Chapter 7

I returned to tracking the Cherokee. Spatters of blood made the task easy, even after the man reached the forest. When the blood trail dried up abruptly, my skin crawled. A trap!

The noise he made launching from a tree behind me gave me time to throw myself backwards. He overshot me, but his left foot caught my right shoulder, throwing me hard against the bole of a pine. I lost my grip on the Henry. We both reached the weapon at the same time.

Scar grasped the stock and swung the rifle up in a vicious arc. I evaded the blow and barreled into him, throwing him against a tree trunk and separating him from my rifle. He was hurt, but I didn’t wait to find out how badly. I lunged again, this time with my knife in hand. The blade bit deep. He cried out and rolled away, wrenching the hilt from my hand.