Sun Dance

  When Herne joined up with the U.S. cavalry as a scout he had to expect trouble.

  A band of renegade Sioux bent on wiping out the hated white-man - that was trouble he knew about.

  But he hadn't reckoned on trouble from his own side.

  Trouble in the form of foul-mouthed Sergeant Chance Lattimer who swore that he'd see Herne in Hell ...

  White Eagle jabbed his left foot firmly down into the ground and swung his right arm down and round. Henderson screamed and half-turned and the edge of the blade sliced through the top of his left shoulder, at the back, carving the flesh like freshly-hung meat, opening it so that it showed white and red ...

  SUN DANCE

  HERNE THE HUNTER 12

  By John J. McLaglen

  First Published by Transworld Publishers in 1980

  Copyright © 1980, 2015 by John J. McLaglen

  First Smashwords Edition: July 2015

  Names, characters and incidents in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

  Cover image © 2014 by Tony Masero

  This is a Piccadilly Publishing Book ~*~ Text © Piccadilly Publishing

  Guest Series Editor: Ben Bridges

  Published by Arrangement with the Author.

  For David and Pippa – trackers too

  ‘If the Great Spirit had desired me to be a white man, he would have made me so in the first place. It is not necessary for the eagles to be crows. Now we are poor but we are free. No white man controls our footsteps. If we must die, we die defending our rights’

  SITTING BULL,

  Chief of the Sioux

  ‘You have no following, no power, no control, and no right to any control. You are on an Indian reservation merely at the sufferance of the government. You are fed by the government, clothed by the government, and all you have and are today is because of the government. I merely say these things to you to notify you that you cannot insult the people of the United States of America or its committees. The government feeds and clothes and educates your children now, and desires to teach you to become farmers, and to civilize you, and make you as white men.’

  SENATOR JOHN LOGAN,

  member of a Senate commission, to Sitting Bull.

  Chapter One

  The earth was hard, cracked. A dry dust shifted across it with the wind that blew along the river bottom, filtering down through the irregular parched patterns, shrouding the boots of the man as he stood there, patient as his horse slaked its thirst.

  Jebediah Herne had been in the Dakotas since the winter before. He could scarce remember the last time it rained.

  The Cannonball was no more than a stream, only the expanse of dry ground sloping gradually upwards on either side testifying that it was truly a river.

  Herne was a tall man, maybe a couple of inches over six feet. His body was muscular, strong; he weighed close to two hundred pounds. He stood with eyes narrowed against the strength of the sun and the blue of the sky. His dark hair fell lankly from under his broad-brimmed hat, showing gray at the temples. Sweat stood out on his forehead, ran down both sides of his face through the stubble of three days growth of beard.

  The red and brown check shirt he wore was open at the front; dark circles of sweat hung from beneath his arms, making the cotton seem almost black. The legs of his blue pants were smeared with dirt and dust.

  Only the dark brown leather of his gun belt seemed to shine. A Colt .45 sat snug inside the greased holster, its hammer held down with a small leather thong. Another piece of thin leather held the bottom of the holster tight to his leg.

  ‘C’mon, boy.’ He reached sideways and touched the animal’s neck, patting it. The skin was smooth but damp. Flies buzzed about the horse’s head and it shook it as it ceased drinking. ‘Cmon.’

  Five yards towards the bank, Herne stopped short, right hand letting the rein fall and moving instinctively towards the butt of his pistol.

  His head swiveled round and up and he covered his eyes with the curve of his hand, shielding them. When he saw what it was, Herne moved his hand away from his Colt.

  A large bird, circling high above the river. An eagle.

  Herne continued to watch, fascinated by the smoothness of its flight, the sense of controlled force and power. The massive bird was coming nearer, lower, moving back and forth across the shallow river bottom.

  Herne frowned: it’s looking for fish, he thought. Fish.

  He turned slowly, silently and slipped the Sharps .55 from its sheath behind the horse’s saddle.

  He could see the eagle more clearly now and knew it to be one he had only seen once, maybe twice before. Way to the west. Never this far inland. It was a Gray Sea Eagle, the one that some called the White-Tailed Eagle.

  Herne brought up the barrel of the Sharps, getting the bird in his sights, following its flight. As it soared straight-winged across the sun its silhouette was almost that of a vulture. The head solid and pale brown in color with a heavy yellow bill. The body was bulky, the wings huge and broad with blunt edges. And the tail—wedge-shaped, short and white.

  Herne moved his finger away from the trigger, the stock of the rifle away from his shoulder.

  As if sensing the movement below, the eagle suddenly climbed upwards, veering south and east. Herne turned to watch it go, hearing the creaking ‘kri, kri, kri’ of its call. Only when the white of its tail was no longer visible and all he could see was a dark speck against the bright blue of the sky, did Herne look away.

  He pushed the Sharps back into place and led his horse up on to the bank. The wind seemed to have dropped, making it hotter than ever. Herne clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth twice and shook the rein.

  He wanted a bath and a shave. Wanted a cold beer and some food. He wanted to get out of the sun.

