Silver City Massacre Read Online Free PDF

feel the nip in the air.
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    The two Comanche warriors who had moved silently up to a small clearing a hundred yards from the camp by the water slid off their horses and tied them to a small tree. With their bows ready, they moved a little closer before pausing to consider the two naked white men by the fire.
    â€œThey must be crazy,” Bloody Hand said softly, his words filled with contempt. “They have no shame to show their nakedness. Little Hawk was fooled by their promises of many guns. They are clearly insane.”
    â€œHe will be angry with us for killing the white men,” Lone Bear said.
    â€œLittle Hawk is getting old,” Bloody Hand spat. “The others will see we were right when we come back with the guns the white men carry, the medicine guns that shoot many times. They are better than the guns they promised to trade for skins.”
    â€œWe must get a little closer, so we don’t miss,” Lone Bear said.
    Bloody Hand nodded, and the two warriors left the clearing behind to make their way through the trees bordering the river. Intent upon drawing close enough to ensure their accuracy, they worked their way within thirty yards of the fire before their presence was detected by the horses.
    At the first whinny from Dandy, Riley dropped to his knee just as an arrow whistled by over his head. Also instantly alert, Joel rolled away from the fire, grabbing his rifle from the blanket as a second arrow glanced off the sandy riverbank just beyond his bedroll. Cursing the horses for alerting the white men, the warriors nocked another arrow and charged the camp.
    Caught on the opposite side of the fire from his bedroll and his rifle, Riley crawled as fast as he could to get to the carbine. Bloody Hand was upon him before he was halfway around the fire, his bow fully drawn. Before he could release the arrow, the sharp snap of Joel’s Spencer rang out, slamming him in the chest and causing the arrow to be released harmlessly into the fire as he sank to his knees.
    Seeing the muzzle flash, Lone Bear reacted quickly, but not quickly enough to loose his arrow before Joel’s second shot ripped into his belly. The impact of the.54-caliber slug caused the startled warrior to stagger a few steps backward before sitting down hard on the bank. Stunned, he sat there, staring at the man crawling to his bedroll until another shot from Joel’s carbine tore into his chest.
    Still in a panic to get to his weapon, Riley reached it only seconds before a fourth shot from Joel’s carbine knocked Bloody Hand over on his side. Riley scrambled to his feet, weapon ready at last, to stand over the Comanche warrior and make sure he was dead.
    â€œGlory be!” Riley gasped. “That was too damn close for comfort!”
    Joel did not respond. He was already moving cautiously toward the horses in case the two warriors were not alone. Finding the horses undisturbed, he searched the trees beyond the clearing before returning to the fire.
    â€œLooks like these two were on their own,” he told Riley. “They left two horses tied back there on the other side of the trees.” He was a little more than peeved to have been surprised by the attack. “That’s the second time we let those damn Indians slip up on us. Maybe now we’ll get serious about keepin’ a sharper eye. If it wasn’t for that horse of yours, we’d most likely be lyin’ there on the ground while those two were goin’ through our packs.”
    â€œYeah, but we ain’t,” Riley said, “so somebody must be lookin’ out for us, even if it ain’t nobody but Dandy.” He was still in awe of the lightning-fast reactions of his partner when there really had been no time to react. “You move pretty damn fast when you’re naked as a jaybird.”
    As if just remembering then, Joel looked down at himself. He was wearing a coating of sand