They didn't bother with a warning or to-do about surrender. They came in the cave, trying to sneak up on
Duncan. I started shooting. The .30-.06 roared like a cannon in the confinement of the cave. The muzzle flashes splashed white faces with orange light.
I never was much good at killing, not in Vietnam, not here. They were less than twenty feet away, hut I only hit one, in the arm. They got out before I could get
another.
The shooting woke the kids. Lois slipped up beside me where I lay in the cave mouth, asking what had happened.
"Never mind!" I snapped. "You get the kids out the hole in back. Go up to the hiding place. I'll meet you
later."
"Aren't you coming?"
"Lois, neither Duncan nor I can get through that passage. It's too tight. Now get."
As if to punctuate my argument, the rednecks opened up. It was like a regular war, like I saw in Vietnam. They were all over the slope. Bullets whined and pinged as they bounced from one cave wall to another. Lois left, dragging the younger kids down the small tunnel which opened on the far side of the hill.
Duncan crawled up beside me. "Right side fo' me," he said. "How many?"
"Eight. Nine if you count the one I wounded. Didn't think they'd find us after I shot their dog." I "Mon, them honkies half dog themselves. One day you
gon' learn."
We shot at muzzle flashes. Funny. Of all the stuff I had in the cave, ammunition was the one thing not in short supply. And me a peaceful man.
"Hey, Duncan," someone downslope shouted, "who's that up there with you?"
"Who's that?" I asked, whispering.
"Jake Kinslow. Him an' me met befo'."
"Hey, Duncan boy," Kinslow shouted, "you better come out before you get your friend in trouble. Whoever you are, mister, this ain't none of your nevermind. We got no argument with you. We just want that rabble-rousing, baby-raping nigger in there with you."
I looked at Duncan. His teeth gleamed as he grinned. "I shacked with his daughter befo' the war. He gon' get even now."
To hide my reaction, I turned and snapped a shot in the direction of Jake's voice. There was a cry. I was surprised.
"Jake, I'm hit!" someone screamed. "God, my leg, my leg!"
Laughing, Duncan reached over and punched my shoulder. "Seven," he said.
"Mister," Jake shouted, "we're gonna hang that nigger. You don't get out, we might hang you too. We got no cause to be after you yet."
Yet. Meaning they were going to be if I didn't get out of their way. But how could I, even if I wanted to? They had put me in a position where I had no choice.
Time passed. We exchanged shots, but the firing dropped off. The moon eventually rose to where it was shining directly into the cave. I glanced at my watch, miraculously still working. Eleven. It had been a long, strange day, and still wasn't over.
A scream downslope drew my attention. I recognized it. Lois!
They dragged her into the moonlight, where I could see her. Jake shouted, "You up there! You see what we've caught hanging around, spying? Know what we're gonna do? Same thing Duncan did to my daughter, unless you come out."
I growled deep in my throat. "Let her go!" I shouted. I rose and started out, but Duncan tripped me and dragged me back.
"We'll let her go when we get Duncan!" Kinslow shouted. "Meanwhile, we're gonna have some fun."
I tried to get a clear shot at the man holding Lois, but he stayed behind her, no matter how much she struggled. Duncan dragged me back again. "They're going to rape her!" I snarled. "Let me go!"
"Mon," he said, grinning wickedly, "they gon' rape her anyway. They's honkies. Gon' kill us an' rape her anyway."
"No!" I suddenly shouted, coming to a sudden decision. He had an expression of surprise on his face when I hit him with the gunbarrel. It faded as he fell. "You!" I shouted down the hill. "Jake! Let the girl go! I'll throw Duncan out to you!"
"No! Don't do it!" Lois screamed. "They'll kill you anyway!"
"Throw him out first!" Kinslow yelled.
"Let her go!"
"Tell you what. We'll bring her up and trade you."
I thought for a moment. "All right. But just one man."
They were quiet for a while. Lois kept screaming for me to stop, till they gagged her, but I couldn't throw my daughter to them to save someone like Duncan. "All right, mister," Jake called, "I'm coming up. You bring that nigger out. No tricks. Pretty girl gets it if there are."
I saw movement below, near the edge of the trees. Lois, being dragged by a white man. She was kicking and scratching, but he ignored her. They came up the hill. When I judged they were close enough, I lifted Duncan and went out. He was half-conscious, just enough to stand with my help, not enough to understand what was happening.
Jake stopped about five feet away. He held a pistol to the side of Lois' head. He grinned. "Okay, boy. We trade."
"Let her go."
He moved slightly behind my daughter. He grinned again. "Dumb nigger!" he whispered, then dove behind rocks toward which he had been moving.
The rifles barked all around the cave. I felt bullets hit Duncan. One caught me in the thigh, spinning me away, back into the cavern. As I fell, I saw Lois stagger and try for the cave, but Kinslow fired around the rock.
"Only one of you in there now, black boy," he laughed. "And we're gonna get you. Gonna have a real old-fashioned hanging."
I suppose they are. That was twenty minutes ago. I'm writing this by moonlight, as they creep closer. The bullets are coming in a steady rain, ricocheting throughout the cavern. One will get me any minute. The King of Ivory wins another match. Sad.
I forgot. All the good ones were dead. I trusted bad ones. If God is in a better mood later, I guess I'll have all eternity to think about it. Hatred. It's sad.
"Go tell it on the mountain,
Over the hill and everywhere;
Go tell it on the mountain,
To let my people go—"