Lavinia’s fiancé left that day with a group of men returning east. The dragoons, too, prepared to go on, but before they left, they warned William to be on the alert for Indians. In fact, the soldiers had been charged with watching for the hostiles on their way to Fort Kearny.
“We have not seen any since we left St. Joseph,” William said.
“You can presume they have seen you every day,” the lieutenant told him.
“Are they dangerous?” Maggie asked. She remembered the drunken Indians she had seen in St. Joseph and thought that if the rest of their tribesmen were like them, they posed little problem. Still, there had been stories among the emigrants they encountered of Indian attacks and depredations, of men hacked to death, of women ravished and children stolen away. She glanced at Clara, making sure the girl was near the wagons.
“They can be,” the lieutenant replied. “With the cholera, most Indians are staying away from the trains just now. Cholera is as deadly for them as for you. Still, it is best to be prepared. If they are painted and are riding without their women and little ones, they may be warriors. They are a noble race who are defending their way of life. Still, they are vicious fighters and give no quarter to women and children. If you see them, you must corral your wagons at once and be prepared to fight. If they are accompanied by their families, they are most likely beggars. You would be wise to keep them as far away as possible, for they are thieves, the women the worst. You cannot blame them, of course. We have taken much away from them. Give them a few biscuits and a trinket or two, then send them on their way. Guard your belongings and your children, if you have them among you. If they attack, you must shoot to kill.”
Maggie knew she was not the only one who was alarmed. “I could not kill a person, even an Indian,” one woman said.
“You had best do so,” the lieutenant told her. “What an Indian will do to a woman … well, to tell of it is not fitting. If you had the choice of putting a bullet through your head or being ravished by a red man, do not think twice.”
“I mean I do not know how to shoot a gun,” the woman said.
“We taught the women to handle the animals and build fires and load and unload the wagons. We did not feel it necessary, what with the men accompanying us and a few women already familiar with firearms, that the others learn to handle guns,” William said.
“Besides, it is unwomanly,” Joseph added.
“And you think dying at the hands of a savage is womanly? You must teach them now, before you go farther,” the lieutenant said. He turned to the women gathered around him. “Which of you knows how to handle a gun?”
Mary and several other women raised their hands. The rest shook their heads.
The soldier looked at the dragoons. “I believe we can wait for morning to leave.” He turned to Joseph. “I advise you to let us teach these women to protect themselves.”
“The commandments say thou shalt not kill,” Joseph told him.
“Do the commandments tell you to watch while your women are raped and mutilated, while your children’s heads are bashed in?” the soldier asked. “Do the commandments say stand idle while the Indians hack off your manhood? If so, then by all means, do not let your women learn how to shoot a gun.”
Joseph blanched, but William spoke up. “We should be grateful for your instruction.”
Maggie did not know how to shoot. She lined up with the others in front of the wagons so that the dragoons as well as the men who were members of the company could show them how to load and fire the pistols, rifles, and shotguns they had brought with them.
After what the lieutenant had said about rape, the women were anxious to learn how to handle guns and were apt students, although not all of them. “You ain’t never going to learn to shoot, miss,” a soldier informed Dora after he instructed her how to aim at a bush. She’d shot through a wagon sheet instead. “If a Indian comes riding by, you just throw the gun at him.”
Several of the dragoons were amused at the women and treated them like children. “I already know how to shoot a gun,” Penn told a soldier who had taken her arm. She removed the pistol from her pocket.
“A pepperbox like that ain’t going to cause much damage, ’less you hold it right up next to a Indian’s head,” the soldier replied. “Guns and womens don’t mix is my way of thinking. It’s a good thing you’re going to California to find you a husband to protect you.” He handed her a rifle and told her to aim for a tree.
“Which branch?” Penn asked.
The soldier laughed at her. “The one with the crow on it.” He turned and winked at another soldier.
“I reckon I’ll get the crow in the eye.” Penn held the rifle steady and sighted on the bird, then slowly squeezed the trigger. The crow toppled off the branch in a shower of feathers. “I guess maybe I ain’t needing a husband to protect me in California,” she said.