  Shields was a sprawl of single-storied buildings on a hill north of the river. For the most part fashioned out of rough-hewn wooden planks, some of the places were no more than sod huts. They were set on either side of the curving width of gray dusty ground that served as a main street.

  The spaces between them encouraged the wind to blow strongly; fine dust was silted into the far corners.

  Nothing stirred in the street as Jed Herne rode slowly along it. Anyone who might be there was being careful to remain inside; the sun was at its highest, it was the peak of the day.

  Herne tugged his hat from his head, where it had been stuck with sweat. He wiped his forehead with his arm, back and forth, all the while looking.

  Two thirds of the way down on the left were the posts of a corral adjoining what he guessed to be a livery stable. A couple of scrawny chickens scratched the dirt outside a building whose sign proclaimed it to be ‘Totters Genral Stor’.

  Beyond the store, on the right, was a long low building with windows cut neatly into the wood and squared window frames set in place. No glass. There was no sign to say so, but Herne reckoned it to be the saloon.

  He set his hat back on his head and rode further down the street. As he passed in front of the saloon he observed that it had no door, just an open space. Inside that space, half in the shade and half out, a mangy dog was lying on its side, legs stretched out straight.

  It could have been dead.

  Herne went on until he came to the livery stable. He rode in alongside the fence and climbed down from the saddle. He had to ease the cloth of his pants away from his body.

  There were three horses in the corral, two dun colored mares and a black s
tallion that eyed Herne balefully and swished its tail at the horde of flies about its haunches.

  Herne called out and heard someone moving inside. After a few moments the rickety door creaked open and a small boy came out and yawned, his fair hair tousled and straw clinging to his shirt, revealing a couple of broken teeth at the front. Bare feet.

  ‘Woke you up?’ Herne enquired.

  The boy shook his head and pulled a length of straw free. ‘No,’ he lied, letting the straw drop slowly to the ground.

  ‘Anyone else around?’

  The boy shook his head again from side to side.

  ‘Guess you can take care of my horse, then?’

  The head nodded the other way but the boy made no move towards the animal. Herne guessed he was ten, maybe a year or so less. He turned sideways and loosened the cinch of the saddle; then he untied the pair of saddlebags and threw them over his left shoulder, pulled up the Sharps and put it in his left hand.

  ‘Okay, then.’

  Herne slapped the horse gently on its rump and it moved towards the stable door.

  As Herne began to walk away, the boy called after him. ‘You want him curried and combed as well as fed?’

  ‘That I do. An’ I want him fresh an’ ready at first light.’

  The boy peered up at him, his head to one side. ‘You ridin’ to Fort Rice?’

  Now it was Herne’s turn to shake his head: ‘No,’ he said. ‘No.’

  When Herne’s shadow fell across the dog its forepaws twitched slightly, as if a dream had been disturbed. He stared down at it, watching the almost imperceptible movement inside the protruding rib cage. He wondered if dogs really dreamed: knew that he did and wished to hell that he didn’t.

  He stepped on into the saloon.

  Half-a-dozen pairs of eyes turned to greet him. Herne stood where he was, the light behind him, letting them take him in, letting them notice the Colt .45 at his right hip.

  There were two old-timers leaning their chairs back against the left hand wall, feet off the ground. Another old boy by himself at a table directly in front of the door.

  The other three were at the bar: two this side of it, one behind.

  Not that it was really a bar. Only a pair of long, low trestle tables stretched out across the room and another, shorter one, at right angles to them. The shorter table was stacked with bottles and glasses. On the floor behind there were four barrels.

  Between barrels and bar sat a fat man with a patch over his left eye. He squinted at Herne from above his puffed cheek and then slowly turned his head away. The men in front of the bar stared on.

  Young men: soldiers.

  The one on the left leaned sideways, resting the flat of his right hand on the surface of the table. His dark blue jacket was unbuttoned, showing a faded blue vest beneath. The insignia U.S. at the center of his belt wanted polishing; the leather flap of the holster was unfastened. He looked at Herne with clear blue eyes and said nothing.

  His companion had discarded his coat altogether; his vest was stained with overlapping arcs of sweat. He stood quite straight and without taking his eyes from Herne for an instant reached sideways for his glass and swallowed a mouthful of beer.

  Herne figured them both to be around twenty years of age.

  He nodded briefly and stepped past them, stopping at the end of the bar. The fat man moved his bulk on the chair and the chair squeaked in protest.

  ‘Beer,’ Herne said.

  The man pulled a bottle from underneath the table, removed the top and poured the contents into a glass. He set it on the table and Herne let a coin fall, lifting up the beer. He guessed that the soldiers’ mounts were tethered out back and that they were there without permission. Sneaking a drink the way soldiers did ever since the sale of alcohol had been prohibited on army property some five years earlier.

  The beer was warm and tasted slightly salty. Herne downed it in three gulps and bought another. This time he took it over to a table and sat with it, taking his time, feeling the dust clear from the roof of his mouth, his tongue, his throat.

  The soldiers had their backs to him, talking in low voices to the man behind the bar.

  Before Herne had finished his beer, the troopers had gone, walking round behind the bar and through a door at the back. He heard two horses ride away.

  ‘Place round here a man can get a bath?’ Herne called over to the fat man.

