Chris was up and scanning the landscape as soon as he heard Vin's comment about the approaching natives. Tanner walked over and shook Ezra awake while Larabee assessed the situation.
"We have the advantage of our high position," Chris said, "might be able to take 'em all out."
"We don't even know if they're friendly or hostiles," Vin argued.
"If I may be so bold, how pray-tell are we going to find out if they are hostile without risking an arrow adornment to our persons?" Ezra countered.
"Good question, Ezra," Vin had no idea.
"We could just hide and hope they don't notice us," Standish suggested.
"I'm wonderin' if one of us should try to talk to them?" Chris said, focusing his green gaze steadfastly on the long, brown-haired man to his left. "They might know a way out or at least where we could find water."
"I suppose I look the least threatenin'?" Vin questioned, and then said, "you two hide up here and be ready to attack if need be. I'll go down and meet 'em."
"We'll bury the suitcases up here and come back for 'em…if we live that long," Chris smirked.
M7M7M7M7M7M7M7
The tribal party noticed a man about half a mile ahead, walking towards them. He was dressed in buckskin clothing and had long hair, but he was clearly a white man. There had been trouble with the white men lately. Miners had come in and run tribes off of their homelands. They had taken over almost all the lands with access to water.
The approaching white man had weapons but did not have them out, and his hands were up high in surrender. They knew it could be a trap, so two of the men went forward while the remaining 10 stayed behind. One of the two men, Kacho, had a white grandmother and thus could speak a bit of English.
"Ho," Vin held up his right hand in a hello gesture. "Need water," he made a motion of drinking from a cup. He pointed to the train wreckage and said, "came from train."
Kacho spoke roughly, "alone?"
"You speak English," Vin was relieved.
"Some. Travel alone?" Kacho repeated.
"I travel with two friends," Vin pointed and signaled to Larabee and Standish to come down. He didn't want to risk angering the tribesmen if they could provide water. "We've been here three days and are out of water. We mean you no harm."
Kacho glared at the now three men standing before him, "mine work take our lands."
"We're not miners; just folks passin' through," Vin continued, and Kacho and his companion, Etu, dismounted their horses and approached.
The two Indians were not tall men, about Ezra's height, but they were dark, broad, and strong. Kacho's companion held out his hand and said something in their native language.
"Your guns," Kacho translated.
Chris looked at Vin, and the Texan nodded his head. The three men then removed their gun belts and handed them over. Kacho next took the men's hats, and the two braves stared at the white men. Etu said something, and both natives laughed.
"He say you very white," Kacho smiled.
Chris figured that most of the men who worked in the mines out here were likely of Mexican or Chinese descent.
"You not last long here," Kacho motioned for the remaining 10 braves to approach.
"We were hopin' you could show us where to find water," Vin said again with no response.
The braves were discussing something amongst themselves, but the language was too different from the Kiowas and Comanches for Vin to understand.
"Ah shit," Vin said when he saw one of the braves pulling out a long piece of rope. They were going to tie them up.
Etu and Kacho were joined by two other braves, and Etu motioned for the men to put their wrists together and out in front of them.
Chris thought about trying to fight, but the three peacekeepers were physically drained and now had no weapons. Vin and Ezra put their hands out (hand in Ezra's case), and Etu roughly grabbed Chris' arms to tie them as well. The braves continued to talk amongst themselves, and the one who brought the rope seemed very intrigued by the white men. He poked at Ezra's sling and jacket and pulled roughly at Vin's and Chris' hair.
"Easy, Chris," Vin said when he saw the gunslinger's temper starting to boil. "They're just checkin' us out. Probably ain't seen many folks who dress like Ezra or have hair as light as yers."
Each man's rope was tied to a horse, and the braves led the men north, further into the desert.
"Why the hell'd they keep our hats?" Chris asked to no one in particular, now annoyed that they ever tried to be friendly with the party of natives. It was just after 10AM, and the sun was baking down on the men's bare heads and necks.
"I guess they figured if they don't need 'em, then we don't neither," Vin had no idea what these braves were thinking or what they were planning on doing with him and his friends.
