The Last Patrol

[1stSgt Fritz King]

"You're right where you need to be," Fritz said, and took her hand.  She looked at him and smiled.  He saw the pain in her eyes, reflected in his own.

"I've fought side-by-side with you for over three years now," Scarlet said.  "It wouldn't be right for you to go this one alone."

"Just because I said I couldn't ask you to come with me," Fritz replied, "doesn't mean I don't want you here.  I love you Scarlet.  I intend to grow old with you.  You watching my back makes that more likely.  Just promise me you won't get yourself shot in the process."

"No promises," she said, "but I'll do my best."  Scarlet looked down the trail.  "I want to make you happy.  If having a family makes you happy, that's something I just can't do.  Maybe you should find another woman who can do that for you."

He reined in.  "Nonsense!  I want you.  I need you, and that's all I need."

She spoke in a small voice.  "I had a dream about you...with another woman...and a baby.  Is there anyone else...?"

"No," Fritz replied.  "I met a woman on the trail, who reminded me a lot of you.  She would've volunteered, but I made it clear she's not what I need.  Like I said, I need you."

"But the baby...?"

"Grey Eagle told me that it was not my path...that I had this path to follow, and I must follow it to the end.  Wherever it leads..."

Scarlet nodded.  "Where do you think it will lead?"

"I don't know," Fritz said, "but wherever it leads, I want you there with me." 

 

   

[Scarlet Angel]

Scarlet gently squeezed his hand, leaned over and softly kissed him. "I want to be there with you." She said.

The group rode the rest of way in a comfortable silence. The negative charge in the air seemed to be dissipating.

Scarlet pulled Lucky to a stop beneath two trees on a small rise above the river.

"I was here a couple days ago. You can see the sun rise and set, the wild horses travel that trail to the river." She said pointing to a well worn path.

"This is nice place." Fritz said with a smile then dismounted.

The rest of the group followed suit.

Ella took the small shovel she had brought from her pack.

"Give that to me." Bo said holding his hand out. Ella handed the small shovel over.

Once the hole was dug, Scarlet took the small box Ella had emptied medical supplies from and given her, sunk to her knees and put it in the ground.

Bo recognized the Comanche prayer she said and finished it along with her. When she finished the prayer she stood and backed away. 

[1stSgt Fritz King]

Fritz pulled the small bible from his vest pocket.  He removed his slouch, crossed himself, and opened to the Psalms.

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want..."

A tear fell on the page.  He brushed it off.

"He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me besides still waters.  He restores my soul.  He leads me in the path of righteousness for his name sake.  Even though I walk thorugh the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for you are with me.  Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies.  You annoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  Surely goodness and mercy will follow me, all the days of my life."

He looked up.  "And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Fritz crossed himself and whispered, "Amen."   

[Elegant Ella]

Ella quietly recited a prayer in Hebrew, then quoted,
"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace."

She turned away, and started gathering stones for a cairn. 

[Scarlet Angel]

Once all the stones were in place Bo approached Scarlet. He looked into her eyes "You going to be alright?"

She knew what he was thinking. Bo figured she and Fritz would like some time alone here, but he didn't want to walk away if he thought she would start a fight then ride off.

She looked back at him and smiled softly. "I'll be alright Bo. Thank you for."

"I didn't ask him to come with us Scarlet, I just gave him a graceful exit from the fort." Bo gave her a tight hug and kissed her cheek.

"Ella and I will be at the river when the two of you decide to join us." He said loud enough for Ella and Fritz to hear then mounted up.

Scarlet slipped her arms around Fritz's waist and laid her head on his shoulder. He slipped his arms around her and held her tight. He felt her take a deep breath and finally relax a bit.

"I am glad you came."  She said softly.

[Elegant Ella]

Ella mounted up and followed Bo to the river.  He had pulled up to wait for her just out of sight of Scarlet and Fritz. 

They returned to the fishing hole they had used before.  Ella collected bait and put some water in the bucket while Bo fetched poles. 

There were already two fish in the bucket before Scarlet and Fritz joined them. 

