The First Death

Cuchillo was a warrior to be feared, but he was not a man easily driven to war. Even when the brutal and sadistic Lieutenant Pinner removed two of his fingers for allegedly stealing his ornamental knife, and branded him 'Cuchillo Oro' – the Golden Knife) – he sought a peaceful solution.Then the true thieves came after him, but still he kept his head.But then Lieutenant Pinner took his squaw and his baby boy hostage … and that was when Cuchillo Oro decided that the white-eyes had gone too far … William M. James was the pseudonym of John Harvey, Terry Harknett and Laurence James. Most people call him Cuchillo, the Apache word for knife. That's short for Cuchillo Oro, the golden knife.He gave himself the name in 1861-the year he swore vengeance upon the white man, the year an Indian-hating army officer cut off his index finger for "stealing" an ornate golden knife, the year his wife and infant son were murdered by an army lieutenant.He's six feet three inches tall, but he's a big man in more ways than one. He's the grandson of the great chief Mangas Colorado. He's seen his people mistreated, lied to, falsely accused, and cruelly punished-and he can't forget. Not while the white man walks on his land.An expert with the knife, rifle, gun, and bow, Cuchillo rides alone and moves everywhere, everywhere there are white men, unafraid to kill or be killed. There's no turning back now, not for Cuchillo and not for the white men who have persecuted his innocent people.There is only revenge.