This trip had been cumbersome, slow going, and not much to show for the trouble until they came upon the family with their wagon and milk cows attached to it, where the farmer had said he believed his neighbor had been burned out. To MacIntosh, it seemed odd the man had not gone check on the neighbor, but a man in Indian country would slow to react, and he had a family to consider, so their hightailing it out of the country made a great deal of sense. Besides, if the farm was burned, there would be no survivors.
Most Indians were notional as to what they might do, when, or why. Had the indians seen the other farm, there was no telling what they would do. Attacking it was a high probability; it seemed, however, that they had not. Chances were this was the party they were after, any local war party, even a hunting party would know of the two farms.
"You're probably gonna be riding right into some rain but I think you and Ke-Ni-Tay should ride on ahead and see if you check out if the smoke he saw yesterday was really as serious as he figured. I'm betting it was...umm, is."
"Yes, looks like she could open up on us." The scout replied in his easy manner, "Don't be gettin' into them slickers jest yet, 'case yer yer bet is righty. Maybe the Injuns are still around, maybe, they moved on but they got no call to be in any hurry, especially if they are the ones we're after.
"I will assign you four troopers, good riders all."
Knowing that arguing with Barlow was a waste of breath from past experiences, MacIntosh simply nodded.
He called out to Sgt. Baumann, "Sergeant, detail first set of four to accompany our scouts. Remind them, Mr. MacIntosh is in charge and they will obey his orders."
"Yessir!"
That would make this some easier. The men who were experienced would know what they were riding to; if the hostiles were still around, it could be a fight. The scouts would want to do the reconnaissance in their own manner, and they were welcome to it. Not many of the troopers trusted the Apache, but they respected him, having proved himself on more than one occasion
It was a good mile to the rise. They made it easily enough, a spattering of rain greeting them as they halted. MacIntosh and Ke-Ni-Tay turned toward the four men with them. "We'll dismount and head up to check this out. You hold our horses if we give a holler, you come a runnin', Barlow'll figure it out."
All four drew their carbines as the two dismounted, haned off their reins, and then made their way to the top of the rise, on their bellies the last few yards peering over the crest at the destruction below that still smoldered. There were bodies out in the open where the farmers had been caught. Ke-Ni-Tay started down the hill while MacIntosh turned and waved Barlow and the column on, then disappeared over the side.
This would not be pleasant.
At a mile away, Benjamin would hardly have seen a wave except he was watching the scout party with his binoculars, very useful things to have. The lieutenant next to him was making a cigarette and spilling some tobacco in the act as his horse suddenly moved a bit, annoyed by a fly. The man cursed. Barlow ignored him.
"Sergeant, mount the column. Make ready to move out," he ordered his trusty NCO.
***
As both the white and Indian scouts disappeared over the ridge, the four troopers exchanged looks.
"Now what we do?" asked one, "Don't trust that damn injun anyhow."
Another begged to differ, " MacIntosh does and they never done us wrong before. The only thing you'd be good at findin' would be a whorehouse."
"And would that be such a bad thing?" a third commented, drawing chuckles from the whole bunch.
The youngest trooper now declared, "Well, MacIntosh said to hold the horses here til they give a holler."
"And that's exactly what we're doin', kid," smirked one of the veterans.
***
As for the two scouts they came upon a grim sight. As they closed on the smoldering ruins of what was once a small farmhouse and barn, there were bodies. Two adults, a man and woman. Then two children, a girl and a boy. The boy was older but hardly past twelve or so unless he had been small for his age. All were not just dead, they had been mutilated. On closer inspection, the woman had been pregnant.
In the broken down corral were a pair of dead cows, a dog was splayed out just outside the farmhouse door. The Kiowas had left nothing alive it seemed.
There were no arrows but scattered on the ground were a fair number of spent cartridges. The type that were used in Henry repeater rifles.
"Not look like Keeowha's care if pony soldiers follow, they leave plain enough trail. They know we come behind." Ke-Ni-Tay said.
"How many ya think?" MacIntodh asked. He had a number in mind, but they always checked with one another as to the numbers in any party they were after.
The Apache was scanning the ground and stepped down, ignoring the debauchery around him. He had seen all of this before, participated in too many raids of this kind not to know what would be done. He looked up. "Maybe twenty, have spare horse, one rider bring them up, Not be in fight. Maybe think we closer than we are to them. They go east but that nopt where they go. I think north, maybe even north west of here."
"What I was thinking. Best we get back to the Captain and report. If they know we're following, best we look out for an ambush sooner or later." With that, they headed back to where the troopers were waiting to ride for the column. This looked really bad, and it was bound to get worse.
"Well boys, it's real ugly back there, killed and mutilated the whole family, just so's yer prepared for it. Let's get on back to the column."
