The Five Dollar Mail Book 3: The Road Home

29: Crossroads Part II

Cover painting by Angela Taratuta. Chapter artwork of Jesse by Angela Taratuta. All graphics by me.

Book 1: The Green, Book 2: Lynch's Boys, Book 3: The Road Home, and the Riders & Kickers Anthology are available on Amazon under the name Regina Shelley. So if you hate waiting for chapter posts and/or want a more polished read, the finished product is available now.

The moment stretched out like sweet gum sap on a chilly day, hanging in the air over all their heads. The four men stared hard at Jesse and his three Indian companions, taking them in, sizing up their odds. Runs Laughing stood behind Jesse and Still Water Woman, peering around him, her little knife drawn.

The man in front, a broad-chested, middle-aged man with a weathered face and a carbine held competently in his bearlike hands, locked eyes with him, cocking his head. "What am I seeing here, son?" he said, his voice terse and direct.

A euphoric near-panic clutched at Jesse's insides. Tell them. They got us outgunned. I can just walk out of here, right now. There's nobody here to stop me. He realized his breath was coming in quick gasps and he forced himself to calm down. Just tell them and it'll be over.

He realized Still Water Woman had shrunk back, her knife held out before her. Two Elk stepped close to her protectively, his face a mask of tension. A younger man with a dark beard was staring at Still Water Woman far more aggressively than Jesse liked.

"This your woman?" the man said, still openly leering as he gestured casually with his pistol. "You a squaw man? She yours?"

Jesse's skin prickled, and he realized with an unpleasant jolt that the only thing keeping the men at bay was his own presence. Squaw man... he remembered Storm telling him what that meant, and that it wasn't a compliment. Storm's pa got called that. A white man married into a tribe and living as an Indian. His mind raced as he weighed his options. I tell them the truth...I say I'm their captive...I don't wanna think about what happens next to them. But if I don't...

"Harper," the first man said sharply. "Be quiet." He returned his attention back to Jesse. "Do you speak English?"

"I don't care he speaks English," blurted the thin, clean-shaven man who'd joined his fellow in staring at Still Water Woman. "Look at him; he's one of them. Probably taken as a baby and gone native. He's even got a little red whelp there. Might want to take him back with us, though. Somebody might be looking for him and there might be some money in it. And...uh..." he gestured at Still Water Woman. "Her. Because...well. You know. And it's just him and..." he gestured with the pistol again, waving it at Two Elk. "That. And none of 'em with guns."

"We aren't dragging off a woman, Spires," the leader snapped. "What the hell's the matter with you?"

"I speak English," Jesse spat, fear and anger and desperation bursting in his chest, making him giddy. No. That ain't a price I can pay. Even for a chance to get home. He reached down and snatched the upraised knife from Runs Laughing's hand, shoving her behind him and jerking Still Water Woman hard against his side, knowing even as he did it, there was no way to defend against four men with guns. Even if it means dyin' here. "I ain't captive," he said. "And ain't nobody going nowhere with nobody."

"Damn it," the man called Spires muttered to his companions, hissing through his teeth. "Hell, boys, who'd know? It gets cold out here at night, and..."

Jesse could feel Still Water Woman's fingers digging into his bicep. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the knife she held shaking slightly in her white-knuckled grip. She was terrified. He was thankful she couldn't understand what was being said, but she had to see the livid flush he could feel sizzling across his skin. His face was probably turning purple with rage. "That's right." He held Runs Laughing's knife at the ready. "She's with me. They're all with me. "

"You gonna take us all on, squaw man?"

"Try me," he breathed.

Two Elk, standing calmly and empty-handed beside him, shook his head. "Did the chiefs and grandfathers at the..." he cut his eyes at Jesse before resuming his scowl and continued. "...railroad send you out here to attack women and children and old men in dresses?"

All four of the men turned, gaping at Two Elk as he stood there staring them down like a stern schoolmaster chastising little boys. "Perhaps the band of His Horses was wrong to consider peace with your chiefs."

The big man with the carbine lowered the weapon and took his finger out of the trigger guard. "It's not like that. Nobody's going to hurt any of you. Listen," he snapped at Harper and Spires. "You two shut up and stop making threats. This situation's gone too far as it is. What do you think you're going to do? Murder a man and violate his wife while we're out here? Are you out of your minds?" He turned his gaze back to Jesse's face, searching. "You sure you're alright, son?" he said, his voice full of things he didn't say. His gaze flickered over the three Indians and went back to Jesse's face.

Jesse locked eyes with him. He drew in a deep breath and nodded slowly. "I am. Thanks." He realized his trembling fingers were still locked around Still Water Woman's arm. He let out a long, heavy breath and released his grip, hoping he hadn't hurt her when he had jerked her towards him.

She watched the distance between them and the men growing as they backed away from them, watched Jesse stand holding Runs Laughing's knife as the men retreated. She's surprised I stayed. All I had to do to leave was to step forward. All I had to do was say the word. I'd be gone. She knows it. She's wondering what I'm going to do now. I'm holding a knife...if I ran now...she'd have to fight me to keep me here, and I could still call for help, if things got crazy...

The surveying crew was backing away from them, and he was shaking with a mixture of relief and emotions he couldn't quite identify. He needed to sit down. He needed a drink, a smoke, a peppermint. Anything. "I meant it," he said, locking eyes with Still Water Woman. He spoke in Lakota, halting but clear, just to make absolutely certain she understood him. "I ain't a captive." He flipped the knife around in his hand, never breaking Still Water Woman's gaze, and handed it butt-first to Runs Laughing. He gestured back towards the village and shouldered the waterskins. "I gotta talk to His Horses about all this," he muttered to Two Elk in English, his mind racing. "Reckon we best get what we came for and get on back."

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