The meal was filling and satisfying. Under more relaxed circumstances, Jed Harker would have lit his pipe and relaxed a little while his food digested. He felt instinctively though that this was not the smart dodge here and the sooner they made tracks, the better for all concerned.
Abbot was quite agreeable to selling them a loaf of bread, but had not enough supplies to go beyond that. The loaf they bought might be enough for one person for a day, but would hardly satisfy the four of them. Once this transaction had been completed, they left, with a view to continuing north. Harker was not overly surprised when he found the man who had challenged him for bringing black folk into the cantina, hanging around near the wagon. His heart sank and he decided that if needful, he would abase himself to this loathsome individual, if it meant avoiding trouble. It was plain from the start though, that this tack would not answer.
‘You an’ me got a crow to pluck,’ said the man and Harker marked something he had not noticed earlier, that this fellow spoke with a distinct Virginia drawl. He seemed fated of late to be forever getting crosswise to southerners. Never the less, he did not despair of smoothing over this present unpleasantness.
‘I’m a stranger in these parts,’ said Harker, ‘And if I upset some custom or other, I’m sorry for it. I hope we can part on good terms.’ He extended his hand, hoping that the other would grasp it and accept his apology; whereupon the man from Virginia hawked and spat on the outstretched hand.
Now it was one thing to swallow pride when something greater than his own dignity was at stake, but quite another to allow a man to treat him in so disgusting a way. Jed Harker bent to the ground and wiped his hand in the dust to remove the saliva. While he did so, he never once took his eyes from the man who had spat on him. After rubbing the spittle from his hand, Harker stood up and said to Abigail and Jemima, ‘You two stay here with the children. I needs must have a word or two with this fellow. It won’t take above a few minutes.’
‘A few minutes?’ said the southerner, mockingly, ‘A few minutes and you’ll be lucky if your jaw ain’t broke to atoms.’
Ignoring the other man, Harker handed his pistol to Abigail Tyler, saying, ‘Keep ahold of this, if you will Miss Tyler.’ Then he undid his shirt and removed it, so that he stood stripped to the waist. He turned to the man who had spat on his hand and said, ‘You want we should walk over there, out of the way a little, so that I might show you what I think of you?’
‘You’re damned right I will.’
‘Watch your language,’ said Harker reprovingly, ‘Recollect that there are ladies present.’
The other men who had been eating and drinking in Abbot’s place had by now wandered out to see the fun. Most probably, the man who had challenged Harker to a fight had announced his intention before getting up and coming outside. Harker had the feeling that popular opinion tended to be with his opponent and that those present would be pleased to see him cast down into the dirt. Whether or no, he was not about to let any living man treat him in that way and although it interfered somewhat with his desire to move swiftly north, he thought that it would be worth delaying by a few minutes in order to teach a man how to comport himself in a civilised manner.
Near to the house were two corrals, where the horses of those who stopped at Abbot’s to either eat or trade were kept. A couple of the men who looked pleased at the diversion which a fist-fight might provide, jumped into one of the enclosures and shooed all the horses into the other. This left a large space, surrounded by post and rail, free for the contest.
Although he was a good fighter and pretty confident of coming out on top in a fair fight, Jed Harker was far from looking forward to fighting. For one thing, he didn’t altogether trust the other men who were now clustering around the corral. What if he beat their friend; would others then fall upon him like a pack of wild animals to revenge themselves upon Harker for both bringing a black person into the cantina and also defeating a comrade of theirs? As he neared the corral, he cast his eyes over the men standing around and noted that they did not look to him like roughnecks out on the scout. In fact, now that he was able to look at them more closely, he had again that strange feeling that he had had when facing the riders pursuing Abigail Tyler. It seemed to Harker that these men put him strongly in mind of regular soldiers dressed in civilian clothing. They carried themselves not in a slouching and undisciplined way, but rather as though they were used to standing up smartly and moving to order.
