Read Online The Yellow Rose by Gilbert Morris - Free Book Online Page B

back, which made a slight click in the stillness. She knew she could not shoot until Clay gave the signal, but she stood there thinking of Moriah and Mary Aidan and even Julie. She found herself holding her breath, and then she heard the heavy steps come inside the house and walk around. For a moment, her breathing stopped. She was afraid he would come and jerk the door open. She reversed her grip and held the butt forward, planning to strike the man in the face if necessary.
    And then she heard the soldier go outside and call something to his officer. Quickly, Jerusalem lowered the rifle, and she heard the troops yelling at one another. She heard the soldier move inside again, and suddenly a shot rang out from the outside.
    That’s Clay’s shot, she thought. She stepped outside, and the soldier whirled to see her. He grinned and moved toward her, but Jerusalem lifted the rifle and pulled the trigger. The shot caught him in the chest and drove him over backward. He dropped his musket, but even as he lay there with blood pouring from his chest, he was struggling to remove his pistol from the holster. At once Jerusalem came forward and put her hand on his arm. He looked up at her and said something about his mother, then his eyes glazed and he went limp. “Julie, get in here!” she shouted.
    She turned and began to load her rifle. She saw that several of the soldiers were on the ground and were returning the fire, although they could see nobody. They were shouting and screaming. Jerusalem finished loading, and lifting her rifle, she took dead aim and knocked one of the soldiers off. She turned to reload, but then something slapped her on the back. She thought, Who could have hit me? But then the slap drove her to the floor, and the searing pain came.
    Clay had shot two of the soldiers, but he saw one of the Mexicans whose horse had been shot get up and run for the house. He burst out of the smokehouse at a dead run, ignoring the pain in his side. The soldier saw him, turned, and drew his saber. He started for Clay, but Clay pulled the heavy bowie knife from his belt and threw it with all of his strength. It caught the soldier in the stomach, and he stared at it. He lifted his eyes, and Clay saw that he was very young, not over sixteen, it seemed. He did not wait to see the man fall but glanced around and saw that seven of the soldiers were riding away furiously. Two of them fell as they reached the outer perimeters of the yard, and Clay was shocked to see arrows coming from their bodies. As the other five fled, the three Comanches appeared out of nowhere and rode after the soldiers at full speed, uttering wild screams.
    Suddenly Clay turned, for Julie had come out of the house. “Jerusalem’s been shot!” she cried.
    Instantly, Clay felt a chill. He ran inside past Julie and found Jerusalem lying facedown, and her back was bloody.
    The wound was evidently high on her back. Without hesitation Clay reached up, grabbed the neckline of her dress at the back, and ripped it open. As he tore away the undergarment, he was aware that Julie was standing over him.
    “Is she dead, Clay?”
    “No. It ain’t bad, Julie. Thank God! It hit her a glancing blow, but she’s losing blood fast. Go keep the men out of here, and you and Moriah get some water and some strips of cloth to bandage this wound.”
    Clay hardly heard the voices as Julie kept the men locked out. He was aware that Mary Aidan had come and was watching him, her face white. “She’ll be all right, honey. I just have to do a little bandaging.” When Moriah came back with water, he said, “You take Mary Aidan out. She don’t need to see this.”
    Julie was there then with cloth that she was tearing up.
    “Make a pad that I can put over this track.”
    Julie instantly folded the cloth until it was long enough to cover the wound that had plowed a furrow into Jerusalem’s upper back. “It didn’t hit her straight on. It would have killed her if it had. Are you all