by J. R. WRIGHT
Over the next several hours, plied by more and more whiskey as he went along, one thing led to another until he had told it all – every last important detail of his life.
“You’re carrying a lot around with you. No wonder you can’t sit still for long at a stretch,” Bordeaux said when Luke had finished. “Then Bright Moon is carrying your grandchild?”
“I reckon so,” Luke said, after giving it some thought. It was all so new to him; he hadn’t even considered he might be a grandfather soon.
“My God, Tom, you’ve been busy,” Bordeaux said. “Or should I say, Luke McKinney?”
“I trust you’ll keep all of what I’ve told you to yourself?”
“You can count on it, Tom. But there’s just one thing. Where’s Breanne?”
“I wish I knew. Most likely she went east after discovering in Independence or St. Louis I was dead. Of course it was all a lie, as I told you.”
“New Orleans, maybe?” Bordeaux suggested.
“She would never go back there after the childhood she had. No, I figure east with that missionary. She had nobody else, James.”
“I have some connections in the east: Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Washington. Do you want me to write some letters of inquiry?”
“I’d appreciate any help I can get. So far, I have nothing.”
“Good. I’ll get started right away today.”
Luke spent another week at Laramie, mostly getting to know Bright Moon better. The baby was due in a couple of months, and he didn’t expect to be here that late into winter. It was already late October and he was always at his cabin on the Little Blue by November. It could start snowing any day now, and nobody ever knew when that would end. A good blizzard could keep him here indefinitely, and he didn’t want that. He had promised Sarah he would spend the winter with her in Independence. In fact, she was probably expecting him any time now as it was.
Crossing the cavalry yard at Fort Kearny six days later, Luke’s pace quickened when lazy snowflakes began to fall. As soon as he had Colonel Snively’s authorization to draw his season’s wages, he would be on his way.
“Hill,” Snively greeted him and rose from behind his desk when Luke entered his office. “I know you’re anxious to get gone, but I have to know if you located Little Thunder?”
“I believe he’s here.” Luke put a finger on the map. “That’s his tribe’s old hunting grounds, there in those canyons, close to Ash Hollow.”
“So he’s not in the Powder River country, as you originally thought?”
“No, sir. Old habits are hard to break for these people.”
“Ash Hollow isn’t so far from here.” Snively measured the distance.
“You’re not going after him, are you?”
“No, but Harney is. He’ll be here come summer. Orders from the War Department. He’s on the way back from Paris, France now.”
“This may come as a surprise to you, sir, but Little Thunder actually tried to head off what happened to Grattan and his men. And that was after one of Grattan’s troops shot Conquering Bear in the back, killing him. It’s Red Cloud you ought to be after.”
“And where is this Red Cloud?”
“Unfortunately, with Little Thunder at the moment.”
“And how do we separate the two?”
“With talk, sir. Shame them if necessary – get him and the others responsible to surrender.”
“Good. Then I’ll expect you to be here come spring to do just that,” Snively said. “Maybe we can head this thing off, before it blows up in our faces.”
“Count on it, sir.” Luke glanced to the window and saw the snowfall had worsened.
Snively did likewise. “Best let this storm pass, Tom. You may lose your way if it gets any worse.”
“I have a compass,” Luke said. “I’ll follow the Platte. Once I get to the Little Blue I may stay at the cabin for a spell before going on to Independence.”
“What’s in Independence? I’ve never known you to spend any portion of the winter there before.”
“It’s personal, sir.”
“Of course it is. I should have known better than to ask.” Snively turned away. “Suit yourself, Hill. Just be back here first thing come spring!”
“Count on it, sir.” Luke took the pay voucher and headed for the door.
Luke did make it to the cabin five days later and set about immediately gathering firewood and fresh game for a long stay, if need be. It was still snowing, with no sign of letting up anytime soon.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Luke did make it to Independence, but not until late in December. Needless to say, Sarah was a bit put out over the months of concern for his safety.
“I’ve been worried,” she said, seeing him there in the open shop door. She glanced at a nearby customer busily looking over some bolts of colorful fabrics.
“I’ll just go find a livery for my mule,” he said, backing away, bringing the door closed as he went.
“You’ll just come on in and make yourself at home in back until I’m finished here,” she said sternly. “There’s soup on the range.”
But this was to no avail. Luke brought the door completely closed and headed off to the mule, not having said a word in return.
It only took a short while before Sarah showed up at the livery down the street, even angrier than before. She brushed past the livery owner and soon caught up with Luke, who was leading the calico mule into a stall at the back of the barn.
“I know you must have a good reason why you showed up two months later than you promised!”
“I guess I was having too much fun enjoying the peace and quiet of my cabin,” he said as a direct affront to her attitude. “I’ll be staying at that hotel of yours if you want to visit after I’ve had a bath.”
“You’ll bathe at the shop! And you’ll stay there with me, as you did before.”
“Not likely,” he said, preparing to remove the saddle. “As I recall you never opened for business one day during my stay. How do you expect to maintain conducting yourself in that fashion?”