As Harker reached the corral, a man standing by the gate bowed mockingly and opened it for him. The man he was to face had already entered the corral by vaulting the fence; perhaps as a demonstration of his agility and physical prowess. One of those present took it upon himself to assume the role of Master of Ceremonies, announcing loudly, ‘Gentlemen, there will be no kicking, biting, scratching or any other such underhand methods used. A good clean fight is what we’re after.’ Another southerner, judging by his accent, thought Harker. What was it with all the Georgians and Virginians he had encountered in the last few days? But there was no time to consider the question further, because his opponent, also stripped to the waist, was approaching him in a martial and aggressive way.
Ordinary fights between two men are frequently brief affairs. A few punches are thrown, a man falls to the ground and victory is declared. This is particularly so since the greater number of such events are fuelled by liquor. There is a flaring of anger, which soon subsides. Like as not, the late enemies will be found a half-hour later drinking together as though naught has happened. Sometimes though, there is real hatred and contempt involved and then the struggle for mastery is apt to be prolonged; especially, as in the present case, when both men chanced to be young and tough.
Jed Harker was still unsure how things had come to this pass, but was quite determined that he was not going to be bested by this wretch. At first, the two of them circled warily around each other, as though they were dancing. Then the southerner darted in and landed a blow on the side of Harker’s head; immediately retreating again. Then, as though by agreement, they close in for battle, striking each other about the body and face, as and when they were able to get through the defences of the other. This went on for a minute or two, it being pretty plain that the two men were evenly matched in strength and ferocity. The end of the fight came with shocking suddenness.
Possibly because he had hoped to achieve a more swift and decisive victory over Harker or perhaps due to some viciousness of character, the southron evidently had evidently had enough of slugging it out. Maybe he thought that the longer the fight continued, the more he was revealed as a man unable to deliver a sharp lesson to somebody who had offended against sensibilities regarding the presence of black folk in a room where he was eating and drinking. Whatever the reason, he unexpectedly swung his booted foot at Harker’s groin. Had the kick made contact, it would without the shadow of a doubt have ended the fight with Harker’s defeat, but Jed Harker had seen enough dirty fighting for this gambit not to take him wholly by surprise. He succeeded not only in deflecting the foot, but also grabbing hold of the ankle and forcing the man’s leg so high in the air that he over-balanced and toppled to the ground. In an instant, Harker was upon him; pinning him to the ground with his own foot planted firmly and immovably on the fellow’s throat.
‘That was a scurvy trick,’ said Jed Harker, ‘But no more than I would have expected from a filthy devil like you.’ He paused and then asked courteously, ‘I’m sorry, did you make some remark? I can’t hear you!’ This last was meant humorously, for the man upon whose neck he was standing was choking for breath and in no fit state to speak a word. Harker concluded by saying, ‘Me and my friends is leaving now, and you’d be well advised not to follow us, for I tell you now that if I catch sight of you again after we leave, then I’m apt to shoot you down like the mangy dog you are.’
By the time that Jed Harker consented to raise his foot off the throat of his one-time adversary, the man’s face was purple and he was gasping for air like somebody who has been almost drowned. It seemed to Harker that he had delivered a sufficiently stern warning and so he turned his back contemptuously on the fellow and began walking back to where Abigail Tyler and the others were watching. Despite his telling them to go to the wagon, they had all apparently been unable to resist the spectacle of a fight. Or perhaps it was more that they all of them felt that they had a personal interest in the outcome of the contest; since their own fortunes were now inextricably bound up with his own. Before he reached them, Pompey yelled urgently, ‘Jed, behind you!’
That the boy had used Harker’s given name was such a novelty that Harker knew at once that something was seriously amiss. He turned and saw that the man he had lately beaten was advancing on him with a knife in his hand. At a guess, he had had this hidden in one of his boots. Harker raised his hands, with the palms outwards, to indicate both that he had no weapon and that he meant no harm. He said, ‘Ah fella, you wouldn’t go after an unarmed man with a knife, surely?’ It was a meaningless delaying tactic, until he could come up with some way of tackling the situation, but the other man did not so much as break step. It was tolerably plain to Jed Harker that this was likely to end in his murder, unless somebody intervened, and that right quickly.
