Ole Devil at San Jacinto (Old Devil Hardin Western Book 4) (17 page)

As Tommy had said, if the leisurely and
casual way in which they were moving was any guide, Santa Anna and
his retinue felt confident that there were none of the enemy within
miles.

‘
The rest of the column don’t seem to
be taking any better precautions,’ Dimmock commented, turning his
gaze from the glittering array of military ostentation. ‘And they
aren’t anywhere near as fancy looking, either.’

Although
el Presidente
and his bodyguard might convey the
impression that they were leading a triumphant parade, the mass of
men who were following some distance behind clearly did not share
their sentiments. The ragged, plodding lines of foot, horse and
artillery were paying just as little attention to their
surroundings. However, they appeared to be too dispirited to care
what might befall them. Bringing up the rear came the baggage train
of pack mules and creaking, lumbering oxen-drawn carts. It seemed
woefully small in comparison with the number of soldiers who were
dependent upon its contents.

‘
If you’d been through what they
have,’ Ole Devil drawled, also studying the main column. ‘You
wouldn’t be feeling any too happy with life either. They had it
rough all along and it’s getting rougher by the day.’

‘
You sound almost sorry for them,’
Dimmock stated.

‘
I am, for the enlisted men,’ Ole
Devil admitted. ‘Most of them didn’t want to join the
Army.’

Despite all the fervor with
which
el
Presidente
and his generals had assembled the force to march north,
and notwithstanding its recent successes, the corruption and
basic
instability of his regime was taking effect. Already
impover
ished
by years of civil war, inter-factional feuding, and officials
lining their pockets, the Mexican treasury was unable to produce
the finances for the venture. The money was procured by enforced
‘donations’, or through loans at usurious rates of interest,
^xxxvi
but much of it was squandered on
non-essentials and little went to purchase badly needed supplies or
equipment.
^xxxvii

As early as during the siege at
the Alamo Mission, the various shortages had been the cause of much
suffering and numerous desertions among the recently conscripted
men.
Now even
the better quality regiments of regular soldiers were feeling the
pinch. Their previous actions had been fought in the warmer lands
further south. So they were ill prepared to cope with the far from
clement weather of a Texas spring.

To the various
Activos
battalions,
inexperienced and barely trained ‘reservists’ forcibly enlisted for
the duration of the campaign, the conditions were barely tolerable.
What small improvement had accrued to their spirits during
the
Victory
celebrations after the fall of the Alamo Mission was
being wiped out by
the hardships of the march. Being foot soldiers,
^xxxviii
they were unable to forage with
the facility of the cavalry. Engrossed in that necessary adjunct to
survival, the latter were paying little attention to what should
have been their duty of providing a screen against Texian
reconnaissance or raiding parties.

Comparing the column with one which he had
studied just north of Monclova during the first week of February,
Ole Devil could see that it was greatly reduced in numbers. Even
then, it had not struck him as being in the best of condition. His
report to that effect had been one of the factors upon which Major
General Samuel Houston had based the decision to let the stand at
the Alamo Mission take place. Clearly there had been great losses
through casualties and, in all probability, desertion. However,
those who remained still greatly outnumbered the Republic of
Texas’s Army.

From his examination, Ole Devil
felt confident that
—provided his party could accomplish their assignment—the
odds could be reduced. Nor would he allow his sympathy for
el
Presidente’s
under fed and badly clothed conscripted civilians prevent
him from trying to carry out the task.

‘
It’s a pity we didn’t bring our
rifles,’ Dimmock remarked, returning his attention to Santa Anna’s
retinue.

“
Why?’ Ole Devil asked.

‘
We could fire a couple of
shots at him and run for it,
’ the lieutenant explained.

‘
The bullets would barely
reach the trail at this range
,’ Ole Devil pointed out. ‘And firing
would let them know there are enemies nearby.’

‘
It would bring the escort
after us all right,’ the lieutenant
conceded. ‘But we ought to be
able
to
make it back to the horses before they catch
us.’

‘
Ought
to
isn’t good enough,’ Ole Devil said grimly. ‘When we make
our move, it has to be a lot more certain than that. Our
instructions from the “Government” look authentic, but they’ll have
to be convinced it’s genuine before they’ll do as General Houston
wants. Letting them get it too easily won’t do that.’

‘
Would the honorable gentlemen care to
hear an ancient and wise Nipponese saying unworthy self has just
made up?’ Tommy inquired, twisting around to scan the terrain
behind them. He continued without waiting for an answer. ‘Person
who spends too much time watching others may be seen
himself.’

‘
I hate to admit it, but
“unworthy self
” is right,’ Dimmock informed his superior with mock
resignation. ‘As long as we were on the move and didn’t let them
come too close, anybody who saw us would probably take us for
foragers. But they’d know we weren’t if they saw us lying
here.’

‘
I’d never have thought of
it myself, though,’ Ole Devil answered, pleased to see that the
lieutenant did not resent the rejection of his suggestion, and
wondering if his recovery from the gloom cast by the taunting from
the youngest
vaquero
had been caused by the excitement of being at such close
proximity to the Texians’ supreme enemy, or through the prospect of
action in the near future. ‘There’s nothing more for us to see and
we can’t do anything here. We’ll go and take a look at what’s
ahead.’

‘
Unless I’ve got it wrong, the trail
goes through some woodland about three or so miles ahead,’ Dimmock
announced, as the trio withdrew carefully from the ridge. ‘But,
even if they reached it before sundown, they’d be too late to go
through in daylight and wouldn’t want to after dark. So I’ll bet on
them making camp by the creek that’s just this side.’

