Free Cheyenne Saturday - Empty-Grave Extended Edition by Richard Jessup

buckskin belt from around Liza Reeves's waist and jerked at her leather blouse. He slit the top of her trousers with his knife and tore the leather away from her body.
    The braves laughed and commented on the whiteness of Liza's body and urged the brave on.
    She had not stopped twisting and writhing her hips in the dust and moaning with passion. She held her eyes tight against the sun and pulled her hand through the leather thongs that held it, to a point where it could be pulled out easily.
    The brave dropped on top of her to the loud cheers and laughter of the other braves.
    Liza's hand pulled free from the thong pegged in the ground and slipped to the brave's belt. She had the Colt out and shoved it against the Indian's belly. The brave had not let his full weight down upon her when she fired, the force of the bullet throwing him away from her.
    Liza shot the three braves standing beside her before they realized what had happened. The others were well up the draw, which gave her just enough time to grab the blade from the first brave and slash at her bound right hand. She did not have time to cut her feet free. She snatched up the Colt again and fired twice, killing two braves bearing down on her with knives.
    Fifty feet away, a brave saw what was happening and dropped to his knee. He strung an arrow and pulled down on her. She ducked behind one of the dead bodies and grabbed the knife. The arrow sank into the dead man, going clear through him and burying its head an inch in Liza's shoulder. The Indian strung a second arrow and stood up to advance more closely. Liza pushed the dead brave to one side and let go with the knife. The heavy Green River blade whistled through the air and caught the buck in the throat. He sank back, jerking at the knife, and began to cough.
    Liza grabbed the belt hatchet and chopped her leg thongs away from the pegs. Free now, she ran toward the horses and found what she was looking for—Ellis's carbine that lay in the dust where one of the Indians had dropped it.
    The remaining members of the stampede party had moved to the top of the draw and were now slinging arrows at her. Liza tried to keep behind the pony, but the animal was frightened and jumped away. An arrow caught it in the rump and it screamed with pain.
     Liza leveled the carbine at the beast's head and fired. The animal staggered and dropped. Liza forted up behind it and began firing coolly and methodically at the Indians on top of the draw.
    “Get me free, God damn it!” Ellis roared.
    “I will! I will!” Liza shouted, and went on shooting. 
    Ellis's yell drew attention away from Liza, and one of the braves steadied an arrow at Jake. The arrow sang in the air and buried itself in the scout's head. Liza turned in time to see her brother die, without a sound.
    Enraged, she stood up and, still firing at the group on top of the draw, ran to Ellis's side. Arrows sailed around her, and one buried itself in the fleshy part of her thigh, but she continued, slashing at the thongs that bound Ellis's right hand. Freeing the hand, she dropped the knife to let him finish cutting himself loose and began to fire more carefully.
    The braves were a little more cautious now that Liza had killed the one who had stood up briefly to release his shaft. She kept moving at a half-run back and forth across the bottom of the draw, scanning the top of the rise and firing only when one of the braves dared to attempt to loose a shaft.
    Ellis was free now and had gathered in the discarded Colt where Liza had dropped it. He reloaded and shouted for her to head toward the west end of the draw where most of the horses were tethered.
    They half ran, half staggered toward the horses, Ellis hardly able to see through the glare of the naked burning sun.
    The braves followed them along the top of the rise and continued to sling arrows on them indiscriminately. Three broomtails were hit. The animals screamed and bucked against their halters and kicked out in