The boom of the scattergun came as a shock to Harker and caused the man who was evidently intent upon killing him to stop dead in his tracks. They both turned to look at where the shot had come from and were in time to see Joe Abbot, who had just discharged his weapon into the air, lower it and point it in their general direction. He said, ‘You there, with the knife in your hand. Just you drop it directly. And you, with your womenfolk and young’uns, you take yourself away off out of it, before you cause any more of a disturbance. And don’t neither of you think as I wouldn’t shoot, because I tell you straight, I taken first pull on the trigger. Do as I say, the pair of you, or ‘fore God, somebody’s like to die.’
Nobody who heard Abbot speaking, doubted that he meant what he said. He gave every impression of a man who was mightily ticked off and really did not care for folk fighting and trying to kill each other in the vicinity of his home. When he thought that matter over later, Harker at first wondered if Abbot had come to his rescue out of a feeling of justice and motivated by a desire to save his life. After due consideration, he concluded that this was not at all the case and that the man had simply not wished to see any corpses laying around near his business, with the inevitable questions which might arise as a result. Nor did he want to see violent affrays, which could easily escalate into gunplay, being played out so close to his family home.
The man who, a moment earlier, had been aiming to knife Harker, opened his hand and let the blade fall to the ground. As soon as he saw this, Jed Harker said to Abigail and Jemima, ‘Just get moving right now. I’ll get the oxen going and the rest of you make haste.’ It took only a minute to start the wagon rolling and then they were heading north again.
Why the man who had wished him harm did not simply wait a little and then saddle up with his friends and come in pursuit of him, to settle things away from Abbot’s place, was something that Harker never figured out. Even after the wagon had been lumbering on for an hour, it would have taken galloping horse only five or ten minutes to catch up with it. Still, there it was. He kept the carbine ready by his side and constantly craned his head round to check for any riders coming up behind them; but there was nothing.
‘That was exciting,’ said Abigail Tyler, as she walked alongside the wagon, ‘If that fellow hadn’t fired off his shotgun, I don’t know what would have happened.’
‘I dare say I’d be no longer in the land of the living,’ replied Harker, ‘It’s a very odd thing, Miss Tyler, but since meeting you, every man I encounter seems to be hell-bent on making an end to my life.’
She shot him a sideways glance, unsure whether or not he was speaking in earnest, before saying, ‘I didn’t have you pegged for the nervous type. I thought you had more grit.’
In spite of himself, Jed Harker chuckled at that. He said, ‘You have a rare cheek, you know that? I never said I was nervous about folk trying for to take my life. It’s happened before and like as not will again. But this is the first time I’ve known men try to kill me once or twice a day.’
‘How long before we reach Kansas, would you say?’
‘We can count on another two nights in the territories, I reckon.’
As he chatted inconsequentially with Abigail Tyler, it occurred to Harker that he had been a little remiss in handing out thanks where it was due. He called over to Pompey, who was walking alongside his mother. ‘Come over here a minute, would you son? I got something to say.’
The boys looked a little uneasy at being called over in this way. It seemed to Harker that he might still be feeling a little guilty about sleeping when he was supposed to have been on sentry-go. To put the lad’s mind at rest, Harker smiled broadly and, as he drew near, said, ‘I owe you a debt of gratitude and I ain’t afraid to own it. Had you not shouted out your warning, that villain might have caught me unawares.’
‘It was nothin’ sir. You would o’ done the same for me.’
Harker smiled and said, ‘You called me “Jed” then, time to drop all this “sir” once for all. What do you say?’
‘Alright…Jed.’
‘That’s the boy. I’ve a mind to have a few words with your ma. Think you could keep these beasts moving for a spell?’
‘I’ll surely try.’
‘Then jump up here and take the whip. Make sure they don’t forget who’s in charge, there’s no more to it than that.’
After he had jumped down from the buckboard, Harker went over to Pompey’s mother. He reached out his hands and said, ‘Why not let me carry the young’un for a space, ma’am? You could do with a rest, I reckon.’
The woman gave him an odd look, but suffered him to take the baby. For a minute or two, they walked along in companionable silence. Out of the corner of his eye, Harker saw Abigail Tyler watching curiously; probably wondering what he wished to say to Jemima. Well then, let her wonder!
