Ever Onward (64 page)

John Lonefeather, keeping up the
ground-eating pace, spoke over his shoulder. “You know, Charley, I
think that was King Shit himself in that chopper.”

Charley chuckled. “Well, whoever it
was, he was really

pissed.”

A quarter of a mile further they were
challenged by two of Carrol’s guards. One of them brought them into
the makeshift camp. Jim Carrol himself met them. Eddy and the other
members of the LAV were with him. When word of Jocco’s damaged
chopper landing at the lodge was given, Carrol called for an
immediate all out attack.

“But you can’t!”, Bobby Stewart
yelled. “Mr. Williams said Jessie and Flame would be killed at the
first sign of trouble!”

“And what’s that to me, boy?”, Carrol
demanded. “We’ve got the bastard trapped. We’re blocking the only
road. He can’t get out, his men can’t in and now he can’t fly away.
I say we take him now before his men break through!”

The crowd around him cheered and began
to surge forward. All there had suffered because of Jocco, had felt
his casual cruelty tearing at their already shattered lives, and
each one was hungry for revenge. Eddy, beside himself with worry,
did what he had to do in order to save his best friend’s son.
Drawing his revolver, he pressed the stubby barrel into Carrol’s
stomach.

The large man’s eyes widened. “What
the hell?”

Eddy pressed harder, his voice a
hoarse whisper. “I promised Josh we’d wait for him, and by God, we
going to wait!”

“You’d shoot me?”

Eddy cocked the short, powerful gun.
“If I have to.”

Carrol snorted. “You’d not leave here
alive.”

“True, but then --- neither would
you.” Eddy’s smile was surprisingly like his best
friends.

Nate, standing close enough to have
heard, spoke quietly to both men. “For Christ sake, Jim, listen to
him!”

Carrol turned to the older man. “I’ll
die rather than let that murdering snake get away!”

Nate sighed. “Perhaps it doesn’t have
to come to that. What if Eddy sends the LAV down to fortify the
roadblock? Sam Waterford’s an army man. He’ll know how to best use
it. The rest of us can surround the lodge. With his helicopter
damaged Jocco’s trapped. If he makes a break for it, we take him,
if not, we wait for Josh.”

Carrol drew a pensive breath, glancing
down at the heavy revolver. “You know that we’re all probably
waiting for a dead man?”

“
Maybe,” Eddy said. “But
we’re going to wait just the same.”

Carrol met the smaller man’s gaze.
“You’ll send the LAV down to the roadblock?”

“Gladly, as long as we don’t move
against the lodge till tomorrow at sundown.”

Carrol stood silent for several
seconds, then nodded and thrust out his hand. “Done! But I want
that lodge sealed off tighter than an old maid’s
asshole.”

Eddy looked at the meaty paw held out
to him. His heart still racing, he uncocked the Cobra, holstered it
quickly and shook the offered hand. Carrol’s other arm wrapped him
in a firm embrace.

“You’ve got balls, Eddy, I’ll say that
for you! It’s not often a man has a friend that’s willing to die
for him!” Then, more quietly: “Would you really have shot
me?”

“Only once,” Eddy replied, willing his
voice not to shake.

Carrol’s deep laughter carried over
the shouts of his men. “Once would have done it, Hoss. Now, let’s
get that cannon on wheels of yours down to the
roadblock!”

Chapter 50
: ‘ALMOST THERE’

Jocco’s Hunting Lodge

Sequoia National Park

California, May
27
^th

As Charley Little Dog had so sagely
remarked, Jocco was indeed pissed. The wounding of Ace and the near
crash landing back at the lodge had sent him into a white rage. To
make matters worse, he’d been unable to contact Scar and had just
learned that a bunch of rag-tag half-breeds were successfully
blocking the only road in or out. Feeling like a trapped animal,
Jocco screamed into the mike.

“I don’t give a shit how many men
you’re loosing! Just smash through those fuckers and get up
here!”

