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Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Summary

The rescue. Dog Face lies gutshot and begging to be shot; Blue Duck refuses to waste a bullet, kicks Lorena until she curls up, tells the Kiowas they can have her and carve her up, and rides away in disgust at a crew that could not kill one old man. The Kiowas fall on Dog Face instead — castrating him, stuffing his own organs into his mouth, scalping him alive — and then settle down with the whiskey. Lorena hears running horses and thinks Blue Duck has returned. Augustus rides straight into the fire and shoots them down in seconds: the one who screams, the two with bloody knives, the one reaching for the lance, the one reaching for a rifle. He runs down the last in the dark, and kills Monkey John as he fires from the ground. July, who never got off a shot and cannot keep his stomach down, is sent back to his own camp at once. Behind him he hears one more shot.

Analysis

The rescue, and the novel refuses to make it triumphant: Gus kills seven men in under a minute while July cannot fire once. Dog Face's mutilation is placed immediately before, so the reader arrives at the heroics already sickened rather than cheering.

Plates

Dog Face lies gutshot on a saddle blanket while Blue Duck squats over him, blocking his view of the girl and asking how many men were in the party that shot him.
00 Dog Face lies gutshot on a saddle blanket while Blue Duck squats over him, blocking his view of the girl and asking how many men were in the party that shot him.
Blue Duck kicks Lorena until she falls over and lies curled up, telling Monkey John she isn't worth selling and the Kiowas can have her.
01 Blue Duck kicks Lorena until she falls over and lies curled up, telling Monkey John she isn't worth selling and the Kiowas can have her.
Blue Duck, mounted, pitches a bottle of whiskey to the Kiowas, says something to them in their own language, and rides away toward the river.
02 Blue Duck, mounted, pitches a bottle of whiskey to the Kiowas, says something to them in their own language, and rides away toward the river.
Left alone with the Kiowas, Lorena gets up on her hands and knees and vomits from fear while they watch her and drink.
03 Left alone with the Kiowas, Lorena gets up on her hands and knees and vomits from fear while they watch her and drink.
The Kiowas fall on Dog Face instead of her; Lorena puts her face in her arms and can only hear it.
04 The Kiowas fall on Dog Face instead of her; Lorena puts her face in her arms and can only hear it.
Put in a good mood by what they have done, the Kiowas settle down and pass the whiskey bottle around, the scalp tied to a lance beside them.
05 Put in a good mood by what they have done, the Kiowas settle down and pass the whiskey bottle around, the scalp tied to a lance beside them.
Monkey John alone hears the running horses, jumps up with his rifle, and is shot out of the dark before he can fire.
06 Monkey John alone hears the running horses, jumps up with his rifle, and is shot out of the dark before he can fire.
Augustus rides straight into the fire, yanks his horse almost down in the middle of the Kiowas and shoots them off their feet in seconds.
07 Augustus rides straight into the fire, yanks his horse almost down in the middle of the Kiowas and shoots them off their feet in seconds.
Gus turns Lorena over and holds her in his arms, rifle still in one hand, asking whether Blue Duck was there tonight; she can only nod.
08 Gus turns Lorena over and holds her in his arms, rifle still in one hand, asking whether Blue Duck was there tonight; she can only nod.
Sent back to his own party, July Johnson crosses the second ridge and hears the last shot behind him.
09 Sent back to his own party, July Johnson crosses the second ridge and hears the last shot behind him.