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"Your neighbor, Hawks and some others," Chase said. He fired once more again felling an Indian who was very close to jumping one of the men.
The horses ran almost into the building as the men dismounted and hurried inside.
But Hawks men had chased the Comanche's back into the rocks, firing their guns and killing several on horseback.
Hawks eyed Chase quickly as he stumbled inside with the others, then glanced around the room. Jesse was wounded and fell on his knees. Katherine rushed to his side. "You're hurt, Jesse. Sit still, I'll tend you."
"Thanks Miss Katherine," Jesse barely uttered, before passing out on the floor. His face was pale and his wound bled all over the floor. Katherine didn't bother with the floor, but bandaged him with her slip pieces.
"Are you hurt, Miss Katherine?" Mathew cried out from the other side of the wall where he collapsed from fatigue.
Katherine tore off more of her slip and bandaged Jesse again as he was bleeding through it, "I'm fine, Mathew."
"But your brother wasn't as lucky, looks like," Hawks remarked coming closer into the circle of the others. Seeing Josh barely awake he seemed to size the situation up. His beady eyes became narrow slits as he watched out the window for a moment.
The Tyler brothers were scared and quiet as they hugged the walls of the shack. For some reason, seeing these men made her feel less afraid. Safety in numbers, she thought. Perhaps her assumption of Hawks had been wrong. Maybe he was trying to help. But Chase was right; he had led the Indians to the shack, now they were all in danger.
"Those redskins 'ell be back. We'll need more ammunition, I'm running low." Hawks said, checking his gun belt and realizing he was almost out. His anger festering as he moved to the small window hoping to pick off an Indian or two.
"We have some you can use…" Lee offered, quickly stripping his gun belt and tossing them some bullets.
But that wasn't the last of their troubles. More arrows flew, breaking the small window and nearly wounding Lee. Lee ducked down and reloaded his gun. He seemed to gauge the Indians correctly and knew how to wait out the fighting.
"Damnation, it's the Captain, he's still alive…." Lee hollered when he tried to see outside once more through a small hole in the wall.
Chase grimaced, but nodded. "Let him in…."
"But…" Lee started to protest, his eyes scanning the room for approval.
"I know, but we have no choice. Let him in," Chase commanded, taking the bullets from Katherine's hands and reloading his gun too.
Katherine nodded at Lee.
Hawks stood aside when the Captain practically fell into the cabin as the door opened and closed like a loud sneeze. Wounded in the shoulder, an arrow protr
uded. His coloring paled but he held his head high.
Chase saw it and without even asking ripped it from him in one agonizing quick thrust. "Stop the bleeding Katherine!" He hollered as he tossed the arrow to the floor and watched outside movements. His actions stunned the Captain, but he was too weak to protest.
Katherine gasped and ran to take care of the Captain as soon as she finished bandaging Jesse.
Seeing the Captain, Hawks nodded to him. "I thought they done you in."
"Most if not all my men are dead," the Captain frowned as though unsure what to do or say.
"So what's the army doin' this far south? I thought they were mostly concentrating their efforts to the north of us," Hawks said as he watched Katherine work on the soldier.
"I've come to take these three back to the fort…for trial," The Captain insisted stubbornly.
Hawks eyed the Captain, then Chase and Katherine and Lee. "What have they done?"
Chase noted that Hawks seemed really surprised to hear this. So he wasn't working for the Army. But Hawks wanted something, and Chase aimed to find out what it was.
"The breed killed a man, he'll hang for that. The girl and her brother, I'm not sure about, but it looks as though they might be responsible for killing a couple of soldiers. She'll get a chance to tell her story. But I don't hold much for her chances once they know what she did to hide it," The Captain said his voice harsh and uncaring. "The soldier, if you can call him that, deserted. That's a hangin' offense too."
"Captain you are wrong…" Katherine cried aloud.
"I took those two men on the stage back to the fort. You made a laughing stock of me." He leaned toward her and grimly frowned into her face. "The General couldn't stop laughing. He thought it was the best trick he'd seen in years. The whole company laughed. Well, you won't be laughing, miss. Killed by the Comanche, were they? Then why did they both have mouthfuls of dirt in them? The Comanche didn't kill them. You did. Or you were hiding this man, and he did. Either way you are both guilty and going back with me." The Captain seemed to have it in control, everything except the pain he felt in his arm. His face contorted as she tightened the rag around his wound none too gently.