  ‘Bath?’ The voice was dull and low, seeming to come from deep in the vast stomach. ‘Not much call. You could try the Andrews place up the street. On past the store. I hear they let folk take a dip in their tub every now and again. Wouldn’t know myself.’ The jowled face managed a half-smile. ‘Wouldn’t fit. If’n I did get in I doubt but I’d get out. Don’t seem worth the trouble.’

  Herne pushed back his chair and stood up. ‘How ’bout a room?’

  ‘They got a room, too. In back by the outhouse. Let a whisky drummer have it a month or so back. Shouldn’t mind you. Specially if’n you’re intendin’ on usin’ their bath first.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Herne nodded. ‘Well, thanks.’

  As he went past the two men propped against the wall, he noticed that they were now both asleep, mouths open, arms resting on their laps. In the doorway the dog was using one paw to scratch at a flea.

  The sun still hung high in the sky. Herne’s boots kicked up spurts of fine gray dust as he walked down the street

  Little over an hour later, Herne was feeling a whole lot better. He’d scraped the stubble from his chin and soaked his body in a warm tub until the dirt had flaked off and formed a crust across the surface. He’d unfolded a clean shirt from one of his saddlebags and handed over the check one to Mrs. Andrews to wash. Now his gear was stowed in the shack in back of their place and Herne was ready to eat.

  ‘There’s a chance Jed Fowler’ll get you somethin’ in the saloon,’ said Sarah Andrews. ‘Or you could stop by the McGibbons.’

  Herne asked if Fowler was the fat man he’d seen behind the bar and was told that he was. Then he asked about the McGibbons.

  ‘It’s a new house to the west of town. Likely you didn’t pay it no heed when you rode in. That’s if you came that way. Looks like most of the other places from the outside, maybe a little newer. They serve meals in their dining room, though. Travelers and men from the fort passing by. Plain cooking, but I hear it’s all right.’ She smiled. ‘Not that I’ve ever eaten there, mind. Not when I can cook for Larry and myself here.’

  The smile stayed on her face and Herne looked at her appreciatively. Brown hair gathered up at the back; a round face with lively brown eyes; the flesh of her arms warm and smooth looking. Maybe ten years younger than Herne himself—not that that made her young. Not in country like this, it didn’t.

  He thought for a moment she was going to ask him to stay and eat with them, but instead she stepped past him and held open the door.

  ‘Thanks, ma’am.’

  Herne moved his hand towards the brim of his hat and walked past her, out into the street again. He found the McGibbons’ house without difficulty. There were four horses tied to a hitching rail beside it.

  Army horses.

  Herne went through the open doorway and was at once in the dining room, which seemed to take up the front half of the house. There were two tables placed in the center of the room and five more around the walls. The four soldiers sat at the furthest of the center tables and unlike the two in the saloon they paid Herne scant attention. Just glanced round and then back again to their food.

  Herne walked to the corner and sat down where he could see the two doors—and the four men.

  They were older than those he’d seen earlier. A big Sergeant with sandy hair and an ear that folded over on to itself like a closed flower. He ate without closing his mouth, the food mulching about his tongue.

  Opposite him sat a Corporal, the oldest of the bunch. Short, black hair, thin body that bent angularly over his plate. The Privates were stockily built, sitting round-sh
ouldered, their faces tanned and weather-beaten.

  The Tenth Cavalry were stationed at Fort Rice, there after a long spell in the south-west fighting hostile Apaches. It would have been there that these men would have learned their business as soldiers; learned how to drill, ride, track, kill.

  Herne knew that they would be well able to handle themselves. They had proved it—they had survived.

  He also knew that this day they had done their fair share of drinking. The red flush on the Sergeant’s face was not entirely due to the sun. When any of them spoke, his voice was louder than normal and slightly slurred.

  The Sergeant forked a large chunk of pie into his wide mouth and began to tell a story about a whore down on the Mexican border. Midway through the tale the door from the back opened and a young woman came in, a wooden tray under her arm. The soldier carried on with the crudities of his story regardless.

  Not hearing—pretending not to hear—the woman went to where Herne was sitting.

  She was young, barely twenty, her skin dark under darker ringlets of hair. She wore a white blouse tucking into her skirt so tightly that the shape of her breasts showed clearly through. Herne could see that the nipples were firm, large. He looked down at the table, then up at her face.

  Behind the waitress the tale went on, embellishment following embellishment.

  ‘What you want, mister?’ Her voice was pitched slightly off-key, as though she was speaking with someone else’s tongue.

  ‘You got steak?’

  ‘Yes, we got steak.’

  ‘Okay. I’ll have a big one, as big as you’ve got. Some potatoes an’ a couple of eggs. Oh, an’ a cup of coffee.’

  The Sergeant reached the climax of his yarn with a hefty thump of his fist on the table, making plates and cutlery jump. Herne glanced past the waitress in time to see the soldier’s mouth open wide in a raucous laugh as particles of half-chewed food sprayed towards his companions.

  The young woman turned and stepped round the center tables. Herne went back to gazing at the pattern on the check tablecloth, stained here and there with the remains of other meals.