Nathan Stark, Army Scout Read online

  “Why are you here, Nathan?”

  “I wanted to talk to you for a minute, but it’s nothing that can’t wait until later today. I shouldn’t have interrupted your class.” He shrugged. “Just acted without thinking, I reckon. I do that sometimes.”

  She smiled and shook her head. “No, it’s all right. The children are going to be working in their copybooks for a while now. I can step out for a moment.” She looked at the oldest of the girls. “Janey, you can watch the class for a few minutes, can’t you?”

  “Of course, Mrs. Blaine,” the girl said.

  Delia took Nathan’s arm and led him out of the classroom, which caused more giggles and snickers behind them until Janey shushed the other children. Nathan and Delia walked through the sanctuary and stepped outside.

  Pausing in the shadow of the chapel, she said, “Is something wrong?”

  “No, I meant it when I said it was just thoughtless of me to bust in like that. What I wanted to tell you is that I’ll be leaving in the morning, maybe for a pretty good spell. The colonel’s taking two companies out to chase down Hanging Dog, and all three scouts are going with him.”

  A solemn expression came over Delia’s face. “This sounds like a major campaign.”

  “Well ... it’s not like some of the ones I’ve been on with Custer and Crook, where the column stretches for dang near a mile or more. It’s not a big deal compared to those. But if we find Hanging Dog’s village, it’ll be a good fight, sure enough.”

  “Do you think you will? Find it, that is.”

  “Well”—he smiled—“I wouldn’t have a very high opinion of my skills as a scout if I said no, now would I?”

  She looked down at the ground. “I know I should wish you success ... but there’s a part of me that hopes you fail, Nathan. If you don’t find the Sioux, there won’t be a battle. And there’s been enough killing ... on both sides.”

  “That won’t be true until it’s safe for innocent folks to live out here, Delia. And I’m not sure that’ll ever be possible as long as any of those savages are still alive. At least, not until they’re beaten so bad they go back to the reservations and stay there where they belong.” Nathan paused, then plunged ahead. “It seems to me you ought to feel the same way, considering everything they’ve taken from you.”

  “If all the Sioux die ... and all the Cheyenne and the Kiowa and the Comanche . . . and ... and all the rest ... it won’t bring Stephen back, will it? Or Camilla, either. ”

  Nathan turned and smacked the side of his fist against the chapel wall. “Every time,” he said bitterly. “Every dang time I try to talk to you, I just get you all upset. I admire you more than any other woman on this earth, Delia, and yet I keep opening my big ol’ mouth and causing trouble.”

  “Then, damn it, quit talking!” Delia put her arms around his neck, drew his face to hers, and kissed him with an urgency that shook Nathan right down to his boots.

  CHAPTER 26

  Those kids in the schoolroom would have been giggling for sure if they had seen their teacher kissing the hard-bitten scout. Delia had taken Nathan by surprise, but he didn’t pull away from her. Instinctively, he embraced her. She tasted too intoxicating and felt too good in his arms.

  He couldn’t help but realize they were right out in the open, though, and in broad daylight, to boot. It pained him, but he broke the kiss and stepped back. “You’re gonna ruin your reputation if you keep doing impulsive things like that, Mrs. Blaine.”

  “It would probably be healthy for people to follow their impulses more.”

  Nathan shook his head. “I don’t know. As sweet as that was, it didn’t change a blasted thing, did it? I’m still going with the colonel tomorrow to chase down Hanging Dog, and you’re still gonna think we ought to be making peace instead of war.”

  “Isn’t peace better?”

  “Not if it means you just stop fighting and wait for the other fella to kill you.”

  “You don’t think the Sioux would leave us alone if we left them alone?” she challenged.

  Nathan sighed, took off his hat, and wearily scrubbed a hand over his face. “I don’t decide these things, Delia. You should be talking to the folks in the War Department back in Washington. All I do is follow orders.”

  “Which happen to coincide with your need to fight and kill Indians.”

