Dragons Teeth Crichton 2017 (WWT)

The Second Attack
Half an hour farther on, they halted at the edge of the pinewoods, before the sandy banks of Spring
Creek. The meandering water was deceptively low, and more than a hundred yards wide. The lateafternoon
sun glowed off the slow, peaceful ripples. On the far bank, the pinewoods were thick and
dark.
They watched the river silently for several minutes. Finally, Johnson poked his head out to ask why
they were waiting. Morgan Earp, on top of the stage, leaned over and tapped him on the head, and
held his finger to his lips, to be silent.
Johnson sat back in the coach, rubbed his head, and looked questioningly at Miss Emily.
Miss Emily shrugged, and slapped a mosquito.
Several minutes passed before Wyatt Earp said to Tiny, “How’s it look to you?”
“Dunno,” Tiny said.
Earp peered at the tracks on the sandy riverbank. “Lot of horses passed here recently.”
“That’s usual,” Tiny said. “Sheridan’s just a couple of miles south on the other side.”
They fell silent again, waiting, listening to the quiet gurgle of the water, the wind in the pines.
“You know, there’s usually birds hereabouts at Spring Creek,” Tiny said finally.
“Too quiet?” Earp said.
“I’d say too quiet.”
“How’s the bottom?” Earp asked, looking at the river.
“Never know till you get there. You want to make a play?”
“I guess I do,” Earp said. He swung down off the box, walked back, and looked into the coach at
Johnson and Miss Emily.
“We’re going to try to cross the creek,” he said quietly. “If we get across, fine. If we get trouble,
you stay down, no matter what you see or hear. Morg knows what to do. Let him handle things.
Okay?”
They nodded. Johnson’s throat was dry. “You think it’s a trap?”
Earp shrugged. “It’s a good place for one.”
He climbed back onto the box and cocked his shotgun. Tiny whipped up the horses, and they started
across at breakneck speed, the coach lurching as the wheels hit the soft sandy banks, and then
splashing and jouncing over rocks in the riverbed.
And then the shooting started. Johnson heard the whinny of the horses, and with a final lurch the
coach stopped abruptly, right in the middle of the river, and Tiny shouted, “That tears it!” and Morgan
Earp began firing rapidly. “I’ll cover you, Wyatt.”