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"Any chance of ru
"We are the patrol. Wolf Paws and Brown Bear ride light, they can gallop all the way. They'll get there soon."
"But if we tried it, our horses would fall down dead."
"You got it, not to mention the time we'd lose switching saddles. Once they get there… gathering a war-party big enough won't take long, but getting it back to us… that'll take a bit longer."
"And the Cutters will be upon us earlier," Rudi said.
"Yeah, looks like their horses are fresher, dammit, from the way they ate up the ground behind us. Either that or they started out with a lot of remounts and they're abandoning them as they founder. Which means they're really, really determined."
Rudi sighed. "We'll leave you then. They're probably after us, and they'll let you go."
"You fucking well won't, kilt-boy! Virginia's my tonjan, my niece-Dave Kane was my blood-brother. And we're not going to let them ride onto our land and do as they please! We spent four years fighting them to a draw, well, nearly to a draw, and we're not going to roll over and show our bellies now."
Rudi nodded, honor satisfied. Red Leaf went on: "I'll organize us into a column of twos. That ought to help… a bit, and there's a sort of convention we've got here… If we can just keep them off until dark…"
He pulled his horse to one side and began to shout orders.
Wish we'd had time to change out of full armor, Rudi thought; it would slow them and tire any horse they rode. On the other hand, they'd probably catch us anyway, and we may last a little longer in our gear.
The column kept to a steady canter. Disconcertingly soon, the enemy came over the rise behind them at the same pace, but a little faster. They spread out as Rudi watched over his shoulder, working themselves into a loose crescent pointed towards the Sioux. The horns of it began to creep up on either side; when they advanced far enough, they could stab inward and surround the smaller band.
Now I am commencing a serious a
"Ah, shit," Red Leaf said. "They've got a lot of spare gear, see? They're driving their remounts along saddled with the stirrups tied up on the horn. Makes it faster to switch horses, but it's expensive if you're abandoning the ones that've been ridden out. Someone back there really has a hard-on for us. But I know a trick for that too."
The sun grew hotter, and Rudi sweated under his brigandine and war gear. When Red Leaf gave the order he switched to a remount and rode it bareback, with Epona pacing beside him unburdened, saving her endurance for later; the others did the same. The roll of the land grew a little steeper, and the blue on the horizon was definitely hills. They splashed through another seasonal stream, and then onto a flat upland where the Cutters came up on them faster…
Just about long One of the russet-armored Sword troopers rose in the stirrups and drew, his bow pointed halfway to the sky for maximum range.
– bowshot, Rudi thought.
The first arrow twinkled towards them and landed with a dry shunk in the dirt not far behind the last of the Sioux. The second was never shot; a Rancher whose saddle glinted with silver in the hot sunlight rode close and cut the man's bowstring with the head of his light lance. Suddenly unstrung, the powerful recurve bucked and twisted, and the trooper clapped his hands to his face.
Does that smart? Rudi thought, gri
The relentless pace of the pursuit faltered as a furious argument broke out between the Rancher and his men and the soldiers from Corwin.
Virginia left her place beside Fred for a moment. "That'll be Vince with the fancy saddle, the son of a bitch always did like to show off. He needs me alive. At least for a while-and if he did catch me, he'd wake up dead sometime soon. But they won't be spraying arrows at us long distance, not when one might hit me."
"That's good news," Red Leaf said as the argument among their enemies died down. "Three arrows beat one, pretty much. And that'll make them keep their distance-there's no reason we can't shoot at them . Hey, though… didn't I hear Vince was already married?"
"He's a Cutter now. They can have as many wives as they want. He is a bastard, too-was even before he went over to the enemy."
As she spoke a young cowboy spurred out from among the pursuers. He shook his bow overhead and screeched a challenge.
"I was hoping for that," Red Leaf said. "They're going to challenge us to one-on-one fights. It's one of our ancient traditions here, both sides of the border."
"Ancient?" Rudi said.
"Yeah, ten, twelve, maybe even fourteen years old-immemorial antiquity, as my Classics teacher used to say. They figure they can't lose, since they outnumber us; we'll get whittled down until it's safe to charge us. OK, Black Elk. Get him!"
Others shouted encouragement too:
"Hoo'hay, Lakota!"
"It's a good day to die!"
"Nail his balls to the barn door!"
Both parties slowed a little. A way to let the younger men prove themselves, Rudi thought; that made sense. And… he gri
That commander of the Sword of the Prophet must be trickling steam from both ears, and his nose, not to mention his arse, he thought happily. Here he's caught up to us after month upon month of chasing, and now the locals won't let him just shoot us full of holes. But there's not enough of his men to ignore their sensibilities, that there is not. Most of them must be scattered elsewhere, looking for us.
It was worth bearing in mind for the future. No man was ever really just an instrument of another's will; everyone had their own purposes.
Then the grin died. The two young men had galloped towards each other, standing in the stirrups and shooting as fast as they could. Red Leaf swore under his breath as the Sioux rocked back in the saddle, an arrow standing in his body. The cowboy cased his bow and pulled out his shete; the curved blade glinted in the sun as he swept past the wounded man, and the Indian toppled to the earth. The victor reined in, a showy flourish as the agile quarter horse reared and milled its feet, and sprang to earth.
"Yes!" Red Leaf said, as the crumpled form suddenly lashed out with a knife. Then: "Damn, it didn't work! But you tried, Black Elk!"
The cowboy skipped backwards, then stabbed with his shete. He left it standing in the body as he bent; there was a flash of knife blade, and then the man stood again, dripping scalp in one hand and knife in the other, shaking them aloft and screaming his triumph.
Mathilda swore and reined out, sliding the knight's shield from her back.
Red Leaf spurred ahead of her. "No!" he said. "If you interfere, they'll do a massed charge. We want to spin this out!"
Rudi nodded grimly. The whole thing made a certain sense; battle customs often did. Not every fight was to the last man man standing. This was something halfway between a tournament and an all-out fight to the death. The wi
Both war-bands had slowed down to a trot, halting altogether during the duels; the horns of the Cutters' crescent were level with the forward part of the Sioux formation. By tacit agreement they went no farther, as long as the Indians didn't refuse the challenge.
"It's our turn," Red Leaf said, looking down the line of his men. Every one of them raised his voice, asking for the honor…
He waved to one. "Go for it, Jimmy."
Jimmy was slender, dark, and looked young, probably younger than he was, and he was naked to the waist except for the kit-fox pelt that marked his membership in that warrior society.