‘It’s no affair of mine,’ said Harker, ‘But I was thinking about what you and your children will be doing when you get to Kansas. Do you have a definite place where you’ll be helped?’
The woman thought this over for a while before replying. Harker had the impression that she wasn’t at all sure of his purposes and really, there was no earthly reason why she should trust him. She had certainly been ill-used enough, with her child snatched away from her. In her position, he too would be cautious about those around him. At length, she said, ‘I been given the name of a church.’
‘That all? You don’t know the name of anybody at the church?’
‘No suh. Just the church name.’
‘You ever been to Kansas?’
‘Not nohow.’
Harker thought this over and then said, ‘I’m not one to push in where I ain’t wanted, but I don’t feel easy in my mind about this. If you’ve no objection, I can stay with you until I see you safe in anothers’ hands.’
Jemima turn her head and stared hard at Harker. They continued to walk side by side, with her scrutinising him hard. He said, ‘If I overstepped what’s polite, I’m sorry. Forget I said anything.’
‘Why’d you care what happens to me and mine?’
‘What’s right is right. You been ill-treated and you’ve nobody to look out for you. I’ll take your part and help you if you’ll allow me.’
‘There’s riders ahead. Whole heap o’ them, judging by the dust they kickin’ up.’
So engrossed had he been in the conversation, that Jed Harker had been focusing upon that to the exclusion of all else. Jemima was perfectly correct. On the horizon was a grey column which might at first sight be mistaken for a plume of smoke. It was though, as Jemima said, a cloud of dust kicked up by a troop of horse. As he watched, it did not appear to Harker that the cloud was moving across his line of sight; which meant that the men producing it were not travelling at right angles to him. The inescapable conclusion was that those stirring up all that dust were heading either away from him or heading directly towards him. Since they had not been overtaken by anybody since leaving Abbot's place, it was fair guess that these riders were not heading away from them.
Harker and the others were travelling across a featureless plain of scrubby grass, with little cover. Here and there were clumps of spindly trees and in the distance were low hills, but whatever they did, the wagon was likely to be seen by the men now approaching. Jed Harker could not think who these people might be, but Indians seemed the most likely bet. They had been right lucky that morning with the ones that they had encountered, but there was no reason at all to suppose that their good fortune would hold. Harker strode over to the wagon and told Pompey to rein in the oxen. If flight was impossible, then they would have to make their stand here. He said to Abigail, 'I'm half minded to break out one of those guns of yours. Only thing is, we've no idea how many men there might be, nor what they purpose. I wouldn't wish to start shooting if those men are just travelling through the territories like us.'
'You want I should prepare one of 'em, just in case?'
'No, I wouldn't say so,' said Harker slowly and thoughtfully, 'I've a notion that we might be making a rod for our own backs. Looking at that dust, I'm thinking that there's at least fifty horses, maybe more. I don't want to try conclusions with half a company, it would be madness. We'll have to bide here and see what chances.'
The closer that the riders came, the more Harker gained the impression of a tightly packed formation; rather than a straggling band. This argued against Indians and in favour of some organised enterprise. What it might be, he had no idea and it wasn't until the oncoming body of men were just two or three miles off from them that Jed Harker realised what was to do. When it dawned on him, he gave a whoop of delight, like an excited child. The others looked at him nervously, as though he had taken lave of his senses. He turned to them and said, 'Why, lookee there! See who we've to deal with?'
'Who is it?' asked Abigail Tyler in some perplexity.
'You can't see the blue coats? Those are US cavalry or I'm a Dutchman. This is a turn-up for the book and no mistake.'
Now they knew what they were supposed to be looking for, the others strained their eyes to see if Harker was right. Squinting across the intervening miles, both women could now see that there was indeed a tinge of dark blue, visible through the haze of dust which was being kicked up by the horses. 'I'll be damned,' said Abigail, oblivious to the looks which both Jemima and Harker gave her at such profanity, 'It's true. I reckon this is a sight for sore eyes. With luck, I can deal with those boys.'
