Chapter 8, The Amazing Adventures of Ralph Kroder, a work in progress

Inspecting the dead

       Each of the dead men had a long, bolt-action rifle on a leather sling at an angle across his back, right to left. A leather belt with six ammunition pouches went across the chest of each body. Ralph checked a pouch on the belt of one body, finding two five-round clips. He again wondered why the riders had charged him with drawn sabers. “Six rifles, they could have come to a halt, unslung their rifles and filled me full of holes.” He shook his head. “Must have been the leader. He saw me, drew his saber and ordered a charge, and the others followed. Well, I’m glad leader dude was more interested in appearance than in common sense.”

       He took a rifle from the body. Engraved on the receiver he read, “National Armory 7.5mm Model 93.” Opening the bolt, he ejected the chambered cartridge. “Clean. Not always what you find with” – he made a small shrug – “barbaric people.”   

       The rifle on each body was a Model 93. “Not so odd, I guess,” Ralph said. “Way back when, everybody we encountered carried an AK. These guys look like nomads, and not army cavalry or mounted infantry, but they could get their weapons from the same seller.”

       Ralph did not go through the pockets of the dead men. Whatever money they carried was not Ralph’s, not even by right of conquest, he figured. There was no intelligent section that wanted the information sometimes found in a dead man’s pockets.

       One of the horses strayed near. Ralph stood slowly. He made sounds to the horse. The animal nickered and moved nearer. In a quiet voice Ralph said, “I don’t have an apple or sugar cubes.” He watched the horse’s large eyes as he bent over and took the reins. The horse did not try to pull away. “Tell you what we’re going to do,” Ralph said in a quiet voice. “You and I are going to go to the other horses and we’re going to unsaddle and unbridle each one. Does that sound okay?” When the horse made no objection, Ralph said, “I’m glad you agree.”

       He mounted and turned the horse toward the nearest other horse, approaching slowly and from the front. The second horse raised its head, and then went back to cropping grass. Ralph dismounted, and, holding the reins of both horses in his left hand, unbuckled and untied all restraints on the second horse’s saddle. He set the saddle on the ground. He patted the horse on its shoulder. “Good girl,” he said, as he slid the bit from the mare’s mouth and the bridle over her head. He remounted and repeated the action with each of the other four horses. He then rode back to the golf cart.

       “You’re a good girl, and I’d like to take you with me,” he said to the mare. “But that would make me a horse thief, and I’m pretty sure this place has rules against stealing horses, even when a man has to kill its previous owner in self-defense. Maybe there is a right by conquest, but I’m not taking the chance.”