The Last Patrol

[1stSgt Fritz King]

There was a lot going though his mind.  He was thinking about the unit; how far they'd come, and how far they had yet to go. 

He was thinking about Ella's request; he could take her to see Captain Schurmann, but he wasn't sure how much that'd help.  The mess was run by the fort staff, and Bill had no pull with them.  However, Bill knew George Crook, and the General had considerable pull.

For years there had been problems with supplies.  Freighting them into frontier forts was hazardous enough; men will kill if they went hungry.  He'd seen it in the war.  Then the sutlers would siphon off some of the best stuff, to resell at outrageous prices.  Someone in the Quartermaster Corps could line their pockets well.  Then the Officer's mess would sort through the rest and take the best of what remained, leaving the men with little more than hardtack, salt pork, beans and coffee.     

And then there was Ella herself.  By escorting her home, he may have put her character into question.  And by spending time with Scarlet in their quarters, the assumption could be made that he'd spent time with Ella.  "Damn those paper-thin walls," he thought.  Though they hadn't talked much about it, Fritz knew that Ella's marriage was strained.  He had no doubt that Dr. Coatsworth was a professional, but if he had the choice, he'd want Ella to patch him up.     

All this was swirling through his mind as he heard the comments.  He'd come to expect crude remarks.  He'd made his fair share wearing dirty shirt blue.  But when he heard Cyrus and Teddy talking about how they wanted Scarlet to ride them like horses, he'd about had enough.

"Yes Ella.  Cyrus and I have known each other a very long time...long enough to know that when true ladies are present, 'soldier talk' is repulsive."  He looked at Teddy as he continued.  "Somewhere out there, that lady has a husband...or maybe a boyfriend or a brother.  Would you want somebody talking about your wife, or your girlfriend, or your sister like that?"

He hadn't realized it, but he'd raised his voice while talking.  All eyes were on him now.

"The women who ride with Marshal Ross, are ladies, and will be treated as such, until or unless they prove to be otherwise.  Anyone who mistreats these women will deal with me."

He turned and left the mess tent, without taking his loaves of bread.       

[Scarlet Angel]

Cyrus was surprised by Fritz's reaction, although after a moment for it to sink in he guessed he shouldn't have been.

"My sincerest apologies for jokes in very poor taste Miss Ella. It will not happen again. From me or any of the scouts who ride with us." Cyrus said, then excused himself and caught up to Fritz.

"I apologized to Ella for the poor taste of conversation and I will apologize to Scarlet later. I can assure you won't hear that sort of talk around our camp." Cyrus stopped in front of Fritz and faced him. "I've gotten to know Scarlet some, and you're right she can be a very gracious lady. I knew her first husband very well; he could have a rotten temper. Never minded another man admiring her, but protective as all hell. I imagine if I had caught him at a bad time I might have been spitting a tooth or two out for such a comment. On a good day he would have told me to eat my heart out. You remind me a lot of Travis." He looked Fritz up and down "Thank God yer not as big. I'll give you one good shot if it'll make ya fell better, unless you would prefer give the same offer to Bo."

[Elegant Ella]

Dinner time was done, and a couple loaves were left in addition to the few Ella had stashed in her quarters for her own consumption.  It was the fastest she had ever seen 80 pounds of bread disappear. 

Once Fritz reacted to the soldier chatter, Ella realized what "bread rising" must refer to.  By giving Fritz and Scarlet some privacy, she had exposed herself to gossip.  Well, if Alan wanted to divorce her, he already could on grounds of barrenness or desertion.  The only reason he would need to go looking for scandal would be to divorce her without paying her the marriage settlement. 

The bigger problem with gossip was the risk that some of the soldiers would think she was available.  She had hoped that the bread-making would make soldiers think of her as "motherly".  The scouts were treating her like a sister.  If one of the soldiers propositioned her, any of Cyrus's scouts who heard might start a fight.  Imagining Chris starting a fight to defend her would have been silly a few days ago, but he was changing his attitude while his wound healed cleanly and was almost as protective of her as Tensleep. 

She needed to get away from the fort for a few days and let the gossip die down on its own.  Maybe Scarlet had gotten a starting point for the search for Carrie. 

[1stSgt Fritz King]

Fritz already felt like an idiot for his response.  He took a minute to answer.

"I've heard her husband is very much like Travis...not in stature, perhaps, but in spirit."  He put his hand out.  "I appreciate the offer, but there's no need.  I let emotion get the better of me.  I won't happen again."

The two men shook hands, looking each other in the eye.

"Now, what was that you said about "knowing what we're doing?"

