the seat.
It wasn’t until they were sitting high on the wagon that the herd saw them as something more than an object to walk around. They began pawing and snorting and more than one challenged their presence by going head on with the wagon or ramming a wheel. It was only a matter of time before the man-made wagon gave way to the bison’s might. Added to that, the rain was falling harder now. With less than an hour before sundown, time was not on their side. Thinking matters could not be worse, they were soon proven wrong.
Eulis flipped the reins, signaling the mules with a series of clucks to move forward. Nothing happened. Exhausted, dehydrated, and stressed to the point of hysteria, the mules wouldn’t budge.
Letty moaned as her shoulders slumped.
“We’re done for.”
Eulis sat for a moment, studying the situation. Then suddenly, he grabbed Letty’s shoulder and gave her a push.
“Get off the seat.”
“But—”
“Do it now!” he said, and shoved her backward into the wagon bed. Once she was down, he handed her the reins. “Hold on to these and no matter what happens to me… don’t let go!”
Letty grabbed the reins, watching in horror as Eulis climbed down from the seat, then slipped between mules until he was standing with a hand on either head. He rubbed the spot on their foreheads between their ears, then leaned forward and whispered something in each mule’s ear.
Eulis turned around once and looked straight into Letty’s face.
“We can do this,” he said.
“I’m right behind you,” Letty said.
Eulis was surprised by what those few words meant to him as he slipped his fingers beneath the straps and curled them tight around the leather.
“Come on, Rosy. Come on Blackie… let’s go.”
He made a clucking sound with his tongue and leaned forward, using his weight as well as the sound of his voice to urge them on.
At first nothing happened, then finally Rosy, the lead mule, took a step. Trained to follow, Blackie could do no less. The wagon’s creaking wheels and Eulis’s voice were lost in the wind and the rain.
And so they went, with Letty crouched down behind the seat with the reins wrapped tight around both wrists, and her feet braced against the back of the seat as Eulis led them through the tightly packed herd.
The rain was blowing horizontally now, pushed by the gust front of the oncoming storm. Ironically, the storm which they feared would detonate a stampede was also providing a distraction as it came upon them in full force.
Thunder rolled over them in a loud and long roar, deafening them to each other’s voices. There was nothing to be heard but the rain hammering against the animals’ backs, and the wail of the wind.
Eulis could smell the fear and anxiety of the herd, but the buffalo had gathered so tightly together that it was difficult to move any faster. His plan was to aim for the higher rim on the right—betting their lives on the fact that the herd would move with the rhythm and shape of the earth just as water seeks the lowest level. And so they went, moving through and with the herd while pressing constantly left and upward.
Letty rode with her feet braced beneath the wagon seat and a death grip on the reins. She could see the back of Eulis’s head through the space between the seat and the wagon bed, and she fixed upon that sight, knowing her life depended on his presence. She couldn’t let herself think of what it would mean if he suddenly disappeared—of knowing that he would be trampled beneath the herd. She knew it could happen, yet she couldn’t look away.
The downpour had flattened his hair to his face, while the brim of his old black hat, weighed down by the rain, had unrolled. He looked as trail-worn as she felt, but his shoulders were broad, and the last glimpse she’d had of his face had been one of determination. It occurred to Letty that Eulis Potter had changed in more ways than that of living under another man’s identity. The extra weight that he’d carried for years was gone. Deprivation and hard work had toned his muscles and lengthened his stride. He no longer shuffled when he walked, but moved with his head up, and his shoulders straight. His hair hung well below the collar of his shirt and he was days in need of a shave. He looked rough and was in serious need