Anything Could Happen

[Tensleep]

Tensleep and Johnny had circled the ground where the ambush took place from the time they arrived until it was too dark to see the ground. They had widened their circles until they were out a quarter mile from the men who lay dead and dying. When it was too dark to tell anything about the tracks and sign they both turned to the makeshift camp.

After tending their mounts and grabbing coffee the two men settled away from the fire to talk.

"Johnny I don't like it, not one bit! There ain't no sign of indians except the boys anywhere. This ambush was a try at makin' it look like the Comanche did it. The ground is cut by hoss shoes where that cavvy was tied. All tha sign I see is men in boots or brogans. Hell of it is I still don't have a clue as to why they did it. If they wanted hosses they could have raided the Starr and got a bigger bunch just gatherin' mares." Tensleep sipped his coffee and dug out his pipe.

Johnny sat and starred into his coffee cup.

"You didn't see somethin' that I missed did ya?"

[Scarlet Angel]

Rebecca suppressed a smile. "I've seen what the army doctors can do and I've wondered at times where they learned their medicine. I don't think you're arrogant Ella, you've never seen the work of Black Wolf's healer. He is good, but he lacks the modern medicines that you have. You would like him though, and I think he would like you.

Someone once told me if you can learn and understand the ways of another world, even if you don't agree with it, you are better for it. Sometimes you can pick out something and combine it with your own techniques too.

I would be honored to teach you the language." Rebecca said as Scarlet came through the flaps with the water and clean cloths.

[Scarlet Angel]

"I don't believe we missed anything." Johnny replied. "I can list you reasons why I figure it's not Black Wolf even if it was Indians, which this doesn't look like."

Johnny sipped his coffee and considered the question as to why for a moment.

"You ever seen an Indian attack Tensleep?"

"In my life, I have been on both sides of those kinds of attacks.
Ridin' scout for the army... an' with tha Shosone attackin' tha cavalry...
neither is very purty, lots o' folks killed both ways." Tensleep replied.

Johnny half smiled. "Sioux myself, although I've studied a few more tribes than that. So you and I know it's a bloody mess. What if we got some sick individual who wonders what something like that looks like? Or we got somebody knows Troutman is going to see dead soldiers and Indians and spend months and manpower following that idea instead of following the tracks the thieves made. And" Johnny was now brainstorming out loud. "you will be sitting right under his nose spending money at the local establishments while the good Colonel is getting his men slaughtered riding pell-mell into Devil's Mountain. Plus if the Indians come after you they are going to be to busy with the Army on their trail to worry bout you.

If you stole horses from the Starr that crazy ol'man lives there is gonna follow the tracks of the stolen horses regardless if he thinks they are white men, red men or yellow men." Johnny took another sip of his coffee and looked into the darkness. "So my question is not why but where are they? Spendin' money in town and waiting for the drama to unfold or putting miles between us'?

[Elegant Ella]

Ella got Becca and Scarlet started using the cold water to pull fever heat out of Blue Feather's head and body.

"I need to get the troopers settled for the night," she said, rising.  "I'll come back soon."

She walked over to the hospital tent, entering at the end farthest from Andrews.  His attitude grated on her nerves, and forcing him to civility was more work than she needed. 

"How are you doing, Johnson?" she asked an older trooper with a broken leg.

He smiled at her, "Can't complain, missus.  I heared the Injun boy yelling.  Never know wound fever to set in so fast."

Ella replied, "His wounds are a couple days older.  You sound like you know some doctoring."

"Been an orderly helping the fort doctor a bit.  You sure could teach him a thing or two."

"Thank you, I've had good teachers.  Here's a dose of morphine to ease the pain enough to let you sleep," she said, handing him a white pill and a cup of water.

She continued through the tent, administering morphine as needed, and checking bandages.  John Smith was still alive, against the odds, but still unconscious. 

"About time you got here," grumbled Andrews.  "How can anyone who claims to be a Christian waste time on crazy Injuns while good white men lie here suffering..."