Storyteller / Shared NPC
No sooner had the two veteran scouts reached the troopers waiting with the horses, when suddenly out of nowhere shots ripped the stillness of otherwise placid day. Bullets whizzed over their heads or thudded into the ground. But some found their targets.
One trooper released his hold of the horses he had, a look of total surprise in his eyes, then sunk to the ground, at least two bullets reddening his shirt in the chest. One of the horses gave an agonizing cry then collapsed. The youngest trooper had let go of his horses in shock at this unexpected terror and the animals bolted in terror. Another trooper cursed as his hands went for one knee and he went for the ground.
ooc: Ok, need to give you a chance for your guys to react, don't do too much in one post. Action sequences work best when short. :)
I don't want to reveal too many details this post but your gents know there are a LOT of shots being directed at the party.
@Flip
With the sudden attack came the panic of surprise. The trooper holding the horses was down, and the frightened animals had taken flight back toward the column. Ki-Na-Tay was firing his Winchester at a puff of smoke from a hostile's gun. MacIntosh, pistol in hand, was looking for a target as he lay in the sandy dirt, but the hostiles were not providing one.
Thje Apache managed to get himself behind some sage, more camouflage than cover as he scanned the hill, trying to figure out how they had missed the raider's presence, but then, he knew how to do just what the Kiowa had done. Were they still there, or had they fled? Had it only been a couple of them, or all of them?
Storyteller / Shared NPC
In that heavy eruption of fire, it should have been quite clear there were a good number of Kiowa firing away at them. But even more alarming, it was now apparent that this war party was armed with repeating rifles, the Henrys that rumor had it they gotten from some gun runners. For the small party now pinned down it was also fortunate more of them hadn't been hit. Probable indication those firing the rifles were not that practiced with them. However trying to run for it or even simply rise to ones feet to find better cover would be a very risky thing to do.
At least MacIntosh had a weapon capable of matching the range of the Henrys, the troopers had their Sharps carbines on their horses so they to do with their army Colt revolvers. It would be a waste of time to return fire though even if they wanted to, pistols were quite outranged. The veteran white scout couldn't really see a viable target but instead fired at the smoke puffs. Never know, with some luck, he might hit one of the firers that made that smoke.
***
With the sudden fusillade of fire, Barlow knew it had to be the Indians ambushing his small detachment. Muttering obscenities he realized he and his troops had no doubt had been being watched for some time. Didn't matter now, he had to go to the rescue of those six unfortunates he had sent ahead.
"Lieutenant, form the men into two lines about twenty yards apart! Soon as the forward line is set, you lead them in charge toward the sound of the firing. By the sound of it, we are on their flank. Go at 'em hard, they won't hang about to engage!" he ordered his second in command.
Benjamin then placed himself with the second line, planning on hitting the Kiowa in two waves. No sooner had the first wave sped off, Barlow ordered his bugler to sound the charge and drawing his revolver, ordered his troopers to follow him.
***
The Kiowas were located up on a rise at long rifle range, blazing away at the pinned down white eyes. Their first volley had done the most damage, now the prone white eyes were much harder to hit. And not quite helpless either, one of the braves yipped then rolled away from the rise where he had been firing prone. A bullet had hit him and he was in pain.
Just then there was the sounds of rushing horses, shouting men, then a strident call of a bugle, on their left. The Kiowas knew where the larger force of cavalry were so it was certainly not a shock. But Gool-hay-yeo, the veteran warrior who inspired and led this war party off the reservation, had no intention of staying to get into a pitched fight with the oncoming horse soldiers. He called to his braves and the firing ceased while the Kiowas fell back to their waiting horses, held by the youngest ones of the party.
For MacIntosh, Ke-Ni-Tay, and the surviving troopers pinned down, the threat was over...for now. They'd managed to survive. But one of them was dead and another seriously wounded. One horse was dead, the others had stampeded off. They could be rounded up of course but it would take some time and effort.
The first round encounter in this pursuit had gone to the Kiowas, little doubt about it.
ooc: @Flip - give you a chance to react. It was MacIntosh who had hit the Indian in case you weren't sure. :)
It didn't take a Field General to know that the sound of the retreating hoof beats was the Kiowa raiders, and they also answered the question as to how any were firing at MacIntosh and the small detail. All of them!
He had been caught like a tenderfoot, but this was not the south-west with its open country; this was a forested country. A hilly, shrub-covered country, with breaks in the vegetation and running streams and rivers. A far different country to fight in than he and the Apache were used to. But that was no excuse.
And the Kiowa were good at what they did. It had been the perfect ambush; it had been designed to draw in those who followed them, but they did not draw in the entire patrol as they had hoped, and that would make them mad enough to want to strike again, but when and where? That would be up to the one who led the raiders.
MacIntosh and Ke-Ni-Tay stood waiting for the column and their horses to be brought up. One trooper was dead, but it seemed no one else was hurt, only their pride.
