Post by Turn 360 and walk away on Nov 27, 2009 2:48:30 GMT -5
---------------------------------- Western Territories, 1883-------------------------------
"Get off your ass and bite some jerky."
Ned White, Pa, kicked the sleeping man and began gathering his gear. Cole sighed and lifted his hat above his face, back onto his head. They had been camped in a small clearing above a heard of buffalo. The sun was tinting the blue sky with streaks of orange and dusky red above Hell's Fingers canyon, beyond the river. Just on the edge of Cole's vision, a faint shadow of a paddleboat was moving slowly up the river, like a ghost. "Comin', Pa."
"Them buffalo are still down in that valley. com'n."
Cole pulled himself of the ground with a fallen tree and followed Ned. "Damn, Pa, somethin' crawl up your ass?"
"This's gonna be the biggest paycheck we gonna git all month."
The pasture was a small field of deep green, surrounded by an evil-looking outcropping of jagged sheets of granite. Overlooking it, where Ned and Cole were camping, was a small pass sitting above the rock-strewn streams of the valley. Cole's ears rang with Ned's first shot. Below, a long grunt punctuated by a heavy packing noise echoed back up into the pass. The buffalo began panicking. Cole took two shots to bring down another. "Your damn gun puts this old whore to shame."
"You're jus' a lousy shot 's all." They bantered back and forth as they climbed down from the pass and over the gnashing-teeth granite slabs.
"Damn whores smell the kill!"
"Git 'em Pa!" Wolves were swarming the kill site; the grass, red with Cole's efforts to gut the kill before the steamship arrived, was being trampled with the shrill grey scavengers. "Shoot those bastards!"
"Cole, the boat's here! Damn it kid--" Pa grunted and hit the ground heavily beside Cole's feet. Above him, a grizzly bear was standing on it's haunches. Pa's rifle was thrown away.
"Shit!"
"Shoot this whore Cole!"
Cole fired once, twice. The bear turned, and raised up on it's legs.
"Gonna charge!"
"I know Pa!" Cole rolled out of the way and fired again. He pulled the trigger one last time as the bear charged, and the hammer fell to a disappointing click. "Cole you dumbass! My rifle!"
Cole rolled again and his shoulder got hit with the bear's massive, clawed paw. He spun and hit the ground next to the Winchester. He fired off one more bullet at the bear and it charged again, once again leaving Pa after a short thrashing. Cole rolled out of the way and ducked back to Pa. The bear ran head-long into the jagged teeth rocks, and fell on it's side. Cole jogged to it and quickly, with the least bit of surgical care, slashed it's neck through with his bowie knife.
"Took you damn long enough kid."
"Sorry, Pa. as just admiring your rifle."
Ned was waving to the captain of the steamboat, that was just docking and saw the bear. The captain waved back and three big men jumped off the boat to help carry the meat back on board. The two men went with them, on their way back to Empire City, and a paycheck.
"Get off your ass and bite some jerky."
Ned White, Pa, kicked the sleeping man and began gathering his gear. Cole sighed and lifted his hat above his face, back onto his head. They had been camped in a small clearing above a heard of buffalo. The sun was tinting the blue sky with streaks of orange and dusky red above Hell's Fingers canyon, beyond the river. Just on the edge of Cole's vision, a faint shadow of a paddleboat was moving slowly up the river, like a ghost. "Comin', Pa."
"Them buffalo are still down in that valley. com'n."
Cole pulled himself of the ground with a fallen tree and followed Ned. "Damn, Pa, somethin' crawl up your ass?"
"This's gonna be the biggest paycheck we gonna git all month."
The pasture was a small field of deep green, surrounded by an evil-looking outcropping of jagged sheets of granite. Overlooking it, where Ned and Cole were camping, was a small pass sitting above the rock-strewn streams of the valley. Cole's ears rang with Ned's first shot. Below, a long grunt punctuated by a heavy packing noise echoed back up into the pass. The buffalo began panicking. Cole took two shots to bring down another. "Your damn gun puts this old whore to shame."
"You're jus' a lousy shot 's all." They bantered back and forth as they climbed down from the pass and over the gnashing-teeth granite slabs.
"Damn whores smell the kill!"
"Git 'em Pa!" Wolves were swarming the kill site; the grass, red with Cole's efforts to gut the kill before the steamship arrived, was being trampled with the shrill grey scavengers. "Shoot those bastards!"
"Cole, the boat's here! Damn it kid--" Pa grunted and hit the ground heavily beside Cole's feet. Above him, a grizzly bear was standing on it's haunches. Pa's rifle was thrown away.
"Shit!"
"Shoot this whore Cole!"
Cole fired once, twice. The bear turned, and raised up on it's legs.
"Gonna charge!"
"I know Pa!" Cole rolled out of the way and fired again. He pulled the trigger one last time as the bear charged, and the hammer fell to a disappointing click. "Cole you dumbass! My rifle!"
Cole rolled again and his shoulder got hit with the bear's massive, clawed paw. He spun and hit the ground next to the Winchester. He fired off one more bullet at the bear and it charged again, once again leaving Pa after a short thrashing. Cole rolled out of the way and ducked back to Pa. The bear ran head-long into the jagged teeth rocks, and fell on it's side. Cole jogged to it and quickly, with the least bit of surgical care, slashed it's neck through with his bowie knife.
"Took you damn long enough kid."
"Sorry, Pa. as just admiring your rifle."
Ned was waving to the captain of the steamboat, that was just docking and saw the bear. The captain waved back and three big men jumped off the boat to help carry the meat back on board. The two men went with them, on their way back to Empire City, and a paycheck.