Home of the Brave (47 page)

Lagrange nodded. “Anybody
else been around here lately?”

“A old Indian come by
yesterday after I got shot. He drug me on in here and started the
fire, then rode out. Why?”

“I didn’t see any tracks
with a notched hoof.”

“Which way did you
come?”

“From the bluff where the
village used to be.”

“He didn’t come that way. He
rode on downriver on the other side then crossed at the bend and
come back upriver. Guess he figured that I was watchin’ for him
instead of just being a easy target.”

“I’m going outside to look
for his trail, Willard. I’ll be right back.”

“Before you go, Charlie.
Could you lay me down?”

“Sure, Willard.
Sure.”

~

The following morning
Charlie Lagrange picked up the track of the notched hoof. “Well,”
he said out loud to the trail. “You’ve got a name now. Even if I
don’t catch you this time, every Ranger in Texas is gonna be
looking for you, Lucky Billy Van, the Ranger killer.”

~

“Good morning, Captain.”
Jack Van Buskirk walked toward Josiah Whipple who was saddling his
horse.

“Mornin’.”

“Is there some danger
about?”

“Not that I know of, but I’m
gonna hold the column here ‘till I can check up on some cliffs to
the north. It’s right above the ford and a good place for an
ambush.”

“I was wondering if you’d
like some company today. I feel strong enough to ride.”

“You might want to get used
to ridin’ again by stayin’ close to the column when we move out.
Comin’ scoutin’ with me might lead to a run-in with some Indians or
bandits.”

“Do you have some kind of
problem with me?”

“Not a bit. I don’t like you
much, but I don’t see that as a problem.”

“Have I done something to
offend you?”

“Nope. But you’ve been
plenty offensive to Clem and that’s good enough to put you on my
shit-list.”

“I don’t like loose women,
Captain.”

Whipple turned toward him.
“Well I don’t much like you callin’ Clem no loose woman so you best
be goin’ on yer way before I forget yer a sick man and whup yer
ass.”

“I’ve never been so sick
that a rag-picker like you could get the best of me.”

Whipple stepped closer so
that he was nose to nose with Jack. “I’m gonna remember you said
that.”

Jack pushed him in the chest
with both hands and Whipple staggered backward.

“Hold on, hold on.”
Clementine ran to get between them. “What’s going on here?” She
blocked Whipple, who was trying to get at Jack.

Whipple stopped, looked at
her and then went back to finish saddling his horse. “Ain’t
nothin’.”

Jack waited a moment then
turned and walked away toward the river.

“What was that about?”
Clementine asked Whipple.

“I told you it weren’t
nothin’,” he replied.

“You told him what I said,”
she challenged.

“I never.”

She ran after Jack. “What
did he say to you?”

“He said that I’ve been
offensive in my behavior to you. If that’s true, I apologize. That
was never my intention.”

“Oh.” She looked relieved.
“You’re not offensive; you’re just a cold fish.”

He didn’t answer but instead
looked toward the north. “What’s so special about some cliffs north
of here?”

“The Waco Indians village
used it to ambush anyone crossing the river at the ford. If we got
in the river and were attacked, we wouldn’t be able to turn around
and run. Josiah wants to scout it before we get there.”

“It seems to me that we
should be more vigilant if we’re in hostile Indian
Territory.”

“The Wacos are gone. They
abandoned the village some time ago. Kind of sad, really.” She
shook her head. “Josiah’s scouting the route as a matter of
prudence. There’s no special threat any more, but the cliffs are
still a good spot to mount an ambush.”

“What’s sad about the
Indians leaving?”

“It’s a long
story.”

“We won’t be going anywhere
until Whipple gets back.” He walked toward a huge willow with a
nearly horizontal limb that was about waist high. “Why don’t we sit
here and you can tell me the story.”

Clementine looked surprised
but followed him to the tree, backed up to the limb tried to lift
herself up and finally let him boost her onto it. “Thank you. I
hope you didn’t hurt yourself.”

“I’m perfectly fit,” he
said, boosting himself up to sit beside her. “In fact I think I’ll
go back to Mexico after a short visit with my sister, Jane and
Paul.”

“Tom said that you were to
stay at the ranch.”

“Thomas is my younger
brother and I out-rank him. He can suggest what I do but he can’t
order me to do anything.”

She decided to change the
subject and gestured at the river. “The real name of this river is
Brazos De Dios, which means The Arms of God, in
English.”

“How do you know so much
about local history?”

She shrugged. “In my
profession I do more talking than you might imagine.”

He blushed. “You were going
to tell me about the Waco Indians.”

“Oh yeah. Well, a few
years ago the Mexican military told Stephen Austin to remove the
Tawakonis from their settlement along the Navasota River
headwaters. Austin made a deal with the Cherokees, but for some
reason or other, they attacked and burned out the Wacos instead.
Some say that it was with Austin’s blessing. He had some kind of
dislike for the Wacos because they worshipped a goddess
called
Woman-With-The-Powers-In-The
Waters
. I don’t recall the Indian words,
but they’re shorter.” She giggled.

“Why would Austin care about
an Indian goddess?”

She shrugged. “There are all
kinds of stories about that but I personally think he just wanted
this land.”

“What’s so special about
it?”

“Fresh, clean water.” She
pointed over her shoulder. “Austin hired a New York company to cap
the artesian springs and geysers. That must have cost a lot of
money. So I imagine that Austin, or somebody, had big plans for
this area.”

“He’s been dead for, what,
ten years? It seems like something would have been done by
now.”