They walked for nearly two hours with no hats and no water, when Larabee finally stumbled and fell. His legs felt like they weighed 200 pounds apiece. The rider hadn't noticed and was dragging the downed peacekeeper.
Vin yelled out, "Stop!"
Kacho translated, and the brave halted his horse to allow Chris to regain his feet. The three men were sunburned and soaked with sweat, and the English-speaking brave saw that they needed a break. He said something to his companions then told the three white men to "sit."
Once they were seated, he brought over a water pouch and put it to Ezra's lips. The brave allowed Ezra to drink for a minute, and then moved on to Chris and Vin.
"Name?" Kacho asked.
Tanner pointed to himself and said, "Vin." He then pointed to Larabee and Standish respectively and said, "Chris, Ezra."
Kacho repeated the names, and a number of the braves looked back and forth at each other or said a few words and smiled. Vin figured they were saying something to the effect of, "I've never heard such silly names."
"Brothers?" Kacho inquired.
"He thinks we're brothers," Ezra laughed out loud. "No, sir, we are not."
Kacho shrugged his shoulders and turned back to his horse.
The party remained there for about 15 minutes to let the men rest. Kacho then spoke to Chris for the first time and asked, "ok to go?"
Chris shook his head and said, "yeah, thank you." He decided not to push the hat issue; hell, he was already good and sunburned by now anyway.
They marched another half hour and turned a sharp curve behind a tall rock formation. Beyond that was a tiny stream and a small Indian village. The braves dismounted, took the peacekeepers' gear, and Etu and Kacho headed into a tent in the middle of the village. The remaining villagers, mostly older folks, women, and children, stopped what they were doing and stared at the three white men.
The children pointed at the men, talking and asking questions. Vin and Ezra tried to smile and make it known that they were friendly. Chris was preoccupied about wanting to know what the hell was going on and fighting the overwhelming urge to sit down. The gunslinger did not want to exhibit weakness in this unknown situation, so he continued to stand and look around. Finally, his gaze fell onto his two companions.
Both Vin and Ezra's faces were badly sunburned and streaked with dirt and sweat. Their hair was soaked from perspiration, and here they were smiling and waving at the native children like this was a visit they made every Sunday.
Tanner glanced over and saw Larabee staring at him. He supposed he was trying a bit too hard to look friendly, but he could see the water now. The stream was only about 100 yards away, and he could almost taste it. He knew his and his friends' bodies craved and needed that water. Chris and Ezra looked awful. He wanted to reach over and see if Larabee's temperature was too hot again, but he knew that would not be well-received by his sunburned friend. All of their faces were so red, it was impossible to tell by looking if any of them were suffering from the heat. Vin noticed that Larabee seemed to sway and struggle to stay upright from time to time, and Chris had once again grown very quiet.
Standish was wondering the same thing about Larabee, until he noticed that Vin didn't really look any better. They had been too long in the hot sun without food and water…..all of them. Ezra knew his own fair skin was not at all suited for these sorts of conditions; it was much more befitting a dark gambling hall. "Some vacation, huh gentlemen?" Ezra finally said.
Kacho and Etu left the main tent a few minutes later, and Kacho stopped to talk to a couple of young tribeswomen. He motioned to the men, and Vin heard their names spoken. The two women followed Kacho, he untied the men's hands, and said, "go with them."
Chris was losing patience, "we appreciate your help, but we would just like to fill a couple of canteens and be on our way."
"No," Kacho replied. "Need food, rest, bath….go," he again motioned to the two women.
"He's right, Chris," Vin pleaded for Larabee not to put up a fight. Vin was confident now that these people had no intentions of harming them, as long as Larabee didn't piss them off.
So, the men followed the two young women, as they had been asked to do. They were taken to a tent, not far from the stream. It felt wonderful to get out of the sun. One of the women motioned for the men to sit, and her companion returned with a large bowl of water. They offered drinks and then started removing the men's clothing.
"Mr. Tanner?" Ezra's green eyes grew large as he questioned. "What exactly do you think these young women have planned for us?"
"Think they're gonna give us a bath," Vin answered somewhat nervously.
While one woman prepared the soap-like concoction, the other took the men's clothing out to the stream to wash it off.
