CH. 12

Boys to Men

Daniel slowly lifted the trap door to the stall where Leland and Randy stood, anxiously watching the proceedings. They looked up and stepped away from the bars trying not to attract attention to themselves. Daniel lowered a rope down. He pulled the two men up to the loft. Daniel had to move quickly. He drew his knife and moved across the loft swiftly.

Adrian tried not to panic. He tried to listen to the song emanating from the stalls. He tried to think of something else to get Billy James to halt the hanging. He'd seen Daniel in the loft and knew he'd gotten his friends out.

"Tell your boys where you got the term 'Apple,'" he panted. "It's because you were called that in school, wasn't it?"

"You talk too much for an Indian!" James strode up to Adrian. He pulled a .45 from his shoulder holster and shoved it under Adrian's chin.

"You're going to hang me or blow my brains out. Which would please your boys more?' The gang began to cheer for a hanging. "It won't change the fact that you're not what you pretend to be," Adrian said.

James slammed Adrian in the side of the face, knocking him off the crate into what he expected to be his hanging. But at that moment, a war cry echoed through the barn as Daniel flung himself toward the beam and sliced the rope, allowing Adrian to hit the ground. Daniel tackled Tommy James in his landing and disarmed him momentarily. Leland and Randy pushed one-hundred-pound hay bales off the loft, knocking most of the present men unconscious and injured. They then jumped down and disarmed Charlie and James in the excitement of the sneak attack.

Daniel cut Adrian loose, removed the noose and helped him up. Leland and Randy took Adrian by the arms and ran out the East exit of the barn toward the pond.

Tommy found his gun and fired several rounds at them. "Get up and get them!" he shouted to Tommy Jr. and Charlie. They went to their fallen buddies and retrieved their rifles, then ran out of the barn. They were nowhere to be seen. It was too dark. They couldn't see anything in the dim light of the new quarter moon.

"Wait!" Adrian whispered, trying to get his breath back. "Where's Daniel?"

Leland and Randy squinted through the darkness trying to see where Daniel might be. "I don't know. I don't see him," Leland said, huffing and puffing.

"Me neither," Randy added.

Adrian leaned on his legs. "You go ahead. I'm going back to find Daniel. Maybe he's hurt."

"Adrian, you don't have your gun."

"They won't see me, it's too dark." He straightened and looked back the way he'd come. "I'll meet you at the camp," he said, then trotted off quietly.

Leland and Randy reluctantly headed east, for the camp. Adrian avoided the pond this time and waited quietly for Tommy and Charlie to give up their search. After a few minutes, the dark of night defeated them, and they returned to the ranch house. Adrian waited a few more moments, quietly, trying to listen. He walked carefully toward the barn. Then a small movement caught his eye to the right of the barn door. He froze.

"Hwii'ts'zinnii" came a labored, whispering voice. It was Daniel. Adrian crouched down to the teen who had crammed himself behind the door. Adrian looked closely and saw he had a bullet wound in his left shoulder. He didn't have time to be surprised at his first words. He removed the shirt Leland had given him and folded it as quickly as possible into a manageable size and pressed it to the wound. He took Daniel's Right hand and made him hold it there. Then he motioned for him to wait. He stood and peeked around the barn entry quickly, pulling back so as not to be seen in case anyone was there. The barn was dark and abandoned except for the Navajo families in the stalls. Adrian moved to one of the stall doors, continually glancing around and looked at the lock. The only way he would be able to get them out was to move all the hay in loft. That would take time and Daniel didn't have that kind of time. A Navajo man came to the bars.

"Daniel White Wolf has been shot," Adrian said.

The man pulled a cluster of leaves from his shirt pocket and handed them to Adrian. "Grind them and make a drink. It will stop the bleeding." The man considered Adrian's condition as well. "You drink it too."

Adrian nodded his thanks but didn't move for a moment. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'll get help."

The Navajo man nodded with understanding. "Go."