[Scarlet Angel]

 "I got a spy in your ranks." Cyrus chuckled. "Our camp gets nightly reports of what you do during the day."

Fritz raised an eyebrow.

"Billy Glass, he's been tagging after Teddy for some time now. So he comes over and tells us about his day.

He wanted to be a soldier like his father. We rode with him, maybe you remember Will, was killed late 64."

Fritz shook his head yes. "I thought I the name sounded familiar."

"When Billy got assigned to the same company his dad had been in he must have spent every waking moment asking us questions. We have taught him everything we could. Now it's your turn."

Fritz could tell by Cyrus's voice he was glad Billy was serving under Fritz's command.

Cyrus continued "From what Billy says you are a very good shot have insisted they practice and he says they are improving. He says you have them going through exercises sharpening their skills while the other troops do very little. The boy thrives on hard work and challenge."   

[1stSgt Fritz King]

"Well, now I need your skills," Fritz replied.

Cyrus raised an eyebrow.

"You know this Army likes to fight at distance.  The tribes we'll face don't fight that way."

"True...so what do you want from us?"

"I need you and yours to teach the men hand-to-hand fighting skills."

Cryrus Grinned wide.

"Now," Fritz added, "I don't want you to hurt them, just show them what they're up agianst, and teach them to fight to win."

Cyrus nodded.  "You mean, teach 'em to fight dirty."

"Yeah...I suppose I do.  Let's meet in the corral after chow."

"I think I'm gonna enjoy this," Cyrus added.

"That's what I'm afraid of." 

   

[Elegant Ella]

Back at the scout camp, Samuel led a group of scouts over to Ella to ask the question that he had been saving overnight.
"Ella, we hear we're going to be riding with the company that Lieutenant King is training.  What can you tell us about him?"

There was no trace of a smirk on his face, so Ella decided bread-rising gossip was not on his mind.  "Let's settle down.  It's a long story," she answered.  After everyone was comfortable, she started talking.

"I met Fritz King the first time when the Army doctors decided he was more likely to die from his wounds than to live after the battle of Cold Harbor in '63.  Patients the doctors couldn't help were put under nursing care and otherwise ignored.  They had decided the same about Cyrus Kane.  My Aunt Helen and I, and the other nurses, did what we could.  Maybe a twentieth of the patients left to the nurses survived, including Fritz and Cyrus.  I don't remember Fritz from that meeting.  It had been my first battle and all of the patients with gunshot wounds are blended together in my memory.  Cyrus's wounds were unique, so I remember him.  The next time I met Fritz was outside Nogales, Mexico.  A posse led by the US Marshal from Tucson had ridden into Mexico in pusuit of a marauder named Jack McGreww.  The Marshal knew the local Federale colonel and somehow negotiated three days for us to continue our pursuit.  But the price was to take a captured US soldier off his hands.  The Federales returned his horse and his guns, and sent him away with the Marshal.  They came to the rendevous point, and I patched up the damage the Federales had done after they had captured Fritz, when he crossed the border looking for a couple of his men who had disappeared on a foraging mission.  He was a First Sergeant then.  He helped us on our mission, and lost his horse as a result.  He said he remembered me from before, and gave me his medicine pouch." She pulled the string around her neck and displayed the beaded leather pouch. 

"The sting of your patching probably reminded him," interjected Chris.  The listening scouts joined Chris in laughter. 

Ella continued her story, "Because some of our people were injured when we cleaned out the bandit nest, we were slowed down heading back across the border.  It didn't help that a general disagreed with the local colonel and wanted to arrest us.  We got out of that with help from some Apache, and decided to take a different route home.  A Mexican army patrol almost caught up with us, so we rode by moonlight to get as much distance between us and them as possible, in hopes of crossing the border before they caught up.  We were only a couple miles from the border, when a patrol spotted us and fired a signal to the patrols guarding the border that we were sneaking between.  The wagon with the wounded went as fast as it could with me and Doc McCandless trying to keep our patients from being battered to pieces when the wagon hit bumps and ruts.  Fritz got himself onto a high point and shot the pursuing men until we cleared the border and they gave up.  I wasn't in any position to watch, but those who did said that a Mexican fell on every shot."

[1stSgt Fritz King]

Fritz arrived at the corral first.  He'd missed lunch, but figured he could hold his own.  He took off his gunbelt and blouse.  He took the bowie from it's sheath and put it in the small of his back.

The men began to straggle in.

