Storyteller / Shared NPC
Caroline just stood there for a moment in shock as the loud report of a rifle was immediately followed by their lone means of transportation, the poor Indian pony was struck and down it went with a mortal wound. The Indians had found them again! Somehow...
Addy reacted first, lunging for her hand then tugging her into a run and the two women scrambled into the deeper brush of the closest ravine. They were barefoot and it hurt but there was nothing they could do but ignore the discomfort. Fear and adrenaline helped!
Bodawei had not tried to hit either of the white women, his shot hit exactly what he had aimed at. Now they were on foot. He was not. However, as they hightailed it away, he now suddenly realized the ground they were on was going to make it very difficult for his own horse, however fleet of hoof and agile to manuver in such broken foliage. He rode up to the now dead pony, Houusoo's pony, then dismounted. Pausing to open the breechloader, he ejected the spent round and chambered another fresh one into it. His next shot he meant to kill or cripple one of the women. If he had his way, neither of them would ever see their people again.
He then plunged into the undergrowth.
Even as he did so, thus far he was unaware that more waischu were closing in on him. The soldiers were spread out in a ragged line with plenty of spacing in order to try and spot the hostiles, for all they knew there might be a whole bunch of them.
Call it fate or blind luck (sometimes two in the same) but it so happened Lt. Greene and one other trooper were on the path toward both the dead and the now riderless horse. They couldn't see Bodawei yet but they were getting closer.
Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'
They couldn't just run...there was no way that they could outrun the Indian, even with him on foot. And fighting him wasn't much of an option, either...he had the rifle, and if he used it, that would be the end of them. And even if they managed to have an opportunity to engage him hand-to-hand, they'd have little chance...this was an older warrior, more experienced than the boy they'd dispatched, and prepared for them.
No, this was dire. He was going to kill them, but it would be neither quick nor pleasant, and Addy determined that, when it became obvious that there was no hope, she'd kill Caroline herself, and spare at least one of them the horror that awaited.
But, they still had a bit of a lead, and the coming darkness would make their trail hard to follow, so there was still some advantage. Of course, the noise they made thrashing through the brush gave them away, and if they stopped, they'd have to be deathly still, or he'd hear the breathing.
Maybe, if they could find water...
"Er, would you fellers mind awfully standing to attention?"
Call it fate or blind luck (sometimes two in the same) but it so happened Lt. Greene and one other trooper were on the path toward both the dead and the now riderless horse. They couldn't see Bodawei yet but they were getting closer.
There was a strong possibility that the two Indian horses were just runaways from the battle (historians might call it a minor skirmish, but for all the men who had survived it, it was firmly the 'Battle of Barlow's Bluff') but the crack of a rifle a few minutes before had put both soldiers on their mettle.
"Keep 'em peeled, Johnson." Greene muttered as they rode forward, his eyes straining against the fading light. Two horses. One little, two little, no little Indians? A half remembered children's rhyme ran through his head. They pushed their own mounts forward, though the two animals showed an interest in investigating their wild cousins. Both men expected a fusillade to fill them both full of lead at any moment.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
ust as they were slowing down and Addy looked back to see if she could spot the Indian who'd shot the horse, Caroline tripped over a rock inching out of the ground and toppled straight down onto the ground with a yip of pain.
Bodawei, his hearing as sharp and focused as his eyesight zeroed in on the sound. The white women were ahead and to his flank. He readied his carbine and headed that direction. Until there were the sounds of horses behind him. He spun about and spotted one...no TWO blue coats. Raising up his rifle he aimed at one, neither seemed to be aware of him. Bodawei put the sights of the powerful weapon on the white's torso and fired.
Trooper Johnson never saw the Indian, maybe heard the shot which struck him full in the chest but was unconscious by the time he toppled backwards out of his saddle to strike the ground hard. He would bleed out in minutes.
"Er, would you fellers mind awfully standing to attention?"
Trooper Johnson never saw the Indian, maybe heard the shot which struck him full in the chest but was unconscious by the time he toppled backwards out of his saddle to strike the ground hard. He would bleed out in just a couple minutes.
Greene had been worried all day about making the wrong decisions, now he didn't worry or even think! The crack of the rifle ahead, Johnson biting the dust, himself unable to turn back out of sheer manly pride, unable to dismount and take cover, what with his roughly patched up leg wound, suddenly he was charging forward at a gallop toward the place the shot had come from. The horse beneath him wasn't his usual Daisy, it was the horse of one of the dead troopers, and later on, when trying to sort the events of the day in his own mind, he could not clearly recall whether he had spurred her forward or if she had just carried him with her, intend on some kind of equine revenge for her lost rider.
Either way, he was on the redskin, smelt out by the mare while he was still clumsily trying to pull his revolver from its holster, and wondering exactly how many Indians were ambushing him in the fading light. He felt like a mere spectator as the frothing mount whinnied and reared over the dismounted Arapaho warrior.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
When Caroline stumbled, she nearly pulled Addy down with her, and it was only by a quick hop that she didn't step on her friend, but rather, managed to jump over her. Panting, Addy reached to drag Caroline back up...they couldn't afford to worry about minor problems, but then a shot rang out, startling her as she expected to drop dead.
But there was more noise, farther past where the Indian should be, and the whinny of a horse. Someone else was out there.