Additional bowls of water were brought in, Ezra's sling was removed and bandages on the splint re-done.
The young women were accustomed to doing their work on their own people, but neither of them had seen a white man up close. The skin under their clothing was fair, and their faces were red from too much sun. All three men had pale eyes and lighter hair than the tribesmen. The women noticed that they had suffered recent injuries as well. The young natives tried to imagine what sort of situations these men had been in to be beat up, shot, and limbs broken.
The man that Kacho called Vin had beautiful, long, curly hair, and they argued over which of them would get to wash it. The younger of the two girls won out. She carefully detangled the light brown hair and washed the bruised face and slender body. This man appeared to be the youngest of the three, and his eyes were exactly the color of the sky.
The older girl went to work on Ezra. She couldn't understand what the man said, but could tell that his accent sounded different than the other two. He had a shiny tooth, was the most clean-cut and better-dressed than the other two. She found herself daydreaming about running off with this rich, handsome man and traveling the world. He was slightly shorter than his companions but had a strong physique. "Ezra," she allowed herself to say his name out loud, and the man looked at her with beautiful, light green eyes.
When the younger girl finished with Vin, she approached Chris. She could sense an element of danger in the handsome man before her. His green eyes were sharp, like an eagle, and he watched her every move. His clothing had been all black, but his hair was soft and the fairest of the three. This man seemed to carry a lot of responsibility on his tall, lean frame. "The leader," she decided.
The girl finished with Ezra and brought back some long shirts for the men to wear while their clothing dried. It didn't take long in the heat of the day. Then she brought back three plates of food, hoping that would help to replenish the obviously tired men.
As they ate, Chris started to feel guilty for the natives' kindness and hospitality. "How can we re-pay them?" Chris asked. "I have money, but I don't know that they have a use for it."
"We can offer, but I doubt that they do," Vin answered. The food felt wonderful in his empty belly. "I reckon the best we can do is keep our mouth shut, so as we don't lead more white folks to their little oasis."
"They may keep our firearms as a consolation prize," Ezra suggested. "They have not returned those yet."
"It's possible," Vin said.
Just then Kacho entered and asked, "feeling better?"
Chris stood and approached the man and held out his right hand. It took Kacho a minute, but he eventually grabbed Larabee's arm. Chris said, "thank you. You and your people have been very kind."
"My village needs to see that not all white man are bad," Kacho smiled. "Will you stay tonight?"
Chris returned his smile, but said, "no, we'll be headin' back to the train tracks once we have our clothes. We would like to repay you for your kindness; we have money…."
Kacho shook his head, "no, you keep. I will ready horses, so you can ride."
Chris looked into the man's dark brown eyes, "we really appreciate that….and everything you have done."
Kacho turned and headed for the horses, passing the two young ladies as he left the tent. The women returned the men's mostly dry clothing, their hats, and their guns, and the regulators changed and readied themselves to hit the trail. Once their canteens were full, and they had packed away an extra meal from the tribe, they did their best to mount the bare-backed horses.
Vin had ridden bare-back, but it had been a few years. He managed to stay in the saddle at least, unlike Ezra and Chris. Vin finally ended up riding close to Ezra to steady him, after he had fallen off twice. He was at a major disadvantage only having one arm. Chris slid off once early on, then seemed to get the hang of it.
They waved their thanks to Kacho, as he left them to head back to his village. They were good on water and food for at least another couple of days, and now they knew where to find more if needed.
M7M7M7M7M7M7M7
Chris was awaken before dawn at the sound of an approaching train. He yelled at the two men to make a run for it. Fortunately, they had un-buried the suitcases the night before and had moved to the lower ground close to the tracks. The men were up and running within a minute.
The train was moving quickly, and it appeared to be carrying only freight. It easily knocked the old train wreckage out of its way. They saw a few empty cars, with the doors open, and knew that was their shot.
All of the men took off, trying to keep pace with the train. They threw the suitcase and their belongings in and Vin was the first to mount. Chris then boosted Ezra up, and Larabee jumped on board. It was not graceful, and they would all have the scrapes and bruises to prove it…but they were finally on their way out of Death Valley.