“Lord help me,” Evelyn said, her hand pressed to her stinging cheek.
Venom laughed, then bent and grabbed the front of her buckskin shirt. “Have you ever been with a man, girl? You’re going to be. I get you first and then the rest.”
“You’re insane.”
“No,” said a deep booming voice from out of the trees. “He’s evil, child. As despicable as they come.”
Venom spun. So did his men. They had not quite turned when rifles thundered, eight or nine booming at once, and the heads of the scalp hunters burst like so many overripe melons. Potter’s forehead erupted in a geyser of bone and blood. The back of Tibbet’s skull exploded outward. Both twins got their rifles up, but each lost part of his face before he could shoot.
Venom was shot in the mouth. Tottering back, blood and bits of teeth dribbling over his lower lip, he dropped his rifle and uttered a manic cry. He fell to his knees and looked up just as the men in the cottonwoods emerged. His eyes widened. “You!” the scarlet ruin gurgled.
Evelyn beheld a wall of a man with a square face and stout legs and a brown short-brimmed hat. She saw him draw a pistol and cock it and touch the muzzle to the middle of Venom’s forehead. She didn’t look away. The blast dissolved much of Venom’s brow and he oozed to the ground and quaked as if cold. Then he was still. “My word,” she marveled.
The big man wedged the pistol under his belt, smiled warmly at her, and held out a calloused hand. “You are welcome for the rescue, young lady.”
“Who…? How…? Where…?” Evelyn couldn’t seem to collect her thoughts.
“The name is Jeremiah Blunt. I’m the captain of a freight train bound for Bent’s Fort.”
His men were checking the bodies and attending to Dega and Waku.
“How is it you saved us, Mr. Blunt?”
Blunt poked Venom with a boot. “These vermin made the mistake of paying my wagons a visit. While they were there, one of them made the further mistake of mentioning they were after a white girl.” He reached down and helped her to stand.
“You followed them on that alone?”
“Do unto others, young lady. I have a daughter of my own.” Blunt gestured at the littered forms. “You only had to look at them to realize they were vile. For them to be after a white girl meant they had to be up to no good. So I trailed them to find out.”
Evelyn impulsively gave him a hug. “We’re more grateful than we can say. My parents will want to thank you.”
“No need,” Blunt declared. “By the way, I don’t believe I caught your name.”
Evelyn introduced herself.
“Well, Ms. King, you and your friends are welcome to come along with us to Bent’s Fort. There’s safety in numbers, and you will be decently treated. What do you say?”
Evelyn King smiled. From Bent’s Fort it was only a ten-day ride to home. “I say yes.”
Author’s Note
I have been asked if the Jeremiah Blunt mentioned in Nate King’s journal is the same Jeremiah Blunt who for many years was involved in the freight trade in the Southwest.
The answer is yes.
Blunt was a remarkable man. A devout Christian, he treated the Indians fairly and was even held in respect by the Comanches.
He was involved in several escapades that drew notice, foremost among them, perhaps, his rescue of Evelyn King.
Reports have it that an eastern newspaper caught wind of the story and sent a reporter to interview Blunt. Blunt told the man that good deeds should be done in secret, and when the reporter still insisted on writing an account, Blunt held him upside down by his ankles until the reporter promised that the newspaper wouldn’t write a word.
His story continues in Wilderness #62 : Tears of God, available in December.
The Wilderness Series:
#1: KING OF THE MOUNTAIN
#2: LURE OF THE WILD
#3: SAVAGE RENDEZVOUS
#4: BLOOD FURY
#5: TOMAHAWK REVENGE
#6: BLACK POWDER JUSTICE
#7: VENGEANCE TRAIL
#8: DEATH HUNT
#9: MOUNTAIN DEVIL HAWKEN FURY (Giant Edition)
#10: BLACKFOOT MASSACRE
#11: NORTHWEST PASSAGE
#12: APACHE BLOOD
#13: MOUNTAIN MANHUNT
#14: TENDERFOOT
#15: WINTERKILL
#16: BLOOD TRUCE
#17: TRAPPER’S BLOOD
#18: MOUNTAIN CAT
#19: IRON WARRIOR
#20: WOLF PACK
#21: BLACK POWDER
#22: TRAIL’S END
#23: THE LOST VALLEY
#24: MOUNTAIN MADNESS
#25: FRONTIER MAYHEM
#26: BLOOD FEUD
#27: GOLD RAGE
#28: THE QUEST
#29: MOUNTAIN NIGHTMARE
#30: SAVAGES
#31: BLOOD KIN
#32: THE WESTWARD TIDE
#33: FANG AND CLAW
#34: TRACKDOWN
#35: FRONTIER FURY
#36: THE TEMPEST
#37: PERILS OF THE WIND
#38: MOUNTAIN MAN
#39: FIREWATER
#40: SCAR
#41: BY DUTY BOUND
#42: FLAMES OF JUSTICE
#43: VENGEANCE
#44: SHADOW REALMS
#45: IN CRUEL CLUTCHES
#46: UNTAMED COUNTRY
#47: REAP THE WHIRLWIND
#48: LORD GRIZZLY
#49: WOLVERINE
#50: PEOPLE OF THE FOREST (Giant Edition)
#51: COMANCHE MOON
#52: GLACIER TERROR
#53: THE RISING STORM
#54: PURE OF HEART
#55: INTO THE UNKNOWN
#56: IN DARKEST DEPTHS
#57: FEAR WEAVER
#58: CRY FREEDOM
#59: ONLY THE STRONG
#60: THE OUTCAST