The Bandit Scout

Chapter 6 -- The Gap

The next day, Carlos calls the hands and troops that are not on guard in for a meeting before the train begins to hitch the horses.

Carlos announces, "First, we are about an hour or so from reaching the gap. However, this last part of the mountain trail is the steepest. We will stay here an extra day to rest the horses and ourselves. Going down the slope on the other side will be easier on the horses but harder on the drivers. Your legs will get tired from pressing the brakes. About halfway down the other side, there is a large meadow. That is where I expect the attack to happen.

"But there is a chance to avoid the attack. There is a chance we can reach an accommodation with Chief Brooks thanks to his daughter, Stella. Stella and I will leave you before dawn to seek a meeting with Chief Brooks. Lt. James, will you take charge of the Wagon Train until I return?"

Lt. James was not expecting this. He replied, "If the wagon hands will accept me, I will do this."

The hands all looked around at each other, and it was soon clear that they thought Lt. James was a good choice. Not that there wasn't some consternation that Carlos was leaving. They all felt safe with him. But if there was a way to avoid a fight with the Bucks, The Wagon Master should explore it.

In private, Carlos told Ron that there was some risk in what they were trying. If they were successful, the rewards would be large indeed.

"Ron, I am making a field promotion. You are now Capt. James. Do you have someone you can make Platoon Commander?"

"Yes, Boss. First, won't this be sand in the eye of Capt. Riker? No one is better than him at tactics. Shouldn't I get his approval before accepting your promotion?"

"No, Ron. You have been acting like a Captain on this trip. This simply gives you clear authority to continue. I promise you that I will work it all out with Ralph Rider."

"Yes, sir. Then Platoon Sergeant Daley will become Lieutenant Daley."

Carlos replied, "Good, that would have been my choice as well. "

Tomorrow was expected to be a big day for all. There were always maintenance tasks to occupy the hands' time during their day of rest.

Carlos and Stella practiced their martial arts in three sessions. They started that morning, continued in the afternoon, and concluded that night. Chief Brooks would not join anyone in an alliance unless he was certain that the new partner was strong and capable.

As they retired for the night, they were too tired to do more than hold each other in Carlos' bunk. They were prepared to arise long before dawn.

-----

Ralph Rider has been steadily approaching the Wagon Train. When he halts for the night, they are less than 10 kilometers behind the Wagon Train but do not know how close they are. As they ate the evening meal, Ralph talked about his plan to approach the train,

"I expect that we will have a friendly greeting from the Wagon Train. Our 3rd Mounted Platoon under Lt. James is already there. Carlos McTavrish has been my friend for many years. Our goal is to thoroughly question the spy. We may get some resistance to that. But we are here for that reason alone. We will take the necessary steps to make that happen.

"Let's all get some rest tonight. It will be a big surprise to me if we do not overtake the Wagon Train tomorrow.

-----

That morning, as the Wagon Train was resting on the south side of the gap, Gus Garcia and his band were approaching the meadow from the west. He orders patrols out, directing them to stay on the west side of the trail. They did not want to alert the Bucks of their presence. They made camp to the west and southwest side of the meadow. Orders are for all to stay maximally camouflaged. He wants lookouts posted in the woods to the west of the trail to give them notice of the approach of the Wagon Train. Chief Garcia gave a last reminder that the plan is to let the Bucks and the Wagon Train fight first.

The patrols and lookouts move out. Team Leader Carmen Gomez was given the first lookout position going up the trail from the meadow. She was chaffing that her position would not see any real action as the train approached. The lookouts higher up the slope would get the action and the glory. Nonetheless, she moved her team to the assigned position and got them camouflaged.

Then she ordered the junior member of the team, Tad, to follow her, telling the other two members to hold this position. She cautioned Tad not to make a sound, looked up and down the trail, and crossed over to the east side. Walking slowly and carefully to avoid making any sound, Carmen and Tad penetrated a kilometer away from the trail. Unknown to her, they had been spotted, and a team of Bucks was flanking them, steadily moving closer.