Adrian hustled back to the side of the barn, stuffing the leaves into his jeans pocket. He knelt down and pulled Daniel's Right arm over his shoulder and hoisted him to his feet. The effort made Adrian wince, but he wasn't alone in his pain. Together the two men hobbled past the pond. Adrian's foot caught something, making him almost trip. He looked down and saw his shirt wrapped around his foot. He let Daniel go for a moment, he was able to stand on his own for at least the time it took him to snatch up his shirt. Adrian quickly put it on. "Thank you, God," he whispered glancing upward.

The detective grabbed Daniel again and headed out onto the black desert plain. Adrian was on pure adrenaline for the first two hours but finally collapsed under Daniel's weakening frame. They lay in the dirt together trying to breath after the exertion. Adrian checked Daniel's wound. He pulled his belt off and wrapped it under his arm, over the shirt and tightened it as much as possible. He saw Daniel grimace at the pressure.

"Sorry." He forced himself back to his feet. He was shaking with fatigue but had to keep them moving. He grabbed Daniel's good arm again and urged him up. He then remembered Daniel's pouch containing the herbs for energy. He found the container and reached inside. He took a leaf and put it in Daniel's mouth. Daniel wearily took the leaf and began chewing it. He nodded to Adrian.

Adrian retrieved another leaf from the pouch and popped it into his own mouth. The bitterness almost made him wretch, but he held it in, coughed a little and chewed vigorously and swallowed.

"Much better as a drink," Daniel said, stunning Adrian. Then he remembered that by the barn he had spoken for the first time.

"Much better," Adrian smiled at him. He adjusted Daniel's weight against his and started off again.

Leland and Randy decided that they would not immediately return to camp but would wait for Adrian and Daniel to catch up. They sat in the relative shelter of a small grouping of rocks and let sleep take over. It was still dark when Randy heard the gentle snuffling of a creature nearby. He opened one eye first, in the direction of the sound. He turned his face, and a horse lifted its head in a slightly startled response to Randy's awakening. The horse, a Buckskin, remained however, and Randy opened both eyes. He made slow movements and tapped Leland on the leg.

Leland opened his eyes slowly and looked at Randy who made a small pointing gesture toward the horse. "That's a horse," Leland said, almost holding his breath. Randy nodded. Randy then stood up slowly, anticipating the flight of the wild animal. She only snuffled curiously. Randy glanced down at Leland who adjusted his eyebrows several times not knowing what to think of the whole thing. Carefully, slowly, with an outstretched hand, Randy offered a "Horse handshake" to the mare before him. She touched the top of his hand with her delicate muzzle and gave a soft exhale.

Leland slowly stood wiping the dirt from the back of his pants and stared at his young friend with the wild horse. 'Was this Randy's animal guide?' he wondered to himself.

Randy ran a gentle hand down the neck of the mare then across her back. She tossed her head as if approving of his touch. She then looked at Randy standing beside her belly. She tossed her head invitingly and Randy swung his leg up and over her back. Leland nearly fell over.

"This is the she he was talking about!" Randy whispered excitedly.

"What she who was talking about?"

"Monk! Remember he said, 'she'll find you' to me the other day?"

Leland hadn't been paying too much attention to that conversation and nodded yes and no. "Yeah, okay."

"She's the she. This horse. She's a mare."

"Yeah, Randy I know what a she horse is."

"We can go get Adrian and Daniel now."

"Only two of us can ride one horse," Leland pointed out.

"But she's got to have a herd around here. A horse never travels alone. They're herd animals."

Randy was becoming a plethora of knowledge the more he was exposed to the Arizona desert, and all Leland could do was shake his head in bewilderment. Deep inside he wondered when his animal would make an appearance. Randy offered him his arm. Leland grabbed the two rifles they had commandeered, handed one to Randy who slung it around his shoulder by the strap while Leland did the same with the other. He then took Randy's outstretched arm and swung himself up behind him.

"Can you ride?"

