“Yes,” T.C. said. “And the dead bodies.”
“Poor men,” Matthew said. “They were killed right away.”
“Who did it?” Angus asked.
Matthew made a couple of stitches in his head, then put his hands down to rest them. The needle and thread dangled by his right eye, making him even more grotesque-looking. “I assume I was supposed to think they were Indians, but unless they’ve started speaking French, the men were in disguise. I take it the wagon I was on usually carries gold?”
“There wasn’t any on it?” Angus asked.
“None that the murderers could find,” Matthew said as he got up and went to the river. Bending, he washed his hands in the cool water. “They were angry and they killed all of us.”
At that, T.C. and Naps looked at him with wide eyes.
“You mean that they shot you in the head and thought you were dead,” Angus said.
“Yes. That’s it exactly. I don’t know how long I lay there with my head split open, but it was most of a day. The only thing I can think of to explain why I didn’t bleed to death is that my blood seems to coagulate rapidly.”
“They shot all three of you, then set the wagon on fire?” Mac asked.
“Actually, I was the one who set the wagon on fire. I figured a rescue party was looking for me so I thought I’d send out a signal.”
“You took a big chance,” Angus said.
Matthew sat down and again started sewing his head. “This is easier to do on a cow than on myself.”
The four men gave him a weak smile. He really was quite hideous-looking. How could anyone lose that much blood and still be alive?
“Are you a doctor?” Naps asked.
“No, just a farmer.”
“And you’re here to marry Betsy,” Naps said, anger in his voice.
“Actually, I came here to tell her that I won’t marry her. I thought that was a lot kinder than writing her a letter.”
“But she’s expecting to get married,” Naps said, sounding like he was ready to fight for Betsy’s honor.
“I know,” Matthew said. “It was the oddest thing. When I was with her, she was all I could think about, but after she left, I could barely remember her. We corresponded and... Well, when you read letters written by someone and when you’re not distracted by a pretty face, you see things that you didn’t see before.”
“Like that she’s as dumb as a fence post?” Mac said.
“Exactly!” Matthew answered.
“What did he say?” Naps whispered to T.C.
“That he’s not good enough for a girl like Betsy,” T.C. answered quickly.
“Anyway,” Matthew said, “when I woke up, the sun was much lower in the sky, so I knew it’d been hours since we were attacked. I’d seen that one of the horses eluded capture, so I hoped to find him, but I’m afraid that I lost consciousness. That was yesterday. Today, I managed to set the wagon on fire, then I came here to the river.”
“You don’t know where the men who robbed you went, do you?” Angus asked.
“My French isn’t very good, but does the phrase ‘three pretty daughters’ mean anything to you?”
“McNalty,” Angus and Mac said in unison.
Angus looked at Matthew. “Can you ride?”
“Of course,” Matthew said. “If you’ll give me a few minutes, I’ll wash this blood off.”
“We can’t take the time,” Angus said.
“Besides, I like it,” Mac said, grinning at the young man. “I bet that under there, you’re a pretty boy.”
Matthew grinned, showing bloodstained teeth. “Ugly as mud.”
As Mac mounted his horse, he looked at the other men. “In fact, I’d say that, except for me, the best-looking men at the fort are right here.”
Angus paused for a moment with his foot in the stirrup, then glanced at Mac. “And you’re the man Austin hates the most.”
“Who’s Austin?” Matt asked as he got on the horse behind T.C.
“Think of the worst man you’ve ever met,” T.C. said. “Now triple it and you haven’t come close to Austin.”
Angus wasn’t sure what was going on, but he knew that it was bad. And with every second he was more sure that Austin was behind it. The fact that he, Angus, had been sent to find the fiancé seemed to be part of the plot.
If Angus had been alone, he would have headed east and gone back to civilization, the army be damned, but he had three soldiers and a man who looked more dead than alive with him, so he couldn’t leave. He thought maybe the whole thing about the “three pretty daughters” was part of the trap, but he couldn’t be sure. He hated having to leave the two dead soldiers who’d inadvertently become part of Austin’s treachery, unburied, but they needed to get to the McNalty cabin as quickly as possible.