A Buck released an arrow that struck Tad in the neck. At the same time, the Bucks charged Carmen and took her to the ground. Before Carmen could realize what had happened, her hands, elbows, and ankles were bound, and a gag was forced into her mouth. A strong stick was inserted under her elbow, hand, and ankle bonds. With a Buck on either end of the stick, they lifted it, placing the stick on their shoulders with Carmen dangling down from it, and began the hike to the Bucks camp. As they started moving, Carmen could see Tad's dead body being left behind.

It was late afternoon when they reached camp. Their hostage was taken to the center of the camp, where her clothing was cut off of her. She was untied only to be retied in a very tight hogtie on the ground. She was left there for the night.

The group that captured Carmen had reported to the Chief the night before. He had immediately called for his councilors to discuss the Comanche intrusion. They discounted any idea that the girl and the man with her were alone. Without any accurate intelligence information, they could only speculate. However, they had a history of predicting the actions of others by asking what they would do in that position.

The Wagon Train and its wealth must be the catalyst that brought the Comanche here. The Comanche must have learned, just as did the Bucks, of the treatment received by Chief Brooks' daughter. They must be predicting that the Bucks would attack the Wagon Train and that the big meadow west of here would be the place of attack. Then what? It was obvious to the Chief that the Comanche planned to let the Bucks and the Wagon Train hands fight it out first and then sweep in to take the spoils.

The Chief organized his best scouts to investigate the area around the meadow for the presence of Comanche. The scouts left determined to find out about the Comanche on their Mountain without being spotted themselves and to report what they learned to the Chief. Long before the sun was up, the Chief had the information he needed about the Comanche. The Comanche were interfering with his plans to rescue his daughter, Stella, and avenge her against those perfidious colonists.

-----

Carmen thought the morning would never come. She wondered why she was even thinking about morning. There was no reason to believe her situation would improve. Her elbows had been pulled close together, and that pulled her shoulders back to an unnatural degree. Her hands were lashed together tightly, and a rope had been used to pull her feet up behind her until her hands could touch her ankles. That added to the strain on her shoulders. Her feet pulled on her legs, and her legs pulled on her hips so that her back was arched to a degree that it did not usually achieve. All of her muscles were protesting the strain and her inability to move. As a kid, she had participated in the torture games that kids play and had taken her turn as a victim. But those games had always ended before many hours passed, and no bondage that was ever done to her stressed her like this.

She was still gagged and couldn't have asked for help if she had wanted to do so. She was determined that they would not hear her moaning or crying in her gag. She was a Comanche and would take this and whatever else these monsters threw at her. As the night chill moved in, her belly and breasts on the ground leached more heat from her body, adding to her discomfort. Her mantra became, "I will endure. I will endure," repeated over and over. Finally, she reached a state of self-hypnosis, and the night slipped by.

The morning arrived, and with it, two women sentries came and untied her, giving her water and food. After giving her a few minutes to regain the use of her limbs, they took her to a place where she could relieve herself and even wash up. She was looking at the women questioningly, and one of them said,

"We are not monsters. We just learned that you were tied here. You should have had a blanket. Things don't have to be bad for you here if you will just cooperate. You know we must learn why a Comanche is on our Mountain. Chief Brooks will visit you soon. Please answer his questions. You must expect to be tied very strictly until you cooperate with the Chief."

Carmen did expect to be mistreated, of course. After all, if the roles were reversed, the Comanche would be just as harsh. Or more so.

They led Carmen back to the center where she had been bound and positioned her between two poles. Two male sentries joined them, and a male took each arm, holding them so a female sentry could attach a rope to Carmen's wrists. There was a ring attached high on each pole, and the wrist ropes were threaded through the rings. All of the sentries pulled on the ropes until Carmen's feet were barely touching the ground, and she was in a 'Y' position.

