Chapter 45
When seeking revenge, you should dig two graves.
As Esben entered Bosler and looked down the street toward the other side of town, he noticed a large group of men, close to fifty or sixty, milling around the front of the saloon next to their horses, talking. Pretty soon I.P. Olive walked out to meet them.
“Okay boys, Gavin and I are going back to my place to get my men. So, meet me back here the day after tomorrow at daybreak and we’ll head out and take care of business. Once we get rid of those Brule Indians we all can sleep better at night,” he yelled.
Olive climbed up on his horse next to Gavin McVey and they both turned and headed North toward the Circle L ranch.
Esben figured that this would be his best chance to get Olive before he hooked up with all the men who would be riding with him to hunt down and kill the Sioux.
He turned Kodah around and galloped out of town. He would cut Olive and McVey off before they reached the ranch.
Olive was a poor rider so they were taking their time as they rode along the trail that wound around the Laramie River.
Esben cut through a narrow ravine to a shelf of rock overlooking a canyon. In the glow of the afternoon sun, he watched the river running swiftly below, closed from the upper world by the scarp of rock reaching to the sky. Huge torn up trees, dead branches and jagged rocks lay below. He rode to a coppice of small trees where he stopped and tethered Kodah. He took out his rifle and hurried over to a crusty escarpment of gravel and awaited their arrival. They wouldn’t be riding by for a few hours yet
The hours passed and the rocks around him grew painfully heated by the rays of the sun and a terrible thirst attacked him.
Finally, in the distance he saw the dust from the horses as they approached. The big cowboy riding with I.P. Olive, Gavin McVey was soon to die.
He drew a bead on Gavin and squeezed off a round from the rifle. Gavin’s head exploded like a ripe melon. The cowboy was dead before he hit the ground. His head was nowhere to be seen.
Olive’s horse started to bolt and Olive was having a difficult time trying to stay on his back and calm him down. This gave Esben time to reload. He took aim again and this time he shot Olive’s horse out from under him. He dropped his rifle and ran toward Olive. He was stunned and unable to move which gave Esben time to reach him.
As he approached, Olive scrambled to his feet and turned and ran toward the ravine below. Esben quickly caught up to him and dove, wrapping his arms around Olive’s legs and driving his shoulder into him. They rolled down the escarpment toward the river’s edge where Olive dropped into the dirt face first. They both clambered to their feet and when he turned, Esben saw he had drawn his pistol and was bringing it up to fire. Esben dropped under his arms and slammed his fist into his side. He expelled his breath with a grunt. Esben grabbed Olive’s right wrist causing the gun to discharge, stepping up toward Olive’s right side he brought his right foot behind Olive’s, pushing him backward. He fell on his back with Esben falling on top. Blood was now pouring down of the side of Olive’s face. Esben raised his left hand and smashed Olive straight in the mouth, breaking off his front teeth. Olive groaned and turned his head and brought up his hands in front of his face as self preservation now took over. Esben brought down his right elbow with all his weight behind it onto Olive’s larynx. The blow stunned him for a moment, causing him to gag. Esben brought his left leg over Olive’s neck and his right leg over his thighs and grabbed his right arm into an arm bar and broke Olive’s elbow. At the sound of the bone snapping, Olive let out a blood curdling scream and dropped the gun.
Esben drove his left elbow into Olive’s soft belly, causing him to expulse a breath of foul air. This took whatever fight he had left out of him and he lay still beneath Esben as he reached down and brought out his Bowie knife, grabbing the front of Olive’s scalp, he said.“This is because of who you are and what you have done.”
Olive’s agonizing scream echoed through the canyon walls as Esben claimed his coup, the pecokan sunpi - scalp lock, that he had waited to get for what seemed like an eternity.
Esben looked down at the whiteness of Olive’s head as the blood drained into his eyes and down his cheeks. He then plunged the knife into Olive’s belly, driving it upward under his ribcage to his heart.
While Olive laid dying Esben thought of the deaths he was responsible for, his mother and father, Grey Wolf, and six Brule Indians and more than likely, countless others. He felt no remorse for what he had done.
Esben still felt that death came too easily for Olive.
He didn’t want Olive’s body to be found. Not because he was afraid that his death could be linked to him, but because he didn’t want anyone to mourn Olive’s death. He wasn’t worth mourning over so Esben dragged his body to a nearby ravine and threw rocks over him. Scavengers would eventually get to him but by then he would be forgotten