Ella interrupted his rant.  "I am not a Christian.  You hear the sounds of a boy delirious with fever because his wounds went untended for days, and have no pity.  May you be doomed to suffer what you do not pity!"  She made some strange gestures and said, "Let it be so!" then turned on her heel and left the tent.

[1stSgt Fritz King]

Fritz picked up the Winchester, and walked out into the cool night air.  It had droped a few degrees since he'd rode in.  Buddy was waiting; it almost seemed as if he was smiling.  "Damn...thinking like Scarlet now," Fritz thought.  He hoped she was okay.

He was about to saddle up, but something was nagging at him.  It took Fritz a moment to realize what it was.  The big Colt was .45 caliber.  The Navy was .38 caliber.  And his prairie belt was loaded with .45-70 rounds.  He cycled the action on the rifle.  The chambered round spun briefly in the air.  Fritz caught it, and rolled it in his hand.

"Damn....44-40."

Fritz knew he wouldn't last long in a firefight.  Not unless he did something to even the odds.

Fritz led Buddy towards the Quartermaster's office.  He knew Keith would be awake.  He could smell the coffee.

"Figured you'd be back," Keith smiled.  "Want some java?"

Fritz smiled.  "Yep, but not the irish stuff.  I've got some riding to do yet."

"You know where it is...help yourself."

While Fritz poured a steaming cup, Keith Gaines went to the armory.  He came back carrying a familiar piece of hardware.

"You looking for this?" Keith asked, handing over the Trapdoor carbine.

"Somehow you seem to know exactly what I need, when I need it."  Fritz opened the action, and sliiped a round into the chamber.

"You're not dressed right," Keith said.  "Wait here."

The tin cup had cooled enough to sip from.  Keith returned with an old greatcoat, and a carbine sling.  "This one's too worn to be repaired.  I was gonna give it to Rosie for patches, but it should keep you warm tonight."

"You're gonna have to find another charity once I retire.  Thanks Keith."  He buttoned the coat up and slipped the sling over his shoulder.

Keith looked outside.  "I see you got a new mount."

"Nope," Fritz replied, a hint of sadness in his voice.  "Just one I trained."

"YOU...TRAIN a HORSE?"

Fritz mounted up, and slid the barrel of the Trapdoor into the carbine socket.

"You'd be surprised what you can do, with the right motivation."  Fritz shook his friend's hand.  "Thanks pard."

As Fritz rode off, Keith yelled, "You still owe me for that Sharps you know!"     



 

[Scarlet Angel]

Rebecca sang softly while she and Scarlet worked, Wolf Song was soon sleeping. Blue Feather seemed to stop yelling and thrashing for the moment but still moaned or spoke of the white eyed man.

"I wonder if Blue Feather could identify any of the outlaws from some of the wanted posters in John's office?" Rebecca said after a short time.

"Probably, he's always had a good eye for details." Scarlet said leaving out the "if he makes it." That passed through her mind.

Rebecca looked at Scarlet then down at herself. "We look like hell."

"I gave dad extra clothes."

"When Ella comes back maybe we can slip out one at a time and clean up."

[Elegant Ella]

Ella decided she should get herself a cup of tea and calm down before she went back to work. 

"Good evening, Johnny, Marshal," she said with her cup in her hand.  "I am afraid I lost my temper with Andrews.  He's about the least injured trooper, but he carries on like he's suffering mightily.  Well, he's probably not going to want my attention anymore."

"What did you do?" asked Tensleep.

"I hexed him, or at least gave him reason to think I did," replied Ella with a smile that was half rueful, and the other half full of mischief.  "Have you reached any conclusions about what happened this morning?  I've been puzzling over why the troopers were wounded the way they were, since killing them all would have been easier to accomplish than this cold-blooded, careful wounding.  I've concluded that the wounding was intended to cause the maximum delay for pursuit.  A patrol looking for the missing troop would have its hands full caring for the wounded, and not have enough men available to follow the trail.  Wounded men could talk, so whoever did this probably made sure the troopers didn't see any faces to identify.  I wonder if the outlaws planned any surprises for the second patrol, other than Black Wolf's people looking for Wolf Song and Blue Feather."

