Carter Holler Kentucky 1860

 Roseanna almost lost her train of thought when she recalled the events that transpired that fateful day. The feelings of anger and helplessness came rushing back to her as the thoughts of Smythe’s treachery were as vivid as the day they happened.

“Granny, did you really do that to Smythe?” Dan’l asked.

This snapped her back to the present.

“I said I did, didn’t I? You callin’ me a liar?”

She fixed Dan’l with her most disapproving look which made the boy squirm in his seat.

“No Ma’am,” he answered softly.

“That’s good, now we was in a tough spot but we weren’t giving up. This is how it happened……”
****
On the trail to Shawnee Town near Raccon Creek

Ohio Territory

Doo felt every little bounce on the trail as he woke up. The pain in his head was overwhelming, he cracked an eye and ventured to take a peek.

Two Shawnee braves were carrying him trussed to a pole as if he was a deer.

'Thunderation! My head hurts,' he thought.

The brave in the back noticed Doo opening his eyes.

In Shawnee….

“The Waapa Hileni is awake,” the brave carrying the rear end of the pole informed the brave in front.

“Good, he’s getting heavy, someone should tell Swooping Eagle,” was the reply.

One of the younger braves ran to the front of the column to fetch Swooping Eagle. The two braves unceremniously dumped Doo to the ground.

“Swooping Eagle the Waapa Hileni is awake!” the breathless youngster spit out when he saw the leader.

“Come with me, I’ll need you to speak to him,” Swooping Eagle told Tyler McGraw.

Swooping Eagle strode towards the rear where Doo was being carried. As he got there he saw the frontiersman had been dropped and was laying on the trail.

“He looks like a fish I caught and has been thrown on the bank,” Swooping Eagle thought.

Doo was laying where he was dropped with his eyes closed.

“I thought he was awake?.”

Crouching Cougar had been carrying the front end and answered Swooping Eagle.

“He was, when we dropped him then he pretended to be asleep.”

“Let me show you how to treat a captive.”

With an evil grin on his face, Swooping Eagle launched a vicious kick into Doo’s ribs. This solicited a groan from Doo as he opened his eyes.

“Thunderation! Cut me loose and try that again, ya varmint,” Doo railed at Swooping Eagle.

“What did he say,” Swooping Eagle asked McGraw.

“He called you an animal.”

This earned Doo a second kick to the ribs. This time he felt two ribs crack. Even though his side was on fire he didn’t make a sound.

“I’m gonna kill ya for that,” Doo seethed.

“What did he say now?” Swooping Eagle asked McGraw.

“He said he’s going to kill you.”

“Tell him to save his energy for the gauntlet.”

Swooping Eagle turned to return to the front of the column. Before he strode away he told Crouching Cougar, “Take him off the pole and make him walk.”

“Whut’s goin’ on McGraw,” Doo asked.

McGraw squatted down so he could look Doo in the eyes.

“You’re being taken to the village.”

“Why didn’t he kill me back at Smythe’s camp?”

McGraw thought on it before he answered.

“Remember when you ran from them last year?”

“Yeah, I recognize that’un, he almost got my hair before I jumped off the cliff.”

“You remember killing a Shawnee during that chase?”

“Yeah, so?”

“That was his brother.”

“Thunderation! No wonder they wouldn’t give up chasin’ me. Whut do you reckon they’re going to do with me?”

“I don’t know everything, but Swooping Eagle said he was going to make you run the gauntlet,” McGraw answered.

Crouching Cougar came over to Doo with a knife in hand. He bent over and cut the leather thongs holding Doo’s feet together on the Pole.

He grabbed the pole, slid it out from between Doo’s hands. and straightened back up. Doo felt like his legs were on fire from his hips to his toes while blood returned to his extremities, In Shawnee he told Doo to stand up, which McGraw translated. 

Doo’s joints weren’t quick to respond to the command after being tied for so long. This earned him another kick. He rolled to his stomach and used his bound hands to push himself up.
 

Neither McGraw nor the Shawnees offered him any assistance up to his feet. Once he got on his feet, Crouching Cougar pulled both elbows back while Stalking Wolf slid the pole between Doo’s back and elbows.

“Thunderation, this ain’t comfortable,” Doo thought, but he knew better than to show any pain. While he thought the end result of this stay with the Shawnees would end up with him being roasted, he wasn’t about to show the varmints he was scared.
 

Once Stalking Wolf had the pole set he nodded to Crouching Cougar who threw a looped rawhide tether over Doo’s head. Tightening up the loop he looked into Doo’s eyes and said in Shawnee, “Ki-me-lo.”
 

Doo looked at him defiantly, Crouching Cougar then yanked the lead rope almost pulling Doo onto his face.
 

“Ki-me-lo, Waapa Hileni,” he repeated.
 

“He told you to walk,” McGraw said..

“I kind of figgered that when he pulled on the leash.”
****

Head of the Shawnee Column

Roseanna and Janie couldn’t figure out why the column had stopped. Roseanna was beside herself with anger over Smythe’s treachery. She was glad she’d given him a parting gift before being hauled away.

Janie was worried about Clancy, Richard, and Mighty Beaver.  She knew if they returned to Smythe’s post and found them gone there’d be trouble.
 

“I wonder why we stopped,” Janie said to Roseanna.
 

“I’m not sure, I hope Doo is all right. Did you see the way they had him trussed up?”
 

“That might be why they stopped, Doo’s awake,” Janie said.
 

Methoataske was guarding the girls. Swooping Eagle had instructed him not to let then make any noise or slow down the procession.