[Scarlet Angel]

Fritz and Scarlet talked as they walked side by side to the river. Stopping at the edge they watched the water swirl lazily around the rocks. Fritz slipped his hand into hers.

"The first time we sat along a river together I felt a fire in your touch, a feeling I had never felt before and I knew I was falling in love with you. I still feel that electricity in your touch and I know." He turned to face her. "No matter what happens we were meant to be together Milady."

Scarlet looked into his eyes, he recognized the fire that burned there, the fire he'd seen start that day on the river. She had tried to fight it at first then gave into it. Most days he could see it burn brightly when she looked at him.

"I fought to be with you then and I will fight to be with you now. Where you go I will go. I will be there to share your pain and your joys because I love you." She stood on the tips of her toes and gently kissed him.

They continued along the river edge until they reached Ella and Bo. Two poles had been stuck in the ground awaiting their arrival.

The group enjoyed a lazy quiet afternoon filling the buckets with fish and the lunch Ella had packed, the time to head back seemed like it came too soon.

[Elegant Ella]

"Scarlet, you can decide this evening based on how you feel whether we want to go after Carrie tomorrow or wait another day.  I would normally prescribe a second day of rest, but most of my patients don't take that prescription," said Ella as they prepared to mount up for the return to the fort.  "I would like to be away from the fort tomorrow, on Sunday.  If the men get a rest day, they'll be able to spread and expand gossip even faster than usual.  Maybe if we're out of sight, we'll be out of mind as well.  I would like to ignore the gossip, but it actually could hurt me if it somehow got back to Alan."

[Scarlet Angel]

As much as Scarlet would have liked to spend another day with Fritz she knew Ella was right. "I feel alright Ella. The longer we wait the harder it will be to find her." Scarlet replied swinging into the saddle.

She rode next to Fritz. "You going to be alright if I leave tomorrow?" She said tracing her fingers along his arm then taking hold of his hand.

"The sooner you go the sooner you return right?"

"Absolutely" She said squeezing his hand before she let go and moved Lucky slightly away from him.

The group of riders could be heard coming down the trail.

"Howdy." Black beard called out. "was luck with you today?"

"Like you boys, some luck some skill." Bo replied.

"Lieutenant, good to see you breath air outside the fort. Spect to see you at the cook out." Black beard said then looked at Scarlet "Looks like Miss Ella's prescription was right for you today."

Scarlet smiled "Yes, it was."

"You sure must enjoy fish ma'am, seems to be what you choose most often." Chris said with a tip of his hat to Ella.

"Fish is the only meat available here that is really kosher.  Deer and elk are clean animals, but the kosher requirements require  meat animals to be killed without unnecessary suffering.  That's hard to manage with hunting." Ella replied.

"Guess you're right ma'am." He responded.

"Come on men, we got some work to do so we can eat later. Ladies, Gentlemen." Black beard said moving his horse forward followed by the others in his party.

Scarlet raised an eyebrow as the group rode ahead. "Ella, have you noticed a big change in Chris since you sewed up his leg?"
 

[Elegant Ella]

"Yes, isn't it amazing?" replied Ella.  "It's probably the first time he has ever been wounded in a knife fight that he didn't have three days of fever afterwards.  It's a good thing that the teasing he's getting from the scouts is being good-humored and not belittling,and that it was his comrades who said not to give him chloroform when I cleaned his wound."  Ella paused, then continued, "I do feel embarassed that I caused him so much unnecessary pain.  But I'm not going to discard the charm I made from the bit of his skin that you sliced loose.  I trimmed it off the first time I changed the bandages and modified one of the charms in Grammy's notebooks.  The original used hairs from a horse's mane to tame a difficult horse."

[Scarlet Angel]

"You are a wise and resourceful woman Ella Coatsworth." Scarlet grinned. "Maybe he's never had a woman responsible for his life before either. If he believes that, it can be powerful medicine too. The deal I made for his life was with you. If something happens to you there would be nothing keeping me from taking it, send him with his protector so to speak. Not that I would unless he chooses to fight me again." Scarlet paused a moment then continued. "I will have to ask one of the men if he has said anything about that."

