The Last Mission Of The Seventh Cavalry

Chapter Seven

“I wish this damn thing had wheels,” Kawalski said.

“Quit your bitching, Kawalski,” Autumn said, “and pick up your corner.”

“Oh, I got my corner, and I’ll probably have to carry yours, too.”

The rest of the platoon fell in behind the four soldiers carrying the weapons crate.

“Where are we going with this thing, Sarge?” Lojab asked. He was on the left front, opposite Kawalski.

Alexander was on the back left end of the crate, with Autumn across from him. “All the way to the river.”

“I didn’t hire on to be somebody’s slave,” Lojab mumbled under his breath, but everyone heard him.

“We’re all doing the same crap,” Autumn said.

“Yeah, and if we would all complain, our fearless leader would do something about it.”

“Like what, Lojab?” Sarge asked.

“Like get us the hell out of here.”

“You have some idea about how to do that?”

“You’re the sergeant, not me,” Lojab said. “But I can tell you this, if I was in charge, we wouldn’t be following along behind a bunch of cavemen, stepping over elephant shit and carrying this big-ass box.”

“You’re right, I am the sergeant, and until you replace me, I’ll give the orders.”

“Yes, sir. Sergeant, sir.”

“Why don’t you just cram it, Lojab?” Autumn said.

“Hey,” Kawalski said, “look who’s coming.”

Liada rode her horse along the side of the trail, coming from the front of the column. Her mount was a spirited buckskin stallion. When she saw the platoon, she crossed over and cantered her horse toward them. She rode bareback, with her bow and quiver swung on a leather strap over the horse’s shoulder. When she came abreast of the troop, she slid off, leaving her reins across the horse’s neck. She walked beside Alexander, while her horse followed.

“Sarge?” she said, “goodnight.”

“Hello, Liada,” Alexander said. “How are you this morning?”

“How are this morning?”

“Good,” Sarge said.

“Good.” She walked beside Autumn. “Autumn Eaglemoon are this morning?”

“Good,” Autumn said.

“Good.”

She patted the side of the weapons container, and with hand signs she asked where they were going. With her free hand, Autumn made a water motion and pointed forward.

“River.”

“River,” Liada said. She made a lifting motion with both hands.

“Yes, it is heavy.” Autumn wiped the sweat from her brow.

“Heavy.” Liada used both hands to sign for them to put it down.

“Hey, guys. She wants us to put it down for a minute.”

“I’ll vote for that,” Kawalski said as they moved off the trail and lowered it to the ground.

Liada took one of the handholds and lifted. “Heavy.” She wiped her brow and made hand signs to Autumn.

“She wants us to wait here for something,” Autumn said. “I’m not sure what.” She spoke to Liada. “Okay.”

“Okay,” Liada said, then swung onto her horse and rode away at a gallop, toward the front of the column.

“What a rider she is,” Lojab said.

“And did you see the way she mounted that horse?” Kawalski said. “Two quick steps, and she swung her leg over his back as if he were a Shetland pony.”

“Yeah,” Lojab whispered as he watched her ride out of sight around a turn in the trail. “What I could do with a woman like that.”

“My God,” Autumn said. “Will you two stop drooling all over yourselves? Someone would think you never saw a girl ride horseback before.”

The men stared at the place where Liada had been a moment before.

“Oh, I’ve seen girls ride horses before,” Lojab said. “But all the ones I’ve seen had to have a guy help them mount, and that was with the aid of a stirrup. Then, as the horse runs, the girls bounce up and down like ponytailed basketballs.”

“Liada just swings up on his back,” Kawalski said, “then rides as if she’s part of the horse.”

“Autumn,” Kady said, “do you think these guys have ever had a date with an actual woman?”

“Sure, an actual inflatable woman,” Autumn said.

“Yeah, eight-ninety-five on eBay,” Kady said.

“Just blow her up, and she’s ready to go,” Autumn said. “No buying her drinks, no dinner; just jump in bed.”

“Oh, yeah?” Lojab said. “How about the way you girls go ga-ga over that tall, pig-ugly officer in the Little Red Riding Hood cape?”

“Oooo, Rocrainium,” the four women said together, then giggled.

“Rocrainium?” Kawalski said. “How do you know his name?”