  Nathan wasn’t going to argue with her. Obviously she was right about that. He had defended himself to her before, and it was a waste of time.

  “There’s a saying about how sometimes folks just have to agree to disagree,” he told her. “I reckon that’s what we’re gonna have to do. Neither of us is likely to change the way we feel about things, are we?”

  “No,” she said softly. “I suppose not.”

  “But there are some things we can agree on. I care about you, Delia, and I believe you honestly care about me. Maybe for us it’ll never be like it is for some people, but what we do have is a good thing.” He smiled. “I can always use another friend.”

  “Do you really have any friends, Nathan?”

  “Cullen Jefferson,” he answered without hesitation. “But I guess when you come right down to it, he’s the only one.”

  “Until now.”

  “Until now,” he agreed.

  “And we’re ... more than friends, Nathan.”

  “Maybe. One of these days ... maybe we can be.”

  She hugged him again, not passionately but with deep affection radiating from her. Stepping back, she rested her hands on his arms and said, “You’re coming to supper tonight.”

  “Now, dang it, Delia, we keep beating our heads against that wall. It’s not gonna work out well, and you know it.”

  “We won’t talk about Indians or the campaign or anything else that we’ve argued about.”

  Nathan shook his head. “It’s not a good idea. Let’s just go ahead and say good-bye now.”

  “But it’s nearly twenty-four hours until you leave!”

  “Then I’ll have twenty-four hours of a mighty good memory in my head instead of maybe twelve hours of reliving over and over another argument I didn’t want.”

  She glared at him for a long moment, but he didn’t believe she was actually that upset at him.

  Finally, she said, “You are a stubborn, infuriating man, Nathan Stark. But I suppose you have a point. There’s only one thing ...”

  “What’s that?”

  “If this is the memory you’re going to take with you, we need to make sure it’s a very good one.” With that she kissed him again.

  Nathan decided that if she wasn’t overly concerned about her reputation, he wasn’t going to be, either. And it felt mighty good to hold her.

  Good enough that when she finally murmured, “I have to get back to the children,” and slipped away into the chapel, he felt like he had lost something he might never get back.

  * * *

  The fort buzzed with activity all day as preparations were made for the campaign against Hanging Dog and the Sioux. The soldiers would need plenty of food and ammunition, so the men assigned to the quartermaster were kept busy packing those supplies. The packs would be loaded on mules early the next morning, starting well before dawn.

  Three men met under the trees beyond the stables, each of them arriving at different times so people would be less likely to notice them getting together. Sergeant Jeremiah Dockery arrived first, followed by Dietrich Bucher and then Sergeant Seamus McCall.

  “Anybody watching you?” Dockery asked once they were all there.

  “No one paid attention to me,” Bucher said. “I know how to make sure I am not seen.”

  “Are ye sayin’ I don’t?” McCall demanded.

  “Do not take offense where none is intended,” Bucher snapped.

  “Listen, none of us can afford to get touchy right now, what with the colonel getting this crazy idea in his head.” Dockery frowned at McCall. “If you hadn’t gotten into that scrape with the Sioux, Ledbetter might not have such
a burr under his saddle about Hanging Dog.”

  “That wasn’t my doin’,” McCall said. “And I didn’t want to be there any more than anybody else did. Damn it, I knew those redskins had Winchesters. Do ye think I would have put me own neck on the line like that if I’d had any choice in the matter?”

  Bucher said, “The colonel’s mind is made up. We are going out after the Indians, and there is nothing we can do about it.”

  “I’ll not be goin’,” McCall said. “Since that last patrol came from Company K and we’re undermanned right now because of the casualties, we’re the ones stayin’ behind to guard the post while the colonel is out glory-huntin’. I’ll be here to keep an eye on things, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “I’m more worried Ledbetter will blunder right into the wagons delivering those rifles to Hanging Dog at Weeping Woman Rock,” Dockery said. “If he does, that’ll ruin everything.” The Tennessean looked at Bucher. “It’ll be your job to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  “I will not be the only scout on this campaign,” Bucher pointed out.

