Jim,” Owen said, “but shooting up this hill gave them some cover in itself. With A.J.’s horse dying also for cover it gave them boys enough luck to make it out of here.”
“See all that blood on the ground Owen?” Jim asked. “I knew I at least hit that one,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter now Jim. Dead or alive they both made it out of here,” Owen replied. “We shouldn’t even be discussing this right now we should be burying two dead bodies out here somewhere!” Owen stated angrily. “We should have surrounded this hill like I said and we would be going back home right now. Instead now we have to devise a plan to kill all three of them there at the house,” he continued. “That’s if they haven’t all gone to town to fetch the law by now!”
“Don’t be yelling at me!” Jim yelled back. “You’re the one that got all of us in this mess. I have two dead boys now because of this and what has it gotten us?” He asked. “This whole thing has gotten my family nowhere Jim!”
“You two stop arguing!” Levi interrupted. “I’m sorry you all got mixed up in this Uncle Jim,” Levi continued, “but it’s not doing any of us any good out here fighting about it now. Pa, if Ma knew we have to now plan to kill Soph too there at the house she would shoot us all dead. You have gotten this whole family into this ordeal pretty deep. Now there is no turning back from this by any of us, so you all had better get a plan figured out quick before we all have to abandon our land and go on the run.”
“Your right son,” Owen said. “Jim I am sorry about all this. Levi is right, we are all going to have to see this through to the end now,” he continued. “If we get through this whole ordeal then there will be a lot of land for all of us to grow crops and live.”
“Let’s just get this done,” Jim replied. “What is the plan going to be now Ownen?”
“Well boys I don’t see any other way to go around it then to ambush them right there at their house,” Owen said. “I am open to any other suggestions you all have, but my guess is that is the best route to take.
All the boys nodded their heads in agreement that ambushing the house was the best plan of action. They could get all the Davises in one place and keep them from running to town if they surrounded the house. Having all agreed on the plan they mounted up their horses and headed west towards the Davises house as it was starting to get towards evening time.
“We will camp a little ways from the house with no fire tonight,” Owen Farland suggested, “then before first light we will surround the house and just open fire,” he continued. “We will keep firing until there is no word or return fire from the house.”
“Sounds ok to me Owen,” Jim replied as the rest of the boys nodded and agreed as well.
The Farlands made it to within a quarter mile of the Davises house. They were now close enough to see the house just before dark, but not to close as to where they could be spotted. “Let’s bed down here for the night,” Owen Farland said. “We will sleep in shifts and then before dawn we will set up around the house.”
The men all took hour long shifts sleeping through the night. Early the next morning, while it was still dark, Levi woke them all and they ate a breakfast of dry biscuits.
“Let’s all mount up and quietly surround the house,” Owen said. “Mike you can hide next to the barn to the north of the house using it as some cover. Aaron, since you’re the youngest, you take the west side behind the house. There is only one window there and it’s small so you shouldn’t have much trouble there,” he continued. “Levi you take the south of the house, there is only one window there also. Jim and I will take the front side of the house here facing the east,” Owen said. “Once day breaks you will hear Jim and I fire at the front side of the house. That will be the signal to you all to starting shooting through any window or door you can see or shoot.”
They all shook hands and wished each other luck, then mounted their horses and quietly rode half circles to their intended shooting locations for the ambush. It was just before dawn and it was already getting warm for a late fall day.
18
Bub had fallen into a light sleep when he first thought he heard the sound. He woke and urged his ears to hear the sound again as he listened intently. He could have sworn he heard a horse neigh out on the pasture to the west of the house. “The only horse that I know that’s out there would be A.J.s dead one,” Bub mumbled to himself. He thought the only other horses that would possibly be out there would belong to the Farlands. “One of their horses must have caught the scent of mine in the barn and decided to neigh,” he continued. Bub sat quietly and listened for what seemed like an eternity, but he never did hear another noise.