[Scarlet Angel]

Johnny chuckled softly at Ella's remark about Andrews.

"The soldiers would be headed out to the Starr come daylight. If I were to plan another ambush it would either be right on top of this one. Which means they will have to come back, and we're right in the middle of it. Or....maybe the cross roads if you were a decent long shot. Question is how well do I know the country and who is it I'm really after." Johnny was thinking out loud again.

"I imagine the Colonel has made a lot of enemies over the years, that Capt of his too. Could be someone getting even for something." Tensleep said.

[Elegant Ella]

"Speaking of heading for the Starr at dawn," interjected Ella.  "We want to send Wolf Song and Blue Feather to the Starr by wagon at first light.  They need to be elsewhere before Captain Fisher or anyone else from the Army gets here.  Wolf Song could ride, but only for short periods of time, and Blue Feather can't sit on a horse at all.  My first thought was to have Doctor Bill drive the wagon, and Becca along to interpret, counting on Doctor Bill being able to talk any nosy Army folks out of searching the wagon.  Trouble is, I was also wanting Doctor Bill here to talk to Army medical personnel, since they aren't going to take me seriously.  What do you think?" 

[Scarlet Angel]

"Ya promise the Army would try to search the wagon?" A evil grin played on Johnny's lips.

Tensleep started to say something cut Johnny raised his hand and cut him off.

"There's a backroad into the Starr, not much worse than the main road. Cept I wouldn't think I'd be stopped by Army, since they don't know about it. If the outlaws are waiting for them they will miss me. Only one I'd 'spect to see would be Grey Eagle. I could let Rose know what's going on leave any instructions with the men and bring back any supplies we might need. Would you need the wagon back Ella or could we pack everything out by horse?"

[Elegant Ella]

"I want the wagon back in case we need to help transport the wounded troopers.  I'll write out instructions for Rose on the care  Wolf Song and Blue Feather require, and tell Becca.  You don't need an interpreter, but would Rose?  Besides, I think Becca needs some mothering because she's seen things today that she was not ready to see," Ella paused and sighed, then continued, "I can't say what more supplies we need because I don't know how much longer the troopers are going to be in our care, but another sack of flour and one of potatoes would be useful.  It would be helpful if you do see Grey Eagle, so that he can let Black Wolf know where the boys are.  I think we should send their uncle's body back to the Starr as well, so's not to remind anyone this was supposed to look like an Indian attack."

[Scarlet Angel]

"Rose could use an interpreter. She knows enough to get by if she has to but she's far from fluent like Becca or Scarlet, and Wolf Song knows some English but he is not fluent either. We can put their uncle on Cloud, that way the boys don't have to ride with him and if we do see Grey Eagle we can send the body home." Johnny looked in the direction of the tent. "Becca's seen her fair share of blood and killing. Maybe this time it has hit to close to home for her. I really don't think she would want to stay if we asked her to."

[Elegant Ella]

"If you asked Becca if she wanted to go back to the Starr, she would say 'No' because she thinks she ought to be as brave as me," replied Ella.  "But given a need for her to go back, she would accept the assignment with internal gratitude.  And given a choice between helping the boys and helping the troopers, she would want to go with her kin."

Ella put down her cup and rose, "Time to get back to work."

[1stSgt Fritz King]

"Rider comin' in!"  The call echoed up and down the line.  Levers were cycled, hammers pulled back.  Johnny and 'Sleep tossed their coffee cups and drew their pistols.

"Damn...Just what I didn't want," Johnny growled.  "Yankee Cavalry."

A lone rider came forward.  He carried a rifle, and looked ready to use it.

'Sleep called out, "You'd best drop that piece!"

"I do, and Bo won't be happy."