[Scarlet Angel]

It was going to be interesting Cyrus thought as he walked into camp. The scouts had been practicing their hand to hand combat, just because they enjoyed it. He chuckled at the thought "teach em to fight dirty." Fritz had certainly come to the right place for that.

Most of them were gathered around Ella listening to her story. He waited politely for Ella to finish then cleared his throat.

Every body turned to look. Cyrus broke into a devilish smile.

"Gather round."

Everybody gathered around.

"As most of you know we will be scouting for Lieutenant King and his troop." Cyrus just couldn't help himself as his smile grew even bigger. "Lieutenant King has requested a favor from us."

Cyrus looked around, he had everyone's attention.

"He has requested we assist him in polishing the soldier's hand to hand combat skills."

There were a lot of grins and a few chuckles.

"Now you remember we will be fighting along side these men. We don't want to hurt 'em."

"We won't hurt 'em any worse than we hurt each other. They're our brothers in combat." Somebody yelled, which got a few chuckles.

"Can we scare 'em boss." Black beard said.

"You can growl at 'em all you want." Cyrus replied. "We're going to the corral."

Samuel held his hand down to assist Ella up. "Maybe you should bring some medical supplies, just in case." He paused "that is if you even care to join us."

[Elegant Ella]

"Of course I'm coming.  I'd better pick up my saddlebags from the stable on the way there," Ella replied to Samuel.  "I've only got enough in my pockets for routine use.  And I don't think this is going to be routine.    Until someone needs patching, it should be entertaining to watch.  It'll be interesting to add something of what you men know to what I've learned from Scarlet and Patches."

[Scarlet Angel]

Samuel looked over his shoulder at Scarlet who strangely enough was walking next to Chris.

"Miss Ella." He leaned over and whispered "I just can't imagine you fighting like Scarlet. But I never figured a woman would fight like that 'till I seen her fight. I really think she would have." He paused trying to find the words that wouldn't sound so offensive. "altered Chris or killed him had that fight gone on much longer."

They traveled in one group to the corral. Cyrus glanced over his shoulder, it was a scary looking mob he rode with. "God bless their wicked souls." he thought.

Cyrus stopped at the fence. "You want them to wrap their blades with something or shall I just turn 'em over to ya?" He asked Fritz.

[1stSgt Fritz King]

The men were sitting on the fence rails, not knowing what to do.  It was an unusual sight.  Their Lieutenant had stripped his shirt, probably because he didn't want to dirty it.

"Keep 'em where they are for now," Fritz replied.  "Ah, Teddy.  I see you're here.  Why don't you come on over, and keep an old man company."

Teddy looked to Cyrus, who just nodded his head.

The boy was quick, he gave him that.  He charged at Fritz with the energy and exuberance of youth...

...and Fritz dropped him with a kick to the balls.

Teddy fell to his knees, groaning.  The groan must've been multiplied by at least twenty troopers.  Fritz clotheslined the boy with his right arm, and leapt accross his chest, straddling him.  Fritz pulled the bowie with his left, and drove it into the ground an inch from Teddy's ear.

"That's what it's like.  You're dead.  No Marquis de Queensbury rules here.  No rules at all."  Fritz stood.  "Ella, could you come and help this man?"

"We're fighting against an enemy who's trained to fight his whole life.  They are a warrior race, a horse culture.  They could ride before they could walk.  They learned to hunt and to fight...and to kill.  They use knives, clubs, spears and axes.  And once you're dead, they mutilate your corpse.  They believe if you're maimed in death, you will also be in the afterlife."

He pulled his knife from the earth.  "This is a fight to the death.  Expect no mercy."           

[Elegant Ella]

"Scarlet wouldn't have bothered with anything short of killing him if I hadn't given her a reason to leave him alive, which is why I have a responsibility to get him to moderate his behavior," replied Ella.  "I don't have Scarlet's fierceness, but I can and do fight when I have to.  I've been a Deputy Marshal for well over two years.  Bandits have thought that a healer has to be meek and useful, so they tried to capture me to get their wounded taken care of.  I have survived those encounters, the bandits have not.   I have killed men, when there was no choice."

"How many men have you killed?" asked Samuel.

"At least a dozen, maybe two," answered Ella calmly.  She stepped forward to help Teddy off the field of battle. 

[Scarlet Angel]

Cyrus said nothing but he knew "don't hurt 'em just was replaced in the scouts's minds by don't kill 'em.. Oh well it was Fritz's show right now. He had caught Teddy off guard or Teddy had made the mistake and under estimated the Lieutenant. Cyrus wasn't sure but he knew the others wouldn't make the same mistake.