Carmen thought that this would get unpleasant before a lot of time passed. It became even more uncomfortable immediately as the sentries tied ropes around her ankles and pulled her legs toward the poles. She had to rise on tiptoes to ease just some of the pressure on her shoulders. Now she was spread eagle between two poles in an 'X.' They had not gagged her, but she was still determined not to show weakness by crying or whining. It was humiliating to be displayed naked like this. But she was a Comanche, and she would show these Bucks what a real Bandit was like. The woman sentry had told her that if she answered Chief Brooks' question, she would get easier treatment. She would be careful not to say anything that could be used against the Comanche.

It was still early in the morning when Chief Brooks came to see the prisoner.

"I can see by your scraps of clothing that you are a Comanche. You must know that there is no good ending for you here. The best you can hope for is an easier ending, which you can achieve by answering all of my questions. First, who are you, and what are you doing on my Mountain?"

Carmen was sometimes foolish and rash. But she was no coward, "My name is Carmen. My boyfriend and I came to see what was here."

The Chief told her, "That is not a very good explanation. I want to know what other Comanche are on our Mountain. How many of you are there? Where are they located? Would you like to try again?"

Carmen looked the Chief steadily in the eye and made no sound.

"Alright, we have found that tenderizing helps with tough meat. I think you will find your spread eagle position very tiring. I already know all that I need to know about your incursion. I have a daughter who is only a little older than you. She is likely a prisoner on the approaching Wagon Train. If you verified what my scouts tell me about the Comanche on the Mountain, it would help me set her free."

The Chief touched Carmen's face and said, "I don't want to see you harmed, but I must learn what I can from you. I will return later to see if you are ready to answer my questions."

The Chief departed, and Carmen's mouth was packed with a long cloth wrapped repeatedly between her teeth and around her head. Moments slowly passed by, and she could not stop thinking that this was all of her own making. She had gotten Ron killed. The bad thing wasn't that she was bound painfully and exposed naked. It wasn't that this was very humiliating. It was that she was so very ashamed of her poor performance.

-----

Carlos and Stella had left the Wagon Train before the first light of dawn and rode to the gap. As it was getting light, they tethered the horses, and Stella led Carlos east through the woods for a couple of kilometers to the trail that would lead to the Bucks' camp. They move down the trail as it switches back and forth, just like the trail the wagons followed. They find that they are making better time than the wagon train could in this terrain.

At a small clearing beside the trail, Stella called a halt. She stepped off the trail and into the clearing, followed by Carlos; he saw a small shed at the back of the clearing. Stella said,

"We have supplies stored all over the mountains. This is one such place. There will be room there for you to stay out of sight in case someone passes by."

She stands close to Carlos and puts one hand on the back of his neck to pull him in for a kiss. With her other hand, she takes his hand and places it on her breast. She was thinking that she did not know what the future would hold. She would remember this moment and long to be with him again.

After a long kiss filled with promise, she left, making her way down to the Bucks' camp.

Carlos was left in the shed wondering about this strange and wonderful young woman that fate had sent his way. How could it be possible for him to live in peace with her in this hostile world?

-----

Capt. James led the wagons to the gap and saw the horses left by Carlos and Stella. He had the horses collected and continued down the north slope. Before they get far, word is passed up the train that riders are approaching from the rear. He halts the wagons and organizes a defense when a new word is passed up that it is Ralph Rider and his crew. Capt. James keeps the wagons stopped, waiting for his boss to get to the front of the train.

Ralph catches up with the Captain and immediately asks where Carlos is and where the spy is. Learning that they have both gone to try to meet the Bucks Chief brings a storm to his eyes. His next question is who is in charge here, and he is surprised that it is Capt. James.

"This is a cluster fuck!" said Ralph. "The spy stole documents from me. Those documents are necessary if I am to perfect the method of making a katana. It has taken 10 years to get the results that are in my journal. It would take another at least 8 years to repeat the work. This is about the balance of power on Newhome, Captain. I must question the spy, as harshly as is necessary, and find where she has hidden the documents."

"Boss Ralph, there is nothing we can do to help at the moment. Direct action would mean charging the Bucks' camp. And I don't know exactly where that is other than somewhere northwest of here. The spy, her name is Stella Brooks, by the way, and the wagon master reached an accommodation. He no longer has her restrained."