[Elegant Ella]

"Most of what I had overheard between the men has been relief that he tested your skills so that they don't feel that they have to, and nothing that could be taken as encouragement for him to seek a rematch," said Ella. "Grammy's notebooks contain all kinds of information.  She wrote down what she learned from her parents and husband, what she observed herself, and spells and charms that she heard from patients or travelers passing through.  She doubted that most of the charms could work, and said so, but they are recorded in her notebooks.  One she did believe in, and taught me, was what to do with a bird that flies into the house.  I was skeptical, so when a bird flew into the kitchen while I was baking, I just caught it and wrung its neck before throwing the body outside.  Grammy had a fatal stroke that night.  I don't know if that had anything to do with the bird, but I have followed her instructions about birds in the house ever since.  Your mother fainted once when a bird came into the kitchen while we were baking.  She was relieved that I followed Grammy's instructions."

[Scarlet Angel]

Richard watched Cyrus's camp. Not a man sat doing nothing. They all seemed to be working together, even Chris, who Richard was sure was going to be trouble was helping one of the women. Richard ran his hands across the stubble of the short beard that was starting to grow. How did his brother do it?! He had some of the best men at the job but they could also be some of the worst tempered, unforgiving, bloodletting men ever to sit horse back. He looked back at his camp.

He had picked up some of the men that had left Cyrus's group over the years. If they got to drunk they could get out of control. Richard didn't sleep a lot of nights for fear of his life when he group got to drinkin' to much. None of them were what he would call crazy while they were sober. He didn't think he could say the same about the mob Cyrus rode with. The men that had left Cyrus's camp had told Richard they had been run out by the other riders. From his experience with them he knew his men were not lying. How did Cyrus keep these men from tearing each other apart? He could hear the laughter from where he stood.

Cyrus walked over to where Fritz had been drafted into helping dress out one of the deer and get it started to cook.

"I see you came to see what our little world was like and they let you in."

"We was curious ta see if you was right about old soldiers." One of the men said with a grin.

Cyrus looked guilty. "Which part? I say a lot about old soldiers." He replied as he started to help.

"Ya said they had to be wise ta get old. So far we figured you was right."

"How's that?"

"While we spent the day going through the brush chasin' four legged critters he spent the day fishin' and sittin' under a tree with Ella and Scarlet." The man chuckled.

"That's only wise if they are in a good mood." Cyrus replied with a laugh causing the others to laugh along with him.

"We also figure if Ella and Scarlet and Bo tolerate him he's ok people." 

"You boys decide you were gonna play nice with the group of men the Lieutenant rides with?" Cyrus asked.

The men looked at Fritz for a moment before one of them replied.

"He's the first one ever to bring his soldiers into our group and let us toss 'em around some." The man ginned.  "I think we're gonna be ok Cyrus."

The other men nodded their heads in agreement.

"Maybe when the Lieutenant is ready to give up the uniform he could have a second career riding with us. He already knows how ta fight dirty."  Someone said.

"That's high praise coming from these men Fritz. As long as you can tolerate their humor."

[Elegant Ella]

Richard looked at the women in Cyrus's camp and wondered again, "How did Cyrus keep these men from tearing each other apart?" 

A year or so ago, during a spell between assignments, Richard had hired three whores as a treat for his men.  He had paid a pretty penny up front for their time, and then had to pay more to keep them quiet afterwards.  Those two days had been a total disaster.  The men had been impossible to control, even worse than when they had been drinking, and had fought over the women constantly. 

Richard had lost three of his men - two seriously injured in the fighting and one killed trying to break up a fight. 

[Scarlet Angel]

Fritz could see his men headed for the mess tent from where he stood. As much as he would have liked to stay he felt he really should be with them. He picked up a rag and wiped the blood from his hands.

"Where ya going, party is just getting started as they say." Cyrus said looking over at him.

Fritz knew Cyrus would understand. "My men are.."

