Courage to Love (Flynn Family Saga) (7 page)

Maggie smiled back.

His smile faded.  “Speak to the colonel.  Tell him what I have told you.  And tell him what you offered to do.  If he is a man of honor, he will send these men to us for justice.”

“And if he decides to hang them himself?”

Last Buffalo looked surprised.  “He would do this?”

“He might.  He was a friend of my father, of Bear In A Man’s Body.”

Last Buffalo nodded slowly.  “If he decides to do this, all I ask is that I be present at the execution.”

Maggie nodded back.  “I will speak to him.”

Last Buffalo nodded.  “It is good.”  He turned and looked at his village.  “My way of life is dying, Fire-haired Woman.  Every year, there are fewer buffalo and more white settlers.  Every year, the soldiers bring more of the People into a land that cannot sustain the people who already live on it.”  He turned back to her.  “But there are men and women of honor on both sides.  Perhaps, it is not too late.  Our way of life is fading, but perhaps we will find a way to live together in peace.”

Maggie bowed her head.  “I pray for that every night.”

“Do you pray to the White God or the Great Spirit?”

Maggie raised her head.  “I do not know what it is I pray to.  I know only that it is there, that it has given me strength and courage and wisdom when my own was not enough.”

Last Buffalo nodded.  “Then we pray to the same God.  The name does not matter.”

Maggie smiled.  “No, I guess it doesn’t.”  Her smile faded.  “I am in your debt.”

Last Buffalo shook his head.  “No.  Sees Far owed you a debt, and you chose not to collect it.  The account is even now, Fire-haired Woman.”

Maggie nodded.  “I hope I will see you again, Last Buffalo.”

“And I, Fire-haired Woman.  I wish you luck with the colonel.”

Maggie smiled wryly.  “Thank you.  I will need it.”

A man brought Patches, and she mounted him.  She nodded once to Last Buffalo and rode slowly out of the village.  At the top of the bluff, she saw Wakta, a tiny figure of a horse in the distance.  As soon as she reached the plains, she kicked Patches into a gallop.

*  *  *

Flynn heard her and turned.  He saw Maggie, riding Patches as hard as the little horse could run.  She caught up to him quickly.  Her face was very pale.  His heart twisted painfully in his chest.  “Maggie, are you—did they—?”

“No, Flynn.  They did nothing to me.”

“Why?”

Maggie looked at Peter pointedly.  “We’ll talk later.”

Flynn nodded.

Maggie urged Patches forward, and they rode side by side until they came to a small spring.  They dismounted.  Flynn made a fire.  Maggie brought out dried beef and hardtack.  Once again, Flynn marveled at the way they worked together.  “I’ll catch us some rabbits tomorrow,” Flynn said as he chewed the dried beef.

Maggie smiled at him.

Peter sat staring into the fire.

Maggie touched his shoulder, and he jumped.  “Are you all right, Peter?  Did they hurt you?”

Peter nodded his head, but his eyes were large and dark.  “I wasn’t scared a bit, Mrs. Flynn.”

“I was,” Flynn said quietly.

Peter stared at him.  “You were?”

Flynn nodded.

Peter bowed his head.  “So was I, but I was ashamed.”

Flynn put his arm around the boy.  “There’s nothing shameful about being afraid, Peter.  Only a fool is never scared.  And you’re not a fool.”

Peter nodded slowly.  He yawned.

Maggie unrolled a blanket near the fire.

Peter smiled at her.  He lay down and within minutes, he was asleep.

Maggie got up and so did Flynn.  They walked away from Peter so they wouldn’t wake him.  Flynn turned to Maggie.  “Why did Last Buffalo let you go?”

Maggie looked east, toward Nebraska.  “He is Woman Who Dreams’ brother.”  She hesitated.  “There’s something I didn’t tell you.”

Flynn’s gut tightened.  “What?”

Maggie turned to him.  “After we were attacked, Sees Far came to see me.  He apologized and offered me the life of his son.”

Flynn nodded solemnly.  “That sounds like something he would do.”

“So Last Buffalo let me go to cancel that debt of honor.”

Flynn drew a deep breath.  “So it’s over?”

Maggie shook her head.  “Not quite.  He wants justice.  For his daughter.”

“And if the colonel won’t give it to him?”  Flynn’s voice had an edge to it.

Maggie shook her head.  “I didn’t lie to him.  I told him I couldn’t guarantee anything.  I don’t know if Grafton values the life of a Dakota as much as the life of his lieutenant.”

Flynn nodded slowly.  “Neither do I.  But he has been in charge of Fort Laramie a long time, and for most of that time, there has been no trouble between the Dakota and the army.  And he’s Sam’s friend.”

