William Johnstone: Bounty Hunter

“You fellas stay right where you are!” Luke warned them. “We’ll shoot if we have to, make no mistake about that!”

“You can’t kill all of us!” somebody yelled.

Somebody in the back of the crowd, Luke noted. “No, but we can do for half of you. Maybe more than that.”

That estimate was good only if every member of the escort emptied his guns and scored a hit with every shot, which was highly unlikely, but the members of the mob probably wouldn’t bother to do that ciphering.

“And you’ll be the first one to die, mister,” Luke went on, addressing the man he’d aimed at. “Is it worth dying for something you can’t even eat?”

The man looked scared, but he asked, “What is it? What’s in those wagons?”

“Manufacturing equipment,” Luke said. He didn’t know where that answer came from, but it struck him as a good one. “We’re trying to get it out of town while we still can.”

“What sort of equipment?”

Luke bit back a curse. The varmint was awfully curious for somebody who had a gun pointed at him. “Leather goods. Tool and die presses.”

He wasn’t sure that answer even made sense. He didn’t know anything about manufacturing, but recalled hearing that phrase once from a fellow who owned a saddle shop.

He figured the stubborn man would want to take a look at the contents of the crate, but before that could happen, somebody else called out, “You don’t have any food?”

“Just our own provisions for the trip,” Luke answered, putting some sympathy in his voice. “And we’re going to be on mighty short rations just like everybody else.”

“We might as well let ’em go,” another man grumbled. “Can’t eat a bunch of damn machinery.”

“They’ve got horses,” yet another man said.

“I’ll be damned if I’m far enough gone that I’ll eat horse meat! Let ’em pass!”

After that bit of discourse, the crowd seemed to be of two minds. Some agreed they ought to let the travelers go, while others were so angered by the fate that had befallen them they wanted to hurt somebody, anybody, for any excuse. It was a delicate balance, and Luke knew it could tip at any second to the side of violence.

He glanced at his companions. They looked tense and ready to fight, but were scared, too. Only fools would not be scared in the face of an angry mob. Luke hoped none of them panicked and got trigger-happy. All it would take was one shot to set off an orgy of killing.

Finally, the man in the lead stepped aside and swung the blazing brand. “All right, go on and get out of here.” He raised his voice to the others in the mob. “Get out of the way! Let them pass!”

The men crowded to the sides of the street. As the wagons and riders passed between them it was uncomfortably like running a gauntlet. As the lead wagon rolled by the man with the torch, Luke told him, “You made a wise decision, friend. Good luck to you.”

“You’re the lucky ones,” the man said with bitterness in his voice. “You’re getting out of Richmond. Maybe the Yankees will catch you and kill you, but even if they do, it’ll be quick. The ones left behind here will be a long time dying.”

As he reloaded the expended chamber, Luke had a feeling the man’s grim prediction was correct.

The gold escorts didn’t encounter any more trouble as they made their way to the city’s edge, but Luke knew they were far from being out of danger yet. The Yankees patrolled heavily around Richmond to keep the city’s inhabitants bottled up while the artillery bombardment continued.

Colonel Lancaster dropped back alongside the lead wagon and said to Luke, “I appreciate your help with that mob back there, Jensen, but don’t forget that I’m in command here. The way you took charge bordered on insubordination.”

Well, then, you should’ve come up with some way to get us out of that mess, Luke thought, instead of sitting there looking scared and confused. He kept that opinion to himself, of course. “That’s not the way I meant it, Colonel. I was just trying anything to keep those fellas from swarming over us.”

“I understand,” Lancaster said with a nod. “Just remember in the future that you look to me for your orders.”

“Yes, sir.”

The colonel rode ahead again, and Dale said quietly, “If we’d waited for him to figure out what to do, we’d all be dead now.”

“More than likely,” Luke agreed. “The colonel’s a good commander out in the field, but I’m not sure he’s really cut out for a job like this.”

“That’s why I’m glad you’re with us, Luke. You can think on your feet about as well as anybody I ever saw.”

Luke took that compliment in silence. He had never thought of himself as any sort of strategist or tactician. He was just a fellow who wanted to stay alive and was willing to do almost anything to accomplish that goal.

Their route took them north out of the city, which was opposite from where they wanted to go, but Luke understood why. The heaviest concentration of Yankee forces was south of Richmond. The scouts had to take the wagons north, then circle far to the west, well behind Union lines, and make a fast dash southward. It was the long way around, but a direct route just wasn’t possible.

Lancaster called a halt. “I want to be out of the city by dawn. The farther away we can get, the better.”

“How will we dodge those Yankee patrols?” Stratton asked.

“We’ll have to do some good scouting.” The colonel nodded toward Luke. “That’s why I want one of you men to give Jensen the horse you’re riding. I want a mount for Duquesne, too.”

“We’ve done plenty of scoutin’, Colonel,” Richards protested. “You can send a couple of us.”

Lancaster shook his head. “Jensen and Duquesne have served under my command. I know what they can do. You other men were recommended to me, but I haven’t seen you in action yet. Now, dismount, a couple of you.”

There was some angry muttering, but Richards and Casey swung down from their saddles.

“Keep your eyes open, Dale,” Luke said to his friend.

“You bet I will,” Dale promised.

Taking his rifle with him, Luke hopped down from the wagon seat. Richards handed him his reins and climbed up to take his place.

Once Luke and Remy were mounted, Lancaster told them, “Follow this road we’re on and see if the way is clear up ahead to the bridge about a mile from here. If it is, one of you come back and tell us, and we’ll come ahead.”

“What if the Yankees have blown up the bridge, Colonel?” Luke asked.

“Then we’ll have to find another way,” Lancaster replied as if that were the most obvious thing in the world, and Luke supposed it was.

Crossing the river was probably going to be the most difficult part of getting out of Richmond, Luke thought. If the Yankees really wanted to keep the citizens and the Confederate government trapped in the city, the first thing they should have done was destroy all the bridges.

But that would make it more difficult for them to get in and out of the city from the north once Richmond had fallen, so maybe one or two bridges were still standing. In normal times, the small road the Confederates were on was little used and might be overlooked, along with its bridge spanning the river.

Those were anything but normal times, however.

Luke and Remy moved forward, leaving the buildings on the edge of town behind. Trees crowded in on the road from both sides as they rode northward. Although the sky behind them was bright with the orange glow of fires and the flashes of exploding shells from the Yankee barrage, the darkness grew thicker the farther they went. Luke eyed the trees warily. A Yankee cavalry patrol could be hidden in there, and he wouldn’t see them until they opened fire.