“Where the hell are you taking us?” Mac asked as he tried to keep up with Angus.
“A shortcut,” Angus said over his shoulder, and looked back at the men behind him. He was surprised but pleased to see that Connor and Aldredge had traded places and the blood-smeared young man was now holding the reins to the horse, while Connor held on for dear life. Angus saw at once that Matthew Aldredge knew a great deal about horses.
“Like a girl, is he?” Angus said to Mac as he nodded toward the young man as he led his horse across a stream full of slippery, moss-covered rocks. Poor Welsch was scared to death.
“I’ll switch them,” Mac said, reading Angus’s thoughts. “You go on, we’ll catch up with you.”
“I’ll leave a trail,” Angus said, and in the next moment he was gone.
Mac had Connor and Welsch trade places so Naps could have a break. After he mounted, Naps threw his arms around Aldredge’s waist, put his head against his back, and said, “You’re second only to Betsy,” which made them all laugh.
Mac led them quick and hard as he tried to catch up with Angus. He knew where the McNalty cabin was, but he also knew that Angus was a great deal more familiar with the country than he was.
He tried to follow the trail that Angus left, but he was having trouble seeing the broken branches. The bushes all looked alike to him—but not to T.C.
“There!” T.C. called ahead. “On that Kalmia.”
Mac gave him a look that could have set his hair on fire.
“That shrub on your right,” T.C. said meekly.
Mac motioned for him to come forward, and T.C., alone on a horse that he could barely ride, was made the leader. It was easy for him to see what was wrong with a plant and where Angus had left a trail. And he surprised even himself when he so quickly adjusted to his new role of authority. When Naps, still holding on to Matt, reached out to touch a plant, T.C. ordered him to stop. “That’s poisonous!” he said. “Don’t touch anything unless I tell you to.”
Naps looked surprised, as it seemed that in an instant T.C. had gone from being his equal to his commander.
By sundown they’d traveled over fifteen miles, and Mac knew they were close to the McNalty cabin, but he wasn’t going anywhere without Angus. Besides, there was a swift-moving river nearby, and he didn’t want to cross that in the dark. “We’ll camp here and wait.”
“But what about the McNalty family?” T.C. asked, but Mac had had enough of the young man’s being the leader. It took only one look before T.C. was silently removing the saddle from his horse and helping to set up camp.
They had just unloaded the horses when Angus appeared out of the darkness.
“What did you see?” Mac asked him.
Angus was looking at Matt. His face was covered in blood that had dried to a dark brown and he looked scary. “You have any soap?”
“Sure,” Mac said with a half grin to emphasize his sarcasm. “What you want it scented with? Roses?”
Angus looked at T.C. “Can you find something that he can clean himself with?”
T.C. couldn’t conceal his pride in being asked to help. Quietly, he left the camp to go into the darkness.
Angus sat down beside
Mac. “I went to their cabin. I didn’t go inside or let them know I was there, but I watched. I didn’t see anyone, but I did see a lot of footprints around the place. Something isn’t right, but I don’t know what it is.” He lowered his voice, and nodded toward Matt. “To tell you the truth, I’m afraid to deliver him to the fort. He can tell Wellman’s daughter that he doesn’t want her, but I don’t trust Austin not to decide he wants to hurt the boy anyway.”
Mac was just starting a fire but he put it out. “I think we should have a cold camp tonight. And tomorrow—”
“I’m going to take Aldredge back east. I don’t think he’s safe here. You take the soldiers back to the fort.”
“And let Austin have them?”
“I leave it to you to make them understand that if they want to live, they’ll have to stay away from Betsy Wellman.”
“And how will they understand me?” Mac asked, only half joking.
“Make them understand you. I’m going up there to sleep.” Angus looked up at a hill well above them. “I wish this were over. I’d rather—”
“I know,” Mac said, “fight the Campbells.”
Smiling, Angus stood up and slipped away into the darkness.