Maggie sighed.  “Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”  She yawned.

“How long has it been since you slept?”  Flynn touched her shoulder gently.

“I slept.”

“An hour here, and an hour there?”

Maggie smiled at him.  “You know me too well, Flynn.”

He smiled back.  He unrolled his blanket.  Maggie took the jar of salve from her saddlebag.  “Take it off, Flynn.”

He hesitated.  “I may not be able to get it back on tomorrow.”

Maggie nodded.  “That’s all right.  You can ride without it.”

Flynn rolled up the leg of his trousers and unfastened the harness that held his wooden leg to this thigh.  The skin was red and raw.

Maggie rubbed the salve into it as gently as she could, but Flynn’s breath hissed in pain anyway.  She frowned.  “You’re lucky it isn’t infected.”

He shrugged.  “I didn’t want to show weakness in front of Last Buffalo.”

Maggie muttered something about a man’s pride.

Flynn laughed.

Finally, she lay down beside him.  He put his arm around her.  “Maggie, don’t ever do anything like that again.”

Maggie said nothing.

His arm tightened on her shoulder.  “Maggie?”

She shook her head.  “I can’t promise that, Flynn.  I couldn’t let them hurt Peter.”

He sighed.  “I know.”

She rolled over with her head on his chest.  “Or you,” she said softly.

Flynn was silent a long time.  “Good night, Magpie.”

“Good night, Flynn.”  She hesitated.  He felt the tension in her back.  “Flynn?”

“Yes, Maggie?”

“You’re going to make a wonderful father.”  Her voice sounded very small and scared.

He hugged her gently.  “Thank you, Maggie.  That’s the nicest thing you could have said to me.”  He kissed the top of her head.

Maggie sighed.  He felt her body relax into sleep.  He lay awake a long time, wondering if it was true, wondering what kind of father he was going to be.

*  *  *

They rode as fast as they could with Peter, but it was over a week before they reached the fort.  Maggie went straight to the colonel’s office.

The lieutenant looked at her face and looked away.  He stepped back.

Maggie walked into the office.  “Colonel, may I speak with you in private?”

Colonel Grafton nodded.  He gestured to the lieutenant who left the room.  “Have a seat, Maggie.”

Maggie sat down.  “Colonel, I just came from the Dakota village.  A group of men from this fort kidnapped Last Buffalo’s daughter and raped her to death.”

The Colonel frowned.  “That’s a serious accusation.”

“I know.  And I don’t make it lightly.  Tell me, how long has your lieutenant been out here?”

“About two months.  Why?”

Maggie met Grafton’s gaze levelly.  “Because he was the ringleader.”

Grafton looked away.  “I can’t believe it.”

“Can’t?  Or don’t want to?”

Grafton smiled ruefully.  “You’re Sam’s daughter, all right."  He sighed.  "A little of both, Maggie.  I don't want to believe that an office in the United States Army is capable of that kind of thing.”

Maggie nodded.  “Last Buffalo asked that you turn them over to him.  I told him that wasn’t going to happen.”

“And he let you go anyway?”

Maggie shook her head.  “I offered myself to his braves as reparation.”

Grafton whistled.  “You’re either the bravest human being I’ve ever met—or the best poker player.”

Maggie smiled faintly.  “A little of both.”

“You took an awful risk.”

“I know.”  Maggie looked away.  “But the life of an innocent boy was at stake.  Not to mention my husband’s.”

Grafton came around the table and laid a hand on her shoulder.  “I wish I had a dozen men like you in my command.”

Maggie turned back to him and smiled wanly.  “No, you don’t.  I don’t take orders very well.”

Grafton laughed, but he sobered quickly.  “I’ll have to investigate and convene a court martial.”

“I told him that.  Colonel, if you find him guilty, what will you do?”

“It’s a hanging offense.”

Maggie nodded.  “Last Buffalo asked to be present at the hanging.  If you find him guilty.”

Grafton nodded slowly.  “I think that can be arranged.  I don’t know how I’m going to prove it, though.”

“Would you take the word of a Dakota?”

Grafton nodded.

Maggie breathed a sigh of relief.  “Then send an envoy to the bluffs.  Last Buffalo is camped there.  He will bring a witness.”

“Who is it?”

“His wife.”

Grafton sighed.  “I can’t let the men get away with this, Maggie.  I have to maintain discipline, especially out here.  But it’s going to get ugly.”

“I know.”  Maggie sighed.  “Thank you, Colonel.”  She stood up and held out her hand.

The Colonel took it.  He smiled sadly.  “I hope we meet again under more pleasant circumstances.”

