Thursday, September 28, 2017

Shiloh... First Draft...Chapter Four "Attack"

1st Draft

Attack

Smitty and Jake saw the fire light bouncing on the side of the mountain.
It was coming from around the next bend.
Smitty held up his hand,
"What is it" Jake asked
"It looks that farmer made camp" Smitty replied
'Leave the horses here, we'll go on foot.'
It was as dark as molassses which made it twice as hard not to make noise but they move slowly
Smitty told Jake to hang back, "Jake your as nosey As a bear in brush"
The night was too quiet and Smitty didn't want any nose echooing through the canyon.
"Give me 5 minutes and then come on in" Smitty said
"You going to take him all your lonesome Smitty" Jake asked
"Hell no, your the bait, I'm going to get set up down wind of him with my Winchester"
Jake looked as if he was going to argue but had a second thought.
"So you want me to sneak up on him?" Jake asked
"Yep and when it's time I'll blow his head off" Smitty replied
"Why kill him?, we could just rough him up and convince him to hand over the Deed if he wants to live"
"Because I owe him one, He made me look silly in front of that whore of his, I won't let any man do that to me"
"What about Big John?" Jake said with a smirk
Smitty stared hard at him and said "You want to die tonight also?.
Jake bit his lower lip and said "Smitty I was only funin"
 I can tell Big John the farmer got you before I killed him?"
'Ahh come on Smitty" Jake was worried now, Smitty was known to bebe haot head adnd he  heard stories about people he had killed.
"OK Jake don't worry, I need you now" and he laughed
"Goddamit Smitty I'm sorry"
"Jake your fine but let me tell you something that Big Johns time will come sooner then later"
"Ok Smitty I'll hang back for 5 minute and then I'll move in"
"Good, OK I'll climb up that ridge over there to get a better view of the camp site" Smitty said
Jake shook his head ok and Smitty took off for the ridge.
Jake sighed with releif after he left.
"Shit he thought how in the hell I'm I going to know when 5 minutes are up, I don't have no watch and I couldn't read it if I did"
So Jake started counting the only numbers he knew since he had no formal schooling.
1-2-3-4-5, 1-2-3-4-5-7, and he figured he'd do that until he was tired of it.
Smitty found a nice little spot that he could as a shooting bench, It was a perfect sized rock with a flat top.
Smitty laid the Winchester across the top of it as he warmed up his hands from the night chill
Pulling a piece of jerked meat from his pocket he scanned the camp site as he chewed on the jerky.
Laying next to the fire was a bed roll, laying on the bed roll was nothing.
"Holy shit" he thought as he scanned the rest of the camp site for the Farmer Michael.
"He must of taking a Pee or something he thought"
1-2-3-4-5, 1-3-5-4-7, Shit I'm tired of this crap Jake thought.
It has to been 5 minute he thought.
Better a little longer he thought.
Jake heard a boot scape dirt behind him..
He frozen for a just moment before his instinct kicked in, pulling his Colt as he whipped around.
The next thing he knew he was eating dirt mixed with a coppery taste of blood in his mouth.
Trying to push his self up into a on all fours position he heard movement behind him.
"Where is your partner" Michael asked
"I don't know what your talking about"
"Boy, there are two horses here"
Jake shook his head again trying the clear the cob webs
"I don't know he mumbled"
"You best do some talking before I hit with this here Springfield again"
Jake spit out a glob of blood on the ground and said, "He went to scout your camp site"
"Why did you stay behind?" Michael asked
"I was too nosiey" Jake replied
"Yea you both were" Michael said
"And now what Farmer?"
"Now we go back to my camp site and wait for your partner to show his face"
"He won;'t Farmer"
"THe name is Michael D'Angelo"
D'Angelo... The name sounded familiar to Jak
"Did you say "D'Angelio"
"Yes"
"It can't be, Michael D'Angelio died in a gun battle in Tucon is what I heard"
"Your mistaken"
Jake wanted to be gone, he wanted no part of this killer, this man call D'Angelio is Satan's right hand man is what the rumor said... Nobody that has faced him has lived to tell about it..
"Look mister D'Angelio just let me go, You will never see me again, I promise"
"Not yet but if you play your cards right you might live"
"OK, OK anything you want"
"Michael had no intentions of killing the kid, he was just in the wrong place the wrong time"
"So where is your friend?"
I'm not sure, he said he was going to take a look at the camp to see if it was you" Jake said, as he looked everywhere but into Michaels eyes.
"OK Jake have it your way, we'll just go back into my camp and wait him out"
"Come on Mr. D'Angelio whay not let me go, I promise you won't see me again"
"Because I need you to convince your partner to show hid face and you can explain to me why your following me"
Back at camp Michael asked him again,
"Why are you following me?"
"Because of the Deed"
"Jake it's only land and I'm sure Ben's wife would be open to shared water rights and whatever your employer Big John wants"
Jake laughed, "Boy your lost on so many levels, I don't even know where to start"
"How about the first" Michael said
"OK, First off Big John isn't the Big Boss, he is the son of General Whitaker, He is the big boss"
Michael sat there for a minute..General Whitaker he remembered him from the war.
"Jake went on "Second Who is Ben"
"Ben is the kid you killed at my farm and I guess he was a brother of Big Johns"
Jake swollowed hard "That was Smitty not me"
"You were there" Michael said
"I didn't know he was family, that is plain wrong no matter what"
Michael moved the conversation on... "Next"
Jake just shok his head
"Jake" Michael insticed
Smitty could see the two talking and it looked like Jake was spilling all the beans "Goddam Jake shut the hell up" he whispered to hinself
As the minute slowly drifted by Smitty got madder and madder, he was sure the kid would tell where he was hiding.
"Mr. D'Angelio I'm only a hired hand, I got no say in any matters"
"Jake whats number three?"
"I'm not talking anymore" Jake said as he shook his head no
"Jake if you want to live this night out"
"Ben's wife will be killed at anytime"
"What?"
"They have a man in HorseShoe Bend watching her, waiting for the word"
Michael noticed Jake kept glancing at the ridge above them
"What word Jake"
"Whether we got the Deed or not, If we don't get back to town by noon tomorrow Big John will telegraph his man"
"And if you do?" 
"Means we killed you and have the Deed"
Michael thought for a minute, turning he looked up to the ridge and yelled
"I've got your partner here come on down"
"That sonofabitch Smitty muttered as he pulled the trigger"
Jake jerked, and started to stand up as he looked down the front of his shirt.
Blood seeped through the shirt the red spot grew and grew.
Jake looked up at Michael and toppled over the log he had been setting on.
Michael ran for Sheol.
He felt something slam into him tossing him over an embankment on the edge of the camp site where Sheol had been eating grass.
Michael rolled and rolled until he hit water.

Smitty hightailed it down to the camp site.
Passing Jake as if he was just a bag of potatoes, he made his way down the embankment until he came to the small clearing on the side of the raging river..
Nothing, he found nothing but then it was pretty dark down here out of reach of the camp fire.

  

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