The curious settlers gathered around him. “Well, what does he want? Food? Weapons?”
Colt remembered now the look of worry on his father’s tanned face. He was, after all, a farmer from Indiana. “No, that’s not what he wants, but if we don’t give him what he wants, they’ll attack our train and wipe us out.”
The older Prescott turned and looked toward a young, yellow-haired beauty traveling with the train, Texanna. “He wants her.”
“What?” A gasp ran through the whole crowd.
The preacher drew himself up. “Why, we can’t do that, turn a white girl over to a savage for who knows what.”
But all the men knew what; young Colt saw it in their faces.
“That’s what I told him, but he wants Texanna and if we don’t give her up, his war party will attack us.”
And then the whites began to argue. Some wanted to fight the Cheyenne, although they had no chance against them. Some wanted to give up the girl to save the train. The arguing went on most of the day, with friend turning against friend, women crying and fussing and everyone staring at the beautiful Texanna with her long yellow hair streaming down her back. She looked terrified, and young Colt felt so sorry for her because he knew she did not want to be the sacrifice.
The argument had turned ugly, men yelling and swearing, a few blows exchanged. The women looked furious with Texanna because her beauty had brought this trouble down on them. Half the pioneers wanted to tie her up and give her to the chief; the other half wanted to fight to defend her.
In the end, Texanna, without a word, walked out between the wagons and toward the warriors. She was gone before the arguing white people even realized she had sacrificed herself. Colt saw her leaving and called after her to come back, but she did not heed and she did not stop. She walked up to the chief, who reached down and lifted her up before him on his fine black stallion, and the whole war party galloped away.
Colt would never forget how her golden hair had glittered in the last rays of sun as she rode off. The next morning, the wagon train continued on its way and no one ever spoke of Texanna again. The men must have been ashamed of their cowardice and the women were ashamed too, that they had been willing to sacrifice the young, innocent virgin to save themselves.
The Prescotts settled in east Texas and began to grow cotton. Colt hated the poor subsistence and the grubbing in the dirt. He was still a boy when he ran away from home, was captured by the Comanche, and later, joined the army.
Now in his fevered mind, he once again saw Texanna of the golden hair as his eyes flickered open. “Come back,” he whispered. “Come back.”
The blond girl leaning over him put a cold rag on his forehead. “Are you all right? Doc and I have been worried about you.”
Texanna. No, it was not Texanna. It was ... it was Hannah. The events of the last several days came flooding back to him and he remembered he and Hannah and her little boy were being chased by Comanches when, suddenly, a blue-coated troop of soldiers had sounded the charge.
He tried to sit up, wondering where he was.
“Take it easy,” she said, and he realized how tired she looked. “You’re going to be all right. Doc says.”
He looked around and realized he was in the infirmary, then relaxed. Whatever happened now, at least he and the girl and her little boy were safe from torture.
“I’ve got to go see about Grasshopper,” she said and smiled as she stood up.
Why had he ever thought her plain? When she smiled with those big, blue eyes, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever met.
No, the most beautiful woman was Olivia and he was engaged to her. Even as he tried to speak, Hannah said, “I’ll be back later,” and left.
Doc came in just then with a bowl of stew. “Dag nab it, I’m glad to hear you’re awake. You’ve been out several days.”
“I don’t remember much,” Colt admitted as Doc piled pillows behind him and handed him the stew. He took a bite. “This is really good.”
“Hannah made it from some of the vegetables in her garden.” Doc sat down in a chair by his bed. “She’s hardly left your side.”
“Oh? What’s going to happen to her?”
“We found her an empty shack down on Suds Row. I think she can make a living like some of the other women by washing and ironing for the soldiers.”
“Has anyone heard from her husband?”
Doc shook his head. “I don’t know. She hasn’t mentioned him, so I haven’t either.”
“She won’t want to go with him,” Colt murmured as he gulped the hot stew.
Doc wiped his handkerchief across his balding head. “Dag nab it, Colt, let an old man give you some advice. She’s married and you’re engaged, and that makes for a mess if you don’t back off.”
