Gunner Hodge
by
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Without wasting time the four Apaches slipped away from the block building to move like phantoms to the cattle pens directly to the rear of the guardhouse. Scarcely causing a ripple they passed easily through the livestock to reach the cover of shadowy stables. Sonny Boy gave hand signals indicating two armed sentries were on duty and Charlie in turn sent him and Nah-kah-yen to find the soldiers and silence them. While Paint gathered blankets and saddles for mounts Charlie watched for any activity coming from the compound and particularly the guardhouse. Sonny Boy told him there’d be little if any unless the officer of the guard happened by unexpectedly. The corrals were well outside the Post quadrangle, to the north, and personnel were unlikely to be in the area without a definite purpose. Nah-kah-yen armed with his bayonet found one of the sentries drinking coffee in a makeshift kitchen at the rear of the stable where an oil lamp flickered and dispatched him without the man ever realizing that he was marked for death. He took the dead man’s carbine and ammunition pack and began to work his way back slowly to the front. The other sentry was nowhere to be seen so Sonny Boy quit looking and rejoined Charlie and Paint to help with the horses. As they were saddling the mounts the unsettling sound of stock rustling in the corral made them stop in their tracks. Someone was coming. Like statues they watched from the shadows as the slim but mature figure of a young woman aimlessly approached the corral. With catlike stillness their eyes followed her movements, their ears alert to her sounds. She was alone. Alone, and talking softly to the outer corral horses as she strolled in the direction of the stable. Sonny Boy peered into the semi-darkness. "I have seen that woman before. She’s the sister of an officer and a friend to Gùnòyè. I saw them speak as friends would." "Gùnòyè’s woman?" The words hissed out of Charlie’s constricted throat. "Why would she come to this place now? Where is her man?" He looked into Sonny Boy’s face and back intently at the figure. "Gùnòyè’s woman--" So taken were they with the woman that the sudden appearance of the second sentry very nearly caught them by surprise. Had Nah-kah-yen not come from behind to bayonet the man at the same time he might have easily given the alarm. As it was, all that was heard was a breathless cry as the stocky Apache drove the pointed steel deep into his victim. Only this time his attack with the twenty-inch weapon did not result in instant death. The young soldier though down and grievously wounded was struggling to get onto his knees. Nah-kah-yen watched curiously for a moment then drew back his arm to deliver the deathblow but Charlie held him back and considered their situation. Releasing Nah-kah-yen’s arm he picked up the sentry’s carbine and tossed it to Paint who waited with Sonny Boy by the readied mounts. "We will take this soldier with us. Perhaps we will need to trade him later. He will ride with Nah-kah-yen to start." He turned slowly to stare at the young woman who lingered unsuspectingly by the corral, her face too vague to make out in the descending darkness. The fact that she would come to this unlighted place at this time was truly a sign to him. It was clear in his mind what they would do. "The woman, Gùnòyè’s woman, will ride with me."
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About the Book
It's 1886 and Gunner Hodge, known to the White Mountain Apaches as Gùnòyè, suddenly reappears in Arizona after a six-year odyssey and contracts with the Indian Agency and U. S. Army to spearhead a manhunt for outlaw Apaches, successfully tracking and finding them, killing one and capturing three for trial at Fort Bowie. Soon afterward Penelope Allison shows up at the Fort, a young woman he grew to love while studying under the tutorship of her father in the East three years earlier. Believing Penny is there only because of her interest in a young officer, Gunner becomes disheartened. He leaves Fort Bowie abruptly for Socorro, New Mexico, only to learn short days later that the same renegades he captured earlier killed two jailhouse guards and escaped from the fort, taking Penny Allison and another hostage with them. The Army's attempts to recapture the hostiles in the mountains are futile and Gunner knows that the only chance to recover Penny alive is if he alone goes after her, offering himself as a target to the vengeful Charlie Chiquito for the killing of his brother.
About the Author
For as long as he could remember Dan George had been attracted to the lore of the old west. He loved hearing and reading about the times and particularly about the courage and strength of purpose of the men and women who had a hand in shaping American frontiers. He saw those early inhabitants not only as expressive and intelligent, but also with the same emotions and dreams that we have today and became convinced that any number of them, given the circumstances, could be our next door neighbor and we’d never know the difference. Now retired and with age enough to recall memorable conversations with relatives and acquaintances who had lived in the 1800s Dan George writes about those early times in a straight-line, fast paced style with mesmerizing story lines taking place at sites he has personally explored and researched. Gone are the slow-talking stereotypical protagonists that many have portrayed in western tales. In their place are smart, strong-willed men and women realistically depicted in action-packed novels that will rival the most riveting modern dramas today.