‘
Let’s find out if your memory’s as
good as it was about the trail,’ Ole Devil suggested, with a grin
which showed he felt sure that it would be. When satisfied that
they could not be seen by the Mexicans in the column, he
straightened up and went on, ‘We might find what we need on the way
there.’

The trio’s horses had been left
in the concealment offered by a small draw about a quarter of a
mile from the ridge. As
they were approaching, they heard the animals
start to give snorts of alarm.

‘
Something’s frightening them!’
Dimmock barked, bounding forward as his companions also increased
their pace.

Swiftly as the Texians advanced, the little
Oriental outdistanced them. By the time they reached the top of the
draw, he was already dashing down the fairly steep slope with the
sure footed agility of a bighorn sheep. However, their attention
was directed at the bottom.

Although none of the horses had
managed to tear free the reins by which they had been tethered to
bushes, it was
plainly only a matter of seconds before at least some of
them
did. All
were rearing, or backing away, in attempts to divest themselves of
the restraints placed upon their movements. Nor was the cause of
their behavior hard to locate.

‘
Hot damn!’ Dimmock ejaculated,
skidding to a halt and staring at the predatory beast which was
causing the horses’ alarm as it stalked them through the bushes at
the other side. He grabbed at his pistol’s butt. ‘Look what it
is!’

‘
Don’t
fire unless we have to!’ Ole Devil warned,
duplicat
ing
the lieutenant’s action in spite of realizing their
predicament.

Being so close to the trail, as Ole Devil
was all too aware, there was a danger that shooting would be heard.
If it was, it would be investigated. For all that, he did not
ignore the possibility that the need to use the pistol might arise.
They might be compelled to do so to save Tommy’s as well as the
horses’ lives.

The carnivore with which they
were contending was undoubtedly feline, but of a kind which only
rarely came so far north into Texas. If it had been a mountain
lion, the usual inhabitant of that region, the situation would have
been much less serious. Although adequately equipped to do
so, members of the
species
Felis
Concolor
were
disinclined to
face opposition from human beings. Seeing the little
Oriental approaching, a cougar would almost certainly have turned
and fled.

Unfortunately, the animal
was
not
a
mountain lion.

With such a thickset build and the yellowish
hide marked by black rosettes, it could only be a jaguar! Its very
size and marking ruled out the faint hope that it was the smaller
and less dangerous ocelot which was the only other possible
contender.

Heavier and far more aggressive than the
cougar, a jaguar was much less likely to be frightened away from
potential prey by the sight of a human being.

Nor did it!

Giving a low, coughing roar, the
jaguar abandoned its stalk and hurled itself in Tommy’s direction.
The sight of it caused the horses to redouble their efforts to
escape. One of the
vaqueros’
mounts broke its reins and bolted along the bottom of the
draw, but the rest were unable to do so.

‘
Get down there and catch it!’ Ole
Devil snapped, grasping his Manton pistol and never taking his eyes
from the little Oriental.

Sharing his employer’s awareness of the
possible repercussions of using a firearm to save the animals,
Tommy hoped to remove the need. While he had never seen such a
beast as the jaguar, he knew how other members of the cat family
were prone to make an attack. So he felt that he could cope with
the situation, even though his method would place his life in
jeopardy.

Such a minor consideration would
never sway a
Samurai
from his purpose.

Satisfied that he had diverted
the jaguar away from its intended prey and upon himself, Tommy came
to a halt and whipped out his
tachi.
Even without the need for conscious thought, he
was following the dictates of his
Bushido
training. Confronted by a worthy and
dangerous enemy, a
Samurai
met the challenge with his body squarely to the front, the
right foot forward and left drawn back. Although he grasped the
hilt in both hands the right above the left, he did not raise
the
tachi
beyond the level at which its point would be in line with a
human opponent’s throat.

Having adopted his posture of
readiness, the little Oriental waited until the huge
animal
—its
one hundred and twenty pounds’ weight not much less than his
own—launched itself upwards in a spring. It came hurtling at him,
mouth open to expose the tearing fangs and legs outstretched to
employ an even more effective armament.

To the watching Texians, it
seemed that Tommy intended to let the jaguar impale itself upon
the
tachi.
He had considered and discarded the idea. While adopting it
would achieve the desired result, it would not kill silently enough
for his purpose.

At the last instant, when to Ole
Devil and Dimmock it
seemed Tommy must be caught in the grasp of the beast’s
great curved and needle-pointed claws, he swung his left leg in a
pivoting step which carried him just—and only just—out of danger.
As he was doing so, he raised and brought down the
tachi
in a similarly rapid
motion. Biting into the back of the jaguar’s neck as it was being
carried impotently past him by the momentum of the abortive spring,
the blade decapitated it. Although the headless carcass landed with
a thud and the limbs thrashed spasmodically, there was no other
sound.

Allowing the
tachi
to fall from his grasp and replacing
it with the
wakizashi,
the little Oriental darted towards the still struggling
horses. He had noticed the one that had escaped and knew what must
be done. So, before Dimmock could descend the slope and carry out
Ole Devil’s order, Tommy reached the animals. Grasping his mount’s
split ended reins in his left hand, a slash from the
wakizashi’s
razor sharp blade
severed them just above the knot by which they were secured to the
bush. Having done so, he discarded his second weapon and, catching
hold of the saddlehorn, vaulted on to the plunging brown gelding’s
back. Showing superb riding skill, he turned and sent it racing
after the fleeing horse.