Authors: Jae
"Don't I know you from somewhere?" the sergeant
asked.
Every muscle in Luke's body stiffened. Nora and she had
feared that question for years. She stared at the man, trying to see more of
his features beneath his thick beard. He looked familiar.
"Hamilton..." The sergeant squinted at her.
"You aren't the Luke Hamilton who fought in Mexico, are you?"
The tension fled from Luke's frame. Only one man from her
days as a dragoon had known her true gender, and he was long dead. She pictured
the sergeant's face twenty years younger. A name finally came to her.
"Pete Johnson?"
The sergeant beamed. "Yes. Lieutenant, this man saved
my hide more than once in the Mexican War." He looked at his superior.
"Maybe we could return the favor and accompany him and his men safely to
Fort Boise. The Injun thieves are long gone anyway."
Lieutenant Moylan hesitated but then nodded. "All
right. At least our mission won't be a total failure. I know the colonel is
waiting for these horses."
Oh, wonderful. That's what I get for being a war hero.
Now
instead of just two men, twelve soldiers were watching her every move. Finding
a quiet place behind a bush to relieve herself was going to be a challenge.
"Darn, boss, I didn't know you fought in the Mexican
War," Charlie said as they set up camp. "You always said you didn't
want to fight in a war that was not your own."
Luke shrugged. "I was young and naive." The war
had been the perfect way to join the dragoons without being subjected to
careful scrutiny by an army doctor. She had qualified just by being able to
ride and shoot. Back then, she had desperately needed the order and discipline
the dragoons brought to her life.
"I knew you were a dragoon in the Mexican War,"
Phin said. "Nattie told me. But I didn't know you're such a good
liar." He lowered his voice so that none of the soldiers would hear.
Luke gave him a wry smile.
If only you knew.
"Yeah," Charlie agreed. "You almost convinced
me that we never met any Indians. But why lie? Why cover for the red bastards
who took our horses?"
"Easy, Charlie." Luke sent him a warning glance.
"I didn't like them stealing our horses any more than you, but they
weren't out for a fight, so I doubt these are the Indians who killed the
soldier. The lieutenant won't care, though. He's out to find some Indians and
kill them. He won't care that it's just one warrior with an old man and two
women. I don't want to be responsible for their deaths." She pinned
Charlie with her gaze until he looked away. "All right. Let's set up
camp."
* * *
As soon as the young lieutenant retreated into his tent, a
pack of cards appeared from one of the saddlebags and a bottle of whiskey
circulated among the soldiers.
Charlie held out his tin cup too.
Luke didn't stop him. One drink wouldn't matter, and she
hoped he had the good sense to refuse more. When a soldier passed her the
bottle, she handed it to the man next to her, though. She watched them start a
game of cards but didn't join in.
Even during the Mexican War, she had never been friends with
the soldiers in her company. Hiding her gender meant keeping her distance, no
matter how lonely it made her. But years ago, she would have joined her
companions in a card game and would have laughed at their bawdy jokes, just to
fit in. That kind of entertainment didn't hold much interest for her anymore.
In the past, she had lived her life as a man among other
men, and she had lost touch with her female side. But the last seventeen years
had been spent sharing her home with three women, and it had changed her. She
could still fit in with the men, but she no longer aimed to be like them in
every way.
Now she just wanted to be herself, whatever that was.
"You all right, boss?" Phin asked from across the
fire. He had refused the soldiers' whiskey too.
"Yeah," Luke said. "Just thinking."
"Hm, me too." Phin came around the fire and sat
next to Luke. "I wonder how things are going at home."
Luke wondered the same thing on a daily basis. "Well,
if your betrothed is even halfway helpful, I think Nora might have gone back to
teaching by now."
"How can you know that?"
"I know my wife," Luke said. Nora was a practical
woman, and if money got tight, she would leave the chores at the ranch to
Nattie and Phin's bride and would return to her teaching duties.
"Do you think Johanna can handle life on a ranch?"
In the firelight, Luke saw the concern in his eyes. He had proposed without
even knowing his future wife, and now he had no idea if she might make a good
ranch wife or not.
