Jamie Ireland, Texian
Follow the Long Wind
by Gutherie Hodges

A Preview

For a long minute Jamie Ireland studied the pipe in his hand. "I'm not exactly a stranger to peril myself. I have followed the long winds across an ocean of water and one of grass, and on them both a man may die a dozen ways."
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After a minute he began to walk at a deliberate pace toward the strangers, a lone man who walked tall and proud and strong. The dozen men stared at him in surprise but continued to walk toward him, talking to each other and laughing, amused by the idea of one man trying to stop them.
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An Indian arrow had entered Hank's back and gone through his body. Only the fact it was turned by his shoulder blade kept the arrow from killing him. Hank was unconscious, but still breathing. The fading sun gave enough light for Jamie to see some blood on his lips.
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One of the men went down with the bolo rope wrapped around his legs, but the other one was on the point of shooting an arrow into Badger when Ireland pulled his pistol and shot the Indian in the shoulder. He whistled for Badger to stop, then turned to the man who was scrambling for his knife and kicked him under the chin. He fell where he stood.
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They began to see abandoned cabins with doors left open and inside the dirt-floored huts furniture turned over and broken. Mattresses were ripped open to show the corn shucks or cotton stuffing. Hogs dead with arrows in them where the Indians had practiced shooting. Dead chickens partially eaten by varmints.
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Ireland let out his cat squall and Badger reared on his hind feet screaming and biting the air then ran straight at the Mexican army deserters. Chestnut squealed and laid back his ears and showed his teeth and Jamie shot at the men with a pistol in each hand while they ran full speed at the line of men.
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His steps were slow, his side and shoulder ached, and he felt giddy and sick. When dark came clouds hid the moon, and he had to stop because he was stumbling over ground littered with rocks and prickly pear. How far he walked before he laid down to lean over on his pack and sleep he neither knew nor thought about.
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The scene spread out far below them showed up in the moonlight with a ghostly beauty. White teepees were scattered along the wide flat that ran along beside the dark river. From the remains of cooking fires a few wisps of smoke drifted upward, and the odor of smoke was lifted up to them with the lazy wind. Thick-bunched horses stretched to the right as far as they could see until a bend of the river hid them behind the curve of the bluff.
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Below in the camp women were wailing and screaming and men were yelling. Out of the bedlam came the ear-splitting cry of a wild cat from the Pampas of Argentina. The horse herd burst apart at the yell.
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..he helped each person lead his horse into the cave. It was a big dry room with very little rubble on the floor. At the back of it a little creek emerged then went back under the rock. The gully they had entered by ran down the right side and out at the corner where a long sliver of light fell on the wall. Around that corner was an opening that led out into a large open area. Grass was growing on the bottom. All around were tall rock walls with hackberry trees growing on top. "It's a sinkhole!" Grizzle exclaimed.
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Other arrows flew past them, and one cut his shoulder where the old wound was. He yelled to Sime, "We're going over the edge, Sime! Head toward the river!" Sime looked across at him in wild-eyed panic. "That'll kill us shore!"
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In the middle of the morning the next day a herd of mustangs showed up in the far distance with a bold looking stallion who threw up his head and came mincing toward the caravan with an arched neck while he looked them over.
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She screamed and rared up but the mountain lion held on. The other two horses snorted and screamed and lunged. Handy kept the lead rope wrapped around the horn of his saddle so the horses couldn't stampede and yelled for someone to shoot.
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"Be very careful about letting the horses water here," Wilson told them. "There's some kind of suction out in this waterhole that pulls animals under. People have drowned here, too. And the scary thing is that they just disappear. No one ever sees them again.