"Is she the daughter of Chief Brooks?" Ralph thundered.

"Yes, sir."

"Then what are your plans," Ralph asked.

He replied, "To continue down the trail. We expect an attack by the Bucks at a big meadow that we will cross as we continue. If there is no attack, we just keep going."

Ralph fumed, "I'll be dipped in shit. This is worse than any cluster fuck. I don't have any options except to make sure that you get by the meadow. How are you by the Bucks deployed?"

Capt. James answered, "The woods are not passable by horseback. I have sent one squad to stay 1 kilometer ahead of us and two more to stay half a click ahead. They are to keep focused on both sides of the trail for any possible ambush. My remaining squad is spread among the wagons."

Frank said, "With your resources, I think that is the best you could do. I have the rest of the Mounted Company with me. I will reinforce your forward detachments by sending another Mounted Platoon to spread out between the lead wagon and your squads half a click ahead. The rest of us will spread as evenly as we can among the wagons. Then you start the wagons moving, and we will hope like hell that bonehead Carlos knows what he is doing. Do you agree?"

"It sounds good to me. No one will expect us in this strength."

-----

After leaving Carlos, Stella continued to the Bucks' camp at a slow run. As she neared the camp, she was spotted and recognized. Soon, she had an escort of Bucks running with her. It was clear that they were delighted to see Stella well and free from her captivity.

In the camp, she slowed to a fast walk and headed to her father's lodge. She passed the camp center and saw a naked woman bound spread eagle between two poles. One of the Bucks escorting Stella to her father told her that this was a Comanche they had captured the night before. She pauses her journey to her father and approaches the prisoner.

Stella said, "I would like to know your story. It is hard to imagine how you arrived to be in your predicament. Right now, I don't have time, but I can see that you are not going anywhere."

Continuing her journey, she saw her father as she approached the Chief's lodge. They greet each other with affection, and he gestures for her to enter the lodge. They settled into comfortable chairs, and Stella began her report, "I have much to tell you."

She detailed her entire adventure, starting with her incursion of the Rider Ranch. She ensured that the Chief understood the importance of what she had observed and what she had taken from Rider Ranch.

"I saw that he was trying to make katana blades and noted the progression of sample blades improving over time. It looks as if he is getting near the point of being able to produce a true katana. He documented his experiments in detail, and I took his documentation and an older manual he possessed about katana."

She described her flight from the ranch, the hiding of the Katana Documents in the badlands, her capture, and all that had happened to her since. She did not hide her feelings for Carlos McTavrish.

"As Chief and as your father, I tell you that I am very proud of what you have accomplished. You understand complex situations almost at a glance. You have always been exceptional, but this is your greatest accomplishment. I must also say that I have mixed feelings about the Wagon Master, even though you vouch for him. He is responsible for some of your mistreatment."

Stella quickly injected, "No, Dad. I must not have explained it adequately. You know that if any other of the Bucks had been captured, their treatment would have been ever-increasing harshness until they broke and told everything or died under the torture. Carlos loves me, and because of that love, he spared me that treatment. Whatever has happened between us then and since was with my consent.

Carlos and I both see that there is a path for an alliance between the Bucks, the Wagon Train, and the Rider Ranch that can be of great benefit to all. I request that you give him safe passage to come and talk to you."

"Your counsel has been wise in the past. I will do as you ask and will withhold my judgment of the Wagon Master for now. But first, I need to update you on the Comanche incursion into the mountains."

The Chief brought her up to date. Stella said, "This makes it even more urgent that you speak to the Wagon Master. I will go now and get him."

The Chief said, "There is no time for you to travel to the Wagon Train, return here with the Master, and for us to make an alliance and plans."

Stella informed her Dad, "On horseback, I can return with him in half an hour."

"How many guards does he have with him?"

Stella said, "None; he came with me to a place nearby."

"With no protection! He must have really big ones."

"One more request as I leave, would you ease the bondage on the Comanche prisoner?" asked Stella. "Nothing further can be accomplished by keeping her in a spread eagle tie."