A grin made its way onto Luke's lips when she remembered
Nora's early attempts at building a fire or baking bread. "She'll have to
learn," she said. "Don't worry. Even if Nora is back to teaching, Amy
and Nattie will teach her what she needs to know."
"Amy giving my future wife lessons in how a ranch wife
should behave..." Phin laughed. "Now that's a scary thought."
Sharp words lingered on Luke's tongue, but she swallowed
them. Phin hadn't meant to criticize Amy. Still, it was true that Amy wasn't
the kind of woman most men would want as a wife or a role model for their wife.
Sometimes, Luke wondered if their upbringing would condemn her daughters,
especially Amy, to a life of loneliness.
Phin tore out handfuls of grass.
"If you're so worried about Johanna, why did you
propose to a woman you don't even know?" Luke asked. "Why not court
one of the neighbor girls, someone who grew up on a ranch?"
"Ah." Phin threw a clump of grass into the fire.
"They're silly gooses."
"All of them? There's not even one woman you like in
the whole valley?"
Phin licked his lips.
"So there is someone you like." Grinning, Luke hit
Phin's shoulder. "Why not propose to her?"
"I'm not right for her." Phin stared into the
fire. "I can't offer her what she deserves."
"I thought the same when I first met Nora," Luke
said.
Phin still gazed into the flames. "That's
different."
You've got no idea just how different it is.
"Want me to check on the horses?" Phin asked.
Luke got up. "No. I'll go." She needed to find a
hidden spot to relieve her screaming bladder anyway.
Protected by the darkness and the sharp ears of the horses
grazing nearby, she ducked behind a shrub of sagebrush and relieved herself.
When she pulled up her pants and buttoned them, a horse snorted.
Luke peeked through the branches of the shrub while she
closed the last button and rearranged the padding in her pants.
Two soldiers headed toward the latrine, one of them carrying
a shovel. "The lieutenant shouldn't have agreed with Johnson," the
taller man said. "Now we're stuck babysitting a bunch of horse breeders
instead of finding the damn Injuns who killed Roy."
"Ah, Moylan is a green officer who hasn't seen any
action yet. Every howl of a coyote out here makes him jump." He spat out
and hit the sagebrush behind which Luke was hiding. "He was just waiting
for a reason to return to the fort."
"Maybe we should give him a reason not to return to the
fort," the other soldier said.
"How?"
His friend chuckled. "If we drive off a few of
Hamilton's horses and tell the lieutenant they were stolen by Indians..."
Hot anger shot up in Luke. No one would use her horses for
such a plan. The worn grip of her revolver felt soothing against her palm. With
a resounding click, she cocked the hammer and stepped out of her hiding place.
She smashed her boot onto a few branches.
The two soldiers whirled around.
"If even one of my horses goes missing, I'll shoot the
two of you," she said.
"You wouldn't dare," the taller man said.
"Our comrades would lynch you."
Luke just smiled at him. She had learned that it unnerved
most men more than shouting ever could. "Oh, only if they think it was me
who killed you. I'll tell your lieutenant you were killed by the same Indians
who stole the horses you drove off."
In the silence of the night, the smaller man gulped audibly.
"We were just joking about driving off your horses, really."
"I don't like your brand of humor, Private."
"It's not our problem if you don't have a sense of
humor," the taller soldier said.
Luke stared him down, knowing he was the instigator.
"Then make sure it doesn't become your problem. If all my horses make it
safely to Fort Boise, we'll part as friends. If not, you won't be there to
regret it."
The two soldiers stared at her. In the near darkness, Luke
couldn't make out their expressions, but she still didn't look away.
"All right," the tall soldier finally said.
"We'll leave the horses alone." He strode away in the direction of
the latrine, and his friend followed.
Luke put her revolver away and stared into the darkness.
Great.
Instead of enjoying the safety of a cavalry escort, she'd have to sleep
with one eye open. She adjusted her pants and walked back to the camp to let
Phin and Charlie know.