Cyrus looked over his shoulder. "Yeah you better go catch them and get them over here. We could use some help getting this stuff on the fire or cleaning up the mess.  Just remind them the rules. They are welcome as long as they help and Ella and Scarlet are not here to serve or clean up after 'em. That is unless they would rather eat in there." He said gesturing towards the mess tent.

[1stSgt Fritz King]

It wasn't something he'd considered, but it was a good idea.  These men had learned to fight dirtier together, and no one had been killed.  In a matter of a few weeks, they would be working, fighting, and yes, dying side-by-side.  And Fritz was sure that whatever they were serving in the mess tent, it wasn't near as healthy as what was being served here.

"I'll go get them," Fritz replied.  "And Cyrus...thank you."

[Elegant Ella]

Samuel and Chris had volunteered to help Ella prepare fish for cooking.  They quickly settled into a rhythm of work.  Chris chopped the head off a fish and opened the body cavity, then passed it to Samuel who cleaned out the innards, then passed it to Ella who tucked wild onions and herbs into the opening and placed it on a grill over one corner of the fire.  One bucket of fish used up the plants Ella had gathered. 

"I would like to smoke the rest of the fish, to preserve them for later eating and to take along tomorrow," said Ella.  "I collected fuel for a good smoking fire.  What have we got to use as a smoker?" 

"We already set up a barrel for smoking venison, to save what we weren't going to eat right away from the last hunting trip," said Samuel.  "I've smoked fish before.  You really need to brine it overnight first if you want to keep it more than a few days.  Maybe you should just take cooked fish and fresh venison along tomorrow, and I'll smoke the fish for you, in exchange for you tanning the elk hide.  You did a real good job on it, better than most of the women in my tribe used to do." 

[Scarlet Angel]

Richard couldn't believe what he was seeing. The scouts and the soldiers were mingling when they didn't have to and working next to one another when they didn't have to. The women were doing the same. They weren't waiting on the men like they should be. Then they all ate together but picked up after themselves.

Once they were done eating it looked as if they sat around the fire telling stories or something. One talked and the others laughed.

Richard couldn't hear what was being said. They knew he was there watching but it didn't seem to bother them. He did get glared at by one of the scouts when he tried to move closer so chose to stay were he was at.

A few of the men had instruments and began to play music. The women would dance with who ever asked them, soldiers or scouts. Richard waited for some kind of fight to break out over them, he was disappointed.

[Elegant Ella]

Between dances, Ella saw Richard hanging around at the edge of the firelight, watching.  She could imagine at least one reason for him to hang around, since his men's camp seemed dark and cheerless.  She was relieved that no one invited him to join the party. 

The intensity of Richard's gaze when he looked at Scarlet or at her was disturbing. 

When the party broke up, at a reasonable hour for those planning to ride out in the morning, Fritz and all of hs soldiers escorted Ella and Scarlet to their quarters.  The men waited outside the building for Fritz to come back out. 

Ella picked up the pitcher in the room, and said "I'll go get some water."  She left Fritz and Scarlet to the minute or two of privacy that was all the time Fritz could delay joining his troops.

[Scarlet Angel]

Fritz held Scarlet's hands in his, she was smiling. It looked good on her and it made him smile.

"Penny for your thoughts." He said.

"I'm thinking about what I'm going to miss." She replied looking into his eyes.

"What would that be?" He asked aware the way she looked at him almost made him blush.

Scarlet caressed his cheek with her fingertips and kissed him. The kiss started soft, sweet and warm and grew into hot and passionate leaving them both nearly breathless.

"What is that you slipped into my breast pocket Milady?" He asked when their lips parted.

She smiled again and placed her hand on his chest so he could not retrieve it. "Something you wait to read until I have gone."

Fritz raised an eyebrow.

"It will bring that smile to your face I love so much." She said sweetly. "but for now you should wipe it off your face or those soldiers will be wondering."

"You make it difficult to care what they are thinking at times."

"Good, I hope to keep it that way." Scarlet replied.

Fritz laughed then raised the hand he still held to his lips and kissed it. "Promise you will come back in one piece."

"I will do my very best Sweetheart."

Ella came back into the room.

"You both be careful." Fritz said before joining his men.