“So do I.”  She turned to go.

“Maggie?”

Maggie turned back to him.  “Yes, Colonel?”

“When you see your father, tell him I asked after him, will you?”

Maggie nodded.  “Yes, Colonel.”

She turned and left the room.  Behind her, she heard Colonel Grafton bark orders.  She saw the pale face of his lieutenant as a squad seized him and took him to the brig.

Maggie remembered watching the hanging of Kate’s first husband, Richard Hamilton, and she wondered if she had done the right thing.

Then, she thought of Last Buffalo’s daughter and shuddered.  She stepped out into the warm sunlight.

Flynn and Peter were waiting for her.  “Maggie?”

Maggie looked away.  “He believed me.  There will be a trial.”

“Good.”  Flynn squeezed her arm.

 “I’m not so sure about that, Flynn.  I’m not sure I did the right thing.”  She mounted Patches, and the three of them rode away from Fort Laramie.  That night, when they made camp, Maggie moved her blanket away from Flynn and Peter.

“Maggie?”  He touched her arm.

Maggie shook her head.  “I need to be alone for a little while, Flynn.”

He nodded and went back to Peter.

*  *  *

A week later, they caught up to the train.  Maggie and Flynn had hardly spoken the whole time.

When they reached the train, Maggie took Peter to the Ellis wagon.  Mary cried out and ran to her son.  Tears shone in David’s eyes.  He took Maggie’s hands in his and squeezed them tightly.  “Thank you, Mrs. Flynn.”

Maggie nodded, too moved to speak.  She turned and went back to the lead wagon.  “Give me your pistol, Flynn.”

“What?”  He set down his mug.  “Why?”

“Do it!”  Maggie’s voice cracked like a rifle shot.

Startled, Flynn handed her his pistol.

Maggie took it by the hand and tucked it into her belt.  “Ben, take Flynn to the jail wagon.”

“The jail wagon!”  Flynn stood up.  “Maggie, I don’t know what Colonel Grafton said to you, but—”

“Flynn, you disobeyed a direct order.  The people of this train need to know that I am running this outfit.  So you will spend one week in the jail wagon, and—”

“One
week
?”

“And if you say another word, it will be thirty days, Flynn!”  Her hands curled into fists.

Flynn glared at her.  “The Major would never do this!”

Maggie nodded.  “The Major wouldn’t have to.  If he ordered you not to go, you would have grumbled, but you would have stayed.  Ben, take him to the jail wagon.  Now!”

“Yes ma’am.”  Ben took Flynn’s arm.

Flynn jerked his arm away.  “Maggie—”

Maggie drew her pistol.  “Flynn, do you
want
to spend thirty days in the jail wagon?”

Flynn shook his head.  “All right, Ben.  Let’s go.”

Ben nodded.

Maggie sank down onto a crate and rubbed her face with both hands.  Frank handed her a cup of coffee.  Maggie looked up at him.  “Go ahead.  Ask.”

“What happened out there, Maggie?”

Maggie sighed.  “Last Buffalo’s daughter was raped and killed by soldiers.  I had to—to offer myself as hostage.  Flynn cost this train at least two weeks’ travel time.  He almost cost this train its wagon master.  I can’t have that, Frank.”

Frank nodded slowly.  “I guess a week isn’t going to kill him.”

“No.”  She took a sip of the coffee and shut her eyes.  “But Last Buffalo almost did.”

Frank squeezed her shoulder.  “Are you hungry, Maggie?”

“No.”  She sighed.  “But I guess I have to eat.”

Frank nodded.  He ladled up a dish of stew.

Maggie ate in silence.

*  *  *

The week passed slowly.  Maggie stayed away from the jail wagon, but she noticed that Peter spent a lot of time there.  He refused to talk to her or even look at her.  It hurt, but the lives of her people had to come first.

Finally, the week ended.  Flynn limped out of the wagon.  Maggie handed him his pistol.  He took it without speaking.  He turned and walked away.

Maggie sighed.

That night, Maggie tried to sleep, but she couldn’t.  Finally, she went to the picket line.  Flynn was there, asleep.  As usual, his foot stuck out of the blanket.  Maggie knelt and pulled the blanket over his foot.

“Maggie?”

“Yes?”

“Why?”  He sat up.  Pain darkened his eyes.

Maggie looked away.  “They have to know who is bossing this outfit, Flynn.  Otherwise, the first time I have to put them on half rations of water, they’ll think they can argue with me.”

He looked away.

Maggie bit her lip.  “Flynn, was this a mistake?  You being the scout and me being the wagon master?”