A few minutes later, T.C. returned with big leaves filled with an almost white clay still wet from where he’d dug it up at the side of a stream. His pockets were filled with long green leaves. “Put this clay all over your face, and when it’s dry, we’ll go down to the stream to wash it off.”
“Are those plants poisonous?” Naps asked, a bit jealous that T.C. was no longer as useless as he felt.
“They’ll help heal your wounds,” T.C. told Matt as he handed him the clay. They had only moonlight to see by, but the clay almost glowed, and T.C. made sure that Matt covered all his blood-encrusted skin. When he was done, T.C. led him down the hill to the stream to help him wash it off. When he was clean, T.C. twisted the comfrey leaves and gently applied them to the deep cut on Matt’s head. Together, they went back up the hill to where Mac and Naps were waiting for them. After arranging the order of the watch, Mac settled down to sleep.
About an hour before dawn, Angus woke him, his finger to his lips to be quiet. T.C. was standing to one side, a rifle over his shoulder. Angus made gestures to tell Mac to pack and get out of there, then he woke the other two. Matt awoke easily, but Angus had to put his hand over Naps’s mouth to keep him silent. Within minutes, they had their horses saddled and were ready to leave the camp.
As Angus put his foot in the stirrup, the first shot rang out, and it was followed by a volley of gunfire that echoed through the woods.
Before the sounds cleared, Naps had fallen. Angus grabbed the young man before he hit the ground, but he couldn’t keep the frightened horse from running away.
Shots began to come at lightning speed. Angus pulled Naps to safety behind some trees while Mac tried to get the horses. Only Angus’s horse remained steadfast amid the whizzing bullets.
“Down!” Angus shouted to T.C. and Matt. “Get down on the ground and stay there.”
Angus’s only thought was that he had to get the men under his care to safety. He glanced down at Naps. Blood was seeping out of his shoulder and his eyes were closed, but Angus didn’t think the injury was life threatening. “Don’t move a muscle,” he said to the boy.
Naps didn’t open his eyes, just grimaced against the pain and nodded.
Crouching and running at the same time, Angus made his way to Mac, who was standing behind a tree, his rifle ready to shoot.
“You see anyone?” Angus asked over the gunfire.
“Not a person, but the shots are coming from three places.”
Angus was glad that Mac had kept calm enough that he hadn’t run into the open firing. Three of the horses had run away, and that meant they were low on ammunition. If this was to be a long battle, they’d need all that they had.
“Good man,” Angus said as he put his hand on Mac’s shoulder. “I know this area, so give me a minute with the boys, then we’ll get out of here.”
Mac didn’t answer but raised his rifle, took careful aim and fired. In the distance there was a cry. Mac had shot one of them—but that made the bullets come at them faster.
Still crouching, Angus went through the bushes to where T.C. and Matt were hiding behind a rock. “Are you all right?”
“Fine,” T.C. said as he fired a shot.
“No new injuries,” Matt said as he reloaded.
With the growing light, Angus could at last see Matthew Aldredge’s clean face. He was indeed a handsome young man, with blue eyes and a strong jaw. Angus could see the huge cut in his scalp and thought about how Matt had sewn it together by himself. He’s a much better man than Betsy Wellman deserves, he thought.
Angus looked at T.C. “Do you know what a cardinal sounds like?”
“Yes.”
“When I give the whistle, I want you two to come immediately. Do you understand me? Stop shooting and come to me.”
Both young men nodded, then Angus made his way back to where Naps lay on the ground, looking up at him. “I’m going to take you to a place that’s safer than here. Can you walk?”
“Sure,” Naps said, which made Angus frown. He recognized false bravery when he heard it. Naps might have several injuries but he’d rather die than let the others know he was badly wounded.
Angus looked down at him and saw a dark spot on his trousers. When he touched it, Naps gave a muffled cry of pain. It looked as though the boy had been shot in at least two places. “I’m going to carry you.”
“I can walk,” Naps said. “Just tell me where to go and I’ll get there.”
