The Rise of a Warrior

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A little over an hour later and not quite six miles east-northeast of Watson, Corporal Connolly reined-in beneath a stand of ancient cottonwoods gathered around a natural spring. The largest trunk was well over five feet in diameter.

The men dismounted to rest their horses for a few minutes and let them drink.

The corporal, standing beside his horse, opened the left saddle bag and pulled out a well-worn map of the Texas panhandle. He walked toward the wide trunk of a fallen cottonwood. The bark had dropped away on one side of it.

Just as Connolly started to roll out the map against the smooth side of the fallen tree, Courtney Edwards came walking up. With him was Blake Stanton, a sharp new man who’d joined the company only recently.

*

Blake Stanton had turned 19 years old five weeks earlier. He was just under six feet tall, clean shaven, lean and wiry. His off-white shirt was tucked into his brown pants, and they in turn were tucked into his scuffed brown high-top boots. His gun belt matched his boots, and the holster held one of the new Colt .45 caliber, 5-shot revolving pistols.

He reined-in at the hitching rail in front of Ranger headquarters in Amarillo and dismounted. He whipped the reins loosely over the rail, then took his Henry repeating carbine from the scabbard alongside his saddle. He crossed the boardwalk with a few steps, worked the latch on the door and pushed it open.

As he crossed the threshold, he released the door latch and quickly reached up to take off his hat. He held it to his chest with his right hand and let his eyes adjust.

There was only one man in the room, an older, tall, stout man sitting at a large desk on the other side of a short partition. He looked up. “May I help you?”

At 63 years old, Captain Odie Ray Flowers, the longtime commander of the company at Amarillo, was all set to retire. He had his eye on a piece of prime property over in New Mexico Territory, a couple hundred miles southwest of Amarillo. The site he had in mind was up on a formation called the Caprock.

Friends who’d moved there previously said the grass there was belly high to a bull most of the year, and when the wind blew just right you could almost hear the yucca bells ringing. Best of all, there was none of the red clay that plagued the area around Amarillo and turned the streets to a sticky red muck when it rained. He was waiting only for word from Austin and a replacement. But for now, it was still his job to do.

Quietly, Stanton said, “Yes sir. I need to talk with a Texas Ranger, sir. Well, what I mean, I want to sign up.”

Flowers eyed him, then stood and walked stiffly to the gate in the partition. He swung it open and gestured with his hand. “Step into my office here and let’s talk. I’m Captain Flowers. I’m in command of the company here.” He indicated a chair to one side of his desk. “Have a seat.”

“Thanks.” Stanton sat, then leaned the Henry gently against the corner formed by the captain’s desk and the partition. It was as if he were handling an infant.

Captain Flowers rested one hip on the corner of his desk. “So you say you want to sign up?”

Stanton nodded. “Yes sir.”

The captain waited for a moment, then said, “May I ask why?”

“Oh, sorry... Indians, Captain. Well, Indians and Mexicans I guess. But for me, I’ve known some good Mexicans, so mostly Indians. Somebody’s gotta stop ‘em.”

He paused and rubbed the open palm of his right hand over his forehead, then down over his face. “They hit my folks place. I was out huntin’. Comanches I think, but it could’a been Apaches I guess... maybe even Caddo.” He looked at the floor for a moment. “I-I don’t know a lot about ‘em yet.” He looked up at the captain again. “They killed my folks, my sister... my brother.”

The captain nodded. “I’m sorry to hear that. When did this happen?”

“It’s been close to a month ago now, I guess.”

Flowers watched the young man’s face very carefully when he asked, “About your folks... were they mutilated in any way? Scalped, or otherwise harmed in any way that was more than just killing them?”

A slight frown creased Stanton’s brow. He thought for a moment, then said, “You mean did they torture them?”

Flowers nodded.

“I-I didn’t look ‘em over real thoroughly, but there wasn’t anything like that as far as I could see. My pa had an arrow through his chest and was shot in the head. The others were only shot, once each in the head.”

The captain nodded. “All right. Well, it probably wasn’t Comanches. Be glad for that.”

Stanton said, “I can ride, Captain, and I’m handy with a gun, short, long or scatter. I can read too. And I can read sign as good as the next guy and better’n a lot of ‘em.” He paused. “I need to join up with the Rangers.”

“Son, I’m sorry for your loss, but the Rangers aren’t here for revenge.”

The young man’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, no sir. That’s not why I want to join. Really. I mean, I admit that was it at first. Soon as I got my folks buried, I grabbed my carbine here and all the ammo I could carry and went after ‘em.”

He traced his fingers along the forestock of the carbine as he looked at it. “My pa gave me this for my birthday, two days before they came in on him. I took it out to get us some venison. I was only gone three days.”

He shook his head and moved his hand back to clasp fingers with his other hand. He looked at the captain. “Good as I can track, it wasn’t good enough. I still lost ‘em, but not ‘til I’d been on the trail for almost two weeks. Then they just vanished.”

He shook his head again and his voice grew softer. “That’s when I realized revenge ain’t no good. I guess bein’ on their trail that long drained all the mad out of me.” He shrugged. “Now I just want to help make it stop. If I can keep someone else from goin’ through this, that’s good enough.”

