By the time the Cheyenne camp came into view, Dara was nearly frozen from the cold and exhausted from the twenty-mile ride, yet there was no time to rest or get warm. She must get to work … and pray the Cheyenne would obey her orders after only one prior introduction.
“Walks In Shadows”—she slowed her pace—“until I see what’s happening to your people, you must stay outside the camp.” From what she’d gathered, Walks In Shadows had been away from the camp several days and returned to find many sick.
She shook her head, obviously not understanding.
“You … stay here.”
She shook her head more emphatically. “I go. Help my people.”
“No. The smallpox will make you sick.”
At her obvious confusion, Dara stumbled through two easier explanations before the woman understood.
Her brow furrowed. “How you … talk my people?”
Her belly lurched. How would she communicate with the Cheyenne? She must convey that she’d come to help, then set up quarantine areas for the infected patients. She hadn’t even considered she might not be able to use Walks In Shadows as a translator when she’d chosen to tell no one, particularly Gage, where she was going.
Oh, Lord Jesus, I’ve made a terrible mistake, and I’m too far away from anywhere to ask for help.
Gage barged into William’s medical tent, praying he’d be in.
“Wells! Thank God.” William shot up from his desk. “I’ve been looking for you all day.”
Gage halted. “You have?” Surprising, given how firmly the man had turned him away from the Pullman car the previous evening. “Why?”
William dropped his voice to a confidential tone. “Have you ever been vaccinated for smallpox?”
Everything stilled. “Why?”
“I wrongly diagnosed Matilde. She developed the smallpox rash overnight, and you’ve been around her since she’s gotten sick. I must quarantine any unvaccinated persons who’ve come in contact with the illness.”
How had Matilde contracted smallpox? Marston and Adgate had infected the blankets they’d given to the Cheyenne, but Matilde was nowhere near the Indian camp that day. Mind scrambling, he reviewed the events of the visit.
“By all that’s holy …” He’d bound Dara’s wounds with scraps of the infected pieces.
He’d wrapped her in the remnant. They’d carried it straight to her.
“Wells, have you been vaccinated or not?”
He stared at the ground, mind still chewing on the details. “When I joined the Confederacy.”
“You’re sure?”
He finally met the doctor’s eyes. “Yes, sir. What about Becca and Dara?”
“We’ve all had the vaccine. Now if I could just figure out where she contracted it so I can prevent others from getting sick.”
As Gage relayed the details of the overheard conversation, shock filled William’s face.
“You don’t think Connor is involved, do you?”
“What am I supposed to think? I had my doubts about Forsythe long before you all arrived. He’s the one that asked me to translate that meeting. Now today, his bosses and the lackey he put in charge of his daughter discuss what they did. Seems like proof enough to me. They’re all involved.”
William shook his head. “I know my brother-in-law. There’s a lot he does that I don’t agree with, but he’s no murderer.”
“Right now, he’s the least of my worries. We gotta get to that camp and see if we can’t help them.”
“I have one confirmed smallpox patient here, and the men who delivered those blankets could be infected without showing symptoms yet. This could turn into a full-blown epidemic.”
Gage’s muscles knotted with a mixture of frustration, anger, and fear. “And what about the epidemic that’s surely tearing through the Cheyenne camp right now?”
“Wells, I’d go with you in an instant if I didn’t have duties to attend to here. As soon as I’m certain we’re safe, I’ll join you at their camp. For now, you’ll have to go without me. Take one of the girls. I’ve instructed both in what to expect with Matilde’s illness.”
“I’d rather take Dara, sir. The Cheyenne can be distrustful of outsiders.”
“Then go with my blessing, and Godspeed.”
He gathered his horse then went to the makeshift stable to saddle Dara’s mount. However, as he looked over the horses, hers was nowhere to be found.
“Hey.” He strode up to the stable hand. “Where’s the chestnut mare you keep for Mr. Forsythe?”
“That handsome woman living in Mr. Forsythe’s quarters asked me to saddle it for her this morning.”
Every nerve sparked. “What time?”
The fella shrugged. “Ain’t rightly sure. Hours ago.”
Gage swung into the saddle, walked his horse to the Pullman car, and dismounting, tied the mustang to the railing. He ran into the Pullman car.
“Dara, that better be you!” Becca called from the hallway. An instant later, she trotted into the parlor, eyes widening. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
“I’m looking for Dara.”
“That makes two of us.” She hurried toward him. Palms firm against his chest, she tried to push him toward the door. “You still can’t be in here. Matilde’s got smallpox.”
Gage stood his ground. “I can’t get it. Do you know where Dara is?”
Her eyes clamped shut, and she shook her head. “No. I haven’t seen her since Papa was here this morning.”
“Any idea where she might’ve gone?”
“No.” Her blue eyes brimmed with tears. “She was going to tend to Matilde, and I was supposed to help. This isn’t like Dara. I’m frightened.”
As was he. Could she have been so angry at him that she’d ride off alone? “Was she upset?”
“We both are. I love Matilde as much as she does.”
“I mean about anything else …”
The girl nodded sheepishly. “She was quite angry last night. At you. She shut herself in our room when she returned, but she sat again with Matilde later. Neither Papa nor I could coax any information from her as to what happened.”
“A misunderstanding is all. Was she still upset this morning?”
“Quiet, not openly angry.”
No information that helped. “Thanks. Get back to Matilde. I’ll see if I can’t find Dara.”
She hugged him tight and drew back, red cheeked.
He grinned then scrambled outside and back down the steps, but he paused when his hand skimmed over something soft on the railing. Something dark and thin knotted around the metal fencing, ends fluttering in the cold winter wind. Standing on the lowest step, Gage found a dark green ribbon tied in a bow.
The one Dara had given Walks In Shadows.