Free Black Hat Jack by Joe R. Lansdale

fully aware we are in a tight spot, so don’t hold the horses.”
    “If only we had one,” Jack said. “I think I did the right thing then with this old nag. She could hardly outrun me. But there’s one that might serve to do better, provided there was a distraction. On that rise beyond.”
    Jack pointed. I turned and seen it was Satan. The bastard was about a quarter mile away, just standing there looking, and in that moment I told myself I caught up with him and was able to ride him out, I was going to shoot him and eat him and have a pair of boots made out of him just on general principle.
    “We don’t want to draw attention that he’s there to them Indians,” said Jack. “They may already have seen him, but then again, they have a strong eyeball on us, waiting for us to make a mistake. Another bit of news is I didn’t fill my canteen at the creek before we went after Satan. I thought it would be less of a journey. I hoped for water in this wallow, but damn if it don’t seem to be dry.”
    “So we got a possible horse,” I said, “but no water. I don’t see how a horse would do us good, other than shooting him to hide behind.”
    “Hell, Nat. Satan, that one is a runner and you know it. There ain’t nothing on four feet can catch him.”
    “Probably true enough,” I said.
    “Now, there’s actually a worse bit of news,” Jack said.
    “What could be worse?” Millie said.
    “Well, they want you, little lady, you know that much,” he said.
    “I do,” Millie said. “There is nothing better to satisfy their taste than the rape and tortured murder of a white woman.”
    “It is similar to what we have done to their own, so they are even more spiteful about it,” Jack said. “And Nat here will tell you about how white folks have treated black slave women, but this ain’t the spot for politics, since I ain’t running for any kind of office. But considering I may not get to speak on it at another date, I thought I’d toss a loop on it. The other problem I’d like to mention, and this is a personal problem. I caught a bullet a short time back. One of those times they threw a few rounds in this direction. It come over the top of this dead cayuse and caught me in the gut.”
    “Damn, Jack,” I said.
    “Bad?” Millie asked.
    “I’d say so, yes,” Jack said, “which is why I call it bad news. And I didn’t even know it right at first. I mean, the pain set in pretty quick, but not right at first. I didn’t know for sure what it was. Felt like I’d been stung. I been shot before, but not like this; them was all nothing more than a case of sun burn. Now that the sting has passed, the wolf is here, chewing at my guts. I thought I’d save the information until it became important. As I can feel me draining out, I thought it was time to mention it.”
    I put my hand on the ground next to Jack. It was dark and the ground was damp and sticky.
    “Kept my jacket closed up, even hot as it was, holding in things. Now I’m feeling a might more comfortable, there being a snap in the air, and me being pretty near out of blood.”
    “We got to get you out of here right away,” I said. “I’m not sure how yet, but we got to. You and Millie, you got to take Satan and ride out and let me give them the business for awhile.”
    “No, Nat, that is right manful of you, but I couldn’t ride nowhere. This coat is keeping my guts inside. Not all of what we been smelling is dead horse. My innards are raising quite an aroma.”
    “Tell me what you want,” I said, “and I will try and move heaven and earth, and piss hell’s fires out for you.”
    “I know that, Nat. And I’m going to tell you what you both got to do, and I can’t really measure much of an argument from you. You got to listen to me.”
    “We’re listening,” Millie said.
    Jack looked out over the horse and checked on the Indians. We couldn’t see them. For all we knew they were finally sneaking up behind us, or some of them was.
    “I