Blade ran the final yards.
Hickok, Geronimo, Rudabaugh, and Orson were each on their backs.
Before Rikki could say anything, Blade knelt alongside Hickok and placed his left ear on his chest. He detected a strong heartbeat, and a flood of relief washed over him.
Rikki squatted next to Blade. “He’ll live,” he stated, and pointed at a huge bruise on the gunman’s right temple. “I saw him get hit by a G.R.D.
with a club. He should be coming around soon.”
Blade turned to Geronimo. The third member of Alpha Triad was obviously alive, his chest rising and falling rhythmically. There was a bloody furrow parting the center of his hair.
“It’s deep,” Rikki said, “but he’ll be fine.” He looked at the remaining two forms. “I wish I could say the same about them.”
Blade went down the line.
Rudabaugh’s clothes were drenched. He had been shot three times, high in the back, between the shoulder blades. The bullets had exited on either side of his sternum, and two of them had made a sizeable hole above his heart. He was dead.
Orson was dripping wet. A slug had caught him on the left side of his chest and perforated his heart. He had probably died instantly.
Blade slowly stood, sighing.
“You look like you could use some tending, yourself,” Kilrane interjected.
Blade looked up. “First things first. How did the battle go?”
“Much easier than expected,” Rikki replied. “There weren’t as many of them as we thought there would be. Kilrane led the Cavalry, charging right into the middle of Catlow. Resistance was minimal until we reached the town square, and even here we outnumbered them by about four to one.”
He paused and scanned the town square. “It was over almost before we knew it.”
“What if some attempted to escape?” Blade asked.
“Some did,” Rikki detailed. “I sent the Clan to cover U.S. Highway 85 to the south, and the Moles to the north. We heard some gunfire to the south, but it didn’t last long.” He nodded at a dead G.R.D. “What happened to the great army we were expecting to encounter?”
Blade shrugged. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I estimated there were several hundred, tops.” A question suddenly occurred to him. “Rikki, don’t misunderstand me, because I’m glad you showed up when you did, but what are you doing here so early? Did Kilrane’s man inform you we were in trouble?”
Rikki shook his head. “Thank Red Cloud.”
“Red Cloud?”
“Red Cloud linked up with our column yesterday,” Rikki elaborated.
“He was concerned, afraid we were recklessly exposing you to danger by relying on only one man to alert us. I decided he was right, and acting on my own initiative I sent in another rider last night as insurance. When he couldn’t locate our contact man, he rode back to us and reported it. We departed for Catlow immediately.
Blade put his right hand on Rikki’s narrow left shoulder. “You performed well. I will commend you to Plato after we return to the Home.”
“A commendation isn’t necessary,” Rikki declared. “I was only doing my duty as a Warrior.”
Blade looked at Kilrane. “I almost forgot!” he exclaimed, appalled at his neglect. The sight of Hickok and Geronimo on the ground had rattled his senses. “Find one of your menders and get over to the command post.
Bertha took a bad hit.”
“On my way,” Kilrane said, and left on the run.
Blade walked to the fountain and sat down on the basin rim. How could he have forgotten Bertha? Damn! What an idiot! Sure, he was on the verge of exhaustion, but that was no excuse. He frowned, displeased at himself.
If anything happened to her, he would never be able to forgive his part in her death. She had been right all along. She usually was. Bertha had given him sound advice before, in the Twin Cities, and he’d disregarded it with disastrous consequences. Now he’d done it again! He should have heeded her and used the SEAL. All of them might have survived in one piece.
Rudabaugh and Orson were dead because—
Someone moaned at his feet.
Hickok opened his eyes and gazed around. He raised his right hand and gingerly touched the welt on his temple. “Howdy,” he mumbled.
Blade knelt next to the gunman. “Take it easy,” he advised.
“I ain’t gonna take it any other way, pard,” Hickok muttered.
“You were struck on the head,” Rikki mentioned.
“Oh, really?” Hickok quipped. “You could of fooled—” He suddenly sat up, anxiously looking around. “Geronimo—”
“He’s right here,” Blade said, indicating their companion. “He’ll be all right.”
Hickok stared at the wound on Geronimo’s crown. “Yeah. I see they shot him on the noggin. I’m plumb surprised the bullet didn’t ricochet off.” His gaze moved to Rudabaugh and Orson and he instantly lost his levity.
“They died bravely,” Blade said in tribute.
“That’s how I’d like to pass on from this world,” Hickok remarked.
“With my guns blazing.” He glanced at Blade. “Say! Where the blazes is Black Beauty?”
Blade averted his eyes.
Hickok reached out and grabbed Blade’s left arm. “Where is she?” he demanded.
“The half-track,” Blade responded despondently, pointing. “She may not make it.”
Hickok rose to his feet.
“You should rest,” Rikki told him. “Don’t push yourself.”
“I gotta check on Black Beauty,” Hickok declared, and stalked off.
“Why are you so depressed?” Rikki asked Blade.
“Who says I’m depressed?” Blade retorted, standing.
“Your face,” Rikki revealed. “If there is something troubling you, perhaps I can help?”
Blade shook his head. “Thanks. But I’ll be okay.”
Rikki elected to change the subject. “Do you know what happened to the Doktor?”
Blade glanced toward the command post, remembering. “We don’t need to worry about him anymore.”
“Then our mission was a success,” Rikki said.
“Tell that to Rudabaugh and Orson,” Blade suggested, “or Bertha.”
Rikki’s brow furrowed. “Casualties in an operation of this magnitude were inevitable. You knew that.”
“Yeah,” Blade sighed, “I suppose I did. But intellectually recognizing a fact and actually experiencing it are two different things.”
“Do we proceed to Denver as planned?” Rikki inquired.
“After we finish here,” Blade confirmed.
“I will pray we meet with equal success in Denver,” Rikki said. “The sooner we conclude this affair, the sooner we can return to our Home. I miss it.”
Blade thought of his wife, Jenny. “So do I.” He wondered how Plato was faring, and then he remembered what the Doktor had said. “Joshua!” he stated in alarm.
“What about Joshua?” Rikki questioned him.
“The Doktor told me he killed Joshua,” Blade disclosed.
“What?” Rikki responded incredulously. “That’s impossible.”
“The Doktor told me he killed Joshua,” Blade insisted.
“But Joshua is back at the Home,” Rikki noted. “There’s no way he could have…” He paused, stunned, insight dawning.
“What is it?” Blade asked.
“One of our horses was stolen,” Rikki divulged.
“Stolen? You’re sure?”
“Yes. And there was a report of one extra man in one of the trucks. You don’t think…” Rikki left the sentence unfinished.
Blade reached into his right front pants pocket and removed a set of keys.
“Where are you going?” Rikki queried.
“I’ll be back,” was all Blade would say as he started to walk away.
“Take somebody with you!” Rikki recommended.
Blade shouldered his way through the crowd, oblivious to his surroundings.