Had Reverend De Witt’s body not been among the dead, he might have assumed, as Jem Beddowes had first supposed, that Stryker and his men were a scouting party. But scouts would have been on foot, as Wyatt and his men were, not on horseback. In the dense forests, horses were at best a hindrance and at worst a liability, requiring food and maintenance. A man on foot could travel fast and light and in a straighter line, using the terrain to his advantage.

Wyatt turned, in search of Tewanias. The Mohawk was squatting over one of the Indian dead and examining a musket he had found nearby.

“Well?” Wyatt asked.

Tewanias stood and held out the gun. “Scouts in the pay of the Yan-kees.”

“They were looking for the column,” Wyatt said.

Tewanias nodded.

“And their run in with Stryker and his men will have told them they’re close.”

The Mohawk nodded again and then frowned.

“What is it?” Wyatt asked.

“Five riders dead. But tracks say six horses.”

“Six?” Wyatt said, confused. “Someone got away?”

Tewanias shook his head. “One rode through before. These men came later.”

There was a pause.

“Tracking the first one, you think?”

The Mohawk shrugged. “Perhaps.”

“Or he was riding point and was way in front when these five were brought down,” Donaldson suggested.

Maybe, Wyatt thought, though that didn’t explain what the pastor was doing there. He looked at Tewanias. “Attackers?”

Tewanias shrugged. “More than six.”

“They’ve lost three,” Wyatt indicated the half-naked corpses. “Question is, how many are left and which way did they go?”

He watched as Tewanias dropped the gun to re-examine the ground around the perimeter of the ambush. “Well?” he asked when the Mohawk returned.

“Four go north,” Tewanias said, indicating with his chin.

Wyatt followed the Mohawk’s gaze.

“And one goes south.”

Damn it, Wyatt thought. He turned back. “You’re sure?”

“Ea. Yes.”

“What’s that mean?” Billy Drew asked.

Wyatt sighed. “They’ve sent a runner to tell the main force coming behind that they’ve picked up the trail.”

The Mohawk stayed silent.

“That’s why they killed the horses. They didn’t want them returning to the column. The colonel sees riderless horses, he knows the enemy’s discovered them.”

“God damned bastards,” Billy Drew said.

Wyatt offered no dissent. “They made a mistake though. If they hadn’t killed Stryker’s party, we might not have found out they were here. Now we’re going to be on their trail, and that gives us the upper hand.”

All save Tewanias looked at him.

“Why’d they do this?” Billy Drew asked, staring round at the carnage. “They could’ve let them ride by, carried on trailing the column. Then no one would be any the wiser.”

“Like you said, they’re bastards,” Wyatt muttered. “Or maybe Stryker picked up their trail and was closing in on them. Maybe they saw a way to turn the tables.”