The captain nodded. “Sounds like you’ve thought it through. What if I said you have to go to Austin to sign up?”

Stanton looked at him. “Really?” He looked away for a moment, then back at the captain. “Guess I’ll overnight here and head out in the mornin’.”

The captain frowned. “You sure? You don’t want to just head that way right now?”

“Oh, no sir. I gotta get a little sleep first. One night ain’t gonna make no difference. I-I been losin’ some sleep lately, you can prob’ly tell, but I’m gettin’ better. No, I’ll have to get some rest. I’ll head out tomorrow.”

Flowers nodded, got up and moved around his desk. “Good enough. I just had to be sure.” He opened his desk drawer and passed the young man a five-dollar gold piece. “That’s for necessaries. You can board your horse down at Sanchez Livery Stable, back down the road. No charge to Rangers.

“Then go across the street, Amarillo Inn. Tell ‘em I sent you, that you’re gonna take your oath as a Ranger. They have rooms reserved for us. Pick yourself out a room. You don’t pay for that either. Stow your gear, then get something to eat, get some rest, and be back in here tomorrow morning after breakfast. I’ll administer your oath then.”

Stanton looked at the coin in his palm. “So I don’t have to go to Austin?”

Flowers smiled. “No. I’ll swear you in right here. I just had to be sure you weren’t out for vengeance.”

Stanton nodded. “I understand.” He closed his fist around the coin. “This comes outta my pay though, right?”

“Absolutely.”

“A’right then. See you in the mornin’, Captain. And thanks.” He stood, picked up his Henry and headed for the door.

When the door closed behind him, Captain Flowers said quietly, “You’re welcome.” He’d seen too many come through that door only to be put into a narrow box far too early.

The following morning, the captain administered the oath for Blake Stanton. Over the next several days, he had one or more of the senior rangers take Stanton out into the prairie to test his ability at riding, tracking from horseback and on the ground, and shooting. He proved more than efficient at all three.

When word came in that Iron Bear was raiding west and north of Amarillo, the captain assigned Corporal Connolly, along with Court Edwards, to see whether they could intercept him and bring him to justice. He also thought it would be a good way to immerse young Stanton in the Ranger experience.

So far, the young Ranger had held his own.

*

Court said, “Jim, I figured you were gonna check the map. Blake here’s interested in readin’ maps. He knows the country north and east of here as well as we do too, so I thought I’d bring him along.”

The corporal nodded. “Sounds good.” He looked at Stanton. “How you likin’ the job so far?”

Blake took off his hat and wiped the brim with his bandanna, then put it back on his head. “I could’a gone awhile longer without seein’ what we found over west of Watson.”

Jim nodded. “I reckon we could all do with less of that.”

“But all things considered, I’d still rather be doin’ this than anything else I can think of. I just hope I can make a hand for you, Corporal Connolly.”

“You already have. You’ve been right there with the rest of us through the whole thing. Can’t make a much better hand than that.” He unrolled his map on the fallen cottonwood. “Here, let’s take a look at this.”

More for Stanton’s sake than anything else, he tapped his index finger on the map. “See right here to the right of where this creek comes down off the hill? That’s where we were yesterday. That’s where they hit last.” He looked up at Stanton. “Okay?”

Stanton nodded. “Got it.”

“All right. Now,” he said, and he drew a line with his finger from the previous location through Watson, then northeast a ways and stopped. He tapped the map again. “We’re right here. See how these little lines seem to pinch together on both sides? That’s a draw just below this spring, about a quarter-mile that way.” He pointed.

Stanton nodded. “A’right.”

Connolly put his finger back on the original location and followed an arcing line of loosely connected arroyos northeast, then more easterly. “Now after the Comanches hit that place, they didn’t head out straight the way we did. They headed up through this series of arroyos.

“See how it runs generally in a broad arc? Iron Bear’s been pulling this trick for a long time. He gets us following this arc, and then he either stops and sets up an ambush or he circles back and hits another place while we’re still up on the arc.

“Now, he’s been out awhile on this little raiding trip. His men need rest but he still has us to contend with. So he has to rest his men, but he also has to get rid of us. Now think about that, and then look at the map. If it was you out there, where would you want to rest your men if you also had an enemy coming after you?”

Stanton frowned. “Place where there’s water, maybe some shade. But also a place where I could set up an ambush. Preferably with as few men as possible.” He looked around, then grinned. “So a place like this.”

“Yeah, but this ain’t it. Remember, he thinks we’re tracking along behind him. But I showed you how this place looks on the map. See anyplace else that looks similar?”

Stanton moved sideways a half-step so he could get a better view of the map. He leaned forward slightly and frowned again, then put his index finger on the map. “Right there. Is there a spring there?”

Connolly and Edwards grinned at each other. “Wouldn’t surprise me if there was. And it’s only barely south of his arc, see?”

After Stanton had a moment to look, Connolly straightened. He started rolling up the map. “For my money, that’s where he’s headed. Good news is, that’s probably around four to six hours from where he is right now, depending on whether he’s saving his horses.

“The other good news is that it’s only two and a half hours from where we’re standin’. I intend for us to be waitin’ for him.”