“I know.” He looked out the window, not meeting Doc’s gaze.
“You’d better be thinking about yourself,” Doc cautioned. “You went over the hill, deserting. You could be shot or court-martialed. Right now, you’re confined to the infirmary and probably then to your quarters ’til some action is decided.”
“I’d forgotten about that.” Colt laughed without mirth. “What is this? The middle of May? I’m due to leave the Cavalry June fifteenth unless I decide to reenlist.”
“But right now, you’re still a Cavalry officer and you could be shot or thrown in prison for desertion,” Doc reminded him. “Frankly I think they ought to give you a medal for rescuing Hannah and her child, but then that would be common sense and the army ain’t long on common sense.”
Colt finished the stew. He heard the door open and both men turned to look. The elegant Olivia came through the door, her dark hair up in ringlets around her beautiful face. She wore a fine pink dress that would look more at home on a street in New York City than at this frontier fort.
“Oh, darling, you’re awake.” She rushed to his side, big tears in her dark eyes. She pulled out a lace hankie and wiped them. “Goodness gracious, I’ve been so worried about you!”
Doc stood up and took the soup bowl, frowning. “I think I have work to do in my office, so I’ll leave you two alone.”
Colt heard his footsteps and the door closing as Olivia knelt by his bed.
“I’m all right,” he said.
She kissed his forehead. “That loose woman, the one that slept with the savage, has been hovering around you for days. Why I could hardly get in to see you.”
“Hannah? She couldn’t help it that she had a child by that Comanche. It wasn’t as if she was given a choice.”
“That’s not what all the women around the fort think.” Olivia sniffed disdainfully.
He didn’t want to talk about Hannah. He had come to admire her. She had all those rare qualities of a true Texas woman. But she was married and her husband would be coming to get her. And Colt was engaged to the beautiful Olivia and facing court-martial.
“You know, Olivia, I’m in trouble now and maybe you might want to rethink being engaged to me—”
“Oh, but I’ve already decided,” she said. “You don’t think I would desert you now in your hour of need? Besides you are what I’ve always wanted: tall, handsome, gallant. Now, Colton, you’ve been at death’s door for a few days and you aren’t thinking straight, so we won’t discuss this anymore right now.”
He was suddenly very tired and not wanting to argue with her. He only wanted her to leave. “I reckon you are right,” he admitted. “We’ll talk later when I’m up and around.”
“That’s my dear boy. Why goodness gracious, I’ve already been planning the biggest society wedding Philadelphia ever saw. You’ll be so handsome in your uniform.”
“Olivia, I’m not sure I’m gonna reenlist.”
“Well, that’s all right, too.” She smiled at him and patted his arm. “You’d make a successful businessman, and I’d have a fine home and the best carriage in town. All the women would envy me.”
He was too weary to deal with her anymore. “I’m tired, Olivia. I
think I want to sleep.”
“Of course.” She kissed his forehead and he smelled the scent of expensive perfume. “Now my brave little soldier just needs to rest and I’ll be back to see you later.”
He sighed with relief as he heard the rustle of her fine dress going out the door. She was beautiful, he reminded himself, and she was his. Half the young officers in the country would envy him. Then why was he having such doubts?
Olivia headed for her father’s office. It was up to her to save Colt from his desertion charge, and her parents always gave her everything she wanted.
Captain Van Smyth was just coming out the door as she entered, and he took off his hat and bowed low, his beautiful curls so carefully combed.
“Good afternoon, Miss Olivia. You’re looking lovely as usual today.”
He was a dandy, she thought as he fingered his wispy little mustache. Funny, she used to think he was so grand until she met a real man, Colton Prescott. “Thank you, Howard. Is my father in?”
“Yes, ma’am. Miss Olivia, if I’m not being too bold, perhaps we might go riding some afternoon.”
“Why, Captain, you shock me. I thought you knew I was engaged to Colton Prescott.”
“Well, but there’s no ring yet and after all”—he fingered his mustache again—“we are more from the same class than he is. Why, he’d probably drink out of a finger bowl and have no idea what to do with a shrimp fork.”