“I guess it’s still too
wild. There was a settlement south of here called Robertson’s
Colony but they were wiped out by Indians.”

Jack turned and looked
toward the camp for a moment. “We better get back to the others
before we create a scandal.” He hopped down from the limb, put his
hands around Clementine’s waist and looked into her eyes. “Thank
you for telling me.”

~

Josiah Whipple watched a
lone rider who was coming toward him for almost a minute, then
folded his telescope and kicked his horse. The two met near a small
clump of oaks and both dismounted. “You come lookin’ for me,
Charlie?” Whipple shook hands with Lagrange.

“No. I had an eye open for
you since I knew you were coming this way, but I’m trailing a bad
man that burned out the Taylor and the Rubidoux ranches about a
week ago.”

“Shit. The Taylors and the
Rubidouxs? How bad?”

Lagrange shook his head.
“Bad as it gets. Killed ‘em all.”

“No. What about the
kids?”

“Killed them
too.”

Whipple looked shocked.
“What for?”

“Who can guess? This is a
real bad man. He killed Willard Jones up at Fort Fisher yesterday.
Willard was unarmed and asleep in the grass.”

“And the bastard shot
him?”

“Gut shot him.”

“Jesus. You got this bad
man’s trail you say?”

“Yeah. His horse has a
notched shoe. I think he must be headed for San
Antonio.”

“We come from there.”
Whipple looked back toward his train. “Can you ride back with me
just in case?” He swung onto his saddle.

“Oh hell.” Lagrange caught
his horse, mounted and raced out after Whipple.

~

The people on the wagon
train saw the two Rangers riding hard toward them and armed
themselves.

“Let me have the shotgun,”
Jack said.

Clementine gave it to him
then scanned the countryside behind Whipple and Lagrange. “They’re
not being chased.”

“Not closely anyway,” Jack
agreed.

Whipple reined in next to
Clementine’s wagon. “Everything okay here?”

She nodded. “Yes. What are
you running from?”

He shook his head. “We just
got spooked. Charlie’s been chasin’ a bad man and we got to
thinkin’ that he might of found y’all.”

“You better go back and tell
everybody,” she said. “You just scared the shit out of us
all.”

He nodded.

“Josiah,” Charlie said. “I’m
gonna get back on his trail before it gets cold.”

“Right.” Whipple shook
Charlie’s hand. “Be careful. If you catch up with him, just let him
go on into town so you can get some help.”

Charlie nodded, then waved
to Clementine, and rode off as Whipple rode back to reassure the
others in the train.

“Oh hell,” Clementine said
to Jack. “That was your brother-in-law, Captain Charles Lagrange.”
She pointed. “I forgot to introduce you to him.”

“I don’t think anyone told
me that Anna married a Texas Ranger,” Jack said.

“Anna may have asked them
not to. I get the impressions that she’s not very proud of
him.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe he’s
not intellectual enough for her.”

“Anna’s a snob.”

Clementine
laughed.

“What?”

“That’s a word I’d use to
describe you.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you.”

He thought a moment. “Maybe
I am. Help me work on it.”

“How?”

“When I’m being a snob, tell
me.”

“Okay.” She looked back.
“Here comes Josiah. We’ll be moving out. You better get in
back.”

“Can I ride up here with
you?”

“I guess so. If you want
to.”

“Yes I do.”

“Let’s move ‘em out, Clem,”
Whipple shouted as he rode by.

May 10, 1847

Chapultepec,
Mexico

Thomas and Yank Van Buskirk
were standing at the edge of the dense forest called Bosque de
Chapultepec and were looking up at the castle on the hill, two
hundred feet above them.

“Stay in the shadows,
there’s a lookout in that central tower,” Yank warned.

“El Caballero Alto,” Thomas
said.

Yank looked puzzled. “The
tall knight? What are you talking about?”

Thomas chuckled. “The name
of that watchtower is El Caballero Alto.” He handed Yank his
telescope.

“Oh.” Yank took the
telescope and scanned the castle from one end to the other. “The
other two towers at the front have some other purpose. The one on
the right has windows and a parapet at the top but the one on the
left has none.”

“We should be able to reach
those terraces with ladders that we can carry instead of having to
assemble scaling ladders.”

“We don’t know what’s beyond
those terraces. Scaling the front to the roof is the only
way.”

“We can’t manage scaling
ladders by ourselves, Dad.”

“We’re not going to take
that castle by ourselves, Thomas.” He gave Thomas back his
telescope. “I’m sorry, Son, but it’s impossible.”

“No it isn’t, Dad,” Thomas
argued. “It looks harder from here than it really is. The slope
from the King’s Mill is gradual enough for horses.”

“If you look closer you’ll
see it’s corduroyed in patches. Half the horses in a mounted
cavalry charge would break their legs on that slope. The only way
is an infantry charge with one or two mounted officers who can pick
their way around the corduroying.”

Thomas looked through his
telescope. “You’re right.” He lowered the telescope and looked at
Yank. “But even with foot soldiers, a surprise charge would have us
inside the guns before they were even manned and loaded. The
batteries are the only serious threat.”

“If your plan is to attack
from the King’s Mill, why are we looking at the castle from here
instead of from the King’s Mill?”

“The buildings at the mill
are occupied by Mexican troops right now.”

“Don’t you think they’ll
continue to be occupied until we have a signed peace treaty or we
blow them out of there?”

“No, I don’t think so. Do
you?”

Yank shrugged. “It’s
logical. This is the gateway to Mexico City. I can’t imagine them
leaving it undefended.”