“What?” Metzger shouted, with spittle flying from his mouth. “Why would you say such a thing?”
“I don’t appreciate what you said about my wife,” Cade replied.
The lieutenant stared at Cade for a long moment, not with anger or challenge, but as someone who was totally unaware that his comment would be taken in such a way. Finally, he nodded.
“You’re right, Mr. McCall, I apologize. I wasn’t thinking when I made that remark. Please excuse me.”
Cade said nothing, but he did nod his head once, not as much in forgiveness, as in a signal that he didn’t intend to belabor the issue.
“If I were you, I would petition General Sully at Fort Dodge,” Lieutenant Metzger said. “He has the authority to put an army in the field, and I can think of no more noble a purpose than the search for, and ultimate rescue of, a couple of white women being held by the savages.”
“Fort Dodge, you say?”
“Yes, it’s where the Santa Fe Trail crosses the Arkansas River. Fort Dodge has enough men to undertake such a mission.”
“Thank you,” Cade replied.
“And, Mr. McCall? Good luck to you. I hope you find your wife.”
Again, Cade’s only reaction to the Lieutenant was a nod.
By the time Cade reached Fort Dodge, Arabella and Maggie had been gone for more than three months. During the long ride from Fort Harker to Fort Dodge, he couldn’t help but think about what Lieutenant Metzger had said. Not about him not wanting Arabella back, but whether or not she would still be alive.
Would Arabella be the kind of woman who would kill herself? Cade didn’t have to ponder that question. He knew that she was too strong to commit suicide, and he also knew that she would never let Magnolia do it either.
Magnolia. Why had he thought of her in that name? She had always been Maggie to him.
Then he realized, with a sad smile, that he had thought of her in such a way, because that was what Arabella always called her. And he found comfort in anything that drew him closer, in spirit if not in body, to Arabella.
Cade passed through the gate leading into Fort Dodge, receiving only a cursory glance from the sentry at the gate. He started to ask where the post headquarters was, but he didn’t have to. It was a small, but rather impressive looking building, shining white against the remaining buildings, all of which had grayed under the relentless blows of the sun.
Tying his horse off out front, he stepped inside where he was greeted by an enlisted clerk.
“Yes, sir, what do you need?”
“I would like to speak to the post commandant.”
“Oh, well, I can’t do that, but maybe the Sergeant Major will talk to you.”
“All right, I’ll start with the Sergeant Major.”
Cade told his story to the Sergeant Major, then the adjutant, and finally, to the post commandant.
“I understand that your wife was taken by Indians,” General Alfred Sully said, once the adjutant cleared the way for him.
“No, sir, I can’t say that for certain,” Cade said. “All I can say for certain is that the wagon she and another young woman were driving was wrecked, and we have found no trace of them.”
“We?”
Cade went on to describe how Arabella and Magnolia were cooking for the herd that he was pushing up to Abilene from the Texas Coast. Cade also told what he had heard from Merrick and some of the area farmers, about a group of Indians with Standing Bear.
“Yes, I know Standing Bear,” General Sully replied, with a nod of his head. “He’s half Comanche and half Cheyenne, and doesn’t get along with either. He has a band made up of outcasts from both tribes, and given some of the recent depredations he has committed I would say that it’s a good chance that he may well be the one who took the women. What have you done, so far, by way of looking for them?”
“Sheriff Walker, in Sedgwick County formed a posse and I went with him. We encountered a small band of Indians...”
“Yes, Sheriff Walker sent his report on to me,” General Sully said. “I believe it was Eagle Claw and a small band. It was good that you killed him.”
“Yes, I suppose so.”
“You suppose so? What an odd response.”
Cade thought of the Indian chief, dying with honor, relieving his mind that he had had nothing to do with the disappearance of Arabella and Magnolia.
