Rud and the Damsel

Chapter 42 - Fight For Their Lives

Rud hoped looking like a blacksmith would allow him to get close enough to the leader to strike first if need be. Rud rounded the corner of the cabin just about the time the leader said, "Patience Morrow, or should I say Patience Billings, where is William?" Rud walked up next to the leader's horse, hammer in hand, and said, "My name is Rud Morrow. What is your business here."

The leader smiled and said, "Boys, it's our lucky day. It looks like we hit the jackpot. William has to be around here somewhere." The leader looked at Rud and said, "This is for my friends you chopped up on the dock that day," and shot Rud at point-blank range in the center of his chest. It was Rud who was surprised this time. He had tried to bring the hammer up in a defensive move, but the ball hit Rud in the chest and threw him backward. Rud hit the ground face down, arms and legs splayed in different directions. It had never occurred to Rud the men would be looking for him too.

* * * * *

As soon as the leader shot Rud, Joe wheeled his horse, dug in his heels, and started riding away as fast as his horse would run. Alice had so terrified Joe that he was running before Alice could fulfill her promise as he knew she would. As he rode, Joe threw his pistol down, pulled his rifle from its sheath, and tossed it to the side, all the while praying the ball from that little girl's pistol was not on the way to his head.

Joe's departure distracted the remaining three riders just long enough. True to her words, Alice shot the talker in the face. Patience, still in shock from seeing Rud shot, acted without thinking. She raised her rifle and shot the leader at close range. The ball had sufficient energy to go through the leader and cover the fourth rider, who was directly behind him, with his blood.

By the time the fourth rider had wiped some of the blood from his face and started to raise his pistol, the stone from Billy's sling hit him in the side of his head, penetrating his skull. Alice fired her second pistol into the man's chest as he fell just for good measure. Three riders were now on the ground, dead near Rud's body.

Joe, face white with fear, heard the gunfire behind him and rode past the main group as fast as his horse would run. Joe was saying, "I didn't want this," over and over. Alice had already begun pushing Patience into the cabin. Billy ran up as they made it inside. Billy said, "Help me get Rud in." Alice screamed back, "You can't help Rud now." Billy had seen the shot and knew it was true.

The main group of riders, including those who had gone to Alice's cabin, had seen their friends killed, and Joe ride by as if death itself was chasing him. They pulled their guns and rode quickly towards the cabin where Patience, Alice, and Billy were now safely inside. Rifles bristled from the cabin windows, ready for the men to come.

Billy heard another large group of riders enter the valley, this group coming on fast. The sound of the horse's iron shoes on the rocky hill echoed through the valley. Billy's heart sank. Soon there would be even more men to fight. Billy wished Rud was alive. They would have a chance if Rud were alive.

* * * * *

Patience looked at Rud's body. She felt nothing now. There was nothing to feel. She was hollow inside. Her Rud, her life, was dead on the ground just feet from the window she was defending. She would kill every one of the approaching riders, and then she would be as good as dead herself. Her heart had turned black as the darkest night, there was only death now, and she would kill them all. It would seem the beast did not just live within men.

Patience's face was blank of any expression as she fired, striking the lead rider in the chest and throwing him from his horse. Billy and Alice looked on as Patience grabbed another rifle and killed the second rider. Billy handed Patience his rifle. She was unrecognizable even to her brother. Billy grabbed the ramrod and started reloading her rifles as Patience shot a third rider square in the chest.

Alice fired, and a fourth man fell. Patience fired again, and a fifth man fell. Alice killed the sixth. With almost half their total number now dead, the remaining riders reached the cabin and dismounted to find cover. Two moved around the cabin and made it on top. Inside, they could hear them try to break through the hard-packed sod and dirt of the cabin roof.

Shots from the uncle's men started hitting the boards in the cabin windows. Both Patience and Alice were getting showered with splinters. With Billy reloading for her, Patience never stopped firing. The uncle's men were all around the cabin, and at least one was trying to break down the door.

Alice yelled, "The door." Billy finished loading a rifle, then lifted one end of the board that barred the door from opening just enough for the door to open slightly. When the man hit the door again with his shoulder, the door opened a couple of inches, and he was staring down the muzzle of Billy's rifle. Billy pulled the trigger, and the man disappeared in the white cloud of burnt gunpowder. Billy pushed the door closed, placed the board back fully in its cradle, and resumed reloading for Patience.

Alice had just leveled her rifle when she heard a different sound. It was a shot but from further away. A man fell in front of her window. It was one of the men from the roof. A crescendo of shots rang out. The uncle's men turned to face the second group of riders coming on fast and firing at them. Alice yelled at Patience not to shoot the men on horseback. Billy grabbed Patience's arm when it did not appear she would heed Alice's words.

Billy saw pure hate in his sister's eyes, and he felt so sorry for her. He could only look into those once familiar eyes, now lifeless and black. Patience held her fire as the men on horseback rode through what remained of the uncle's men. It took only seconds, and all of the uncle's men were dead. The new group of riders circled the bodies looking for life.