“Oh, we have ways of finding out.” Autumn made some wavy hand signs, then the other three did the same thing, followed by more giggles.

“Hey,” Lojab said, “here she comes.”

Liada came toward them on the side of the trail, passing a herd of cattle. She was followed by a wagon pulled by a yoke of oxen. Soon, they stopped in front of the weapons crate and Liada dismounted.

Alexander went to look in the wagon; it was empty. He glanced at the woman in the wagon. She stood with her arms folded, glaring down at him. He then saw the gel bandage on her arm and remembered the deep gash they’d treated.

“The sword wound,” he whispered.

Kawalski came to the side of the wagon. “Hello.”

The woman looked at Kawalski, and her face brightened. She knelt in the bed of the wagon and held out her arm for him to see. She said something, but he didn’t understand.

“Yes, it looks good.” He ran his fingers over the bandage.

She spoke again.

“Hey, Apache,” Kawalski said, “come tell me what she’s saying.”

Autumn and Liada came to stand beside Kawalski. The woman said something to Liada, who motioned to her, then to Kawalski. Liada touched two fingers to her lips, then her breast, and pointed to him.

“She wants to thank you for fixing her arm,” Autumn said.

“How do you say, ‘You’re welcome?’”

“Touch your heart, then hold your hand out flat, palm up.”

Kawalski made the sign to her. She smiled and said something else. Kawalski looked at Autumn, who then looked at Liada.

Liada said to the woman, “Kawalski.”

“Kalski,” she said. Then without looking at Sarge, she pointed at him and asked Liada a question.

“Sarge,” Liada said.

The woman spoke to Liada, who laughed. The woman said the same thing again, along with the word “Sarge” two more times.

Liada shrugged and spoke to Autumn. “Cateri talk Sarge, um…” She made some signs.

Autumn smiled. “Cateri, I like that name. Sarge, Kawalski, meet Cateri.”

“What did Cateri have to say about me?” Alexander asked.

“Well,” Autumn said, “she said you can load your box in her wagon, then walk behind.”

“Wonderful. Just tell her the box belongs to Kawalski. Then she’ll jump down, help load it, then probably let him drive.”

“Okay,” Autumn said to Cateri. “Sarge said that will be wonderful.”

“Oh, whatever,” Alexander said.

“Okay,” Liada said, then she spoke to Cateri.

“Okay,” Cateri said. She motioned to Alexander, then pointed to the weapons crate.

“All right,” Sarge said, “you heard the boss lady, let’s load up.”

As they loaded the crate, Liada swung onto her horse.

“I think Cateri likes you, Sarge,” Kawalski said as they slid the container into the wagon.

“Really? If this is how she behaves when she likes me, how would she treat me if she hated me?”

Lojab walked over and took hold of the bridle on Liada’s horse. “How you doing, Sweet Thing?”

Liada smiled down at him, then looked at Autumn.

Autumn, standing behind Lojab, stuck out her tongue and made a yuck face. She then brought up her foot as if to kick Lojab in the butt.

Liada laughed.

Lojab sneered at Autumn’s smile. “Ask her where people go to have a few drinks,” he said.

“Okay,” Autumn said. “Watch her to see what she thinks.”

Lojab looked up at Liada. Autumn pointed her right index finger at Liada, then her left one at Lojab. She then placed her two fingers together, laying one on top of the other and wiggling them up and down. Finally, she made a motion of rocking a baby in her arms.

Liada wrinkled her brow for a moment, but then her face brightened and she laughed.

The others, who had watched the pantomime, struggled to keep from laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Lojab looked at Autumn, then at the others as they tried to control themselves. Even Cateri recognized the humor.

“Autumn,” Liada said and motioned for her to come to her.

She leaned down to ask her something, then Autumn whispered to her.

Liada smiled. “Kawalski,” she said and patted the horse’s back, behind her. “Ride?”

Kawalski looked up at her, pointed to his chest, then at her.

She nodded.

“Here.” Kawalski handed his rifle to Autumn. “Hold this.”

He tried to throw his leg up over the horse’s back but couldn’t do it. Liada offered her hand. He took it and pulled himself up behind her.

“Catch,” Autumn said, tossing the rifle to him.

Liada looked back at him as he swung the rifle over his shoulder.

“Okay,” Kawalski said.

