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| Adobe Walls by � coondogk9 Wull, best I recollect was nye on twenty years ago a passle of them thur njuns wreeked holy damnation on a slew of them traders. Wuz a silly thing they went an done, movin in them njuns terretory begin with. Killin them buffs like wuz ducks onna pond of which twern�t no ponds on the plains. May been a buffalo waller er two but nearest I figger wuz the Nadian. (Canadian). Ole Quanna done got all riled up an gatheres hizself some braves an wenta huntin. Wern�t no smelly hiders gonna mess up hiz huntin grouns, no siree. He wadn�a gonna stand fer it. (The group of boys sitting on the stoop of the old courthouse were all ears by now. not a whisper was heard.) Ole Travis leaned over his elbow�s restin on his knees a pipe held in his hand blew a puff of smoke for affect, right into the mist of cowering younguns. He slowly raised and stepped off the wooden steps an limped over across the brown grass to a large cottonwood. He stopped once and turned as he told the tale, the boys fallin over one another stumblin trying to stop. He pointed with his pipe stem off towards the noth and said: yep, them njuns wuz riled now. and he continued toward the tree where he sat with his back to it, feet flat and an arm across both knee�s all the while pointin an wavin that pipe, occasionally takin a puff now an then. Them braves got hooked on some young medicine man twern�t nuttin but a boy hizself tellin them he made paint would turn a 50 calibre bullet. Course they believed him and off they went. Crossed the plains they rode. Comed to a stand of cottonwoods an held up restin them ponies while the chief sent scouts on ahead. Wuz a couple ah traders wandered too close goin towards the walls an wound up decoratin an njuns bridle with hiz head piece. They wuz sposed tah catch them traders sleepin and everthing woulda been ok, but a strange thing happened. One of the post owners, the saloon ah reckon, done a strange thing. Bout 5 inna mornin he snucked a gun under a hide and let go. Then he hollers: TIMBER!!!!! TIMBER�S BREAKIN!!!!!. Everbody scattered fearin the roof wuz fallin. Them weren�t no lil logs up there neither. Wuz bigguns an tons ah dirt piled onem. It wuz a madhouse. Men piled on the roof throwin dirt bare handed right an left. Some run tah thuh creek fer more timber braces. This wuz alla plan to get everbody up as the owner�d got wind of the njuns plans. He knowed if he just outright tole em they�d done left the country so he just made sure all of em wuz up the mornin of the planned attack. Wuz still a mite early an them njuns wuz juss bidin ther time a waitin along the line of trees till daylight. Outin the yard front of the saloon a feller name ah Dixon done fetched hiz gun when he spied somethin strange. Them trees had trees a tween em. The sun barely showed red behind the trees. He squinted and still never made out zactly whut it wuz. Bout that time he heerd the gawd awflest racket comin from them extry trees he ever heard. Musta been 5 hunerd of em all screemin an wavin ther arms. Red n yeller paint all over thur body. One poney wuz completely yeller n had red ribbons hangin all over. That�d be the young medicin man ya see. Wull lemee tellya. That Dixon feller skedadled fast as he could back inta that ther saloon. Weren�t no use tellin bout whut he seen as bullets an arry�s wuz fallin like hail by now. one arry done thunked right by ole Dixons head as he suck out a sheltered cubby way from danger. He peeked hiz head round the table an here comed a nuther�n. whizzzzzzzzzzzz, kerthunk. (now the boys were stiff as boards. Eyes biggern a plate ya could pile a passlle ah cathead biskits on. No one even breathed as ole Travis continued.) everone wuz a screemin an hollerin. Some juss cried, holdin ther heads tryin tah shut out them njuns war hoops. Ole Dixon done knowed they wuz gonners iffin somebody didn do somethin real pronto. He fired hiz pistola in the air and got ther attention, then quiety tole em they had tah stand an fight else they wuz all gonna die. Said these here walls iz two foot thick an they had to make a stand. Soon everone had a rifle an wuz firin thru them lil winders. One njun crawed on top an wuz pokin holes innit tah shoot down inside. Ole Bat Materson a young skinner jess rolled over an started pourin lead in the holes thet got dark. Then the dirt quit fallin an he knew he done kilt one. One woman (the only one in camp) was screemin her fool head off. Dixon looked round an her hands wuz covered n blood an so�s her face. She juss held her bloody hands starin atem. Dixon looked up an saw the blood wuz commin thru the roof an drippin down on her. He juss shook hiz head an kepa firin. Them njuns juss kept on. Was a loosin batle fer them. They was takin too many casualties and since they didn catch everone sleepin like they planned not many traders fell. On brother durin the lull walked out from ahind a wagon an got a lance right in hiz gizzard. Thet night it wuz plumb mizzerble. Them njuns never shet up all night. Nobody got no sleep and ever now n then a bullet or an arry come a whizzin in juss tah keep em on ther toes. Next mornin was same agin. More fightin and hollerin but now they wuz keepin further back. They knowed they wuz takin too much gunfire an gettin little done therselves. Thet afternoon a buncha fellers come ridin in an all them njuns disappeared. Wuz a bunch ah traders lookin fer grub n some whiskey at the Walls. Surprised everone when they showed. Some had snucked out durin the night an left headin fer Dodge back home whur it wuz safer. Nary a pep outa them dodgers ceptin a few hollers n screems inna night an knew they done met thur maker. Them njuns done kilt alla horses n they wuz afoot now. ole Chief Quanna done took a bullet from behind gatherin up a fallen comrade wuz already dead but he still didn want no white man liftin hiz hair an keep hiz spirit from meetin his maker. Them njuns never did figger which one shot the chief. Ole Quanna laid up with the old chiefs outa gunrange an directed from there. He finally gave up an set off back to home. Thet Adobe Walls hideout never wuz used agin. Wasn long after it was burnt tah the ground. ole Chief Quanna might notta won the battle but he made hiz point. Kinda like ole Kit Carson done a few years back. Ole Quanna done drove him out along with a whole troop of his soldiers. Ole Kit left with his tail atween hiz legs to. Course he wuz faced with more�n a 1,000 njuns to. Wuz only a little less than 300 here, but wuz only 28 traders n one woman. They wuz dug in purty good. The white mans ways advanced fer more better�n the njuns did an now ole Quanna jess bides hiz time up ther makin younguns. The Masked Writer � 2002 T Lovett |