"Old age and treachery ladies." Cyrus said as Teddy walked by.

"At what age does old age and treachery over take youth and skill Cyrus?" Samuel asked.

Cyrus looked over the entire group. Samuel was one of the younger men that rode with them. Teddy wasn't the oldest but he was towards the top half. Then there was Black beard not as old as Teddy either but by Cyrus's guess one of the most treacherous, and most skilled.

Cyrus smiled. "You don't count the age by years Samuel, you count them by experience, and treachery is a state of mind. So your worst opponent will be someone" Cyrus spoke as he walked among the group "who is faster, and fights dirtier than you. You're daddies probably taught you how to fist fight, perhaps some of you have learned the unwritten code of don't hit below the belt. This ain't gonna be no fist fight and a man fighting for his life is about as bad as a trapped wounded griz.

You all take a good look 'round ya. The person standing next to you might just save your sorry hide someday soon. I've heard the comments from both sides. Yes in this little family we got Indians, half breeds"

Some of the soldiers looked guilty.

"Rebs, women and crazy old S.O. B's "

Both scouts and soldiers looked guilty now.

"You all better be nice to Ella, she may save your sorry ass out there, and let me tell you this, if I fall in battle I don't want the army surgeon I want Miss Ella to tend my wounds."

All eyes went to Ella, there was mumbling in the crowd, their eyes went back to Cyrus.

"Chis here can tell you what it's like to fight with the other lady that rides with us." He said walking by Chris and Scarlet.

Some of the scouts grinned remembering the fight. Chris slightly blushed.

Cyrus paused in front of Black beard. "Crazy no doubt, but skilled enough to take a man's life or save it." He began walking again. "Lieutenant King brought us all together so we could teach each other something. I expect some of you will get hurt, I expect you not to hold a grudge for it, because the same man who hurts you today is going to be fighting next to you when we are in the field."

Cyrus had made it back to the fence. "I'm done with my rant now, you may have them back."       

[Elegant Ella]

Ella said quietly, "That was well-played, Mr. Grey."

"What do you mean, Miz Ella?  I lost," replied Teddy.

"You might not have lost if you had fought the way you usually do.  But you let Lieutenant King get that low blow in so that he could make his point.  By losing, you gave him some standing with the scouts so that they will listen to him and also reinforced his standing with his own soldiers." 

[Scarlet Angel]

Teddy chuckled. "I prefer the way you think Miz Ella, but the truth is he got the drop on me. He ain't no regular soldier."

[Elegant Ella]

"That's right.  He's not a regular soldier, he is an old soldier.  He's got 20 years on most of those boys under his command.  Cyrus is the only one here who is close to the same age."  Ella sighed, "The sight of those children in uniform makes me feel old."

"Try getting dumped in the dirt for feeling old," replied Teddy. 

"You would do better against him in a rematch, now that you know some of what to expect." 

"It would be a tough fight.  You've watched the scouts playing.  Do you think any of them can take him?"

"Bo can, no question.  Blackbeard might be able to.  Chris can't keep his temper well enough.  Samuel needs more experience.  Fritz has too much advantage of strength or reach over the others."

"What about Scarlet?"

"That's hard to say.  He has advantages of reach and strength, although she is very strong for a woman.  She is faster.  I think the deciding factor would be gender.  Fritz would hold back because she is a woman, and she would not hesitate to go for his sensitive parts."

"What about you?"

"If I'm lucky, I might last as long as you just did.  I've got almost as much reach, but am weaker and slower.  He might hold back for my gender, but I wouldn't go for his weakness unless I was scared enough." 

[1stSgt Fritz King]

To the untrained eye, it looked like a riot was going on in the corral, or at least an all-out brawl.  The only thing missing was someone taking bets.  But Fritz and Cyrus walked around, breaking up anything that got too far out of hand.  They didn't need any blood feuds on this expedition...they had Indians to fight.

The noise had attracted anyone who wasn't gainfully employed.  And as it happened, General Crook and Captain Schurmann weren't gainfully employed at the moment.

"LIEUTENANT KING!!!  FRONT AND CENTER!!!"

Fritz ran to the fence line and saluted.  "Good afternoon Gentlemen!"

Bill looked him over.  Smeared with dust and grime, no shirt; but smiling from ear to ear.
Bill said "You're out of uniform."

"Yes sir," Fritz replied.  "It's the only one I've got."

The General looked at his men.  "What are you doing here?"

"Hand-to-hand combat training sir," Fritz said.  "It's a skill we don't practice, and I figure where we're going, we'll need it."

General Crook nodded.  "Then we won't keep you.  Carry on."