It took a good thirty or forty minutes for the troop of cavalry to reach them. There were, as Harker had already calculated, something more than fifty riders and they were proceeding in military formation; as though alert for trouble. As the main body drew nigh, Harker saw that there were flankers out about a mile to either side of the column. He figured that there was some trouble with the Indians and if so, was mightily relieved to find that the army was now at hand. He marked that there were no supply wagons or auxiliaries and this struck him as a little odd. These men gave every appearance of being ready to give battle at the drop of the proverbial hat.
The officer leading the column called a halt when he came to the wagon, with its little cluster of people. He said to Harker, 'What the devil are you civilians doing here?'
'Civilians?' asked Harker, a little nettled, 'Wasn't aware that there's any particular reason why we shouldn't be here. This isn't a battlefield nor anything of the sort, I reckon.'
Abigail Tyler, irritated at Harker's tone of voice, interrupted at this point and said, 'You must forgive my friend. We really are very glad to see you. I'm heading north with something of great importance for your army. I have a letter from an official in Washington, if you'll give me a moment to fetch it from my bag.'
'Begging your pardon ma'am, but we all seem to be talking at cross-purposes here. Happen I should set things straight.' Turning to Harker, he continued, 'As for my talking of civilians, the reason is that this area is now under martial law. I have authority to do pretty much as I wish and one of the things I wish is to have no civilians sassing me or questioning my authority.'
This was a facer and Jed Harker hardly knew how to respond. He said wonderingly, 'Martial law? What's going on major?'
Slightly mollified at being addressed by his correct rank, the officer said, 'The order declaring martial law was only issued yesterday and it's not in reason that you should have heard of it. As for what's going on, well I'm guessing that you folk are refugeeing north? Meaning, you ain't southerners?'
'Not a bit of it,' replied Harker, 'We hope to reach Kansas either tomorrow or the day after.'
‘You stick to that plan and you might do well enough. You ask what’s going on. There’s a war coming, that’s what. Mr Lincoln has called for volunteers and we’ve been sent to secure this corner of the territories against invasion.’
Harker felt dizzy; he had not the faintest idea of what might be going on. He said, ‘I’m a little behind the times, it seems. Who’s the enemy?’
The major looked at Harker in amazement and said, ‘You’ve not heard about the shelling of the fort in Carolina? It was as good as a declaration of war. The south is trying to break free of the union and we’re the boys to put a stop to such games.’
Abigail Tyler exclaimed in the greatest excitement, ‘You must help me to get north! I have something which will win this war. It’s vital I get to the nearest town with a telegraph.’
‘I don’t know aught of that ma’am,’ said the major courteously, ‘I only know what my orders are, which is to secure the southern part of this territory against any incursions.‘ There was nothing more to be said and after saluting her respectfully, the officer order his column onwards, in the opposite direction to that in which Harker, Abigail and the others were travelling.
After the cavalry had departed, leaving Abigail Tyler looking crestfallen, Harker said, ‘We need to think now on what will be best.’
‘What do you mean,’ said Abigail, ‘“What will be best?” I thought we’d agreed that we were going to race to the border as fast as we can make it? We surely don’t want to linger in the territories, especially now that we know that war is about to start.’
‘That fellow, the major, he hasn’t thought this through clearly,’ said Jed Harker patiently. ‘All he can think of is bugles and glory.’
‘I suppose you know better than a professional soldier what’s needful?’ replied Abigail scornfully, ‘I don’t think it for a moment.’
Jemima and her son were watching Harker carefully. It was plain that they felt differently about the case and would be likely to follow his guidance. Perhaps this irritated Abigail Tyler, for she thought herself the equal of any man when it came to doling out helpful and useful advice. She said tartly, ‘I’d have you recall that this is my wagon and my oxen. We’ll go where I say and when I want.’
None of this seemed to affect Harker overmuch, he merely remarked mildly, ‘All I said was we need to think on it, nothing more.’
‘Well then, what are your thoughts? Let’s be hearing them!’
