The House Of Crow Collection

1. Alta California - The Bandits

Juan Ortiz sat astride his horse watching his prey below. Ortiz, hidden by trees, wrinkled his nose at the foul odor of rotten eggs. The smell was coming from the hot sulfur springs at the base of the hill. Overlooking the hill quilted in spring flowers, Juan counted three two-wheeled ox carts, four armed men, eight women and as many children. While the men were talking and watching the children, the women were scrubbing great heaps of white linens in the waters of the hot springs.

When Ortiz raised his hand, six men rode out through the trees and joined him. The horsemen and Ortiz wore sombreros, vests over simple white shirts and chaps over their leather trousers. They were all armed with muskets, pistols, and knives. The man next to Ortiz stood in his stirrups and looked down the slope. He eased back in his saddle and looked expectantly at Ortiz.

Ortiz told the man, “Chico, take three men and move down the hill and stay out of sight. I will take the rest and attack from here. When we start firing and have their attention, you attack from the rear. There are only four men. It should be simple and quick.”

On a nearby hill, two men dressed in buckskins were watching Ortiz and his men.

“That looks like trouble,” said Isaiah Crow, the larger of the two men. “Those folks at the springs won"t stand a chance.”

“Bandits! Those bastardos will kill the men and children, but it will be worse for the women. They will r**e and abuse them. When they tire of them, they will sell them on the black market as slaves,” said LeRue.

“That just doesn"t sit well with me; how about you?”

“I figure we could be of some help,” said LeRue matter-of-factly.

“It looks like they are going to split up. I"ll follow the ridge from here so I can get a shot at the leader. If you ride fast on the backside, you can pick off some of the second bunch from behind.”

With a nod, LeRue spurred his mount with his heels and began racing through the trees.

“Come on boy,” Crow said to his mount, “let"s make some wolf meat.”