She kicked her heels in the horse’s sides. When the horse sprang forward, Kawalski almost rolled off backwards, but he grabbed Liada around the waist to hold on.

“That skinny son-of-a-bitch,” Lojab said. “What does she see in him?”

Autumn shrugged, then flipped the switch on her comm. “Hey, Kawalski.”

“W-w-w-what?”

“You’re bouncing.”

“No s-s-s-s-shit.”

The others laughed.

Alexander watched Liada and Kawalski ride out of sight, around a bend in the trail. “Cateri,” he said.

She looked down at him.

“I think this belongs to you.”

He pulled her whip from his hip pocket and tossed it to her. She caught the whip and unrolled it from the handle while keeping her eyes on him. Alexander then stepped back, and she grinned and popped the whip over the heads of the two oxen. When they didn’t move, she slapped the reins against their butts. The oxen lowed in protest but then plodded forward. The platoon fell in behind the wagon.

Liada slowed her horse as they came to the wagons loaded with supplies.

“What’s in those chests?” Kawalski said, pointing to five heavy wooden boxes in one of the wagons.

Liada looked at the boxes and said something to him.

“Hey, Apache,” he said on the comm. “How do you say, ‘What’s in those boxes?’ in sign language?”

“Sorry, White Man, you’re on your own.”

“Gee, thanks. Whatever it is, it must be valuable. They’ve got six soldiers behind it, and six in front.”

Liada continued to talk and point out things as they rode past a wagon filled with sides of meat, jars of date wine, and bales of hides. When they came to the wagons loaded with earthen jars of grain, they heard three short blasts from a trumpet. Liada kicked her horse into a gallop, and soon they heard shouting and screams up ahead. Rounding the next curve in the trail, they saw the baggage train was under attack.

“Buffalo Dogs!” Kawalski yelled on the comm. He and Liada slid off the horse as she grabbed her bow and arrows, then he unslung his rifle and opened fire.

“How many?” Alexander asked as he and the others ran forward.

“Too many!”

Kawalski fired on a bandit running toward him, swinging a sword. The bullet hit the man in the chest, spinning him sideways and knocking him to the ground.

Liada said something, and Kawalski looked at her. She arched her bow and let the arrow fly. He followed the flight of the arrow to see it hit a bandit in the chest. He went down, clutching the arrow shaft.

More of them poured out of the woods, all along the trail. The foot-soldiers ran to attack the bandits, using their spears first, then at close quarters, swinging their swords.

“Kawalski!” Liada shouted.

He saw more attackers coming from the woods on the other side of the trail and shot two men who’d climbed onto a wagon. He jerked his rifle to the left, aiming at three more running toward him, but when he pulled the trigger, the magazine was empty.

“Liada!” he shouted. “Over here!”

He ejected the empty magazine and grabbed another from his belt. Liada released an arrow, piercing a man’s neck.

Kawalski hit the bolt, shoving a cartridge into the chamber, but the two men were almost on top of them. So instead, he dropped the rifle and grabbed his Sig pistol.

Liada shot her last arrow, hitting a man in the side, but he kept coming.

Kawalski got off one shot, killing the other man.

Liada grabbed the rifle from the ground and used it to block the sword coming at Kawalski’s head. Kawalski then grabbed the bandit’s sword arm, shoved his pistol into the man’s stomach, and fired. The man stumbled backward, clutching his stomach.

Kawalski wrenched the sword from the dying man’s hand and swung it to ward off another bandit who swung an axe at him. He heard Liada yell, but he couldn’t respond to her—the man with the axe came at him again. Kawalski raised the sword, aiming for the man’s neck, but hit his arm instead, knocking the axe to the ground. As the man scrambled for the axe, Kawalski felt a blow to his back. He stumbled, dropping his pistol.

Liada gripped the rifle by the barrel, and using it for a club, she fended off another attacker.

A bandit came at Kawalski, swinging a bloody sword. Kawalski raised his sword to ward off the blow. The two swords clanged together. Kawalski lost his grip on the sword and fell to his knees. He reached for the knife on his belt as the bandit raised his sword for another blow.

Liada swung the rifle, hitting the man in the back of the head.

Kawalski rolled away from the falling man. As he got to his knees, he saw a bandit coming at Liada from behind her. He snatched his pistol from the dirt and fired twice, hitting the man in the leg with his second shot. When the man stumbled and fell, Liada clubbed him with the rifle.