“What I meant was we didn’t find my wife with Eagle Claw’s band. And since I left Sheriff Walker, I’ve spent the last two and a half, almost three, months looking for them on my own. So far, I’m sorry to say, I haven’t found so much as one hint as to where they might be or even what happened to them. Sheriff Walker is the one who suggested that I ask the army for help. I went to Fort Harker, but Lieutenant Metzger said he wasn’t in a position to help. He’s the one who suggested that I come see you.”
“Mr. McCall, I hate to say this, but have you considered that your wife and her friend might be dead?”
“Yes, of course I have, and Metzger raised that same point with me.”
“He was right, you know. Indians will take the young and raise them as their own. But grown men and women don’t fare as well. They generally kill the men, immediately, and they’ll keep the women alive only long enough to use them; then they’ll kill them as well.”
“I’ve not only considered that, I’ve dwelled upon it.”
“But you still want to search for them?”
“Yes.”
General Sully pulled upon his chin whiskers as he studied Cade. “Well, I can’t say as I blame you. I’ll tell you what. I’ll send an augmented patrol out looking for them.”
“I was hoping you’d do that. I’d very much like to go with the patrol.”
General Sully shook his head. “Impossible. We can’t take a civilian with us.”
“Then I’ll follow along behind your patrol,” Cade insisted.
Sully chuckled. “You would do that, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes, sir, I would.”
“I’ve got an idea, if you are amenable to it.”
“I don’t intend to join the army,” Cade said. “Right now I have only one purpose in life, and that is to find my wife, or barring that, at least to find out what happened to her.”
“You won’t exactly be joining the army, but you will be a part of the Table of Organization. How would you like to be a civilian scout, assigned to the Eleventh Cavalry?”
“How long would I have to serve in that position?” Cade asked.
“Only as long as you want to.”
Cade smiled. “I never thought I’d be a part of the Yankee army, but sign me up.”
“Your pay is twenty-one dollars a month,” General Sully said. “Not much, I know, but consider that even the most senior of the troopers makes only sixteen dollars a month.”
“The money isn’t important,” Cade said.
“I had a feeling it wouldn’t be. Since the army won’t be furnishing any of your supplies, you might check in with Jesse Crane over at the Sutler store. He can give you an idea of what you’ll need.”
“So, you’re signing on as a scout, are you?” Crane asked.
“Yes. General Sully said that you’d be able to sell me what I need for the expedition.”
“More than happy to, sonny, more than happy to,” Crane said. “We’d better start by getting you into some different duds. Most scouts like to wear buckskin trousers and shirts. They don’t wear out, and they’re pretty good about keeping the rain off. But what you really need for that is a good poncho, and I can sell you that, too.”
“I appreciate that.”
“And, with winter coming on, you’ll want something warm. A buffalo coat, perhaps.”
“I definitely want something to keep me warm.”
“You got ‘nything you can use as a pack animal?” Crane asked.
“No.”
“You’d better buy one. Even though you’re a scout, you’re still a civilian, and the trains won’t be able
to carry any of your gear for you.”
“Where can I buy an extra horse?”
Crane shook his head. “You don’t want a horse; you want a mule, ‘n I can get that for you as well.”
Half an hour later, Cade had bought two buckskin outfits, a buffalo robe, a knife, one hundred rounds of .44-40 ammunition for his Winchester, and one hundred .45 caliber rounds for his pistol.
“I can give you a shelter half, if you can find a soldier to buddy up with when you pitch your tent,” Crane said. “But truth is, most of the soldiers has already got ‘em a buddy, so unless you buy both halves, you won’t have no way to keep yourself dry if it rains at night while you’re in bivouac.”
“Then give me both halves,” Cade said.
Cade was just paying for his purchases when a lieutenant came into the Sutler Store.
“Mr. McCall?”
“Yes, I’m McCall,” Cade replied.
“I’m Lieutenant Chambers. I’m in command of D Troop. We will be making the patrol.”
“It’s nice meeting you,” Cade replied. “When do we leave?”
“We’ll get underway at one o’clock this afternoon. Please repair to the parade ground at that time.”
