The Unlikely Wife

“Careful,” he murmured, resting his head against the car behind him. “You, too.” Someday that little minx was going to play with the wrong man. Or some poor fool would fall in love with her and not know it was hopeless. But not today.

Rebecca took her seat, noticing with pleasure that Aunt Belle had fallen asleep. Alicia, however, was wide-awake. “You were gone so long, I was worried,” she whispered.

“There’s a rail all around the platform. You would have to try to fall,” Rebecca assured her in quiet tones.

“That’s not what I meant.” Alicia glanced furtively at her mother and lowered her voice until Rebecca could hardly hear it. “Was he a gentleman?”

Rebecca giggled and bit her lip. Nothing roused Aunt Belle’s suspicion like merriment. “Barely,” she whispered.

She knew Alicia was aware of her fondness for men. Alicia had come to her rescue a couple of times when Rebecca had nearly been caught sneaking in or out. Though Rebecca looked on the little flirtations and stolen kisses as innocent fun, Aunt Belle saw them as signs of loose character. Rebecca knew her father was treated to every detail in his sister’s letters. At least every detail Belle knew or imagined. And that was part of the reason Rebecca hesitated to share too much of her escapades with her young cousin. What she didn’t know, her mother couldn’t force out of her.

Something else held her back, as well. This lieutenant was older than the others, more experienced. He had been a dangerous choice. She had a feeling that in another place he wouldn’t have stopped with a kiss. The notion wasn’t as alarming as it should have been.

Alicia was watching her expectantly. Rebecca grinned at her. “He pronounces prairie like it ends with a, and says the most charming things.”

“Will you see him again?”

“Of course not” Rebecca heard more conviction in her voice than she felt.

“What if he insists?”

“Alicia,” Rebecca hissed. “He won’t insist. He’s a gentleman.”

“Barely.”

Rebecca scowled at her cousin, wishing she’d be quiet. She wanted to sit and savor the warmth that still tingled in her stomach. That was by far the best kiss ever. In fact, this was the first time she wanted to corner the same man a second time. She wondered if she could see him again. No, that was a bad idea. If they met under any other circumstances now, he might think she was a loose woman and expect more than a couple of kisses.

Too bad, she thought. He was incredibly charming.

When the train pulled into the station at Fort Riley, Clark was more than ready to get off. If he had to hear the dark-haired girl’s voice or see the top of her head for much longer, he would be hustling her back out to the platform. He had no explanation for his reaction to her flirtation. It was the kind of thing he ran into often enough. On this trip back home, two different women had practiced their wiles on him. Neither had left him feeling confused the way this young lady had.

He got his bag and left the station, resisting the urge to see where the girl went. There were more important things to think about. At the post commander’s headquarters, he dropped his bag beside the door and entered. Answering the orderly’s salute, he requested a meeting with General Hale.

While the orderly stepped into the inner office, Clark took a look around the room. All headquarters looked much the same, dark and bare with only a few reflections of the person in charge. This is what my life has become, he thought, dark and bare. The observation had come to him once before, also after a visit home. Home? Virginia was hardly that anymore; he had been out here too long.

The orderly interrupted Clark’s thoughts. “Please go in, Lieutenant,” he said.

Clark nodded and entered the office. General Hale stood behind his desk, offering his hand and dismissing Clark’s salute. “We’ve been expecting you. Welcome back to the West, Lieutenant,” he said. “Did you have a pleasant trip home?”

“Yes, sir.” Clark stood at ease as the general took his seat

“I understand you’ve been at Fort Dodge and are to report to Fort Hays. You know they moved again?” He didn’t wait for a response. “They were flooded out on the eighth. Moved farther west and closer to where the railroad will run. Colonel Huntington requested more men as well as supplies. These are due to leave…” he consulted a ledger on his desk “…in two days. I’m putting you in charge.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I believe you know Sergeant Whiting. He’s been here working with the new recruits you’ll be taking with you. He’ll see about your quarters and anything else you need.” The general’s attention had already been drawn back to the papers on his desk. “Was there anything else?”

After the formalities of dismissal, Clark turned to leave the office. The orderly caught the door as he opened it, stepping aside and entering the inner office behind him. The door swung shut before Clark noticed three women waiting in the outer room. They all turned in his direction, but the dark-haired girl with the dimples was the only one he truly saw.