Bub felt edgy after trying to convince himself he did hear a horse out in the field somewhere. He decided it would be a good decision to go ahead and wake his brother and sister to at least be on alert in case the Farlands had planned on ambushing them at the house. “Soph...A.J.,” Bub whispered as he shook his sister’s shoulder. “Hey I think the Farlands are planning on ambushing us here,” Bub said as Soph and A.J. sat up on the bed. “I could have sworn I heard a horse out on the field out there neigh at Duncan.”
“To the west Bub?” A.J. asked.
“Yes it woke me up. I swear I heard it,” Bub replied.
“We had just better plan on them hitting us here in the morning then Bub,” A.J. said. “My shoulder hurts like hell, but with some sort of support on the barrel I think I could probably fire the rifle, and be somewhat accurate at a little distance,” A.J. continued. “We should probably set up on the front and sides don’t ya think Bub?”
“Yes better to keep a look out on all sides,” Bub replied. “I will set up on the front window, A.J. you watch out that window on the north side that faces the barn. Soph grab the shotgun and watch out the window to the south there in your bedroom,” Bub continued. “We will each take a turn watching the window to the west at the back of the house. Let’s say every half hour or so we will switch out. Make sure you are all very vigilant looking through the dark. Things will be hard to make out until dawn.”
“Better take some extra ammunition and place it at each of our spots also,” Soph suggested, “that way if we are all shooting we don’t have to scramble around looking for more.”
“Good idea,” Bub said. “Better get some biscuits and maybe some jerked beef at our spots also. I have a feeling we may be here for a while.”
“Better keep the windows shut also,” A.J. suggested, “just peek through the cracks to look out.”
A.J., Bub, and Soph each grabbed extra rounds and food as they set up their predetermined spots to cover each side of the house. They each rotated to the back window every half hour throughout the night. They whispered conversations back and forth to keep each other awake through the night. At about two hours before dawn Soph made them all some coffee to have with their biscuits and jerked beef.
It was about thirty minutes or so until they would see the first signs of dawn. A.J. was fighting hard to stay awake even with the coffee in him. Between the full stomach and fighting back the pain in his shoulder he had almost worn himself out. He caught himself several times nodding off when either his sister or brother would say something that startled him awake. This time when he woke he decided to look through the crack in the window and see if he could see anything, as he did he noticed a man’s shadow sliding slowly across the barn. The figure knelt down and A.J. could tell he had a rifle in his hand. “Bub,” A.J. whispered to his brother. “I see someone sneaking up the side of the barn.”
Bub changed his angle and looked out the front window crack towards the north. “I see him too,” he replied. As Bub looked back front towards the front of the house he noticed two shadows moving in the darkness behind a few barrels they had next to the horse coral. “There is two out front here I can see now also,” Bub continued. “You see anyone out your side Soph?” Bub asked.
“It could be my eyes playing tricks on me,” Soph replied, “but it looks like
someone is lying on the ground out there.”
“Ok they are obviously trying to surround us,” Bub whispered to his brother and sister. “What you think we should do A.J.?” Bub asked.
“They out number us right now,” A.J. replied. “If we shoot first and take a few of them out that would probably give us the upper hand having the house as cover,” he continued. “Let’s each target what we can see. I will then count to three when you all are ready. Let’s fire on the three targets at the same time that we can see. Us surprising them and taking out a few will maybe confuse them and give us what we need to either drive them off or kill them.”
“That a hell of a plan A.J.,” Soph said. “There should be no light coming from inside the house, so we can crack the windows a little bit and get us a good aim on them.”
All three of the Davises cracked the windows as quietly as they could and just enough to get a good aim on their targets. “Ok A.J. I got a good bead with the shotgun,” Sop said.
“I got one of the two shadows sighted in A.J.,” Bub said. “After my first shot I will try and hit the other one before they know what’s going on,” he continued. “I think we are ready when you are A.J.”
“Ok I imagine there is probably someone watching the back as