Cutters Bend Chapter 2

Chapter Two – I stepped in to a burning ring of fire

After their search of Bill Todd’s cabin, the posse decide to bed down for the night before heading on to the Goodwins’ place. They arranged watches throughout the night. The hours passed by uneventfully until eventually Henry and the Ranchhouse Kid took up their posts. Both of them did their best to hide themselves amongst the trees at the edge of the clearing surrounding the shack, Henry keeping an eye on the track leading up from the foothills and the Kid hunkered down on the far side, close to the tethered horses. The night was cold and he decided to take a swig of whisky to warm himself up. He hadn’t counted on the ferocity of his hangover though, and the colour drained from his face as he broke into a cold sweat. Inside the cabin, Wild Bill made herself comfortable in the rocking chair in front of the fire. Bull headed into the bedroom and was soon snoring loudly on the rickety bed.
The first sign of trouble came when the Kid noticed something flaming come shooting out from the trees behind the cabin. It arced through the air, landing on the shingle roof of the building. Shortly after, a second burning object flew onto the roof, adding to the fire that had taken there. The Kid fired off a couple of wild shots in the direction that the projectiles had appeared from. The sound of the shots was enough to wake Wild Bill from her sleep. She sprang up and headed out of the cabin to see what the commotion was and headed quickly for the cover of the trees.
Across the clearing, Henry decided to make sure Bull was awake and fired a shot through the bedroom window. The sound of breaking glass finally roused Bull from his slumber. He made his way out of the cabin and dashed for the tree line. As he ran for cover, something whistled through the air and he felt a stab of pain as an arrow embedded itself in his side. Diving into the trees he then stopped to inspect the damage. As he did his best to remove the arrow from his side, sounds of movement in the undergrowth caught his attention. He knew Henry was nearby and decided to act as a decoy to try and draw the approaching attacker into a trap. Shielding himself behind a tree, he began calling out in pain, hoping his assailant would be drawn in for the kill.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the burning cabin, the increasing ferocity of the flames had startled the horses. Becoming increasingly frantic, they pulled at their tethers until they managed to break free. Wild Bill looked on helplessly as the frightened animals sped off down the track away from danger. Nearby, the Ranchhouse Kid heard something whistle over his hiding place and embed itself in a tree close by. A second projectile followed soon after but this one found its make in Wild Bill’s leg. The power of the impact took her leg out from under her and she collapsed to the ground, grimacing with pain.
The Kid remained hunkered down in the undergrowth as he heard movement in the forest nearby. As he peered though the leaves he spotted something in the light from the nearby flames, heading towards where Bill had fallen. Quick as a rattlesnake, he fired off two shots and was rewarded with a loud scream from his target. Then followed the sound of someone fleeing away through the foliage.
Whilst this was occurring, Henry was playing a similar game of cat and mouse. He could hear his quarry getting closer, and a few moments later he spotted the silhouette of a figure move out from behind a tree nearby. He let fly with hot lead and saw the figure fall back in pain. Then the figure vanished again, but noise from the undergrowth signalled its retreat. The sound of a voice echoed across the clearing, but it called out in a language unknown to the men who remained there.
Wild Bill took advantage of the respite to try and patch up her leg, but her lack of medical knowledge only resulted in a further gush of blood from her wound. She thought it best to leave well alone.
Henry could see that the cabin was becoming fully engulfed by the flames that had spread from the roof. He dashed inside to try and rescue their belongings. After he managed to drag their saddles and gear from the shack, the posse regrouped to assess the damage. They looked at the arrows that they had recovered. They were fletched with black feathers. They patched up the wounded as best they could and decided that they had best head back to town to seek the help of a doctor. They constructed a stretcher for Bill and his the saddles amongst the undergrowth. Gathering the rest of their belongings, they headed off in the direction of Cutter’s Bend, hoping to get to one of the homesteads in the surrounding farmland where they could find help.
After a few hours of trudging through dark, they came upon a small farmhouse. The man who they woke from his bed was shocked to hear of another Indian attack and quickly gathered together his family in preparation to head to the safety of town. Bill was loaded into the back of his cart and they all set off.
When they reached Cutter’s Bend, Doc Cotton, the local quack, patched up their wounds. They then headed over to the stables to see about getting new mounts, but were relieved to find that all their horses had found their way back to safer lodgings during the night. Paying for the horses’ feed and keep, and a new set of saddles, the team then took time to recoup their strength before heading out for the Goodwins’ property. Henry tried his luck at poker once more, but luck failed to grace him.
The posse mounted up once again to continue their search for the Goodwins’ killers. They rode until dusk and spent an uneventful night under the stars. After another day’s travel, they made camp once more, but this time the night didn’t pass as peacefully. As the darkness began to lift, the quiet that had accompanied the Ranchhouse Kid’s watch was broken by the sound of gunfire. The dirt close to where the boy sat flew up as a bullet bit into the ground. He looked round to see a group of figures on horseback, standing about a rifle’s range away and wasted no time in waking his comrades. From what they could tell, it was more injun’s. One of the figures raised a rifle into the air a called out a loud whoop. The horses wheeled round as if to ride off. Wild Bill had grabbed for her rifle though, and fired off a shot at the figures. Even at that range her shot was true and one of the riders arched back in agony as he urged his horse on. Henry had other plans though, a targeted the wounded man’s horse in the sights of his Winchester. His aim was as sure as Wild Bill’s and the horse fell as a bullet tore through its leg. One of the other riders wheeled round and dragged the wounded man up onto his horse behind him. The ambushers then rode off at full speed. The posse gave chase but their attackers had gained too much ground and soon vanished into the foothills.
Heading back towards their camp, the team stopped to examine the wounded horse. It was too badly injured to be saved and a bullet through its head put it out of its misery. There was no brand or markings on the horse, but closer inspection revealed that it bore horseshoes.. As far as the posse was aware, Indian mounts were always unshod. Bull decided that this could be useful evidence and set about hacking off one of the horse’s hooves.