* * * * *
From THE MEMOIRS of "MALARKEY" JOHNSON
COAHUILA STATE, NORTHERN MEXICO (1875)
"Now, when I say that Tom Bigby and Echota Reardon had been Cherokee cousins, it's not in the biological sense that each of 'em had a parent that was siblin' to one of the other's parents. Cherokee kinship is a lot broader'n that; bein' reckoned through the mother's side of the family. In other words? Adsila Reardon and Tom Bigby's ma had been complete strangers to each other. What with the former's full-blooded folks havin' migrated to Texas as part of Chief Bowl's band of Chickamauga Cherokee. While the latter had been a Smoky Mountain Cherokee, who spent her entire life in North Carolina."
"But, they'd both been daughters of the Aniwaya (or Cherokee Wolf Clan). And, as such? They'd still been considered just as much close relatives as if they'd been born and raised Siamese twins! So that, in turn, is why Tom Bigby risked bein' arrested by his fellow Texas Rangers, for desertion, when he rode off in the middle of the night to warn his cousin's adopted son of the trap that lay awaitin' him and his two women-folk."
"Extended family obligation."
"He caught up with the trio at a little Mexican border town called Pueblo Del Vado.* Just across from where the Rio Diablo conflues with the Rio Grande in Val Verde County, Texas."
" 'Lancer's got fifty buckboards with him. Each one mountin' four skyrockets. And each rocket loaded with some kind of sleepin' powder. If enough of them explode round about Becky, even at her tallest height? She'll hit the ground like Goliath, and snooze like Rip Van Winkle!' "
"Dooley just shrugged."
" 'So what? Now that you've warned us, all she has to do is close her eyes and hold her nose!' "
"Which only made Tom real exasperated."
" 'Dang it, boy! Don't you get it? Lancer remembers the events of nine years ago as clearly as I do. So's he bound and determined that history will not repeat itself in Tonkawa Springs! Towards that end, he's also got two dozen horse-drawn Gatling guns with him. Each one loaded with ammo...blessed by the Fort Pecos chaplain.' "
" 'Zut alors!' Yvette gasped: 'C'est idiotique! Becky is not part of that unholy cult."
" 'Lancer don't care,' Tom replied: 'To him, the only good giantess is a dead giantess.' "
"Dooley just nodded, real grim-like. Then, to sort of change the subject, he asked what Tom was gonna do, now."
" 'You know you can't go back to the Rangers,' he added: 'They'll arrest you for aidin' and abettin' us faster than you and I can draw!' "
"And Tom just smiled: 'I figger I'll head further west, this side of the border. Then, turn due north when I hit Mexicali. Who knows? Maybe the next time you hear from me, I'll have been elected town marshal of Cherokee, California!' "
"With that, he turned his palomino mare to his right, and rode off with a loud 'Hey-yah!!' When he was out of sight, Dooley looked at his newlywed wife."
" 'How we gonna do this? I shoot and kill the first three dozen; you crush the rest?' "
"But, she just smiled back at him, and said: 'Let's call in some reinforcements, first.' "
tbc
Giantess World
Author's Chapter Notes:
OK! I sincerely did think this was going to be the true final chapter. To paraphrase the wit and wisdom of Sir Pixis, however: "Some stories just seem to keep on writing themselves!"
Chapter End Notes:
*Pueblo Del Vado: "Village of the Ford."
Mexicali: border town in northeastern Baja California, Mexico.
Mexicali: border town in northeastern Baja California, Mexico.