"I don't know. Probably," Randy replied, with uncertain confidence.

He made a slight motion with his body and the horse took off into a smooth trot. Leland was impressed. As they headed back the way they had come. Two more horses joined them. They only saw two but heard many hooves off in the nearby distance.

"That's got to be her herd," Randy said. Leland nodded. "Now we all have a mount." The mare picked up speed and they moved quickly across the desert. Suddenly the mare pulled up short and let out a snort, then calmed, and released a snuffle. The herd made a wide circle and stopped. The mare put her nose to the ground and moved forward slowly. Leland dismounted as did Randy and they carefully walked forward, not knowing what to expect.

"Randy!" came Adrian's voice from behind a rock. Randy waited for him to come out, but he didn't make an appearance. Leland and Randy hurried around the rock to find Adrian and Daniel leaning up against it exhausted.

"Monk, are you okay?" Leland asked.

The haggard man could only nod. "Daniel, he's not," he drifted off, half gesturing to his young friend.

Leland and Randy examined the makeshift pressure bandage on the nearly unconscious young man and quickly got him positioned to treat shock. They would stay for a while and let the two recover somewhat. They'd make a run for it, literally, once the sun was higher. The herd stayed near to the men, keeping them surrounded as they tried to rest.

Adrian had Randy prepared the herb tea from the leaves he'd been given. The horses knew where the water was. There was a brook nearby and Randy was escorted by his mare. The tea was steeped and everyone drank. It was three hours later that the sun began to peer over the eastern mesas. Adrian and Daniel were rested enough, and Daniel's bleeding had stopped. Two more horses came forward and they put Daniel on one, a black and white paint, and Adrian on a strangely familiar dapple-gray Mustang. They headed for the original camp hoping Ben would be there.

Unfortunately, the Skinheads were up early and out hunting Indian for breakfast. Within an hour they spotted the heard and its riders and gave chase. The mare led them into a canyon with many rocky places to hide. Shots echoed off the walls as the pursuers fired at their quarry. They turned a corner and hid, while the rest of the herd led the skinheads past them and out the other end of the canyon. Leland had to think fast. While Randy supported Daniel, Adrian and Leland dismounted their horses and tried to come up with a plan. Leland looked at Daniel's bloody shirt.

Leland pulled Adrian aside. "Adrian, listen. I need you to play dead."

"Excuse me?"

Leland didn't want Adrian to think too much, because he knew that if Adrian knew what was coming, he'd freak out. So, he plowed ahead with his plan. "You have to pretend you've been shot. You've done it before."

"Yeah, I should get an award for my acting!" he answered sarcastically, not sure he liked what he was about to hear. Just then Daniel put his hand inside his shirt and pulled his bloody hand back out. He reached toward Adrian, who stepped back, trying not to let repulsion cross his features. It must have worked because Daniel only nodded.

"This is the only way we can get Daniel out safely."

Adrian considered this and reluctantly agreed. They helped Daniel down and steadied him as he smeared his blood on the front of Adrian's shirt and on the back to make it appear the shot went through him. He stood with his eyes closed and a slight grimace on his face as they applied the 'make-up.' He could smell the blood. There was enough of it to cloak the fact that there was no wound at all. Adrian then lay on the ground and placed his hand on his stomach. Leland stood back to critique.

"He looks good," Randy said, helping Daniel back up. Adrian gave him a look of displeasure. "I mean. You don't look good, dead. You just look . . . dead."

Leland mounted his horse. "We'll wait for you around the other side."

Adrian nodded. He watched as they rode off, hoping he could be convincing and hoping they wouldn't waste a bullet on him for good measure. As his friends disappeared, Adrian's attention was drawn upward, and he saw his eagle circling overhead. He realized the eagle was drawing the attention of the skinheads to him and away from his friends. Adrian heard the truck approach. He closed his eyes and prayed for success.

Above on the rocks, no one noticed the Mountain Lion crouching, looking down on the scene.