After enduring another dreary rail trip, the detachment arrived back at Fort Lone Wolf to bring the deployment to an official completion. The first chore upon arrival was the unhappy duty of delivering Corporal Running Cougar’s body to his family.
Sergeant Eagle Heart and Corporal Tall Bear rode to the late dead man’s home on Soapsuds Row to inform his wife of his fate. The woman was not stoic about her husband’s death. She immediately set up a loud wailing. Her oldest daughter rushed to her side to help the new widow begin the mourning tradition.
With the done, Eagle Heart and Tall Bear traveled out to Running Cougar’s farm to pass the news to the second wife. This led to a hurried meeting with the dead man’s male relatives. They turned down the offer of a formal military funeral, preferring to bid Running Cougar farewell in the ways of their tribal customs.
The sergeant and corporal returned to Fort Lone Wolf with a buckboard loaned them by Agent Ned Turpin. Running Cougar’s coffin was placed in the back of the vehicle to be taken to the place of his burial. His family from Fort Lone Wolf rode with the body.
The detachment, with Captain Mack Hawkins and Second Lieutenant Ludlow Dooley in the lead, accompanied the deceased to the place chosen as the gravesite. The scout was honored as a Comanche warrior rather than an enlisted soldier.
A week after their homecoming, Mack Hawkins and Ludlow Dooley accepted an invitation from the captain’s fiancé Miss Kristina Halverson to a dinner at her house on the Southern Kiowa-Comanche Agency. Hawkins didn’t really want to go until Ludlow shamed him into it with the reminder he was still engaged to the woman.
Both men wore clean pressed uniforms for the occasion, and Ludlow followed his usual practice of gathering a bouquet of wild prairie flowers to present to their hostess. His gift was made up of purple ironweed, blue sage and the yellow of blackeyed susans. Ludlow also purchased a wide red ribbon at the trader’s store to wrap around the idyllic offering to make it look as impressive as possible.
The two officers rode past the agency schoolhouse up the short path to Kristina’s porch. She answered the knock on her door, letting the two officers in, showing a bright smile. “It is so good to see you two again! It’s been weeks. I was disappointed when I learned you didn’t have the time to come over for a goodbye dinner.”
Ludlow handed her the flowers. “Here’s my usual token presentation for the lady of the house.”
“What a beautiful bouquet! Thank you, Ludlow.” She smiled at Halverson. “And how are you, Mack?”
“Fine, thank you.” He usually gave her a peck on the cheek as a greeting, but this time he kept his distance.
She was disappointed, but didn’t show it. “Was your mission a resounding success as it always is?”
Hawkins shrugged and uttered a cold reply. “It was accomplished.”
“I’m so glad to hear it. Well now! You gentlemen follow me to the kitchen, please.”
The smells of the meal were delicious and heavy in the usual Scandinavian manner. Ludlow sniffed appreciatively. “What have you fixed for us, Kristina?”
“Roast beef,” she replied. “With fried potatoes and a new dish for me. Okra. We don’t have that in Minnesota where I grew up, but Donna the agent’s wife showed me how to fry it in bread crumbs.”
“I’m not familiar with it either,” Ludlow said. “But I bet it’s delicious.” He looked all around the kitchen .
Kristina stifled a grin, asking, “Are you looking for something, Ludlow?”
His face reddened. “Oh, no! Just glancing here and there.”
She laughed aloud. “I know exactly what you’re searching for. And yes! I have baked some sukrakaker cookies. And enough for you to take some home with you.”
The Norwegian dessert was Ludlow’s favorite, and she always included that in her dinner menus especially for him. He grinned in delight. “Wonderful! I knew I could depend on you, Kristina.”
Hawkins didn’t show any appreciation of the light conversation. He stood in solemn silence during the exchange. Kristina cast a quick glance at him, then invited them to sit down at the table while she served the food.
The meal turned out to be more than just a little awkward. While Ludlow and Kristina chatted, the captain only spoke when spoken to. The young woman was well aware that Hawkins was angry with her. Very angry. She began to wonder if he really wanted to come over or if Ludlow had talked him into it. And perhaps the two officers hadn’t been too busy to visit before they left on their deployment.