There was a pause, while Harker marshalled his ideas and set them out in the order that he wished to say them out loud. He had no doubt that he was in the right and that they were all in danger, but wished to put the case as fairly as was able. At length, he said, ‘Those horse-soldiers as just left us, they’re looking for a clean fight against another band of cavalry. Swordplay and bravado and I don’t know what all else kind of foolishness. There won’t be nothing o’ the sort. I been a soldier, I know about war and fighting. They ain’t goin’ to find a troop of horse blocking their path. Those boys we been coming across then and when, they don’t even look like soldiers. They’re not wearing uniforms or nothing. This is going to be a guerrilla war.’
‘A what war?’ asked Abigail, ‘I don’t follow you at all. Speak plainer.’
‘Guerrillas is what you get sometimes, when a small bunch of men wish to harry a larger and better armed group. They snipe, they raid, they come at night and cut throats. All that sort of trick. What you sometimes call irregular forces.’
‘You think those southerners that have crossed our path are like that?’
‘I’m altogether sure of it.’
For the first time, Jemima joined in the conversation, saying, ‘What do you say we should do, sir?’
‘That’s what I been thinking about. Those boys’ll not want open fighting with the US cavalry, but at the same time, they’re goin’ to want to secure this here part of the Indian Nations for their own purposes. If that major was right and fighting has begun, then this little area is going to be mighty handy for the side which holds it. Fact is, if we ain't careful, we're like to be caught between two fires. Three, even.' said Harker, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he sought to order and arrange his thoughts.
'What d'you mean?' asked Pompey, 'If we've them union soldiers 'tween us and the southerners, don't that mean as we're safe now?'
Jed Harker smiled at the boy. He appreciated a sharp mind and it struck him that this lad had quicker wits than most boys of his age. He said, 'Well now, if we was talking of a regular battlefield son, then you'd be about right. But we ain't. Fact is, this is about as far from regular warfare as you're like to see. Those southrons won't be wanting to meet a troop of cavalry head-on. No, they'll seek to dodge round them, what we used call outflanking, when I was a soldier.'
'You really was a soldier sir, I mean Jed?' asked the boy.
'That I was, but this ain't the time for reminiscencing. It's enough that those boys, as I've already had the odd run-in with, will be racing along, trying to get to the border with Kansas and stake their own claim to territory. If what that horse-soldier said and the war's started, then I guess that there'll be reinforcements coming along to back up those guerrillas. Then it'll be that troop of men we saw who'll have to fight for their lives, on account of they'll be cut off behind enemy lines.'
The two women and the boy stared at Harker, plainly waiting for him to come up with a plan to save them. He found this a little irksome, for he liked to rely only upon himself and also to be responsible only for his own self. Then again, he could hardly abandon two women and two children to the vagaries of war. He said at length, 'Miss Tyler, Abigail, I reckon that now would be a good time for us to break out that weapon o' your'n and load it up. Happen I'm wrong, and nobody would be more pleased about it than me, were it to prove so, but I guess that we've fighting ahead of us. Were apt to need any edge we can get and that gun is the hell of an edge, begging your pardon ladies for the language.'
'I see the two fires,' said Abigail Tyler, 'What's the third?'
'Why, the folk whose land we're in, of course,' replied Harker in surprise, 'Do you think that they'll take kindly to a heap o' white men charging into their country and shooting each other up? According to the treaty, this here is almost on a par to be being a sovereign nation. Can't see them not joining in, on their own account, if there's any fighting starts. Sooner we get out of this place, the better.'
In later years, it was said that the Indian Nations had supported the Confederacy and therefore forfeited their right to a country of their own; when once the War Between the States had drawn to a close. It wasn't really so; merely an excuse to allow the White Man to renege on his word and seize the territory of the Indian Nations, adding it to the state of Oklahoma. In truth, the Indians wished only to be left alone and had not the slightest desire to become embroiled in a squabble between and betwixt two sets of white soldiers. For now, the situation in which the little band found itself was far from enviable; caught between two bodies of armed men, with only one grown man to tend to their interests.
I've just been viewing Ken Burns's Civil War effort so this pretty timely for me. Enjoyable and thanks.