“I’ll report at one o’clock.”
“We will form up there,” Chambers said. “You, being a scout, will not be a part of the formation, but you should be mounted, and ready to leave when we leave.”
“All right,” Cade agreed.
24
When Cade reported to the parade ground at the appointed time he saw several men standing by their horses, but not mounted. Much of the post had turned out to watch their departure, including the women and children who stood to one side. He was surprised to see the band was there as well.
A young second lieutenant approached him. “Mr. McCall?”
“Yes?”
“Compliments of General Sully, sir. He invites you to join him at the flag pole.”
“Thank you.” Cade started to follow him.
“Oh, and bring your horse and your mule, sir,” the lieutenant said.
Deciding not to walk when he could ride, Cade mounted his horse, and leading the mule, followed the lieutenant.
“Dismount, Mr. McCall,” General Sully said in a friendly tone. “Private Lemon will hold your mount and pack mule until Lieutenant Chambers departs, then you can join them. I thought, in the meantime, you might like to watch the duty formation with me.”
“Thank you, Colonel.”
A young private came to take Cade’s horse and mule, then stood back as the company prepared to get underway. There were several troopers standing out in the parade ground visiting with each other. Lieutenant Chambers came riding up to the parade ground then, while still mounted, he addressed the assembled soldiers.
“D Troop, to horse!” Lieutenant Chambers commanded, and quickly the troopers fell into a formation, with every soldier standing by his horse.
"Prepare to mount," he ordered. Then, "Mount."
As one, the men mounted.
The formation consisted of two ranks of men, all of them facing toward Chambers, and the general. Chambers turned to face the general, then saluted.
“Sir, D Troop is mounted and ready to depart!” he shouted.
General Sully returned Chambers’ salute.
“Very good, Mr. Chambers. Carry on with the patrol!”
Chambers turned back to the formation. “First Sergeant, post!”
A soldier with three stripes and a diamond on his arm moved into the front of the patrol. There was something about him that seemed familiar to Cade, but he wasn’t close enough to see his face that clearly, and of course, he was in no position to improve his vantage point.
“D Troop, left by twos, forward, ho!" Lieutenant Chambers called.
At his command, the troop began moving out at a swift trot, while the band played The Girl I Left Behind Me.
“All right, Mr. McCall. It’s time for you to join them,” General Sully said.
Cade started toward his horse but he didn’t have to, as Private Lemon was right there with it. Mounting, he considered saluting the general, but, as he wasn’t in the army, he didn’t know whether he should or not. Instead, he just nodded, then turned to follow the troop, which was already passing through the gate. He fell in with the trains detail, which consisted of a sergeant and four privates, each private leading two pack mules.
They had been on the march for a little over an hour, when they stopped for their first rest. Cade was adjusting the pack on his mule when someone came up behind him.
“Hello, Sergeant McCall. I thought you were killed at Franklin.”
Surprised to hear a voice he recognized, Cade turned. “Captain Hanner!” he said.
With a chuckle, Hanner pointed to the stripes on his sleeve. “It’s Sergeant Hanner now,” he said. “The Yankee army wasn’t all that interested in granting commissions to former Confederate officers.”
Like Cade, Hanner had been part of the 33rd Tennessee during the war. And this was the NCO who had been vaguely familiar to him as the patrol was forming up on the parade ground.
“What happened to you?” Hanner said. “I can see that you weren’t killed.”
Cade explained how he had finished out the war as a prisoner at Camp Douglas.
“What are you doing out here?” Hanner asked. “I thought you and your girl were planning on settling down on that farm outside Clarksville. What was her name? Melinda?”
“Melinda did settle down on that farm. With my brother,” Cade said.
“Oh?”
“You aren’t the only one who thought I was dead.”
“Wait a minute, I was told we would be looking for a couple of white women.”
“Yes. My wife, Arabella, and her friend, Magnolia.”