  “That means one of us, you”—Dockery pointed to Bucher—“or me, needs to take care of Stark and Red Buffalo the first chance we get.”

  “Ye had your chance last night,” McCall said with a sneer. “From what I hear, ye didn’t do a very good job of it.”

  “Ja, as it turned out, both of them were there,” Bucher added. “You could have gotten rid of Stark and the Crow at the same time. How could you have missed them both with a shotgun?”

  Dockery’s face darkened with anger. “Neither of you were there,” he snapped. “You don’t know how close I came to getting them.”

  “Close does not count.” Bucher smirked. “We must not allow ourselves to get distracted. I will keep the column well away from Weeping Woman Rock if at all possible. The colonel knows nothing. It will not be difficult to lead him around in circles. Even if we cannot get rid of Stark and Red Buffalo, they are new here. They can be fooled as well.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Dockery said. “If you’re not, this whole thing might blow up in our faces.”

  With nothing left to say, the three conspirators left the woods one by one, each being as casual as possible.

  None of them noticed a slight rustling in the brush nearby after they were gone. A slender figure slipped into sight, stood there for a moment breathing heavily, and then broke into a run toward the stables. His heart pounded, and uncertainty was etched on his young face.

  He had never been more unsure of what to do in his life. Or more afraid.

  * * *

  Those at the fort who weren’t going along on the campaign gathered at sunrise the next morning to watch the column move out. Wives and children stood outside the chapel, waving to the husbands and fathers who rode past.

  Nathan noted Delia was with them. Although it had been difficult, he had managed to avoid her for the rest of the previous day, and he carried with him that good memory she’d wanted to instill in him.

  More than he would have expected, he found himself wanting to get back safely from the mission. He had never cared much about that before. He didn’t fear death, as long as it came in service to the vengeance he had sought for so long. If he died in action, his only regret would be that he’d never found his sister and brought her back to civilization.

  In the past twenty-four hours he’d come to realize that if destiny caught up to him on the campaign, his last thoughts would be not only of Rena but of Delia Blaine, as well.

  The four Sioux boys were standing with the regular hostlers as the column passed. Nathan recognized the two he’d had the run-in with over Buck not long after arriving at Fort Randall. One was known as Billy, he recalled, but he couldn’t remember either of their redskin names. They all watched with sullen expressions on their faces, resentful.

  Nathan noticed Billy appeared worried about something and then immediately forgot about it, since he didn’t give a damn about any of the little heathens. He still thought Colonel Ledbetter was making a mistake by letting them remain at the fort. Nathan wondered if Delia had had anything to do with that. The possibility seemed likely.

  The sun had just peeked over the eastern horizon. The light washing over the prairie in front of the column was garish and the shadows cast by the men and horses and mules were long.

  Nathan rode with Red Buffalo and Bucher well behind Colonel Ledbetter, who was leading the column, flanked by Captains Jameson and Lucas. Lieutenants Barkley, Hanover, Williams, and DeBrett were with the column, as well.

  Doc Lightner was traveling with the column, too, since the campaign was expected to produce a considerable amount of fighting and a surgeon’s services were bound to be called for. He had two medical orderlies with him, one of whom drove the ambulance wagon. Lightner himself was on horseback, dressed in his regular captain’s uniform, not the long duster he usually wore while working in the infirmary.

  Company H was first in the column, followed by the pack train and the ambulance, then Company G brought up the rear. Lieutenant Allingham was back at the fort, in command of the remains of Company K left behind as garrison troops.

  Nathan glanced back over his shoulder. Although he had ridden with much bigger columns, it was an impressive force. He didn’t know how many warriors Hanging Dog had with him. From previous scouting missions, Bucher had estimated the number of Sioux at a hundred and fifty, but Nathan didn’t have much faith in the German’s judgment. Ledbetter had more than two hundred and fifty troops with him, however, and that seemed like it ought to be enough to handle whatever force Hanging Dog could muster.

