The Whippoorwill Trilogy - Sharon Sala Page 0,180

right side to her left, but the aggravation continued.

“I’m done for the night,” she mumbled again.

Something pulled at her hair. She reached up and slapped at the cowboy’s face. He snorted. She sat up with a jerk, then gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming.

It was daylight, and as far as the eye could see in any direction, both the wagon and the mules they’d tied to it were surrounded by buffalo.

The heat from their bodies was visible, as steam rose from their great wooly humps in the cool morning air. The smell was unlike anything she’d ever known—something dank and musky, coupled with the overpowering scents of fresh urine and manure as they grazed their way past. Every so often an intermittent bellow would sound from out beyond the wagon, at which time a small plume of dust would fill the air, along with the sound of heads butting and calves bawling.

Slowly, so as not to startle the vast sea of beasts, Letty crawled to her knees, and then leaned over the side of the wagon. Even as she was leaning she was praying that Eulis was still there, and not scattered in bits and pieces beneath a million hooves.

She thought she could see the corner of his blanket, and leaned a little farther over, calling softly.

“Eulis… are you there?”

No sound. No answer.

Letty’s throat tightened as fear spiked. She called a little louder.

“Eulis.”

Nothing.

A buffalo cow shoved a young bull out of her way, and in the process knocked Letty’s head against the wagon. The pain was quick and sharp, and she quickly pulled herself upright, and crawled to the middle of the wagon bed, rubbing the ear that had been thumped. Her hands were shaking. She wanted to scream. Instead, she watched in horror as a large bull with a broken horn suddenly bumped the wagon with his head, shoving aside a young calf as if demanding smooth passage.

For just a moment, Letty found herself staring into a pair of black, emotionless eyes, and felt as if she was in the presence of the Devil himself.

Her stomach knotted. She started to pray.

“Oh Lord, please… I’ve never asked you for much and expected even less, but I’m begging you now, get us out of this mess… alive if you please.”

At that point, she felt a loud thump on the bottom of the wagon bed and figured that Eulis was awake.

“Eulis… is that you?”

“Jesus God All Mighty!”

Letty sighed. It was Eulis all right, and he was obviously awake.

“Don’t move,” she said.

“Too late,” he mumbled, and started to curse.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Other than the fact that I peed my pants and we’re probably gonna die, not a damned thing.”

“Eulis…”

“What?”

“What are we going to do?”

“Hell if I know, Leticia! I can’t see daylight farther than a foot on either side of this wagon. You tell me.”

Letty looked about her and shuddered. “They’re everywhere.”

“What do you mean, everywhere?”

“They’re as far as I can see in every direction.”

“Lord have mercy,” Eulis mumbled, then a few moments later, called out. “Don’t panic, but I’m comin’ up.”

“No! No! What if they see you and start a stampede?”

Eulis sighed. “I know I’m not as pretty as you, but I ain’t gonna make any sudden moves. Just stay still.”

Before Letty could answer, she saw Eulis’s hands grip the back end of the wagon and then slowly, he pulled himself up and over, landing with a soft thump on top of Letty’s legs. For once, she didn’t have a thing to say, which in itself was frightening.

Finally, he got the guts to look and got up on his hands and knees. If he hadn’t already peed his pants, he might have done it again.

It was like looking at a dark and breathing flood of mass destruction, moving slowly upon the land, and trampling everything in its path.

He flinched, as if someone had just punched him in the belly and looked at Letty.

“Eulis?”

He shook his head. “I reckon we’re done for.”

She started to cry.

Rescue The Perishing

The sun came up, illuminating even more of the disastrous position in which Eulis and Letty had landed. Letty sat motionless with her head down on her knees, too overwhelmed to look or move, for fear of setting off a stampede. The lack of water had even taken a back seat to the fact that they were most likely going to die, being trampled into bits and pieces. Letty wondered if it took longer to get to heaven if your body