A
MY
HEAVED HER SADDLE onto her shoulder and carried it out of the stable. When she
placed it on Ruby's back, she noticed Hendrika standing in front of the corral
where they kept Nugget, Dotty, and the two foals. Her arms rested on the top
rail, and her chin leaned on her hands. She stared at the horses so intently as
if she had forgotten that anything else existed.
She's really fond of Lucky.
And it wasn't just the
filly. Amy knew Hendrika visited Cinnamon every night before bedtime, and the
way Ruby nickered when she saw Hendrika made Amy think even the
"bossy" mare had gotten an apple or two from Hendrika.
She'll make a good wife for a horseman like Phin.
The
thought should have been a joyful one since Phin was her best friend, but
somehow it wasn't.
"Hey," she said. "How's Lucky doing?"
Hendrika whirled around. "Oh. I didn't hear you come
up."
"Mama calls it the 'horse trance.' She often has to
drag Papa and me from the stable when we forget about supper." Thinking of
Papa made a ball of worry form in her belly. How was he doing, out there on the
trail?
She leaned against the corral rail next to Hendrika and
watched the foals.
Jason, Nugget's golden colt, chased Lucky around the corral.
Lucky leaped and bucked. After a while, she trotted to her mother to rest.
"Wanna go in and say hello?" Amy asked, then
instantly rebuked herself.
What are you doing? You've got work to do, and
you wanted to stay away from Hendrika, remember?
But now Hendrika looked at her with a hopeful glance.
"Could we? Will Dotty and Nugget let us in there?"
"Sure. We always try to handle the foals from a very
young age, get them used to people before they are turned out with the
herd." She pointed at the corral. "So, wanna go in?"
Hendrika nodded.
"Come on, then." Amy opened the gate and slipped
through, then closed it behind Hendrika.
Instantly, Nugget's colt bolted to the other end of the
corral. Lucky peeked out from behind her mother.
"Dotty," Amy called and made a clicking sound with
her tongue.
Dotty lifted her head. When Amy clicked again, she loped
toward them. The filly followed.
"Hey there, Dotty. I brought a guest to admire your
daughter." Amy turned to Hendrika. "Come here and pat Dotty. It'll
show the little one that there's nothing to be afraid of."
She watched as Hendrika reached out a hand and let the mare
sniff it, exactly as she had shown her weeks ago. Then Hendrika slid her hand
down the long neck to scratch behind Dotty's withers.
A little nose appeared from behind Dotty. Lucky pranced
forward to see what was going on.
Hendrika held out her hand, palm up. She didn't try to touch
the filly or get any closer; she just stood and waited. Amy noticed that she was
barely breathing.
Her own breath caught too. Watching the filly and the young
woman watch each other seemed like an endless, magical moment.
Finally, Lucky took one step forward, then another one. Her
nose touched Hendrika's hand, and something, probably the tickling of little
whiskers, made Hendrika smile.
Jason, the palomino colt, followed his mother and trotted
over.
"Oh, now you are being brave after a girl showed you
how it's done," Amy murmured while she rubbed his withers.
Hendrika chuckled. "It seems your family has a history
of breeding strong females."
For the first time, a stranger, someone from outside the
family, had commented on how different the Hamilton women were — and made it
sound like a compliment, not something to wrinkle her nose at.
Amy smiled. "I guess we do." She gave the colt one
last scratch. "Come on. I need to ride out before it gets dark."
"Where are you going?" Hendrika asked while she
followed her to the gate.
"I need to check on the other foals, the ones who have
already been turned out with the herd."
When Amy turned to close the gate, she saw the longing in
Hendrika's eyes, but Hendrika didn't ask to come with her. She probably
remembered the fiasco last time she had ridden out with Amy.
But four weeks had passed since then, and Hendrika was more
used to horses and how they reacted now. Nattie and Mama had taken her riding a
few times.
Amy hesitated. One glance into Hendrika's eyes made the
decision. "If you are done with your chores, you could come with me."
"I don't want to be in the way," Hendrika said.
"You won't." With no wild mustangs around anymore,
Hendrika should be safe. "Just promise me that you'll get off the horse
and stay out of the way should something unexpected happen."