pat moved a little ways back down the main trail. When the Braves were about 100 yards from the intersection of the trails Sean and Pat rode slowly into the intersection. They stopped and looked as the Indians trotted toward them. They kicked their mounts into a gallop until they were out of sight then they stopped and moved slowly back toward the junction of the trails. They heard the cannon roar and hurried back to the corner with their pistols in their hands. As they turned the corner the cannon roared again. They looked down the narrow trail and saw a pile of bodies in the trail. They walked their horses toward the mess in the road. One brave, his black skin painted with red and white chevrons on his face and chest, struggled from under other bodies and stood in the trail looking at his dead comrades. Pat raised his pistol and looked at Sean. Sean shook his head. "Let him go, let him spread the word about what happens if you chase the Red Hawk."

They helped get the Howitzer disassembled and back aboard two mules. It could move faster broken down into pieces on mules than it could be pulled down soft sandy roads and trails.

The trip back to the Elkton Plantation was uneventful. Scouts caught up with them about half way home. The scouts reported that the destruction of the village was total. Nothing useful was left. Every one of the dozen huts was leveled. Some were burning and those that weren't were set afire by the scouts.

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Note: The characters, Sean and Molly Murphy and their son Pat, Pricilla and Orlando and others are from the Novel "The Cry of the Red Hawk." by the same author. It is a novel about the 2nd Seminole Indian War in the 1830s.