Another dragoon came along the line looking the women over and stopped beside Maggie. “You know anything about guns?”
“No.”
He grinned at her. “Come over here behind the wagon so’s you won’t hurt nobody. You stand out here with a gun, you’re liable to shoot one of them preachers.”
Maggie didn’t like the looks of the man and thought to tell him no, but she wanted to learn to shoot. He led her past several wagons until they were beyond view of the others and showed her how to load a shotgun and aim it. He stood behind her and held his hand over hers to explain how to pull the trigger. Suddenly he placed his hand on her breast.
Maggie drew back in horror, too shocked to say anything more than “Sir! Keep your hands off me.”
“Oh, don’t be high and mighty with me, miss. I know you.”
Did he know about Jesse? Had Jesse followed her? Maggie began to shake and wanted to cry out, but she could not because she was afraid that he indeed did know about her. “I have never met you,” she insisted.
“Maybe not, but I knowed all about you. I knowed you womens got a reason for joining the wagon train. You’re running away. You behave, or I’ll tell them ministers about you.”
Did he really know something, or was he bluffing? Maggie wasn’t sure, and she didn’t dare risk the chance he might be telling the truth. “You don’t know me,” she insisted.
“Oh, you reckon not? I seen you in St. Joe. I been expecting to meet up with you. You’re a whore.”
Maggie stared at the man. Had he mixed her up with Sadie?
“Ain’t no better than a whore. Myself, I can tell. You got something to hide. You ain’t no old maid going to California for a husband. I seen you right off when we got here, and I says to myself, ‘Wilson, she is going to give you a good time.’”
Maggie was sickened by the man’s words. “Let me go or I’ll scream,” she said. Her voice was high and tight and too shaky to sound convincing. Besides, she had waited too long to protest. The soldier surely knew she was hiding something.
“You do that, and I’ll tell them preachers who you are. They’ll turn you out at Kearny.” He threw back her skirt and tore at her petticoat. Then he added, “You whore!”
What would Clara think if she heard her mother called such a horrible name? Maggie wondered. But if she allowed the soldier to touch her, she was no better than what he had called her. “Take your hands off me,” she screamed. She drew back her hand and slapped the soldier hard across the face.
“You bitch! Look what you done now!” he cried.
The others heard the commotion, and the preachers, Caroline with them, hurried to Maggie. “What is this?” William demanded.
“I was trying to learn her to shoot, and she turned crazy on me,” he said.
“You were teaching her to shoot by ripping her dress?”
The soldier grinned. “She done that herself, said if I didn’t kiss her, she’d holler.”
The other women had reached them and looked at the man in disgust. No one would want to kiss the filthy, bearded dragoon.
“Mrs. Hale?” William asked Maggie.
“He tore my dress. He put his hands on me and demanded—”
“Soldier!” The lieutenant came up to the man. “Explain this.”
The grin left the dragoon’s face, and he looked frightened. “It ain’t my fault, sir. She’s a cat. She come up to me and asked for money, said she’d fix me if I didn’t give it to her.”
By now the entire company of women as well as the soldiers had surrounded Maggie and the dragoon. Maggie clutched at her torn dress. Ever since she had signed up for the trek west, she had been afraid the women would discover she had tried to kill her husband. Now she wondered if they believed the man when he claimed she was a prostitute. They stared silently at her as Caroline stepped forward and took her hands.
The soldier glanced at them and grew bold. He turned to William. “You got took, sir. She ain’t no old maid.”
“He lies.”
The women turned to see who had defended Maggie. For a moment, Maggie thought it was Mary, but Mary had taken Clara to see the horses. Instead, Sadie stood defiantly with her hands on her hips. “Maggie’s the sister of my school friend. We went to the church together,” Sadie said in a voice that allowed for no dissent. “She ain’t no more a fancy woman than me.”
Penn and Dora came up beside Maggie and put their arms around her waist.
“She’s just a plain old cat. Most likely, she’s going to California to set up a whorehouse, make these other women work at it.”
“She is no such thing. I believe I know her family,” Caroline put in. “She is a woman of good character, and you slander her.”
The dragoon was furious. “They’s lying, sir.”
