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They had left their horses tethered close to a stream where there was thick grass for them to feast upon, not worrying about being able to locate them.
Not until now, anyway. They were lost, and frighteningly enough, were now concerned about not only being unable to find their horses, but where they had left the many pelts they had gathered up today. They had hidden them at an old fort they had found upon their first arrival in this unfamiliar territory.
What worried them the most was the realization that they had traveled into Winnebago country. They had always known an Indian village existed somewhere in this forest, but until today had made certain to avoid it.
“I don’t like it one bit,” Jeb growled out. “You should’ve listened to me, Clint. We had no business temptin’ fate like this by comin’ so close to an Indian village, or traveling so far from the fort. Good Lord, Clint, we were doin’ well enough stayin’ away from this part of the forest. I wish now that we hadn’t taken such a risk. I say let’s leave this place right here and now. To hell with the remaining traps. A few more pelts ain’t worth the sweat it’s causin’ us. I smell like a skunk. That alone might lead Injuns to us.”
“Oh, jist shut up and bite off a plug of yore chawin’ tobaccy and take your nervousness out on it instead of me,” Clint snapped back. “We ain’t seen hide nor hair of an Injun. It’s my belief they stay close to home ’cause of bein’ scared of the soldiers and bein’ chased down and taken to a reservation. So jist shut up your whinin’, Jeb, and keep yore eyes peeled for those traps. They cain’t be all that far from here and I ain’t leavin’ ’em behind, especially if some frisky red fox got hung up in one of ’em. Those furs are worth the chance we’re takin’.”
Jeb frowned at Clint, but did as he suggested. He grabbed a wad of chewing tobacco from his front shirt pocket and placed it in the right corner of his mouth. At first he nervously sucked on it, then began earnestly chewing it.
He spat a long string of rust-colored spittle from his mouth, wiping it from his lips with the back of a hairy hand. “No matter what you say, I don’t like this situation we’re in one bit,” Jeb growled. “I’m goin’ back, Clint. I’m gonna find my horse and that fort and gather up my portion of the skins and I’m leavin’ this dang place. You can stay if you want to gamble with gettin’ caught and havin’ your scalp hang on one of those Injun’s scalp poles.”
“I ain’t never seen a scalp pole, so I doubt there ever was such a thing. I’m not sweatin’ about losin’ my hair to any Injun,” Clint said. He chuckled as he reached up and ran his fingers through his filthy, tangled brown hair. “Anyhow, no Injun could want a scalp bad enough to take mine. The way it’s been itchin’ these past few days, I’d swear there’s fleas in it from those animals we’ve caught.”
Jeb stopped quickly.
He held a hand out in front of Clint.
“Stop,” he said, his eyes wide as he stared at something straight ahead of him. “Lord Jesus Almighty. I jest found two of the traps, Clint. Look yonder. Seems we caught way more than a fox in ’em.”
Clint almost vomited when he looked and saw what Jeb was staring at. “No,” he gasped, turning pale at the sight of two young braves lying on the ground, their ankles caught in separate traps, blood pooling on the ground beneath them.
“They ain’t movin’, Clint,” Jeb said hoarsely. “And my Lord, look at the god-awful blood beneath them on the ground.”
Clint swallowed hard. “The traps must’ve cut right through a major vein,” he said. “They didn’t have a chance in hell of escapin’ the steel jaws of death.”
“You know what that means, don’t ’cha?” Jeb said, his voice dry with shock and fear.
“Yep, it means we better get the hell outta here if we want to live another day on this earth,” Clint replied, yet he took another step closer. He hadn’t ever seen an Indian up this close.
He just had to take a good look. The two braves were no doubt full-blood Winnebago. Their hair was coal black and waist long. Their copper skin was smooth and hairless, very different from Jeb and Clint’s, whose faces were covered beneath their long beards.
The young men’s chests were also hairless, making Clint wonder if they shaved all the hair off their bodies every day. They wore breechclouts and moccasins, but otherwise they were naked.
“Whatcha doin?” Jeb gasped out. “Come on, Clint. This ain’t the time to fool around. We’ve gotta put many miles between us and those two Injuns. We truly might be scalped if their people realize we’re responsible for their deaths.” He squinted as he looked more closely at their faces. “They ain’t all that old, you know. Look at ’em. I bet they ain’t no more than fourteen years old.”
Jeb then glanced at the knives sheathed at the braves’ waists, and at quivers of arrows on their backs. Two bows lay on the ground beside the youths. “Betcha they were out hunting,” he said thickly. “They never thought they’d end up bein’ the hunted.”
“None of this was done on purpose, so don’t say such a thing,” Clint said, nervously looking over his shoulder. “It’s time to go, Jeb. Now.”
“Damn it all to hell,” Jeb grumbled. “We should’ve been more careful where we placed our traps. We knew we were gettin’ way too close to an Injun village, but just couldn’t resist. We saw too many fat beavers and fox in this particular area not to take some for ourselves.”
“Jeb, why cain’t you listen to reason?” Clint whined. “The only thing I can think of now is gettin’ the hell outta here. Let’s go!”
Jeb’s eyes were still transfixed on the lifeless Indians. He realized he felt nothing at the sight of their bloody bodies. To him, they were not much different from the animals they caught in their traps every day.
The only difference was that he and Clint couldn’t sell ’em and make money from the kill.
“Y
ou’ve got that look I know so well. What would you do…empty the traps and place them somewheres else to catch a fox or beaver in ’em?” Clint growled out. “Have you gone nuts on me, or what? Come on. We’ve got to get outta here, and fast.”
Jeb laughed throatily. “What do you think I am? Looney?” he said. He stepped farther away from the fallen braves. “I know the importance of gettin’ away from this place. We’ve got enough pelts hidden at the old fort. I say let’s leave the entire area now, then come back later and get our pelts after the Indians have cooled down. And don’t forget that the savages surely have more on their minds than the loss of two young braves. They have the survival of the entire village to concentrate on. It’s a fact that all Injuns have to watch their backs, because the United States government is rounding up as many as possible to send away to reservations.”
He smiled smugly. “Yep, the Injun tribe these young ones belong to won’t want to cause a stink over the loss of just two braves when they have their entire tribe’s survival to worry about,” he said.
“I say we forget everything but escapin’,” Clint said. “No matter what you think, they’ll be out for our hides, Jeb. As soon as they discover these bodies, they won’t stop until they find us. I say we hurry down to the river, and wait for the opportunity to steal a boat. You know how busy the river is these days, with so many folks goin’ to St. Louis to do business there. We’ll go as far as St. Louis, too. We’ll meet with the men who buy our pelts, and tell them about the rich hides that we’ll be bringing to them as soon as we can.”
