Fiddler's Green (Chapter 13)

A Novel by The 13th Grade

They had topped the first ridge by full dark, and Daniel’s pony was once again falling behind. Just below the summit, they halted long enough to build a meager fire from the sparse brush that grew there. Jesse allowed them to enjoy its warmth only long enough to eat the last of their hardtack, and then they remounted and rode up over the crest and down into the low ground beyond, leaving the blaze as a decoy for their pursuers. He dared ride no further in the darkness, for his ironhorse, although tireless, was less sure of foot than a living animal, and if it fell, nothing would set it right again but an A-frame hoist and a cavalry artificer. They found shelter in a dry streambed among a stand of leafless trees, gave water to the flesh and blood horses, and spread blankets on the narrow patches of sand between the boulders. Jesse volunteered to take the first watch, and his fellows made no objection as they sank into exhausted slumber.

Jesse walked some ways from the camp, cradling his carbine, with his blanket caped around his shoulders. He found a great rock to sit on that afforded him a view of their backtrail. The last ridge was a broken line of pure black against the night sky, and he knew he would be able to see the posse silhouetted against the stars if they rode over it. He pulled the blanket over his head so that his shape seemed one with the stone beneath, and watched. Orion’s shoulder had just risen into the gap between two dead trees; he judged that when the hunter had crossed the void and hidden again, it would be time to go and wake Levi for his turn.

As he sat, he searched the firmament for a comet or a meteor, some harbinger from the heavens that he might interpret as a sign of hope. A shooting star that he might wish upon, as does a small child. The air grew icy, and nothing moved in the sky above him, the stars and planets as cold and rigid as God’s justice.

His vigil was near done when he heard the soft scrape of leather boot soles on a rock behind him. It came from the direction of camp, but he had expected to go back and wake his relief, and so sat silent in case the interloper was hostile—lawman, Apache, or saint. The footfalls ceased, and after a moment, he recognized Levi’s voice whispering his name and whispered back. Simmons stepped close to Jesse’s eyrie and spoke, still invisible, merely a voice from the darkness.

“That boy’s horse is done in, Lovelace. They’ll run us down tomorrow if we let him slow us any longer.”

“Well. Unless you got a spare horse in your pocket you ain’t told me about, I don’t know what we can do about it. We won’t be no faster with him ridin double. We got to lose em in these hills, or make another stand and hit em hard enough to make em quit.”

Simmons leaned in close enough for Jesse to feel his breath. “You and me stand a better chance on our own. If we get over the next ridge and cut south, they may follow his trail instead of ours. Even if they don’t, we can likely outrun them, if we travel at our own pace.”

Jesse recoiled away and drew breath sharply. “You’d run and leave him to die, Simmons? What the hell kind of man are you?”

“A live one, and I hope to stay such. But neither of us is going to be that way if we let that damn cow pony of his set the pace.”

“He’s another gun in the fight if it comes to that again.”

“We don’t have the ammunition for another fight and you know it, Lovelace. Our only chance is to strike out on our own.”

Jesse reached out toward the disembodied voice, gripped the lapel of Levi’s coat, and pulled him in closer.

“I’m not leaving that boy behind to die alone.”

Levi’s voice rose to a furious whisper, and Jesse felt flecks of spittle hit his face. “He’s a dead man anyway on that broke down little nag! There’s nothing anyone can do for him! Why should we have to die because he hasn’t got a proper horse? We’re rich if we can get clear of that posse!”

Jesse released his grip and shoved the man away from him. “You go on and do whatever you got a mind to do, Levi. I ain’t leavin him.”

Simmons chuckled in the dark. “You’re a stubborn bastard, Lovelace, and all your loyalty will buy you is a bullet or a rope necktie. You’ll be in hell by tomorrow night.”

“Maybe, but it’ll be better hell than yours, you cowardly, disloyal son of a bitch.”

Levi’s presence melted away into the dark, and his feet rattled carelessly on the rocks. Jesse slipped his boots off and followed silently. Whatever tiny shred of trust he might have had in Simmons was gone, and he feared the man would tamper with his ironhorse or otherwise work some cruelty so that the posse might more easily overtake his erstwhile companions while he made his escape.

They reached the makeshift camp, and Jesse stood quietly by his machine, listening. A few yards away in the gloom, he heard the creak of leather and the clink of buckles as Levi saddled his horse by feel, and then hoofbeats clacked over the rocks and receded until they were gone.

Daniel’s voice was high and plaintive, spoken through a tight throat.

“Jess? Are you still there?”

“I’m right here.”

The boy took a shaky breath and let it out, then spoke again in a calmer tone.

“I think I heard Levi ride off somewhere a little bit ago. Did he tell you where he’s goin?”

“He’s struck out on his own. I guess he figures he stands a better chance that way.”

“Oh.” Daniel paused, and then went on in a small voice. “It’s cause my horse is slowing us down, ain’t it. That’s how come he left.”

“We’re better off without him. He’s a cowardly son of a bitch, and he ain’t much for fightin neither, unless he’s shootin down innocent folk in a damn bank vault.”

“Maybe I could ride behind you tomorrow. Judy might get some of her wind back if she had a while longer not carryin nobody.”

Jesse shook his head in the dark. “That won’t work. We tried that in the army, when they switched us from flesh and bloods to ironhorses. They build that boiler big enough to carry one man, and no bigger. They’re slow as hell ridin double.”

“Well, I expect they’ll run us down tomorrow, then. My poor little pony’s done about all she can do.”

“This ain’t over yet. They might miss our trail and follow Levi. Even if they don’t, they have to send some of the posse after him. That’ll even the odds if we have to make another stand.”

Daniel said nothing for half a minute before he spoke again, in a calm, quiet voice. “Why don’t you just go on and leave me, Jess?”

“Well, hell, Dan, you’d have me ridin alone in Mescalero country? A man alone out here ain’t got a chance in hell. I thought we was friends.”

“I just don’t want you to die cause my horse can’t keep up, is all.”

“We’re likely to get in another little punch up with that posse before this is over, and you’re a good man in a fight, Daniel. I need you watchin my back. We got into this scrape together, and together we’ll see it through to the end.”

“Thank you, Jess. I won’t let you down.”