“If I recall I had fifteen years of desire stored up prior to that visit. And you expected me to overcome that in the precious few days you were to be here, while at the same time maintaining a business?”
“How much desire do you have stored up this time, Sarah?” He removed the saddle and tossed it over the fence.
“More than you can handle today, big fella.” She moved into him.
“Well, then I guess we best get started.” He looked around for an audience and saw none.
“Here? Now?” She looked into his eyes and then did some glancing around of her own.
“Yeah, now! You got a business to get back to, don’t you?”
“How?” She looked around the stall. It was clean and had fresh straw on the floor, but there was a mule moving around in there. Then, before she knew what was taking place, Luke had her doubled over the hay manger and lifted the dress; her bloomers came down, and he entered her.
“Oh, Luke!” she murmured, her face buried in the hay. Out of all the ways he had made love to her in the past, this was the most memorable in her dreams. And it always brought satisfying results. She loved the surprise, and this time was no exception. “Oh, Luke…” She stiffened her legs to rise up and meet him more squarely, bracing under the hammering she received. The warmth came over her in violent waves, and for a time she was in total darkness, not thinking where she was, or even caring as the sensation mounted. Again and again she saw stars in the darkness, but none more brilliant than the millions she witnessed now.
When it was over, and he lingered, Sarah felt her legs buckling under her, supported only by the manger under her waist. She was completely drained of all her strength and momentarily found it impossible to stand.
Luke admired her shapely rump for a moment before lifting her shiny white silk underwear. He gathered himself before hoisting her vertical to face him. Then he went to work picking straws of hay
from her hair.
Sarah, however, had another idea and went hungrily for his lips. His face was hairy as a bear; she would fix that again in time, but those lips were irresistible right now. She devoured them as long as he would let her, which she knew would be brief. He wasn’t much for that sort of thing.
When he finally backed away, she brushed herself off, tucked some fallen hair over an ear, and walked smartly from the stall. She tried hard now, the elegant dress lifted high to bypass the filthy floor, not to show she had just experienced the best sex of her life. Once out of the barn, she couldn’t help but giggle like a child who had just gotten by with something delightful, and did so almost uncontrollably until reaching her shop door. There she sobered and entered. “Sorry for the absence, Misses Delaney. Have you found a fabric?”
“I like the sky blue wool,” she responded. “Who was that man?”
“Oh,” Sarah stiffened and smiled. “Just an old friend.”
“Does he have a brother?” Delaney, an attractive woman of about forty, returned the smile. “I could do with a bit of excitement, myself.”
Sarah looked herself over in the mirror to see what may have given her away and found her face terribly flushed, along with slightly mussed hair, which prompted her to say, “But, I’m widowed, Misses Delaney.”
“Measuring the attention I’ve received from Walter lately, I’m feeling a bit widowed as well, Misses Martin,” she chuckled.
“I believe I know the feeling,” Sarah said, remembering those last years with Frank, and laughed with her, even though it wasn’t so funny at the time.
It wasn’t too long after this that Sarah, through her shop window, saw Luke enter the hotel across the street, carrying his rifle and personal things. So he was serious about staying over there. It was just as well, she thought. Being an owner, she had access to all the keys and could slip in, day or night, as she pleased.
Luke booked the room for three months and paid in advance. Being this was the off season for travelers, the price was reasonable. The entire stay only set him back forty-five dollars, or the equivalent of fifty cents per day. Not bad for a warm room and a roof over his head. A bath was two bits extra though, and Luke ordered one up right away. He wanted to be clean at least for Sarah’s next visit, which he was sure would be shortly after her closing time. She was a difficult woman to keep satisfied. He expected her to keep him quite busy over the next week or so. Not that he wasn’t looking forward to it; he was. She was great in that way, but now that he knew Breanne could be alive, there was bound to be some guilt involved. It seemed he was feeling it already after that stunt in the livery. Luke knew he needed to put her out of his mind for a while, otherwise it would be a long winter here. With James Bordeaux writing letters to friends in the east, maybe he would have some positive news of Breanne’s whereabouts in the spring.
Luke’s assumption Sarah would show up at his room later proved true when a faint knock came at his door, just after sundown.
“I’m in the tub,” he said, expecting a response, but none came. Instead he heard the lock snap. He grabbed the towel furnished with the bath and held it at the ready to cover himself if need be.
Sarah flew through the door with an armload of brown paper-wrapped bundles and dumped the works on the bed. “I bought you some clothes,” she smiled over at him. Then, from a bag over her arm, she produced scissors and a comb. “Snip, snip. Are you ready?”
“I am, but you didn’t need to buy me clothes.”
“Oh, I bought them over a period of months. Since you were here last, every time missing you became unbearable, I went out and bought you something. That’s why there’s so much. And there’s more over at the shop. You can pick out what you like when I’m done.” She knelt by the tub and brought up the scissors and comb.
“Be careful how much you take off, remember?”
“How could I ever forget? It’s what kept you away from me all those years.”
“I suppose it is,” he said and leaned back so she could get at the bushy beard first. “I see you didn’t waste any time getting your own key.”