Fritz saluted.  "Gentlemen, may I introduce Mrs. Ella Coatsworth, our resident medic?"

Both men tipped their hats as she approached.

"Mrs. Coatsworth has some concerns about the men's nutrition, and some suggestions on correcting deficiencies."

           
 
   

[Elegant Ella]

Ella handled a cloth containing two loaves of bread to Fritz, "You didn't stay to eat." 

Turning to the other two officers, Ella said, "What I've seen in the mess tent so far looks like the diet prisoners in the War survived on - salt-cured meat and hardtack, either fried or boiled into submission.  It's been known for a over hundred years that such a diet causes health problems for sailors and prisoners, principally scurvy and night blindness.  For sailors, there is a valid excuse that they are limited to the supplies they can carry onboard.

"What excuse is there here?  I know all food has to be carried in by wagon, and it's too long a trip for fresh fruits or vegetables to make it.  But root vegetables - onions, potatoes, carrots, turnips - all keep well.  Canned tomatoes keep well.  Feeding the men stew with canned tomatoes, onions, carrots, potatoes would be a big improvement in their diet.  Giving them real bread would be another improvement.  That just requires a supply of flour, and it doesn't have to be white flour, and manpower.  Three of us made 80 pounds of bread yesterday afternoon and evening."

General Crook replied, "I'll have to look into this.  The officers mess serves more variety than you say the men are getting.  I don't have command over the fort staff, but I will see what can be done."

[Scarlet Angel]

Bo had taken a group of inexperienced soldiers to one side and was trying to teach them defensive moves. Scarlet helped them by giving instruction on how to do some of the moves Bo was trying to show them. He was sure he was the only one that found it odd she didn't offer to spar with anybody, nobody asked to engage her though. Bo thought about it but instincts told him to leave her be. 

By the time they were done the group had a decent idea but they would need a lot more practice before Bo thought they would even be ready to go against some of the more senior men.

When the group broke to go to the mess tent again Scarlet headed for the barn to feed and check on the horses. Bo watched for a moment then followed.

Scarlet was leaning on the stall door, her head rested on her arm.

"You ok?" Bo asked.

"Yes." She simply replied but didn't move.

"I was surprised you didn't offer some demonstration out there." He said peering into the stall noting Lucky wasn't fed yet. Stepping over he measured out the horses food an poured it into the bucket.

"I was only interested in demonstrating to Cyrus what it would feel like to have my legs wrapped around him, but I figured it wouldn't have been to good if I'd broken his ribs 'er something." Her tone was flat and mater of fact.

Bo stepped over and fed Dancer and his horses. Then stepped up behind her and began to rub her shoulders and back. Scarlet took a deep breath and relaxed.

"You sure you're alright?"

"I'm tired." She said taking another deep breath. "That feels nice, would you rub a little lower."

"How low?" He teased, expecting her to say to kiss her butt or something along that line.

Scarlet reached around and touched the small of her back. "There."

"Maybe you should spend a night in that nice bed instead of out here in the straw with your horse for a night."

Scarlet said nothing but he knew she rolled her eyes.

"You've spent a lot of time keeping busy and while it looks good on you maybe you should take some time to yourself." Bo had noticed she seemed to look really good lately, he wasn't sure if it was because she was busy teaching the men to ride bareback, she had struck a good friendship with Black beard and he had kept her laughing. Bo had even caught them one evening sword fighting and talking like pirates. Her moods had been swinging lately but since her ride with Tensleep that had changed. It was like she'd gone out one person and returned somebody else.

"What is that supposed to mean?" She said standing up straight and moving out of his reach.

"You haven't had a break since Fritz left the Starr. You've been busy unless you've been sleeping and I know neither you nor Ella been doing much of that." Bo paused and looked at her.

"Can I ask you something?"

Scarlet eyed him for a long time then finally replied. "You haven't asked me that since I was nine. You always just say I'm going to ask or you blurt it out so?"

He looked around to see if anybody was near then stepped close. "Scarlet are you..."

They were interrupted by two soldiers coming through the door. Bo took a long step back. The solders never noticed. "If you don't get over to the mess there will be nothing left." One of them called out.

"You hungry?" He said offering his arm to Scarlet.

Scarlet looked curiously at him then took the offered arm. She was sure that's not what he was going to ask but what ever it was had been personal. She wondered if he was going to ask her again if there was something wrong between her and Fritz. He had asked that once before or if he knew she was pregnant. Scarlet figured Bo would be the first to guess, after all he had lived with them when she was pregnant the first time.