“Have a care, soldier. You have accused this woman of a shameful act. I will not stand for it,” a voice said.
Maggie turned, thinking Reverend Parnell was speaking, but it was the other one, the self-righteous one, Joseph Swain.
“I demand you take action against this man for his foul attack,” he continued.
“No,” Maggie said. “Let it be over. I do not want to think of it again, or speak of it.” She was embarrassed and shamed at what had happened. She did not want the others to wonder why she had waited to cry out. Nor did she want anyone to look too deeply into her past.
“You see, sir,” Joseph said to the lieutenant. “Only a woman of pure heart would forgive a man for such an abomination.”
The lieutenant nodded and turned to Maggie. “I am sorry for this and thank you for your compassion, ma’am. Filing charges against a soldier would take time away from protecting wagon trains. I will keep a watch on him, and so will the others.” Then he said to William, “It is better we be on our way now instead of waiting for morning.” He ordered the dragoons to be ready to move out.
The women crowded around Maggie then, offering words of sympathy, and she realized they had not doubted her at all. Penn proffered a salve she had made from herbs that she’d picked along the trail, for where the soldier had dug his nails into Maggie’s breast. Evaline told her that Bessie had gone to build up a fire and prepare a cup of tea for her. Dora said she would fetch Maggie’s other dress and a needle so she could mend the torn one. As if they did not want to embarrass Maggie, the others slowly turned away, until only Sadie was left standing with her arm around her friend.
“What you said…,” Maggie began. “If you had not spoken up…”
Sadie smiled. “I knew you weren’t a whore.” She gave Maggie a sly look. “I hope I was not in error about our knowing each other. I did not recognize you until a few minutes ago. I ask you to give my regards to your sister next time you write.”
“I do not have a sister.”
“You do now, more than forty of them.”
MAGGIE CLIMBED INTO a wagon to change into her other dress, then sat down by the puckered opening at the back of the wagon to mend the torn one. After a time she heard footsteps, but she paid no attention until she heard Joseph ask, “Did you in truth know Mrs. Hale’s family?”
“No,” Caroline replied.
“Then I think it has cost you much to tell a falsehood.”
“It was necessary. I believe God will forgive me.”
“It was generous of Mrs. Cooper to speak up. She took a chance.” He paused a moment. “I believe you are aware that it was Mrs. Cooper who was a woman of the streets. Did you know of her profession when you allowed her to join us?”
Caroline paused as she considered the question. “I suspected.”
“And William, did he know?”
“He may have guessed.”
“And yet you approved of her.”
“Yes.”
“Will you tell me why?”
Caroline did not reply at first. Then she said, “I knew her at the Kitchen for a good woman. I believed she had had a hard life and wanted to change. We could give her that opportunity. It was not for me to judge her, no more than Our Lord judged the Magdalene.”
“I believed the same,” Joseph said.
“You knew?” Caroline sounded incredulous. “Was it because of her appearance?”
“Not that. I knew because she once approached me on the street.”
“And yet you did not refuse to let her join us.”
“My dear, I saw that you were her champion, that you were bringing a sinner back into the flock. How could I have gone against such a powerful advocate as my beloved wife?”
A LITTLE LATER, the dragoons, their gear packed, were ready to mount their horses when the lieutenant approached Joseph and Caroline. Maggie was sitting on a log near them, a quilt around her shoulders. “The woman?” the lieutenant asked.
“She will be fine,” Caroline replied. “It is good of you to inquire.”
He nodded, then cleared his throat. “I had another reason for stopping with you that I have not mentioned.” He glanced at Maggie, but she was not listening. Instead, she stared out across the prairie, which was dotted with flowers. There was the sound of birds, and she took comfort in their little songs.
“What is it?” Joseph asked the lieutenant.
“You will excuse me,” Caroline said, but the lieutenant told her to stay.
“You should be as aware of this situation as your husband,” he said. He looked again at Maggie, who sat with her eyes closed.
“I have information about a criminal who may be among you,” the lieutenant said.
“What?” Joseph asked. “One of our men? My brother has conducted interviews with each and is confident they are all of good character.”
“I am not talking about your men.”