She flushed because that was probably true. She doubted if Colton had ever seen a shrimp fork or a finger bowl, but she could turn Colton into a polished gentleman. “I’m in a hurry, sir, and I do not want to discuss my fiancé.”
“You do realize he’s facing a court hearing?”
“I’m sure Colton will come out of this just fine. We’ll be announcing our wedding date soon.”
“All right.” He smiled at her. “But I don’t know what you see in that rough-hewn country lout. You and I are from the same background, Miss Olivia, and we would make a splendid couple. If you change your mind, I’d love to take you riding.”
“I’ll remember that.” She curtsied and pushed past him and into her father’s office.
Daddy was sitting at his desk doing paperwork as she entered, went behind him, and draped both arms around his neck. As usual, he smelled of whiskey.
He patted her hands absently. “Oh, hello, dear. What brings you in here?”
“Goodness gracious, do I have to have a reason to come in and see my own dear daddy?” She kissed his gray hair, went around the desk, and settled herself into a chair.
“Well, you usually do.” He smiled at her. “How’s the lieutenant doing?”
At this she began to cry, pulled a lace hankie from her sleeve and dabbed at her beautiful eyes. “He’s conscious, finally. Oh, Daddy, I was so afraid he wouldn’t make it.” She began to sob.
He frowned and reached for his pipe. “Maybe he’d have been lucky not to. You know he’s probably facing court-martial for deserting.”
Now a flood of tears. “After the brave thing he did, rescuing that—that woman and her half-breed brat? Why half the people at the fort think he should get a medal.”
He leaned back in his chair and put tobacco in the bowl of his pipe. “I’m afraid that’s not how the system works, dear.”
More tears. “I love him so much, Daddy, and how can I marry him if he’s disgraced and shot or sent to prison?”
“Saint Mary’s blood, why is this my problem?” he murmured and then lit his pipe. “I hate to make you so unhappy, dear, but—”
“Just suppose he hadn’t deserted?” She looked up, dabbing at her dark eyes. “Just suppose you had really sent him on a secret mission to rescue Mrs. Brownley and no one else knew about it?”
He frowned and reached into his desk drawer for a bottle of whiskey. “Now, dear, you know I can’t do that. Why, my whole career—”
“But you’re the officer in charge, aren’t you? You’re not Irish trash like Mama’s family says you are. Why, you’re a major in the elite Second Cavalry, and you can do anything you want to do.”
“I wish I could,” he muttered and poured a slug of whiskey into a smudged tumbler, thought it over, and filled it up. “Olivia, you’re asking me to go against everything I believe in and if I got caught—”
“But you’re the officer in command and you know Colton doesn’t deserve to go to prison.” She let loose a wave of tears like Noah’s flood.
He took a big gulp of whiskey as she sobbed and sobbed. “Please, dear, don’t cry.”
“How can I stop when I love him so and we were planning a big wedding?”
He sighed. “I’ll have to think about this awhile, Olivia.” He gulped his drink.
She jumped to her feet, ran around the desk, and hugged his neck. Daddy was spineless compared to Mama. “Oh, thank you, Daddy. I just know you’ll find that secret order in your desk that you didn’t tell the other officers about, in case the mission was a failure.”
He waved her away and smoked his pipe and smiled. “You know, I may remember that I did order Lieutenant Prescott to go after Mrs. Brownley. He’s the only man in this fort brave enough to send on a mission like that.”
She wiped her eyes. “Oh, Daddy, I knew he didn’t desert. He’s a hero after all.”
“Now go along with you, I’ve got work to do.”
“I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you too, pumpkin.” He nodded to her as she went out the door.
She had known she could do it. She started across the parade grounds toward the infirmary. Men, especially Daddy, were putty in her hands. Why that Captain Van Smyth would crawl on his knees for her if she asked him to.