More bandits poured from the woods, yelling and swinging their weapons.

Liada dropped the rifle and grabbed a bloody sword from the ground. Without time to get to his rifle, Kawalski grabbed Liada by the arm, pulling her to him.

“Back to back,” he said and held her back against his. “We’ll take a few of them with us.”

Liada said something, and he knew she understood.

As the bandits came at them from all sides, Kawalski shot two more with his pistol. He ejected his empty magazine and shoved another into the receiver, but before he could chamber a round, he heard a volley of gunshots.

“Here comes the cavalry!” Kawalski shouted.

Liada screamed. Kawalski fired over her shoulder, killing a man who was almost on top of them.

“Kawalski!” Alexander said on the comm. “Hit the dirt!”

Kawalski wrapped his arms around Liada, pulling her to the ground. Bullets whizzed over their heads as Alexander’s platoon cut down the bandits.

The attackers weren’t so fearful of the gunshots as they had been on the previous day, but when they saw so many of their men falling to the deadly sweep of gunfire, some of them ran for the woods. Soon, all of them were in retreat, with a few wounded bandits limping after them. These were cut down by the foot-soldiers who swarmed onto the battlefield from both directions.

Kawalski got to his knees and lifted Liada from the ground. He pushed back her hair and brushed the dirt from her face.

“Are you hurt?”

She smiled as he inspected her for wounds. Many cuts and bruises were on her face and arms, but nothing serious. Her hands were bloody, but it was from the bandits. The skirt of her tunic was ripped on the side from her waist to her knee, but her leg was only scratched.

Kawalski tried to stand but fell back to his knees. “I guess I’m a little dizzy.”

Liada placed her hands on his neck, checking for wounds. She ran her hands over his shoulders, then down his arms and around his waist. She uttered an exclamation when she saw fresh blood on her hand. She examined his back.

He heard her say something as she put her arm around his shoulders to lower him to the ground. She helped him onto his side, leaned close to his mouth, and spoke into the mic in his helmet.

“Autumn, Autumn!”

“I’m coming,” Autumn said as she ran toward them.

She dropped to her knees, placed her fingers in the bloody rip in Kawalski’s camo shirt, and tore it open. She caught her breath. “Damn it, Kawalski.”

“What is…” He passed out.

Chapter Eight

“Anyone missing a web belt?” Sharakova asked on the comm.

“No.”

“No.”

“No,” Alexander said. “Why?”

“I’m looking at a web belt on a dead buffalo dog.”

“What kind of web belt?”

“U.S. Army issue,” Sharakova said. “Just like the one I’m wearing.”

“Where are you, Sharakova?” Alexander asked.

“A hundred yards up, on the left.”

“Don’t let them strip him before I get there.”

“You got it, Sarge.”

A few minutes later, the others watched Sarge pull the belt off the dead man.  He examined it, then passed it to Joaquin.

“It has to be the captain’s belt,” Joaquin said.

“Do you think they’re holding him captive?” Kady asked.

Alexander stared at the belt for a moment. “I have no idea.”

“We need the Apache,” Joaquin said.

“And Liada,” Kady Sharakova said.

“Hey, Eaglemoon,” Alexander said on the comm. “Where are you?”

No answer.

“She must have her helmet off,” Lojab said.

“They put Kawalski in Cateri’s wagon,” Lori said, “and took him to the main camp, by the river.”

Alexander looked around, watching the women and children strip the dead bandits of their clothing. “Let’s get out of here before they start on us.”

At the main camp, Alexander counted heads and found everyone present.

“Don’t wander off, people. Let’s stick together until we find out what’s going to happen.”

He walked into the shade of a tree and sat next to Kawalski, who was wrapped in a Mylar thermo blanket. Autumn was there, kneeling beside the unconscious Kawalski, checking his blood pressure. Liada and Tin Tin Ban Sunia knelt beside her, watching everything she did.

Lojab took a pack of Marlboros from his inside jacket pocket and slouched against a tree as he lit up. He exhaled smoke from his nose as he watched the people around Kawalski.

“What do you think, Eaglemoon?” Alexander pulled off his helmet and rubbed a hand over his buzzcut.