Wild Thunder

Tiny turned his rifle around and jabbed the Indian’s stomach with the butt end. “You thief,” he hissed out. “Don’t you know those were my hogs you killed today?”

He was amused by the expression on the Indian’s face at the mention of hogs. Tiny didn’t own a hog, or cattle. The time would come, though, when he would own everything that was now Chuck Kody’s.

But only if he played his cards right. And if he could figure out what to do about Hannah. He hoped that she was lost today. He hoped that panthers, wolves, or wild hogs would get her and rid his life of at least this one complication.

“Hogs?” Bird in Ground said, trying to bear the pain that the rifle had inflicted on his gut. “I hunt and kill deer today. I kill raccoons. I kill muskrats. Not hogs.” He gestured toward the travois. “Do you not see the pelts? Hogs have no pelts.”

“You are not only a thief, but also a skilled liar!” Tiny said, slapping the Indian across his face with the back of his hand.

“Clem, get the Injun’s rifle from his horse,” Tiny said, watching a trickle of blood flow from the Indian’s nose.

Clem did as he was told.

“Clem, shoot the rifle into the air,” Tiny said, now watching blood trickle across the Indian’s lips and into his mouth. Yet the Indian stood stoic and stiff, looking straight ahead.

Clem fired off the rifle, frightening Bird in Ground’s horse away, the travois stumbling along after it, rocking precariously from side to side.

“No!” Bird in Ground cried. He broke into a run, to go after his horse. But he did not get far. Tiny ran after him and tackled him.

As Tiny held Bird in Ground down, he looked up at his men. “After I stand up away from him, don’t allow this son of a bitch to get to his feet,” he said, his eyes flashing. “You know what must be done to keep him there.”

Tiny rose away from Bird in Ground. The cowhands circled around the brave. Some hit him with the butts of their rifles. Some kicked him. Others hit him with their fists. They did not stop until he lost consciousness.

When they stepped away from him, Tiny’s lips quavered into a smug smile at of the blood over the Indian’s body. “That’ll teach Strong Wolf to mess with me,” he said, giving one last kick to Bird in Ground’s side.

Bird in Ground groaned. His eyes slowly fluttered open. He gazed over at Tiny as Tiny knelt down beside him.

“Can you hear me when I talk?” Tiny asked, watching Bird in Ground slowly, painfully, nod.

“Good. Bird in Ground, I know you have a wife and child,” Tiny said, smiling smugly. “I’ve seen you

with your family.”

Panic leapt into Bird in Ground’s eyes. He struggled to get up, but went limp from the pain and broken ribs.

“Now, listen closely to what I am going to tell you,” Tiny warned. “If you value your family’s life, you will tell no one who did this to you today. If you do, your whole family will die. If not by my hand, by someone else’s, for I have a lot of friends, Bird in Ground. All you need remember is not to tell who did this to you. Do you understand? Nod if you do.”

He smugly when Bird in Ground slowly nodded, then looked away from Tiny.

“I think we’re finished here,” Tiny said, rushing to his feet. “Let’s get out of here before someone happens along. I’m not quite ready for a noose around my neck.”

Leaving the brave lying at the edge of the road, bleeding and half-unconscious, the men rode away in a hard gallop.

Tiny sat smugly in his saddle, his eyes dancing. He let out a loud whoop and holler as he waved his hat in the air.

Chapter 10

Graceful and useful all she does,

Blessing and blest where’er she goes.

—WILLIAM COWPER

Hannah felt many eyes on her as she entered the wide gate at Fort Leavenworth. She drew a tight rein on her pinto before Colonel Deshong’s cabin, not at all surprised when several soldiers surrounded her.

“Who are you?” one of them asked as he grabbed her reins. “What do you want?”

“I’ve come to see Colonel Deshong,” Hannah said, looking guardedly from man to man, wondering if they actually saw her as a threat.