  Nathan said, “With this many men, we ought to be able to whip the Sioux if we can find them.”

  “We can find them,” Red Buffalo said, “but we may wish that we hadn’t. Sooner or later, the Sioux, the Cheyenne, and the rest of the tribes are going to realize that the only way they can truly defeat the army is to band together. It will take strong leaders to accomplish... men such as Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull ... but someday such an alliance will happen.”

  “You’re insane,” Bucher said with a cocky grin on his face. “The savages will never work together like that. They hate each other too much ... just like they hate the whites.”

  “In the end it wouldn’t matter,” Nathan said. “There might be enough of them to wipe out a column of cavalry, but they can’t wipe out the whole United States Army. And that’s what it would take.”

  Red Buffalo nodded solemnly. “You’re right, Stark. The ending is foretold.” The Crow scout stared straight ahead as he rode. “But no one can foretell how much blood will be spilled before that day ever gets here.”

  CHAPTER 27

  The column moved northwestward along the Missouri River as the patrol had done several days earlier. It crossed the broad, slow-moving stream at the same ford and proceeded in a more northerly direction into the hills. The soldiers didn’t follow the route all the way to the mesa where the patrol had found itself trapped, however. Before they got that far, Red Buffalo found the trail the Sioux had left when they fled.

  The three scouts had been ranging in front of the column in a broad half-circle, searching for that trail. When Red Buffalo located it, he rendezvoused with Nathan and Bucher and took them back to have a look at the tracks.

  “Got to be them, all right,” Nathan agreed as he studied the sign. “The size of this bunch matches up with the ones who got away from that fight, and they look like they were in a hurry. Mostly unshod ponies, too, with a few shod horses being the army mounts they gathered up along the way.”

  Red Buffalo grunted. “We can follow them from here. Sooner or later, they will have tried to cover their tracks—”

  “But not good enough to hide them from our keen eyes, ja?” Bucher said with a cocky grin.

  “A couple of us ought to keep on following this trail while the other goes back to fetch the colonel,” Nathan said. “It doesn’t matter to me who does what.�
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  “I will ride back to the column,” Bucher declared. “We can return here by nightfall, perhaps.”

  Red Buffalo nodded. “If we are not here, you can follow these tracks in the morning. We’ll rejoin you somewhere up ahead.”

  “Ja, it sounds like a good plan to me.” Bucher lifted a hand in farewell as he tightened up on the reins with his other hand. “Be careful. Until the column gets here, you will be on your own out there, und there is no telling how many savages you might encounter.”

  “We’ll keep our eyes open,” Nathan said dryly. “Don’t worry about us.”

  Bucher nodded, swung his horse around, and loped off toward the southeast.

  “I can’t say that I’m sad to see him go,” Red Buffalo commented when the German was out of earshot.

  “Me, either,” Nathan replied, then frowned as he realized he had just agreed with an Indian.

  Judging by the smile lurking around the corners of Red Buffalo’s mouth, the same thought had occurred to him. Nathan grimaced, pulled Buck’s head around, and nudged the horse into motion, following the tracks left by the fleeing Sioux several days earlier.

  Only an hour of good light was left. Nathan didn’t expect the soldiers to arrive in time to take up the trail. He and Red Buffalo could follow the tracks for a while, then make camp. In the morning one of them would ride back while the other forged ahead. Nathan didn’t mind the idea of being on his own. He had handled such missions many times in the past. Usually he and Cullen had worked together, but sometimes circumstances had forced them to split up for a while.

  And Moses Red Buffalo was no Cullen Jefferson, that was for damn sure. Although . . . if somebody had put a gun to Nathan’s head and forced him to admit the truth ... having Red Buffalo around had come in pretty handy a few times. Nathan glanced at the Crow. He was still moving a little stiffly from those two buckshot in the back he had caught while saving Nathan’s life.