On the other end of the line, Tim Galt
palmed the sweat off his grimy face. Rifles and small-arms fire
could be heard in the background, punctuated by yelling and
screams. “We’re trying our best, Jocco. George the Man’s here as
well, but these bastards are good! They’ve got the road blocked
with old cars and fallen trees. Each time we move up they hit us
from three sides!”

“Outflank them, asshole!”, Jocco
yelled. “Send troops into the woods!”

Tim’s voice trembled. “We’ve already
tried that --- twice. Neither group came back.” Before Jocco could
reply, a loud explosion was heard and George the Man’s excited
voice replaced Tim’s.

“George here, Boss. They’ve just
brought some kind of heavy tank up to the roadblock and are
shelling us! Two of our trucks are already in flames!”

“Charge them!”, Jocco
bellowed.

“Christ, Boss,” George replied. “We’d
be cut to ratshit! Besides the cannon, they’ve got a 50 caliber on
a swivel turret!”

Another explosion, louder than the
last, shook the air. All Jocco heard was static and screaming.
“What the fuck’s going on?!”

“... hit the ... behind us! ... flames
all ... road! Got... pull back...or... trapped here!”

The connection went silent, leaving
Jocco shouting into a dead mike. He tossed it aside and turned to
face those clustered around him. Bobby-Joe Burlis, Pam the Bitch,
Eva Madeau and Pussbag all stared back at him, awaiting his orders.
Ace sat off to one side, quietly bleeding to death. The young pilot
was trying desperately to finish a fifth of Scotch before Cobb’s
slug finished him. These and the six guards outside were all that
was left of Jocco’s kingdom.

‘How had it all gone so fucking
wrong?’, he asked himself, his mind searching for a way out.
Suddenly his cold smile was back. “Bobby, get McBride in here. Pam,
you and Eva bring up the woman and the boy. Now!”

As the three jumped to
obey, Pussbag shuffled closer, his bayonet in his hand and madness
in his eyes. Jocco placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Soon, old
friend, soon, but first we have to prepare a fitting welcome for
the good professor.”

The sky behind them was ablaze with
pinks and reds as the two men stood gazing down at the lodge. The
sun was still high enough to cast its brilliant rays into the
valley below, bathing the large wooden building with its golden
light. Josh, looking through his binoculars, swore
softly.

“What is it?”, Cobb asked.

“He’s got Jessie and Flame tied out
front.”

Cobb swept the two storied building
with the scope from Scar’s captured rifle. Two guards out front,
two more up on the second floor balcony. Between these last two
Jessie and Flame hung suspended from the eves, their hands
stretched over their heads, their feet resting on the top rail of
the balcony. Jessie’s face was hard and fierce, like a tethered
hawk. Flame defiantly tossed her long mane, obviously spitting
venom at her captors.

“At least they’re alive,
Josh.”

“Ya, but for how long?”

Cobb shrugged.

“I can’t leave them there like that,”
Josh said, his voice an agonized whisper.

Cobb considered the distance between
himself and the lodge. A good 200 yards at least. “Well, I could
probably take out the guards in front, but the ones up top are too
close to Jessie and Flame. If we get nearer...”

Josh shook his head. “I have to get
inside. If not, as soon as there’s trouble he’ll kill one and still
have the other to bargain with.”

Cobb suddenly grabbed Josh’s arm.
“You’re not going to give yourself up?”

“If I have to.”

Cobb’s hand tightened. “You can’t make
deals with scum like that. He’ll make you watch them both die, then
kill you too!”

“I know that,” Josh replied, his voice
as hard as the metal object he held in his fist. “But at least
he’ll go with us.”

Cobb’s gaze fixed on the grenade in
Josh’s hand. “Let’s pray it doesn’t come to that.”

Josh met his friend’s
stare. “One way or the other, Cobb, I’ll set Jessie
free.”

Sergeant Phil McBride, trying his best
to ignore the string of abuse being heaped upon him from the female
prisoner, continued to scan the open slopes before him. The
red-headed bitch, however, had a mouth on her that just wouldn’t
quit.

“... and when he gets here, Limp Dick,
you’ll wish your retarded father had of used a condom instead of
bringing a gutless wonder like you into the world!”