“Shut up,” Angus said, “and don’t give me any trouble.” Bending, he lifted Naps and slung him over his shoulder, then started walking north. It wasn’t easy to move quickly with the sturdy young man weighing him down, but Angus did it. He’d camped in that area a few times and knew that nearby was a small cave. It was up a steep hill and difficult to get to, but it had once sheltered him from a ferocious storm.
As Angus climbed, he tried to plan what he was going to do. If he could get all the men into the cave, they would be protected on three sides. Based on the number of gunshots he was hearing behind him, there were at least four gunmen. When he heard a sound to his left, he stopped and listened, but it was an animal, so he kept moving.
The struggle to get up the hill with Naps’s body across his shoulder gave Angus something to think about other than that he’d been an idiot. It hadn’t taken him long to figure out that Captain Austin was behind the whole thing, but Angus still hadn’t taken the necessary precautions. He’d been so concerned that Austin would harm the McNalty family that Angus hadn’t looked after the men under his care. Austin might not know the countryside very well, but with the traders coming into the fort often, he’d had access to men who did. Several of the French traders were ruthless and still bitter that they’d lost the American territory to the English.
If the men who’d dressed as Indians and killed the soldiers on the pay wagon were trappers, then they knew the countryside even better than Angus did. Some of them had lived there most of their lives. They would know the trails that Angus would use to get to the McNalty cabin. And if they knew he was going there, that meant they knew that Aldredge wasn’t dead. It was Angus’s guess that when they’d all sat there, watching Matt sew his head back together, they’d been watched. Had it been soldiers in the woods around them, Angus would have heard them, but trappers? No. They were as good in the forests as Angus was.
By the time Angus reached the cave, he wondered if they’d ever get out alive. There was water trickling down the back of the cave wall, but they had no food and little ammunition, and, worse, they had a wounded man. How would they escape from men who could walk across dry leaves and not make a sound? How would they elude men whose clothes matched the forest? Many times, Angus had stood ten feet from Wellman’s soldiers and they’d not seen him, so he knew what true frontiersmen
could do.
When Angus reached the cave, he put Naps down gently, but the boy still groaned in pain. The right half of his body was covered in blood from the two wounds.
“I have to go get the others,” Angus said, wondering if he’d ever again see the young man alive. He well remembered that when he’d used the cave there was a stack of dry firewood in the corner. It was an unwritten rule of woodsmen that they replace what they’d used. At least they could have a fire.
“Damnation!” Angus muttered as he started down the hill. That no one shot at him let him know exactly what was going on. The men shooting at them knew one of them was wounded and they knew where Angus was taking him. But the cave was their only choice at the moment. With Welsch being wounded and with Connor, both of them hardly being able stay on a horse, it would be impossible to get them all out alive. No, what Angus had to do was get them all into the cave, then he’d have to leave them under Mac’s protection while he, Angus, went for help.
T.C., Matt, and Mac were where he’d left them, but the younger men were out of ammunition.
“They shoot like they have a keg of powder,” Mac grumbled.
“We need to get the men up that hill. There’s a cave up there, and I put Welsch in it.”
“How bad is he?”
“I don’t know, but if I were to guess, I’d say he’s losing too much blood to make it.”
Mac nodded toward T.C. and Matt. “Put those two on him. Sewing and plants. They’re good at those.”
Nodding in agreement, Angus turned toward the hill, Mac behind him. When he silently passed the young men, he gave the distinctive whistle of the red cardinal, and T.C. told Matt they had to go.
It took nearly an hour to get to the cave because they had to wait behind trees when the gunfire got too heavy. They watched Angus, waiting for him to tell them what to do. He’d stand and fire while Connor ran, then he’d reload and let Aldredge go. Mac was always last and always reluctant to leave Angus holding the gunmen off.
When they finally reached the cave, Matt immediately went to Naps. He used the knife he wore at his waist to cut away Naps’s clothes so he could look at the wounds. After he’d examined him, he went to the others standing in the center of the cave.