She was as sad as Hawkins was angry; and Ludlow was caught in the middle. The young man struggled for something to say, then blurted out, “We were on a terrible desert during our mission to Arizona.”
Kristina nodded with a half-smile.
“It was very hot,” Ludlow said. He glanced at Hawkins. “Wasn’t it, sir?”
“Mmm,” he murmured, then took a bite of his roast.
After a few more long moments of silence, Ludlow remarked, “This okra is really good, Kristina. Crunchy.”
“That’s the fried crumbs,” she commented.
With that, the conversation died out as the three ate all that was on their plates. At that point Hawkins stood up. “I have some work to do on my deployment report.”
Ludlow almost remarked that the report had been turned in two days before, but he caught himself.
“I can let myself out,” the captain said. “Thank you for the dinner.”
He made an abrupt exit from the kitchen, leaving Ludlow and Kristina sitting in silence. Ludlow smiled at her. “Whew! Those reports are really important. They must be turned in right on time. You can’t be late. Nope. On time every time, as they say in the Army.”
Kristina began sobbing quietly, and she took her napkin and dabbed at her eyes. “I know Mack is…is upset with me…but this situation…is so difficult.”
“I suppose it is.”
Kristina continued, “I love the kids I teach. I do my best for them, but the Bureau of Indian Affairs provides harsh teachers in their educational program for young Indians. If this school is closed down, the children will be sent out to a boarding school somewhere.” She took a couple of deep breaths to steady herself.
“Would that be bad for them?”
“Oh, yes, Ludlow! They would be taken from their families and kept away for years. They’d be forbidden to speak their native language. All the customs and traditions of their race would be wiped from their minds. And the discipline is harsh and cruel. Especially for the boys. They would receive brutal whippings for the smallest infractions.”
“Now I can understand why you want to keep your position here at the agency.”
“Yes. I feel terrible about how unfair it is to Mack. And there’ve been times when I tell myself I should consider our happiness. But…but then I—” She broke into tears again.
Ludlow felt her pain. “Oh, dear Kristina! I didn’t realize how much you were suffering. I wish I could say something— do something— to help you out.”
“Oh, well!” she said, recovering once again. “What’s a body to do? Life is filled with troubles and problems.” She paused. “Would you like some coffee and sukrakakers, Ludlow?”
“Yes, please.”
A couple of months passed and the Kiowa-Comanche Scout detachment was settled back into Fort Lone Wolf’s routine. There was drill call, stable call, fatigue call, mess call and a half dozen more calls that instructed the troops what they must do and when to do it. And, of course, the paperwork was endless and demanding.
Michael Strongbow was under the care of the garrison surgeon and was in the final stages of what had been a painful process. All interior healing was done and now the final phase had started. Happily, it turned out Michael would have full control of the shoulder.
One afternoon while Mack Hawkins and Ludlow Dooley were engaged in the regularly scheduled supply inventory, they were interrupted by a mail clerk’s visit to the orderly room. The man reported with a salute, dropped a letter on Hawkins’ desk and made a quick exit.
Work ceased while Hawkins opened the missive and read it. “Interesting,” he remarked and passed the letter to Ludlow.
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES MARSHAL
HOPE WELLS, ARIZONA TERRITORY
Deer frend Mack
I take pen in hand to write you to tell you how things is here since you left.
The pastor Hezickia Woodwurd and Leo Horten has been tried in Feenix just a week ago. They was sentensed to twenny-five to forty yeers for giving guns to Injuns. Them others Dempsy and Turnbul was not charged with nothing cause they was under the infloons of Woodwurd.
Everbody in Hope Wells was mad at Missus Woodwurd and she sold her store to the grosher David Bloom. The lady went bak east to where she had kin.
It were nice for to see you agin frend Mack. I hope we meet agin.
Yores trooly,
U.S. Deputy Marshal Dennis O’Rourke
Ludlow chuckled. “I guess those ranchers never got their horses back.”
“I suppose not,” Hawkins stated. He looked down at the paperwork. “Whew! Where were we?”
“I believe we were listing the number of lantern wicks in our inventory, sir.”
The two went back to work. The only sounds in the orderly room were pen nibs scratching on paper and an occasional expletive by the captain.