CHAPTER 33
Fort Kearny, two weeks later
Jamie MacCallister sat at a table in the sutler’s store, nursing a mug of beer.
Tom Corcoran, the sutler, stood behind the bar, clouds of acrid smoke from his cheap cigar wreathing his head as he glared at Jamie with dislike obvious in his one good eye. Corcoran and Liam O’Connor were friends, and the sergeant was going to be in the guardhouse for the foreseeable future. When he was finally released, he would probably be transferred somewhere far away from Fort Kearny, or at least that was what Captain Croxton had told Jamie.
The door opened, and a tall, broad-shouldered figure was silhouetted against the afternoon light outside. Jamie recognized the newcomer immediately and lifted a hand in greeting as the man came on inside.
“Preacher. Over here.”
The mountain man walked across the room to the table, signaled to Corcoran to bring him a beer, and pulled out a chair to sit down.
“Figured you’d be headed back to Colorado already,” Preacher commented as he stretched out his long legs and crossed them at the ankles.
“The post’s commanding officer asked me to stay around until all the hearings were over,” Jamie explained.
“Hearin’s? You mean Lieutenant Tyler ain’t gettin’ court-martialed?”
“Nope.” Jamie took a sip of the beer and set the mug back on the table. “Cap’n Croxton talked to Mackey and Briggs and a bunch of the other men, and it was pretty obvious to him that Hayden didn’t have any choice but to relieve Davidson of command. He’s going to say as much in the report he sends back to Washington. Hayden could still wind up in some trouble, but I sort of doubt it.”
Preacher nodded his thanks as Corcoran placed the mug of beer on the table in front of him, then said to Jamie, “It’ll probably help when the cap’n hears that Broken Pine will be here in a day or two, ready to talk about that treaty, which was the point behind the whole thing in the first place.”
Jamie grinned and slapped the table. “He decided to trust us, did he?”
“For now. He’s still more than a mite wary, though.”
“And he’s right to feel that way,” Jamie said, nodding. “I hope the decision doesn’t come back to haunt him. But all that’s pretty much out of our hands, isn’t it?”
Preacher drank some of the beer, then licked foam off his mustache. “Pretty much,” he agreed.
“Did Hawk come with you, or is he coming with Broken Pine?”
“Neither. He’s stayin’ back in the village with his family. I don’t think he feels like bein’ apart from ’em right now, after everything that’s happened.”
“I can’t say as I blame him. How’s Butterfly?”
“Healed up just fine. I don’t think she’s even gonna limp any.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Jamie said.
“What about Lieutenant Davidson?” Preacher asked.
Jamie shook his head. “It’s just plain Edgar Davidson now. He resigned his commission and left the army.”
Preacher’s bushy eyebrows rose in surprise. He said, “Did he do that so they wouldn’t court-martial him and give him a dishonorable discharge?”
“No. I’m not sure that would have happened, anyway. My guess is that he just couldn’t stand the idea of having the stigma of being relieved of command following him around for the rest of his career. The army’s like any other organization, I reckon . . . It runs on gossip and spite.”
“Well, at least we won’t have to worry about him causin’ any more trouble for folks.”
Jamie nodded slowly and said, “Yeah, that’s right.”
He wished he was completely convinced of that, however.
The two big men sat there in silence for a moment, then Preacher asked, “O’Connor?”
“Locked up in the guardhouse for now. The captain’s waiting to hear from the higher-ups about what to do with him.” Jamie drained the last of his beer. “Not my problem, though, thank goodness. I’m going home to my wife and kids.”
“Lucky man.”
Something in Preacher’s voice made Jamie frown. He said, “You’ve got a family, too.”
Preacher shook his head and said, “Not no more.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Jamie leaned forward. “You said Hawk and Butterfly are fine, and I’m assuming their young’uns are, too.”
“They are,” Preacher confirmed, “and I want ’em to stay that way.” He leaned back in his chair, and the look in his hooded eyes seemed to be a million miles away as he went on, “Think about it, Jamie. They could’ve all wound up dead. Some of the Crow were killed when Winter Wind and her gang jumped us. That only happened because she wanted vengeance on me.”
“Blast it, that’s her fault for hating, not your fault for being hated!”
“Maybe so,” allowed Preacher, “but it don’t change the fact that I’ve made a whole heap of enemies in my life, and some of ’em are still out there, wantin’ to hurt me any way they can. I’ve done thought about it, and it seems to me the best way to keep Hawk and his family safe is if I never go near ’em, or even speak of ’em, again.”
“But that’s loco, Preacher! You’re just going to turn your back on your family and go through the rest of your life alone?”
“I’m gonna keep ’em safe,” Preacher said stubbornly. “Anyway, I won’t be alone. I’ve got Dog and Horse, and friends like you who I ain’t worried about bein’ able to take care of yourself. Maybe I’ll run into somebody else who’s just as capable one of these days.” The mountain man shrugged. “One way or another, I’ve made up my mind.”
“Did you tell this to Hawk?”
Preacher pursed his lips and didn’t say anything for a moment, then finally admitted, “Well . . . no. But he’s a smart boy. He’ll figure it out.”
Jamie looked across the table and shook his head.
“I guess that’s up to you, Preacher. I don’t reckon I could ever make it without my family, but for all the things you and I share, we’re different sorts.”
“That we are,” Preacher said. He pushed his still half-full mug aside. “Reckon I’ll be movin’ on. I’m feelin’ mighty fiddlefooted. We’ll run into each other again, one of these days.”
“You think so?”
Preacher grinned as he got to his feet. “This ol’ wilderness is a pretty small place, sometimes. And I’ve never knowed either of us to stay out of trouble for very long, have you?”
That was sure the truth, Jamie MacCallister thought as he watched his old friend Preacher walk out of the sutler’s store and head for whatever the frontier had in store for him next. Jamie was suddenly eager to get on that trail himself.