“A woman?” Caroline asked.
Although she did not open her eyes, Maggie was aware of the conversation now. She heard the shock in Caroline’s voice.
“It appears she is charged with a very serious crime—the worst.”
Maggie held her breath. Jesse was dead. The news tore at her heart. He couldn’t hurt her anymore, or Clara either, but she could not help remembering the man who had brought her violets. Perhaps there had been a part of him that was decent. Now she would never know. She was safe, but at what cost?
“She is among us?” Joseph asked.
“It is thought she may be.”
“Who is she?”
“Her name is Margaret Kaiser. She is traveling with her daughter, who is four or thereabout.”
Caroline reached behind her and gripped Maggie’s shoulder. “We have no one of that name in our company,” she said.
“She may have changed her name.”
Maggie tightened the quilt around her shoulders in an attempt to stop shaking. Would the soldier take her all the way back to St. Joseph? Or perhaps she would be tried at Fort Kearny. What if she was found guilty? Would she be hanged in front of her friends? And what would happen to Clara?
“What has she done?” Joseph asked.
“It appears she may have murdered her husband.” He held out a piece of paper. “This is a notice I received. It says right here, ‘Murder.’”
“Perhaps she had a good reason,” Caroline put in. “Perhaps he beat her or threatened her child. I have seen women like that in Chicago, women so cruelly treated that they are reduced to the state of animals. They fight back only when their children are threatened.”
The three were silent for a moment. Then Caroline said, “Well, whatever her name is, she is not in our company. And as you can see, we have only a boy with us and a Negro girl. Do you know that this woman is going west?”
“It is presumed so.”
Maggie heard the dragoon’s boot kick at the dirt, and she remembered how Jesse had struck her with his own boot after she had fallen to the floor. Tears slipped from under her eyelids. The world was unfair. Why was it all right for him to beat her so savagely but wrong for her to fight back?
The lieutenant continued, “I didn’t join the cavalry to track down runaway wives. To my way of thinking, it is not my business.” Maggie heard the rattle of paper. “I just thought I would mention it. There’s a reward—two hundred dollars.”
Two hundred dollars? Maggie wondered why the government cared so much about the killing of a gambler.
“This is the information. I believe the description could fit several women in your train,” the lieutenant said. “I do not need it. As I say, it is distasteful to me to have to track down a woman. Maybe one of your people will recognize her.”
Although Clara was dressed like a boy, the women in the train knew she was a girl. If they heard of the reward, one of them was likely to recognize Maggie as the runaway wife. Two hundred dollars was a great deal of money. Perhaps if she confessed to Reverend Swain, he would take pity and help her. She thought of that as the dragoon walked away.
Joseph’s voice shook her out of her reverie. “Mrs. Hale, what do you have to say to this?”
Maggie looked up to see the minister staring at her. Slowly, she stood, letting the quilt fall to the ground. She could deny she was that woman, but he already knew better. “It is true,” she said.
“Will you tell us why?”
“He beat me. He beat Clara. He did terrible things to her…” She stopped. “I cannot shame her.”
“There were children at the Kitchen who had been used as prostitutes, some by their fathers,” Caroline said. “Maggie’s husband was a cruel man. I believe she had no choice but to take the action she did.”
Joseph turned to his wife. “You knew?”
“I suspicioned it. A man came to the church asking for her. I remembered him. Maggie was familiar to me when I first saw her.”
“And you did not tell me?”
Caroline did not answer his question. Instead, she said, “I did not like the look of him. I have seen his kind before. I thought Maggie was wise to leave him.”
“The Bible says a woman must cleave to her husband.”
“The Bible does not say she must submit to abominable behavior. It does not say she must allow him to beat her to death and accost her child. You saw the bruises on their faces when Maggie applied to come with us.”
“Yes.” He was silent a moment. “She is a married woman, however. Did you not consider that? After all, our purpose is to find Christian brides for the miners.”
“We have many purposes. I believe the Lord called on me to rescue a downtrodden woman.”
Caroline put her arm around Maggie and drew her close as Joseph considered the situation. Then he ripped the paper in half and in half again. “I shall add this to the campfire.”