Lone Ranger Chapter 24

24.

The scouting party of the Occult Section set off earlier to their first target. It consisted of Father Lamiere, Mr. Smith, Lance, and Tonto with an escort of ten more gunmen escorts. They were without the personal guards of Father Lamiere. They rode off to the destination where they will hamper the reinforcements from the south. Lady Quita had taken off to the north with her pack. She had to ride alone without Tonto, but she knew that he was not to replace her son. He was with his Avenging Devil.

“How far are we to ride?” Lance asked the priest on the ride into the dusk. The reply was over the hill and the place was there. The group rode on and then dismounted to walk to the edge. When they were near it, Tonto halted the group. He then sneaked off on his own. The Indian Native half crouched in his run with his acquired skill of the wolf. His eyes turned bloodshot and his nose smelt the scent of the foe. He caught the scent of two and they were high on the hill. He saw one leaning at the tall tree. It was not a bloodsucker but a mercenary. He smelled the chewed cheroot from the mouth and his spats on the ground. The sentry held a good position with a wide view of the slope then darkened by the dusk lights. Tonto will not move just yet and sought the second sentry that he knew was near. He chanced on the second one that was hidden behind the bushes. That one was well concealed with the animal's droppings to musk his scent. He must be a hunter in the profession.

With the instinct of his spirits, he jumped aside when the arrow struck the ground he had crouched on. He had his tomahawk and with that, he tossed it. His aim was not his but guided by the spirit of Tonto the First. The tomahawk struck in the mouth and stifled the cries of warning but the leaning sentry had sensed danger. He stood up to look for his accomplices. He saw the one at the bush who was also alert. Their years of fighting have sharpened their instinct and both of them seek the unknown Native Indian. He was claimed to be a good scout and yet he was not seen. The sentry stepped forth with his rifle held firm. He signaled the one in the bush that he was making his walk. He took the walk with careful strides while his eyes scanned the slopes. He was told to be wary of any attacking parties but he had heard of the captured of the Lone Ranger.

Unknown to the sentry, Tonto had moved on to the rear with the movement of the wolf and had reached the hidden hunter sentry in the bush. He was within feet of the hunter sentry and felt for his weapons. The guns will alert the others and his tomahawk lain in the face of one other. He flexed his fingers and taut at it to feel the strength. He then ran and leaped into the bush into the hunter sentry. His move was silent and his left knee pushed against the spine of the hunter sentry while his fingers on both hands clawed into the throat and reached in deep. It pulled at the flesh there and removed it from the throat. The blood from the severed veins and flesh spurted out like the water in the spring and yet no voice was heard. 

It did not escape the attention of the last sentry who had the suspicion of the moving bushes. He proceeded to move there but he forgot there was more than one enemy. He did not see the hands that grabbed his shoulders and cracked it with the pull behind assisted by the right knee. He cried out with a whimper for the attacker had crushed his shoulder blades into the throat to quell the shout. The hunter fell to the ground catching his last breaths.

“Was Lance be that savage?” Father Lamiere asked of the other known as Mr. Smith.

“No, he was more gentle and merciful. Maybe his imprisonment had changed him. He once woke up screaming of his inklings.” Mr. Smith replied. “I do not know the brother but this one was known to me.”

“Say no more for we are to move.” Father Lamiere saw the signal to move on from the Native Indian. The group moved onto the hilltop and rejoined the other two. The sight that greeted them was a fortress of trains inlaid by the dozen over tracks. It was indeed a train interchange for the train to continue their journey to the other corners of the land. They counted ten steam rollers laying idle on the tracks but their drawn wagons and carriages were swarmed with activities. Porters were seen unloading or loading the supplies and guns. There were columns of the mercenaries taking their marches there or towards the nearby campsites. That train interchange was not only of the trains but an army fort was built next to it as well as the town that thrives on the traffic from the train.

“How do we fare against such numbers?” Tonto asked. “It’s like attacking the Dover’s Cliff with a sailboat.”

“Dover’s Cliff? Where is that?” Mr. Smith asked back.

“Don’t strain your mind on that. I am also thinking of the odds we are up against.” Lance cut in and then motioned them to the far side of the valley. There was the river dam to hold the water for the train boilers. The steam rollers needed much water for its trip and the source had to be stored. It was not a high wall but it was high at twenty feet. The river dam was made of mud-walled reinforced by the timbers. There were the three water gates across the dam that lengthen over a hundred feet.

“That dam will be our ally. Bring it down and we can flood the tracks and the town. See those water gates are open to ease the pressure.” Lance added in. “I have seen such incidents in my travels and it will take days to restore it.”

“Set part of the explosives there.” Father Lamiere gave the instruction. Six of the escorts rode off on the hill towards the river. The other eight made their way down the hill towards the interchange. Lance and Tonto took to the town while the others went for the trains. It was easy to mingle in for there were activities everywhere. Mr. Smith saw then the wagons with the guns destined for the war zone. The carriages were unloading the weary mercenaries from the south. They were ragtag of the army but they were hardened soldiers. He was even surprised to see among them the Native Indians who had joined the war.

For gold coins or for promises of their land returned to them.

Father Lamiere split his group and then he convened to the makeshift church there by the edge of the town. He stepped into the derelict house of the faith and found its inside was well kept although it lacked the full complement of benches. The wooden cross still stood over the hall with its splendor that graced the worshippers there. He found three elderly couples there seated on the benches. They held the book of faith.

“Sit with me, my faithful.” Father Lamiere sat on the bench next to the nearest couple.

“That they will, Father Lamiere.” The voice came from behind the cross. It was Hawkins who stood there. “Your faith betrayed you. You cannot resist your preaching here and yet we have no priest for some time now since they have all perished by my hands. Your dressing of the habit betrayed your presence and was followed. Your men are being followed right now.”

Father Lamiere stood up and stared at the approaching demon. The others who were seated there turned out not to be elderly couples but the blood drinkers in disguise. They surrounded the priest and drew upon their fangs.

“Demon, how dare you come into this house?” Lamiere cried out in anger.

“Demon? Am I the demon when I was once one with you? Was my banishment here rank me differently?” Hawkins voiced out in question. “How could you judged me when you have not been there?”

“Speak no more, demon. Your desire to conquer the land had been known since the dawn of time.” Father Lamiere replied. “I will see that you are stopped now. And forever.”

“A pledge on me when you should have done on those who knelt before you. Mankind had been conquering others since the dawn of time. Their desire to be the supreme beings even over the massive creatures was well known. Where were you then? And where were your mercies when war was declared in the name of the faith? Where was your faith when the brothers killed each other in the fields?”

“I have returned to fulfill my master’s wishes. The union of all under his leadership and warring will choose to exist.” Hawkins did a bow towards the priest. “Your selfish intervention will not be tolerated.”