Scarlet smiled.  "It's Fritz!  Lower your weapons boys!"  She ran forward as he dsimounted.  Johnny  was a bit surprised as the passion he saw in his daughter...but not much.

"You all right?" Scarlet asked.

"Yeah," Fritz replied.  "I bought us some time...not sure how much."

Scarlet noted the empty holster.  "What happened?"

"i was reminded of my place.  We'd better move."     

[Elegant Ella]

Ella entered the tent with the boys just before the "Rider coming in" call rose outside. 
Scarlet exclaimed, "Fritz is back" and left the tent. 

Ella touched Blue Feather's forehead and smiled, "You and Scarlet did a good job of getting his temperature down.  He looks like he'll sleep normally for a while.  Why don't you take the rest of the night off, so that you're ready to take them to the Starr in the morning?   I'm going to stay here, and write out instructions for Rose about their care."  Ella grinned and added, "After all, Rose isn't here to try keeping you away from Tensleep tonight." 

Becca actually blushed, before leaving the tent. 

Ella settled herself and pulled out her notebook, pen and ink bottle.  While she wrote, she sang something that her grandmother had taught her was a song to encourage healing sleep.  Blue Feather ceased his moaning in response to the music, looked at Ella briefly, then surrendered to sleep.

[Scarlet Angel]

Glad to see Fritz would have been an understatement. Scarlet had tried not to worry when he'd ridden off. She trusted Colonel Troutman as much as she trusted a rattlesnake. It would not have surprised her if the Colonel had detained him for some reason so it was a relief to have him back.

She sighed when he told her he was reminded of his place. Scarlet had once told him to make decisions on what was best for him. At the time he told her she was best for him, there were times she wondered if that was true. She felt he paid a higher price for that decision than she ever had. Johnny had come around and liked Fritz, which was her biggest worry. Some of the men that worked on the Starr had grumbled having a Yankee soldier among them. It had pleasantly surprised Scarlet to hear Johnny had told them they had a choice to either live with it or get the hell off his place. There were times she felt guilty for the changes he'd made to be with her.

"Get something to eat. I'll take care of Buddy. Not much we will be doing until day break." She said taking the horse's reins. Scarlet smiled at him. "I'm glad you came back." She said softly as she kissed his cheek.

[Scarlet Angel]

Rebecca found Tensleep talking over tomorrow's plan with Johnny. She sat quietly next to him enjoying the sound of his voice while she worried about what the daylight would bring.

Johnny stood and excused himself to go talk with Ella.
"Maybe we should send you and Becca out to sing the outlaws to sleep so we could sneak in and get 'em instead shooting at them." He said softly as he came into the tent.

"Tensleep and I been talking about morning. We don't like the idea of the posse tracking the outlaws leaving you and Dr. Bill here. I kinda figured I could send a few of the boys out as soon as they see us. Would give the posse an earlier start and give you and Bill some back up just in case."

[Elegant Ella]

"Sounds good.  Did Fritz say anything about what the Army is going to do?  Are they sending ambulances to collect their troopers?"

[Scarlet Angel]

"I don't know. Scarlet's right outside." Johnny said knowing Fritz probably wouldn't be far from her.

Johnny stepped back and pulled the tent flap open in time to see Fritz headed their way.

"Fritz." Johnny waved him over.

"Is the Army going to send people to collect their troops?" Johnny asked when Fritz was close enough to hear.

[1stSgt Fritz King]

Fritz walked in through the open flap.  In the dim lamplight, Johnny noticed the empty holster on his right hip.  To his credit, he said nothing, but it did give Johnny an idea.

"I used to know Sam Troutman quite well.  We have some history.  His biggest fear is that I'll somehow take his command away from him."

Johnny and Ella gave him questioning looks.  Scarlet merely shook her head.

"I think I convinced him to hold off for a day, but who knows what a night's sleep will do?"  Fritz took off his slouch and wiped sweat from his eyes.  "And there's some new Captain I've heard talk about.  I know nothing about him..."