Wednesday 18 November 2009

Pony Soldiers #1

SLAUGHTER AT BUFFALO CREEK
by Chet Cunningham

Leisure, 1987

White Eagle was on the warpath, killing, looting and raping his way across the territory. No one was safe – not even Captain Colt Harding’s wife and son. They were killed and mutilated; his four-year-old daughter was captured by the fierce Comanche warrior.

Burning with hatred, and thirsting for revenge, Harding mounted up his men and began a long and bloody trek that would continue until he had seen White Eagle’s corpse rotting in the desert sun – until he rescued his daughter from brutal Indian slavery.

Having read a few of the later books in this series I was looking forward to reading this, to find out how it all began.

Chet Cunningham cleverly combines two plot threads that both emerge from the slaughter that takes the lives of Harding’s wife and son. There’s the kidnapping of Harding’s young daughter, Sadie, and then there’s the investigation into the money that goes missing from the stricken wagons, which can only have been stolen by the soldiers who arrive in time to bury the dead.

Chet Cunningham tells his story through chapters that alternate between Hardin and his quest to find his daughter, the hunt for the thief and that persons plans to escape with the money, and Sadie’s life in the Comanche camp; how she’s adopted by a childless woman and taught the way of the Comanche. This latter part providing some fascinating insights into the everyday life of the Comanche.

As the story races to its conclusion it soon becomes evident that Chet Cunningham will not be able to resolve both plotlines before books end, and this is obviously his intention; thus ensuring the reader will have to buy the next book in the series if they want to find out if Hardin ever frees his daughter. I know for sure I’ll soon be picking up the next book to find out.

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