"Stay here." She gave Caroline a gentle push back down, then pulled out her small knife and and sprinted -- if the Indian was distracted, this was her only chance. If he wasn't, there wasn't much hope anyway, and maybe Caroline could get away.
Either way, Addy charged, focused on the Human form in the waning light, her aim for high on the torso.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
As oft happened in these sudden death events, things moved fast and furious. The cavalry horse ridden by an inexperienced rider had managed to get into thick underbrush terrain both Addy and Bodawei, more experienced riders, had decided against taking their animals into. It was fortunate the animal did not trip or injure itself. Fortunaely it did not have to charge in very far.
As the bluecoat soldier charged him, Bodawei was trying to reload his single shot rifle and had not expected this threat being on him so fast. As the horse reared up, the warrior backed up but his troubles were coming at him from all sides now.
***
Addy hissed, "Stay here." She gave Caroline a gentle push back down, then pulled out her small knife and and sprinted back toward the very man trying to find and kill them.
"What? Don't be a...." it was too late, Caroline couldn't stop her! Well, she wasn't about to stay put, if Addy got killed, then she had no chance out here anyhow. As she looked past the charging woman there was someone mounted by the Indian? Help or not, Caroline was determined to join Addy's fool attack. Still on her knees she felt around for a decent size rock to be a weapon...hell, that kind of thing worked for cavemen hadn't it? She was having no luck though. Just figured!
***
Bodawei half saw, half sensed the woman charging her and brought up his rifle just at the last second to try to block Addy's stab attempt. She managed to stick him in the bicep though, very painful at the least. He then used the butt of the carbine to knock her backwards.
But he still didn't have the weapon loaded yet and had no choice now but to try and use it like a club against the waischu above him on the horse. Just maybe luck would be with him and the white man would freeze up or - as happened commonly enough - would forget he had to pull back the hammer of the Single Action revolver to fire the damn thing. It wasn't enough to just pull the trigger.
"Er, would you fellers mind awfully standing to attention?"
Joseph could later recall very little detail of what happened in the next few seconds on his so-called rescue of the two white women. In fact, from another point of view it could be said that they rescued him. For a start, in his dizzy and weakened state, he had lost all control of the crazed horse beneath him who darting froth into the thick bush, nearly unhorsed him as branches and brambles pulled at him. He held on for dear life using both hands, no thought of his revolver.
Addy hissed, "Stay here." She gave Caroline a gentle push back down, then pulled out her small knife and and sprinted back toward the very man trying to find and kill them.
He still hung on as a figure he presumed to be a man (was it one of their scouts?) grappled with the redskin in front of him in a whirl of knife play and gun stocks. It gave him the seconds he needed to paw at his unbuckled holster while his horse reared again and the warrior made his way past the flying hooves to get a blow in at himself.
But he still didn't have the weapon loaded yet and had no choice now but to try and use it like a club against the waischu above him on the horse. Just maybe luck would be with him and the white man would freeze up or - as happened commonly enough - would forget he had to pull back the hammer of the Single Action revolver to fire the damn thing. It wasn't enough to just pull the trigger.
This was exactly what happened, Greene, barely able to grip the revolver in his palsied grip, the long-haired white scout writhing on the ground, pointed the barrel of his handgun at the Indian without pulling the hammer back first. Bodawei must have praised his heathen Gods as the Cavalry officer pulled the trigger... and the double action Chamelot-Delvigne fired with a deafening BANG! at point-blank range.
Sit down, shut up, don't touch anythin'
It came as no surprise to Addy that Caroline was close on her heels, the singer had moxie in spades, and was lacking just enough in good sense to join in Addy's folly.
And now that she'd decided to act, there was no turning back, the next few seconds would determine everything.
She was actually pretty surprised that her blow landed, but there wasn't time to celebrate, or even push the attack, as she met the (fortunately) non-working end of the Indian's rifle too up close and personal. The blow caught her in the face, immediately bringing her to her hands and knees, stunned and blinded with the pain.
Just for a few seconds, though, time to catch her breath, then she'd be back in the fray.
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Addy might have thought she had help directly behind her but Caroline was only there in spirit, in actuality she was still on her knees desperately feeling about on the ground for a decent sized rock to use as a weapon, however pathetic.
Addy had some luck her attack but paid the price for it when the big Arapaho warrior retaliated with a stock butt to the woman's face. Down she went. But her brave effort had helped for it took up precious time that did not then allow for the Indian to reload.
The cavalry horse reared, Bodawei sidestepped to try and use his carbine as a club on the rider. If he could knock the waischu off the horse he could draw his hunting knife and gut the man then turn on the women to finish them.
But that's when his luck ran out, he stared up at a revolver pointed down at him. There was a loud shot, the bullet struck him full in the face and he toppled backward, carbine falling from his dying hands. He was dead in seconds, giving one last twitch then lying there sprawled on his back. He had gone down fighting like a true warrior. Sadly none of his people were there to witness it, there would be no recounting the tale of his glory among his village.
Just as he breathed his last, Caroline rushed up, rock in one dirty hand, ready to fight. Only it wasn't necessary. Their enemy was down. Addy might be hurt but was at least alive and....
"Joseph? What the hell you doin' here?" Caroline stared as she dropped the now useless rock.