"Need to think like these Keeowha's, look for spots where they might wait for us." Ke-Ni-Tay offered.
"I'm thinking they might just drop off one or two ta take potshots at us, kill or wound as many as they can before the next real ambush. whittle us down a mite." MacIntosh replied.
"You think like Apache sometimes." The Indian added, as the first wave was just about on top of them. "They want kill us bad now, I think, maybe."
The cavalry slowed to a halt as they reached the patrol, their officer shouting for them to cease the charge. Too long a fast gallop and one can easily blow the horses. The second wave soon fell in behind them even as Barlow rode to the front to talk to the ambushed patrol. There was one man sitting on the ground gripping his knee, he was in pain but even worse, one trooper was sprawled out obviously dead. A horse had been killed too.
"Sergeant! Take a few men and round up those runaway horses," he barked out his first order.
"Corporal Givins, see to that man," he pointed toward the wounded, the understrength company had no doctor, those were luxuries that sometimes meant an entire fort might only have one. However Givins had been a medical orderly during the late war between the states. He had served in the rebel army but that made no difference now.Givins dismounted to take a look.
Then Barlow ordered the lieutenant, "Take a few troopers and see if you can spot where the Kiowas might be heading," he pointed to the ridgeline where the firing had came from.
And then finally he addressed his scouts.
"Glad to see you two came out alright. I don't want to lose my eyes and ears," he remarked.
"Were you able to check out that farm before they hit you?"
They had a little time to talk and plan while the injured man was looked to and the troopers came back with the scout's horses. The animals had not roamed far once the shooting ceased.
"Guess we now know for certain these red devils got themselves a whole lot of repeaters," Barlow had a special hate for those men who ran guns to Indians. May there be a special place in hell for them.
McIntosh looked to the ground and then up to the Captain, "They killed them all, and none too quickly, 'cept for the man, he was killed right off, they even left his Spencer, busted of course. The women, wife and daughter, they were kept alive for a while. The boy, ain't none of it pretty, and plain to see how it went for 'em." He explained. "They waited for us, it looks like, back in the trees, then rushed out on foot to spring the ambush."
A murder raid, plain and simple, and an ambush planned, knowing how long it would take us to get here. They wanted the whole column, is my guess." That was when Ke-Ni-Tay came up to them.
"One was hit, blood trail leads away, but maybe not direction they went. They try again, soon I think," he reported.
"Best we not dally too long here, Captain. They'll be waiting, like Ke-Ni-Tay says." McIntosh advised.
MacIntosh then relayed what he had seen of the farm raid scene. The people were all dead, their deaths brutal too. All too often it was the way of Plains wars against the Indians. He himself didn't really use the word 'savages' to refer to them but only because as a veteran soldier he had seen too often where whites had massacred Indians, including of course women and children. In fact if many in the government and amongst the American population had their way it would be a war annihilation. Only Indian was a dead Indian.
However his personal feelings toward all this Benjamin was a professional officer and he had his duty to perform. Right now the orders were find the Kiowas, pursue the Kiowas, destroy the Kiowas. That he would do to the best of his ability.
"One was hit, blood trail leads away, but maybe not direction they went. They try again, soon I think," Ke-Ni-Tay reported.
"Best we not dally too long here, Captain. They'll be waiting, like Ke-Ni-Tay says." McIntosh advised.
"I have little doubt they will try at some point. But one thing we've learned fighting Indians, they aren't keen on fighting pitched battles. Simple reason too - they can't afford the losses like the army can, there are just too few of them," Benjamin mused aloud.
"But hit and run....ambushes...oh yeah," he sighed, "We have little choice but to keep on their trail."
***
The company stopped at the burnt out farm, much as he wanted to bury the dead, he could not take the time. But they found the farmer's buckboard wagon was intact even if none of the buildings were. That was a break in their favor. Besides their lone dead trooper, they had two wounded men that couldn't ride. One only had been shot in the ambush, the other was a raw trooper who somehow managed to fall off his horse during the little charge and breaking his fool ankle. The both of them would go in the wagon and two troopers assigned to drive it and ride 'shotgun'. He debated with his other officer the option of sending the wagon back to the fort but decided it was too risky. Most likely the Kiowas would pick them off easily.
MacIntosh and Ke-Ni-Tay were soon mounted back on their horses, both animals were none the worse for wear. Now the question was how to best utilize their tracking skills. The rolling hills, long ridges, and scattered bits of woods made this perfect territory for ambushes. It was a conumdrum for Barlow - he wanted them to be his eyes but if they were ambushed and killed his chances of success were going to be drastically worse.
As the whole column prepared to leave the ruined farm behind, he took a moment to discuss options.
"Well, Mr. MacIntosh, here we are facing a long hard pursuit. I know you two have the best chance to see em or read their signs, but what can be done about you simply riding into another ambush and next time your luck running out? I'm open to suggestions, gents."