“Do you mind?”
“Nope! There’s no privacy out in the wide open spaces, why should I care if I have any here?”
“Well, I wouldn’t want just anyone walking into your room.”
“Like who?”
“That lady that was in my shop today when you came asked if you had a brother. Assuming, of course, you were taken.”
“Does she have an itch for the wild?”
“Maybe just an itch, period,” Sarah said and giggled.
“Well then, send her on over!”
“You’re a delightful man, Luke McKinney.”
“Breanne is alive, Sarah.”
“What…!” Sarah froze in mid-snip, leaving the comb dangling from his beard. “How do you know?” Shock consumed her.
“We have a son,” he added.
“A son?” She was confused and dismayed. “Did you find her?”
“No,” he said casually.
“Then how do you know?”
“If you’re asking about our son, I found him at a Lakhota village. He was born there.”
“Is he white?”
“He’s my and Breanne’s son. Of course he’s white. According to the chief of the tribe, Breanne thought he was stillborn. That’s why she never took him along when she left. Some woman in the same tepee switched the babies and ran off with Chaska.”
“Chaska?”
“That’s his name.”
“I’m… I’m happy for you, Luke,” Sarah said sincerely. “Will I meet him…? I mean, what is he like? My God, I don’t believe this! Aren’t you happy?”
“I guess I’m still getting used to it. He looks a little like me. Has Breanne’s eyes, though, now that I think about it. He’s fourteen or fifteen, I guess.”
“Then Breanne doesn’t know?”
“I reckon not.”
“So you’re taking this chief’s word she’s alive?” Sarah asked, knowing all the while she was. At least she was fifteen years ago, when Sarah saw her last. An intense guilt crept over her.
“I went to the grave. Breanne had a missing tooth. The body I buried has all its teeth.”
“My God, Luke, you think you can find her?”
“I believe she may have gone east. I’ve got a friend, owns the trading store at Fort Laramie, writing some letters.”
“Well, I wish you luck…” Sarah got out before she could hold it in no longer and turned away to shed painful tears.
Luke climbed from the murky bath and wrapped the towel about him before taking her into his arms. “Hey now! There’s no need for that!” he said, holding her tight. “I suspect she has remarried. But she ought to know, don’t you think?”
“What?” Sarah sniffled.
“Well, that we have a son, and that I’m alive. I’m sure she thinks I’m dead. Captain Bill Cooper did a good job of spreading that around these parts, as you know.”
“I heard it… Yes, she probably does.” Sarah flicked away the tears. “Do you have feelings for me, Luke? I have to know that.”
“I do,” he said. “I’ve been thinking a lot about you lately. That’s why it took me so long to get here…”
“Till near Christmas?”
“It was a lot to think about,” he said with a devious smile.
“And…?”
“And, I made a decision. But I didn’t come by it easily. It wasn’t till you followed me to the livery down the street that I decided.”
Sarah looked into his eyes, wanting. “What…?”
“Well, I’ve been thinking of settling down. Head west and squat on some land, I mean a lot of land, build a ranch. What do you think?”
“Think about what, you leaving me again?”
“No. I was thinking of asking you to come with me,” he said as if she should have gathered that from the beginning.
“Luke!” she screamed and found his lips briefly. “
Do you mean it?”
“I do,” he said and pulled her in tight.
“When do we leave? Spring?” she asked excitedly.
“I have one little thing to handle at Kearny first thing, then I’ll come back for you,” he said, hoping this Harney thing didn’t mushroom into a full blown Indian war.
“Why can’t I come with you when you go in the spring? They must have quarters where I can stay at Fort Kearny, while you’re off and about doing what you do?”
“They do, but what of your shop? And the interest in this hotel? You’ll need time to…”
“My aunt will take the dress shop, that’s not a problem. The hotel won’t be either. I’m sure Misses Rogers will buy my share. She has done quite well here. Both of us have,” she said. “Oh, please Luke, let me go? I don’t want you riding off without me ever again.”
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Two years after Breanne traveled to New York with Harry Budd, she accepted his proposal of marriage. Even though she wasn’t in love with him at the time, an attitude that hadn’t changed much over the years, she respected him for his extreme kindness, as well as for his undying love of God. She, too, had become somewhat religious through his constant preaching, and eventually consented to become a teacher at the mission school. It was a way for her to fight the boredom and loneliness associated with the long absences of Harry, who ventured off quite frequently to the Methodist colony established by Jason Lee in the Willamette Valley of Oregon.
One such recent trip kept him away for over a year. But now, at least, she had the girls for company. The oldest, Jane, was twelve, and the youngest, Susan, was ten. They were bright, studious girls that gave her little grief. They were much too young to be showing any definite signs of womanly beauty, but then, Breanne herself hadn’t until she was nearly thirty. She had been slim and gangly up till then. Now at thirty-one, she had bloomed into a fine figure of a woman, as Pierre had once told Luke she would, given time. But she was certain even Pierre, at the time he said it, hadn’t foreseen it to take this long for her to mature physically.