“Let me shut her up, Sarj,” Private
Joe Lions pleaded, raising the butt of his rifle to within inches
of Flame’s face. “A few missing teeth should close that big mouth
of hers!”

Flame’s green eyes bored into the
skinny little man, making him feel smaller than ever. “Go on, Puke
Face. Take your best shot. Once my man gets here there won’t be
enough of you left to scrap off my boot!”

As Lions drew the rifle back to hit
her, McBride shoved him roughly away. “Back off, Private! Jocco
doesn’t want the goods damaged --- yet.”

Lions was about to reply when he saw
Jessie staring at him. For a long moment their eyes locked. “What
the fuck are you looking at?”

Jessie’s gaze never
faltered. “A dead man.”

Despite the cool breeze, Eddy was
sweating. The sight of Flame and Jessie tied up on the open balcony
had shaken him badly. If Josh didn’t get there soon, he didn’t know
what the hell he’d do. Crouching beside him in the underbrush,
Bobby Stewart suppressed a nervous shudder. Through holes in the
greenery they could see two guards standing at the edge of the
forest. So far there was no sign of John Lonefeather and Charley
Little Dog.

Eddy’s grip on Nate’s old Remington
44-40 tightened. When learning that Edddy had asked Lonefeather to
take him back up to the lodge, the old man had offered Eddy his
long rifle.

“Try this,” Nate had drawled, handing
Eddy the heavy weapon and nodding his whiskered chin at Josh’s
30-30. “It’s got nearly three times the punch of that pop gun you
got there, holds three 510 gram hollow points with room for one
more up the spout. Kicks like a bastard, but it’ll stop an
elephant.”

Eddy had reluctantly handed over the
Winchester. “Josh gave me this the night he left for Bakersfield. I
had hoped to give it back to him.”

Nate had smiled and cradled the
shorter rifle. “I’ll hold it for you till you both come back, maybe
even try it out down at the roadblock.”

Now, crouching in the forest near the
lodge, Eddy hefted Nate’s heavier gun; its weight, however, gave
him little comfort. There was no sign of Josh and time was fast
running out for Flame and Jessie.

“What do we do now?”, Bobby
whispered.

“Pray those two Indians know don’t
blow it!”

Bobby drew his Python. The corm barrel
caught the last rays of the setting sun. “Shouldn’t we move up in
case...”

Just then they saw one of
the two guards raise his rifle and step forward into the forest.
The other hesitated, then followed. Bobby looked at Eddy, who
shrugged an answer. Then the sounds of a brief scuffle reached
them, a muffled cry and then silence. Off to the right a jay
screeched its indignation. From up ahead an owl hooted,
Lonefeather’s signal that all was well. Eddy and Bobby moved to
meet them.

“Who are those guys?”, Cobb whispered,
pointing at the edge of the forest where two shadowy forms had just
overpowered the forward pair of guards. As he spoke, the two
shadows became four.

Josh looked through the field glasses
and grinned. “I don’t know about the others, but those last two
look a hell of a lot like Eddy and Bobby!”

“Damn!”, Cobb beamed. “It is
them!”

Moments later the four friends were
reunited, each hugging the other and grinning widely. Bobby did a
poor job of hiding his tears. Off to one side John Lonefeather and
Charley Little Dog stood silent watch. Eddy made a fast
introduction and all six moved deeper into the trees, taking the
bodies of the two guards with them.

“God-Almighty, Josh,” Eddy sighed.
“It’s good to see you back. I was starting to get a bit
worried.”

“Me too,” Josh smiled.

“What about One-Eye, Mr. Williams?”,
Bobby asked. “We heard he was chasing the both of you?”

“Scar’s dead, Bobby,” Cobb
said.

Bobby grinned. “You get
him?”

Cobb shook his head. “Josh did. Cut
his throat.”

Bobby’s grin faded; the thought of his
former teacher cutting a man’s throat, even a man like One-Eye,
made his stomach want to heave.

Eddy touched his friend’s shoulder.
“What do we do about Jessie and Flame?”

Josh’s look hardened.
“Whatever we have to.”