In Shawnee…

“Shut up.”

The girls looked at him blankly.

“What do you reckon he said,” Janie asked Roseanna.

“I’ve no earthly idea.”

Not wanting Swooping Eagle to be displeased because he hadn’t followed orders, he slapped Janie across the mouth. Roseanna got to her feet quickly. She was going to protect the girl from abuse at the hands of the Shawnee.

Roseanna wasn’t quick enough. The slap had knocked Janie down but she immediately sat back up and launched a kick into Methoatske’s groin. Methoatske’s face turned beet red and his hands covered the afflicted area as he sunk to his knees. He looked like a fish out of water as he tried to get his breath back.

“What’s going on here?” Swooping Eagle demanded as he returned.

Methoaske’s face had turned to purple and he was rolling around on the ground clutching his damaged genitals. He barely croaked out, “she kicked me in the plums.”

Swooping Eagle turned to McGraw and said in Shawnee, “Tell the Waapa Kweewa  they are to behave.”

McGraw thought that was a waste of time with these two but went ahead anyway.

“Swooping Eagle said you are to behave if you want to make it to the village.”

“He slapped me first,” Janie protested.

“Look, neither of you are to be harmed, as long as you behave or don’t try to wander off.”

“And what happens once we get to the village,” Roseanna asked. “I can tell you right now I’ll die before I end up as a Shawnee squaw.”

“That goes for me too,” Janie added.

“I don’t know what they’re planning beyond having Doo run the gauntlet.”

“What’s the gauntlet?” Roseanna asked.

“It’s where they line up on two sides with clubs and then he runs between’em.”

“They’ll kill him,” Roseanna gasped.

“That’s the general idea, now lets get moving.”

McGraw bent over to check on Methoaske.

“Are you able to walk?”

The Shawnee brave nodded and then got to his feet. He shot a dirty look at Janie. She didn’t know why she did it, but the only thing Janie thought to do was stick her tongue out at him.

Methoaske pulled back like he was hit. He couldn’t believe the gall of these Waapa Hileni. He turned to McGraw and said in Shawnee.

“These Waapa Kweewa are wild and need tamed.”

McGraw shot a glance at Janie, and had to suppress a grin at the girls defiance.

“It would do for you to remember that, but it won’t be you who will be doing the taming.”

A clearing near Smythe’s Post

Ohio Territory

“Take your time, pick your shot,” Clancy whispered to Richard.

A small herd of four does and a buck had stepped out of the woodline into the clearing.

“Wait until you get a side shot, then aim right behind the shoulder, remember your breathing when you shoot,” he advised.

Beads of sweat appeared on Richard’s forehead. He was sweating all over.

“This must be what they mean by Buck Fever,” he thought.

He lined up his sight on the biggest doe who was munching on the clover unaware of the two hunters. As quiet as he could he eared back the hammer.

“Click”

The deer looked up as a group, one took a tentative step towards the woods, Richard held his breath hoping for just a few more seconds.

He got it.

“K’POW.”

The cloud of smoke enveloped Richard and clouded his vision.

“You got her, Pilgrim,” Clancy clapped Richard’s shoulder in congratulations.

“The first thing you do after you shoot is reload, you don’t know what kind of varmints are around that heard your shot, an empty rifle don’t do much good agin a Shawnee war party.”

This made sense to Richard so he went into the drill of pouring powder into the barrel. He followed it up with a bullet in a greased patch, then ramrodded it home. Just as he primed the pan a crash in the brush was heard.

“Get down!” Clancy whispered as he dragged Richard down with him.

The crashing grew louder, the only sound was somebody moving at a rapid pace in their direction,

“Git Ready,” Clancy whispered as he popped up on one knee and took aim towards the sounds. Richard followed suit

The movement ceased. The sound of a Bobolink’s call came across the clearing. Clancy immediately relaxed and responded with a Bob white call.

“It’s Mighty Beaver, relax, Pilgrim.”

Mighty Beaver stepped into view and raised his hand in greeting.

“Ho, Clancy, I’m glad I found you there is a problem we need to deal with,” Mighty Beaver said.

“I already know about you cuttin’ that feller’s hand off.”

“No there is something more serious.”

It took Mighty Beaver a couple of minutes to relate how Doo, Roseanna, and Janie had been handed over to the Shawnee by Smythe.

Richard could not believe his sister was now a Shawnee captive.

“We have to do something,” he blustered.

“What would you have us do,” Mighty Beaver asked.
“We should go after them.”

“You realize there are 40 braves armed with new rifles, don’t you,” Clancy asked.

“B-b-but my sister is a captive, I can’t sit by and do nothing.”

“We will do something, but we’re going to do it smart, going off half-cocked and getting killed won’t help anybody.”

“What are you proposing?”

“First, we need to get word to Doo’s Pa,” Clancy said. “I reckon that task will fall to you, you need to skedaddle back to Pittsburgh and let him know what happened.

“I’m going with you”

“No you ain’t, we’re going to need some help and someone needs to fetch it.”

“I’d never make it back to Pittsburgh on my own.”

The truth of this statement made Clancy think.

‘He’s right.”

Looking to Mighty Beaver for a solution, Clancy didn’t have an answer. Mighty Beaver did.

“I will guide him back to Pittsburgh to bring back help.”

“That’ll work, git goin and good luck,” Clancy  clasped arms with Mighty Beaver, then turned towards the west and took off.

He only had one thought as he started towards the Shawnee town.

‘Hang on Hoss and gals, I’m a’comin to save the day, as usual.”