Hanner put his hand on Cade’s shoulder. “I hope we find them, McCall.”
“Thanks.”
“First Sergeant, assemble the men!” Chambers ordered.
“All right men, mount up!” Sergeant Hanner called.
The augmented patrol followed sign and interviewed farmers and store keeps. As the fall dragged on the weather grew cooler, but the bitter cold held off.
Cade didn’t mind the days, so much. They were riding, looking for sign, and asking questions of everyone they came across. It was the nighttime that he didn’t like. He lay in his tent, awake, long after he should have been asleep, thinking about Arabella, and wondering what she was going through. Was she still alive? If so, had she given up all hope of ever being found?
They had been out for three weeks when they came across a store that, by its very remoteness, was able to survive because there was no competition for the scattered farmers, buffalo hunters, and occasional Indians who came by to trade.
“Yeah, I’ve done business with Standing Bear,” Maynard Logan, the owner of the trading post said.
“You do business with savages?” Lieutenant Chambers asked.
“Lieutenant, if you’ve rode out here, you know there ain’t no law or soldiers within fifty miles. The only way I can stay alive is to treat ever’ one the same, ‘n that means farmers, ranchers, buffalo hunters, outlaws, ‘n injuns. ‘N one of them injuns I’ve done business with is Standin’ Bear.”
“Did he have any women with him?” Cade asked, anxiously.
“Yeah, he had women,” Logan said. “He’s travelin’ with about 40 warriors, ‘n prob’ly 20 or more squaws, plus a passel of little injun brats.”
“Were there any white women with him?” Cade asked.
“White women? Yeah, now that I recall, they was two white women in amongst the squaws.”
“Where is he now?” Cade asked, anxiously. “Where did Standing Bear go?”
“I can tell you where he went. But, that ought to be worth somethin’, shouldn’t it?”
“I’ll give you one hundred dollars for the information,” Cade said.
Logan smiled and held out his hand. Not until Cade gave
him five twenty-dollar bills did he speak.
“I heard some of ‘em talkin’. They plan to make a winter camp down on Bear Creek. That’s about fifty miles from here, in Hamilton County.”
They reached Bear Creek, in the extreme southwest part of Kansas, by midafternoon the next day. Here, all signs indicated that they were very near Standing Bear and his band.
"Men," Chambers said, standing in the stirrups to address the platoon. "We are going to ride up the creek bed. We will start at a canter; continue the canter for ten minutes, then slow to a trot. Above all, keep it closed up, and keep moving!"
"Sir, if I may suggest, it would be better to ride along the ridge line, following the creek bed,” Sergeant Hanner said.
“Thank you for your suggestion, First Sergeant, but we will follow the creek bed.”
“With all due respect, Lieutenant, we’ve seen too much sign. It’s for sure and certain that Standing Bear is here. I just don’t think that it would be such a good idea to expose ourselves like that.”
"You may have been a captain in the Confederacy, First Sergeant Hanner, but here you are an enlisted man, and that means you are subject to my orders. We can move much faster by staying in the creek bed than we can by riding up on the ridge line where we will constantly be traversing gullies."
"Yes, sir," Hanner replied.
"Forward, ho!" Chambers ordered, and the platoon started forward at the canter.
"Lieutenant," Sergeant Hanner called about half-an-hour later. "Look up ahead. See how the walls close in on the creek bed like that? Once we get in there, it will be too narrow for maneuvering. I recommend that we leave this creek bed and take the high ground, just until we are through that restricted canyon ahead.”
"You heard my orders, First Sergeant. We will continue as before."
“Lieutenant, I think you should listen to Cap . . . that is, Sergeant Hanner,” Cade said. One of the soldiers with the train had offered to take Cade’s mule in tow, which freed him to ride up with the head of the troop.
“Mr. McCall, it is enough that I have to put up with insubordination from an NCO, I will not put up with it from a civilian scout. We will continue as before.”
The Western Adventures of Cade McCall Box Set Page 39