Free Louis L'Amour by The Warrior's Path

Africa?”
    â€œI am Ashanti,” he said simply.
    â€œA slaver?”
    He shrugged a shoulder. “There was war. When the war was over, the victor had slaves, or he killed them so they could not attack again. Some of the slaves we sold for guns or cloth.”
    â€œHow’d you become a slave? Did you lose a war?”
    â€œNo, we took slaves aboard the ship, and there were not enough slaves for the ship, and then the wind started to come up. Suddenly I was pushed from behind, and I was a slave, also.”
    â€œSo now you know how it feels.”
    He shrugged again. “Some win, some lose. I lost then; now I win. I am free; I will stay free.” He stared at us defiantly.
    I smiled. “Why not? We are not slavers, nor are we owners of slaves. We do our own work.”
    His look was disdainful. “A warrior does not work!”
    â€œNo? If you stay with us, you will help. You will work, and you will fight. Otherwise”—I pointed toward the woods—“there is freedom out there. Take what you will of it.”
    He did not move; hands on hips, he stared at me. “I have told them I would help,” he said. “My promise is my blood. I will stay until they are safe.”
    â€œGood! We can use you.”
    A few minutes later Yance asked, “What did he mean, he was pushed from behind?”
    â€œPushed down a hatch, probably. It has happened before. Men who take slaves are not particular who they enslave. I had much talk of this with Sakim, who had once traveled from Cairo to Timbuktu.”
    We gathered wood for the fire, and Henry did,also. We kept it low, and every now and again one of us would move out into the woods, away from the fire and even the low sound of the voices there, to listen.
    That night we stood watch, Yance, then Henry, finally I. At dawn we moved out, and I let Diana set the pace. Cape Ann and the settlements were east of us and a little north of east now.
    We traveled slowly, for Carrie’s strength was waning, and I feared for her. If Diana Macklin tired, I did not know, for she walked proudly, quietly, making no complaint but thoughtful always of Carrie Penney.
    When we had two hours behind us, we again neared a small stream that ran northward into the river. There we stopped to rest, and Henry wandered down to the river. We found huckleberries growing in a few patches near the stream and busied ourselves with picking. Yance wandered about, restless and uneasy.
    Glancing through the leaves, I could see Henry had rigged a pole and was fishing.
    Yance paused near me. “Think we should try for the settlement? Can’t be more’n nine, ten miles across there.”
    I had been giving it thought but worried that we knew nothing of Max Bauer or where he was, or of the others, coming south with Lashan.
    Had they given up? I decided they had not. The girls were precious to them, for such a girl as Diana would bring five or ten times what a stalwart young black man like Henry would bring. Also, they dared not let us escape, for once it was known that white girls were being taken, they would be hunted down.
    The woods were thick, but there were streams to cross and meadows. Somewhere over there were the Indians who had passed us and no doubt Bauer and his men. Yet it must somehow be done.
    I went to where Diana picked huckleberries. “Know you of any settlement on the great bay south of Cape Ann? It might be easier to reach.”
    â€œMy father has a friend at a place they call Shawmut. He is the Reverend Blaxton. He lives alone there, I think, with one servant.”
    â€œIs he the only one?”
    â€œThere is another at Winnesimmet. Samuel Maverick has a fortified house there, a place with a palisade and several guns mounted.”
    â€œA good man?”
    â€œYes, he is. A very kind, genial man, but he has great physical strength, and he is said to be absolutely fearless.”
    â€œHe knows you?”
    She hesitated.