Lone Ranger Chapter 16

16.

Mr. Smith moved his legs due to the cold morning air while he looked at the group of Natives Indians discussed there. He had ridden with Red Horse and then stumbled on a hunting party. It was all talk and then the scouts were sent out to the other nearby clans. Within an hour, there were five clans there with their warriors. It looked like Red Horse held some influence over the Apaches. He saw then call was made out to the warriors. The paint was passed out for them to draw their war cries.

The cavalry of the Apache was moving to battle.

“Mr. Smith, we will ride now. The clans will assist. We will ride for the Lone Ranger.” Red Horse did not wait for the reply and mounted the pinto offered to him. Once he was seated on the bareback of the pinto, Red Horse was no more the elderly man but the Chieftain of the Apache. Mr. Smith looked at the departing Chieftain followed by over a hundred young warriors. He mounted his own horse and joined them. They arrived at the edge of the town and heard the bulge sounds. To the seasoned warriors, they were familiar with it. It was their call to charge instead of being charged.

The Apache's tactic for battle was swift and surprise. The warriors trained from young to ride without holding the reins and then taught to shoot while riding. The assorted rifles rang out like the thunder before the lightning. The Apaches were heading for the main street and were shooting at the uniformed there. The Apaches spread out with each warrior have a clear field of fire. They rode in hard and soon were among the army personnel there. Some dismounted and moved in on the close kill. Mr. Smith saw one of the young Apaches leaped off the horse onto two army figures. His tomahawk went out and took its kill on the first soldier in the head before it impacted on the second soldier. He then stood up to tuck the tomahawk into his waist. He leaned down to pull off the gun belt and slung it across his chest. He pulled the Navy Colt and cocked it. He trained it at the nearby shooting uniformed Army and smiled. The gun unfamiliar to his hand had dropped the shooting man. He trained it on the others and took down two more before he was host at the left leg. He dropped down on his knees and then crawled for cover. His enthusiasm for the gun had shadowed his skills. He aimed the gun at the soldier who shot him but he has shot again in the face. The Apache fell down on his back with his mind calling for the Great Spirit to forgive him.

The battle was ongoing with the more experienced Army personnel from the Union Army. They were trained in the fight with the Apaches before. They have reacted well with their firings but the others which were from the other continent had never fought in that manner. They were shot when they tried to shoot back with their battle tactics by forming blocks. The battle took a turn than when the explosions were heard on the trains.

“Secure the trains.” The command went out but more explosions were heard. The explosives were let off in series and with each one, more damages appeared. The Napoleon cannons blown off their metal holds on the planks of the wagon were extracted withy force and tossed high. The cannon barrel came apart from the wooden casing and went separate ways. One cannon barrel was tossed forward like a swinging dagger and stabbed itself into the side of the shop on the street. The barrel did not stop there while it tore with impunity across the shop. It smashed the furniture and the pillars that held the shop roof up. The trail of the barrel collapsed the shop to its foundation.

Another barrel was seen swinging not vertically but horizontally to smash into a group of army defenders. It rendered wounds that the soldiers had hoped more merciful. The barrel smashed into the soft flesh of the body and decimated the bones that once lent structure to the body. The bones broke and with its splinters pierced the flesh and spurt the blood out from the skin. It was an agonizing death but such was the fate of one in the path of the bronze projectile. Not only were the defenders killed by the explosions but also the invading Apaches. 

“Yee-Haw!” The Apaches had ridden for the block of defenders. The shots came whining past their ears and yet some fell from the hail of bullets but the horses they rode galloped on. Some of the Apaches were killed but the others rode into the Army formations. Just when the battle tide was going to turn, the new group of fighters arrived. It was the town folks of the mixed descents which took on the army there. They have breached the barricades and grabbed the dropped rifles to shoot. The group of eight surviving warriors slammed into the block of defenders and the fight then was bitter. It was the drawing of the blood with the swinging tomahawks or the butt of the rifle. It was not needed to reload for there was no time to do so. Any item wielded in the hand was a weapon. It can be the lapel of the shirt to blind the opponent's eyes with the strike of the edge. The Apaches which survived had moved to kill more of the others.

It was the way of the war.

“Win back our town.” It was an elderly colored man holding the rifle. The man stopped and raised the rifle to his shoulder before firing. He must have been a soldier for the shot with practiced stance and aim. He was joined by the Mexican who was more familiar with the rifle. They had their back to each other and backed each other.

“Sanchez, you have any more ammo?” The colored man called out to his partner while he kept the soldier at the box down.

“I am empty.” Sanchez ran forward to grab some ammo. It exposed the colored man on the flank and that was the fatal move when the colored man got shot. The colored man went down with a bullet in the back. Sanchez rushed over but he was also shot in the back.

It was a slaughter but they were there to determine to win back their town.

It was then Mr. Smith saw the Lone Ranger with his partner heading towards Main Street. The two figures looked like legends than with their drawn guns and rifle. He, in turn, had drawn his rifle and was shooting at the army personnel. He saw then the second train pulling off from the other tracks. It was not seen for it was hidden behind the train workshops. It was a mistake of the Lone Ranger and his adversary was escaping. The second train was shorter with five carriages and three wagons. It was the wagons that were feared. Two of the wagons displayed the Gatling guns that spew death on the town including the Army and the town. There was no discrimination between allies and foes then. The Apache had seen a new threat and withdrew with their fast gallops but not the town folks. The Mexicans, the colored and the whites were all bloodied red with their bodies riddled with bullets. Mr. Smith prayed for mercy for the dead. He then saw the Long Ranger who had jumped flat on his face to avoid the spewing bullets. He crouched up to fire at the shooters but the train was leaving fast.

Tonto who was close behind was not so lucky for he went down with a bullet in the chest. He aimed with his rifle and shot at the departing train but it was out of range then. He fell down to his knees clutching his wound. It was not fatal but the bleeding has to be stopped. Then the bigger explosions were heard. The shops in the town were the source of the explosions. The shops were trapped with explosives and it was triggered. It blew up the wooden structures to smitten. 

It was a ploy by Hawkins to destroy the evidence of the town. The surviving defenders of the town and the army were the ones badly hit by it. The Apaches have withdrawn by then with half their numbers alive or wounded. There were more explosions and then silence except for the sound of the wounded and then collapsing structures. There was not much to be seen for there was smoke everywhere and ashes from the burning. A single horse was seen galloping away without it rider but there was concern on look at Mr. Smith's face.

The Lone Ranger was not to be seen and so was Tonto.

Mr. Smith wished then he had requested for more men from the Pinkerton. He felt useless and such a scene was not to be seen by any man.