“Bang, stop!”
He heard Bob yell his name, but Bang ran for the pony. He unhobbled the horse, grabbed the reins and leapt onto its back, nearly falling right off to the other side in the process. By the reins, he turned the horse quickly, just skirting past Bob as he did.
“Wait!” Bob yelled but Bang did not wait, nor did the pony. If he thought the smaller horse would be slower than September, he was wrong. The little horse shot off like a bullet into the darkness and Bang held on, if only barely.
At first his vision wobbled so he concentrated on holding on, knowing that this horse would want to meet up with the others. Then finally, when he thought he’d lost Bob, he said, “Whoa,” and slowed the pace but then soon after he heard hooves coming his way fast.
“What are you doing, kid?” Bob said. “You’re not cleared to ride. Not yet.”
Bang adjusted the pack over his shoulders, took a better grip of the horse’s mane and adjusted his seating. “I’m not waiting for you to tell me what’s going on when you see fit. I know my people are in danger. And I’m not going to let you hurt them or use me as a hostage.” He took off again but at a more reasonable pace. His head was swimming…if he could just keep what he thought was the horizon centered, he’d make some progress.
Bob caught up to him and yelled, “You don’t understand. We’re not keeping you hostage. That’s against our ways.”
Bang laughed and cut him a sharp look. “Look, I have a lot of questions about your ways but that’s not important right now. What’s going on? What happened? And where are they going?”
Bob took a breath. “Are you sure you’re okay to ride? You’re on a Cayuse pony. They’re small but ride fast and turn on a dime. Be careful.”
“What happened?!” Bang repeated.
“You don’t even know where you’re going, you’re bleeding and you’re staggering all over the place.”
Bang dug his bloody heel into the side of the pony, held on tight, and they took off like the wind. He closed his eyes and pulled his head low to try and concentrate on the sound of the hooves beating the ground in the distance. He knew the Cayuse pony would join the others, so he put blind faith into that trust as well. He was going where the rest of the tribe was, with or without Bob. Whatever they were up to, he was going to find out. He knew it had something to do with his people.
When the horse slowed, Bang didn’t push him harder and then Bob caught up.
Though he was a bit dizzy from the ride Bang said, “Just tell me what’s going on.”
Bob nodded. “Your town’s being attacked by a small war party. The group you were with went to help them. The problem is, there’s a lot more of them on the way to join the others and that’s where my people headed…to prevent them from gaining ground.”
What parts of Bang’s head didn’t hurt thought only of Addy and the others headed into danger, and here he was out in the middle of nowhere and not able to help them.
Bob continued to talk but Bang barely heard him past his own thoughts.
“…that’s why I’m here to protect you and not joining the others. But it’s your call. What do you want to do?”
Bang barely heard the part about it was Bob’s fault he was out of commission…or something to that effect. He was trusting in the fact that Graham and Dalton would have already followed protocol and escaped east. He had to trust that was true but why would Rick and the others leave him with Indians and head straight home if no one was in danger? They’d only do that if someone was in their path. That fact had him worried.
“How many were in the scouting troop?”
“Maybe a dozen by the reports.”
Bang swallowed. “How many in the larger group?”
“Fifty or more, they said, but we can’t be sure exactly.”
“And that’s where the tribe is going—to stop them from joining the others?”
“Yes.”
“And why did my group head back to town so quickly? We have contingencies for this. Something’s wrong there.”
His answer was delayed a beat which bothered Bang.
“Someone stayed behind, they said. That’s what we were told.”
Bang didn’t want to know more. He didn’t want to know who…because in his heart he already knew and there was nothing he could do about it now. Not this far away.
He kept thinking…a dozen to one. He didn’t like the odds, but he also gave credit to his people. They knew the terrain. They had plans in place. But acting on emotion scared him. Someone stayed behind. Someone they could not lose and had to beat a path back for. That knowledge scared the hell out of him, but he also knew he was closest to the main group and had the tribe as well. It would take him too long to join the others.
“I’m joining your people then. We’re stopping the surge. My group will take care of the scouts.” He convinced himself that if he said it out loud, the statement would become true. With that hope in his heart, Bang stretched his neck first to one side and then to the other and took a deep breath. Then he held on tight and pressed again into the horse’s side, and the pony took off in a flash.