Now should she convince Colton to remain in the army? He would look so good in a colonel’s uniform, or maybe even a general’s, and Mama’s family had so much influence in Washington. Too bad Daddy wanted to rise on his own merits and was stuck as a major. If he’d just ask Mama’s brother for help, Daddy could be a general by now. After all, Uncle Ernest was a congressman. On the other hand, if she persuaded Colton not to reenlist when his term was up in a few weeks, Uncle Ned would find a place in one of the De Ville family businesses in Philadelphia.
Olivia could already imagine their life together. She and Colton would own a big mansion near the center of the city and she would have a fine carriage with a matched pair of black horses—no, maybe she’d rather have white. She pictured Colton, handsome and tall, dressed in the latest style, escorting her to the opera with all the women swooning with jealousy.
Olivia stopped short when she saw Mrs. Brownley disappearing into the infirmary. That woman. How dare she go out in polite society after sleeping with a dirty savage? Of course she had. Everyone’s tongue was wagging over that half-breed little redskin she had brought back with her. And Mrs. Brownley was carrying a dish of something that smelled very good from here. Olivia’s mood was immediately ruined.
She turned and went stomping off to her quarters behind the major’s office. “You, Maria,” she said to the Tonkawa maid. “I want you to cook up something scrumptious for me to take to my sick fiancé—maybe a good vegetable soup.”
The maid shook her head. “Have no vegetables, missy.”
Who had vegetables? Mrs. Brownley had planted a garden behind the infirmary. “Then go steal some out of that white slut’s garden and hurry up. I want to take my fiancé something delicious.”
The maid hurried out to obey. Humming “Beautiful Dreamer” and smiling, Olivia went in to put on her best dress, recomb her hair, and spray on some expensive perfume. If that plain Mrs. Brownley thought she could steal a man from a society belle like Olivia De Ville Murphy, she had another think coming.
Hannah had paused at the door of the infirmary, seeing the major’s daughter walking toward her. She knew the girl did not like her and would not appreciate the fact that Hannah was bringing venison stew in to the lieutenant. Then the girl saw her, frowned, turned, and walked away.
Hanna
h sighed with relief as she went into the infirmary. “Hello, Doc. How’s our patient?”
Doc stood up, smiling and sniffing. “He’s better, as are the other two patients, one kicked by a horse, the other down with some kind of fever.”
“I think I brought enough for all of you,” she said and put the big bowl on the table.
“Good.” Doc’s bald head nodded. “I’ll dish it up, and you go in and see Lieutenant Prescott.”
She felt her heart beat faster. “Are you sure he’s awake? I don’t want to disturb—”
“If he’s not, he’ll wake up. Now go along with you.”
Hannah brushed back a wisp of yellow hair that had escaped her bun and tiptoed in to stand by Colt’s bed. He was asleep, and she stood a long moment, looking down at him. She was beginning to have feelings for this man, and she had never had feelings, except hatred and fear, for any man. Every one she had known before had mistreated her, but this one was so kind and gentle.
Don’t be a fool, Hannah, she scolded herself. He’s pledged to the major’s daughter and she can offer so much more than you can. And yet ...
As she stood there, wondering whether to leave, Colt’s green eyes opened very slowly and he smiled. “I thought I was dreamin’ you were here.”
She half turned apologetically. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
He reached out and caught her hand. “Don’t go. I haven’t thanked you enough for your hours of tireless nursin’ and all the good food you have brought.”
She liked the feel of his big, strong hand. Hers seemed to fit into it so naturally. “How did you know?”
“Doc told me.” He pulled her down on her knees by his bedside so their faces were close.
Oh, she had an urge she had never had before, to reach out and touch his face, but of course she did not. She averted her eyes. “It’s me who should be thanking you,” she whispered. “After all, you saved us from the Comanche and nearly lost your life doing so.”
He brushed her hair back, such an intimate gesture. “How are you gettin’ along? How’s the boy?”
“I’ve moved into one of the cabins on Suds Row.” She pulled away from him to break the spell, but he did not let go of her hand. “Soldiers can always use more women to wash and iron their clothes. I think I can manage financially so you don’t have to worry about me.”
Colt Page 13