Habit let him walk past the orderly’s desk toward the outside door. He managed a polite, “Ladies,” as he passed. His hand was on the doorknob when the general burst from his office.

“Rebecca! This can’t be little Becky Huntington! Why, dear child, you’re all grown up!”

Clark managed to step outside and close the door gently behind him. He lifted his bag and stepped off the boardwalk with no real sense of what he was doing. Rebecca Huntington? Colonel Huntington? His daughter, no doubt. And he wasn’t lucky enough for the general to be addressing the blond girl. He had heard the returned greeting and recognized the dark-haired girl’s voice.

If the incident on the train became common knowledge, the good colonel would not look on it quite the way he did. And the little minx could be expected to protect herself above all else. He could find himself up to his bars in trouble.

* * *

In the headquarters building, Rebecca tried not to wonder about the lieutenant’s purpose. She returned General Hale’s greeting and introduced her traveling companions. “My aunt and cousin will be living with Father and me at Fort Hays,” she explained. “I heard you were here and couldn’t pass through Fort Riley without dropping in to see you.”

“Myrtle will be overjoyed. You’ll all stay with us, of course. Let me take you to the house. Masters, see about a carriage.”

The orderly saluted smartly and left, and the general saw to chairs for the ladies. “How long will we have the pleasure of your company?”

Rebecca seated herself primly in the straightbacked chair before she answered. “Only until tomorrow. We’ll be taking the train to the end of the track, then a coach on to Fort Hays.”

“Oh, but my dear, the coaches have stopped!”

“Stopped?” croaked Belle. “How have they stopped?”

Hale leaned against the orderly’s desk, crossing his feet at the ankles. “I don’t mean to alarm you fair ladies, but there has been an uprising, and all the civilian coaches have stopped until the hostiles have been remanded to reservations.”

“Indians?” Alicia and Belle said together, the former with more awe and less terror than the latter.

“I insist that you wait here,” Hale continued, folding his arms. “The end of the track is Ellsworth. We’re not even running supplies through there yet Last I heard they have but four completed buildings, three of which are saloons.”

“But surely the army hasn’t stopped moving,” Rebecca said. Much as she liked General Hale and his wife, she didn’t want to wait here. Ending the uprising could take all summer, and she wanted to see her father and get settled again. “When is the next supply caravan?”

“In two days. But that isn’t fit transportation for gentlewomen like yourselves.” Rebecca thought his smile was somewhat condescending. Before she could retort, he continued, “Your father didn’t plan an escort of any kind? I’d like to, but…”

Rebecca sat forward. “Excuse me, General, but if there are Indians to be caught, I doubt if either of you can spare the men. No, the caravan will do.” Rebecca didn’t turn to see her companions’ reactions to her pronouncement. The general’s dubious smile was enough.

“Dear girl,” he began, but the orderly chose that moment to return and announce their carriage was ready. General Hale ushered them out of the headquarters and helped them one by one into the carriage. He drove them personally to his quarters, a house near enough that Rebecca could easily have walked the distance in the time it had taken to hitch up the carriage.

Myrtle Hale greeted them effusively and her husband left, promising to send Masters to the train station for their trunks. Myrtle sent her maid scurrying to find places for them to sleep while she led them to a tiny, overdecorated room that served as a parlor. The room was dark; its one small window was covered with heavy drapes of faded maroon. But it was cooler than it had been outside.

“Please sit down,” Myrtle directed. “I’ll put water on for tea.”

“Pardon me,” Belle murmured. “If you’ll direct me to the privy…”

“Of course. Make yourselves comfortable, girls.”

The moment the older women were gone Alicia whispered, “That was your young lieutenant in the general’s office.”

Rebecca nodded, not wanting them to be overheard. She crossed the room to sit in an ornately carved chair.

Alicia followed. She picked up a china figure from the table next to Rebecca, but instead of inspecting it cast a furtive glance toward the door. Rebecca could see a faint circle where the figure had been. Now that she had seen it, she could smell the dust. Aunt Belle would be shocked but Rebecca knew how difficult it was to keep the dust out when the wind blew nearly all the time.