Major Kelly also had a habit of doubting rumors, questioning orders, and overthinking strategies. It drove Lieutenant Markham crazy. However, when Kelly made his decision, he charged ahead, fighting with great valor and tenacity.
Thomas admired the man for that.
Kelly could also, as he was doing at the moment, sit in silence for long periods at a time. Bracing his elbows on his knees, he said, “Mail came today.”
“I saw.” Thomas never got any mail. Thinking that maybe the major wanted to talk about something in particular, he said, “Did you receive anything good, sir?”
“A letter from each of my sisters and one from an aunt, who seems to have a strange fascination with some of the bawdy girls in a saloon down the way from her house.”
Thomas grinned. “Shame, that.”
Kelly chuckled. “Indeed. I need to find a way to tell her to guard her reputation.” After a pause, he added, “I also received a letter from Faye.”
“Four letters from four women,” Thomas teased. “An impressive mail call, I’d say.”
“Not hardly. All this correspondence can become rather taxing.” Looking him over, he said, “I ought to tell them to start taking pity on a certain sergeant. Then you can write to them every week.”
Thomas could barely read and write. No matter how many times Ethan or some of the other men had tried to work with him, Thomas couldn’t seem to grasp it. For some reason, every time he tried to read the words, letters got all jumbled up and turned around.
He didn’t know why God decided he needed to be so stupid, but he must have had his reasons. “I don’t think they’d be wanting to hear from a lowly sergeant, sir. Women like the officers’ uniforms.”
Major Kelly’s teeth flashed in the dim light. “You are right, Thomas. Some women like my uniform very much.”
Searching his brain for something of worth, Thomas said, “Your Faye certainly does, I believe.”
“That she does. Well, she used to.”
“Used to?”
“Yes. She . . . well, she wrote to tell me that she no longer favors my uniform.”
Thomas sat up. “Sir?”
“Faye has regretfully ended our relationship. It seems she has been making friends with a certain lieutenant who was severely injured and is recuperating in the hospital.”
“He must be quite the man for her to turn you over for a lieutenant.” Realizing how that sounded, Thomas blurted, “No offense, sir.”
To his relief, Major Kelly laughed. “None taken. It seems that a lieutenant with a broken and beat-up leg bests a healthy major locked in a prisoner of war camp.”
“She’s a fool, then. Injured lieutenants are as plentiful as . . . well, as fireflies on Johnson’s Island. You are one of the best men I’ve ever met.”
Major Kelly stilled as he turned to stare at him. “You mean that, don’t you?”
“Yes. I mean, you are a good man, sir. And you have everything. Money and family. Education. She should be waiting for you. Not letting you go while you’re here.”
Slowly Major Kelly smiled. “Thank you for saying that. To be honest, I’ve been too embarrassed to tell Devin or any of the other officers that I’ve been discarded. I was afraid they’d act like they knew something about me that Faye did as well. Or simply look at me with pity.”
“Oh, I’ll look at you with pity, sir. What she did ain’t right. She never should have broken things off while you’re behind prison bars.”
“I did find that rather heartless.”
“If it’s any consolation, I don’t imagine too many women are like Lieutenant Markham’s Miranda.”
Major Kelly chuckled low. “I think you’re right about that. Miranda Markham is the epitome of womanhood.”
Thomas wasn’t exactly sure what that meant. “She’s real pretty too.”
“Yes, she is. Phillip is blessed to have found a woman sweet in both appearance and heart.” After a pause, he asked, “Have you ever had a sweetheart, Thomas?”
“No.”
“Probably just as well. If you did, you would be doing what I was doing, trying to keep a relationship going through letters. That doesn’t warm a woman’s heart or body.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be the kind of man ladies write to, sir.”
“Why not?”
Thomas saw no need to hedge. “I’m too rough. Too big. I’m not smart, and I get in fights all the time too. None of those things are what women want.”
“You may be right, you may not. But I will tell you something every man in our unit knew, Sergeant. If there was something that needed to be done, we all knew who should take care of it. You.”
Those words sounded so good Thomas was tempted to ask him to repeat it. But of course he didn’t dare. Instead, he simply pointed to the woods. “It looks like someone lit a hundred candles out there, don’t it?”
“It does. Those fireflies aren’t much in the daytime. But at night, they sure do shine.”
“Yes, sir,” Thomas murmured, realizing that most things were like that. When one was by himself in the clear light of day, he didn’t look all that special. But then, at just the right moment, his light could certainly shine.
26
TWO OF THOMAS’S FRIENDS HAD ARRIVED.
As Laurel watched the men ride closer, each one sitting so tall and straight in the saddle, she felt her stomach twist into knots as her memories from the war slid into place. She’d stood on the porch countless times, watching groups of soldiers approach, never knowing how they were going to treat her.
Though she didn’t think she had anything to fear, she could tell even from a distance that they were a formidable band of three. Each man looked almost as large as Thomas, which was quite a feat in itself. In addition, they rode with a confident air, the way only someone who had spent a great amount of time on a horse could.
She noticed that even after such a long time apart, they weren’t talking a lot. Instead, their eyes were constantly searching. Each also had a rifle resting across his lap as if he was prepared to take on any sort of trouble at a moment’s notice.
What kind of men were they? What kind of men dropped everything and rode miles and miles on the basis of one telegram?
Men unlike any she’d ever known.
Continuing to watch them, Laurel decided that, together, they looked like an unmovable force. Now she was able to see their facial expressions. Like Thomas, their faces looked tanned and their mouths were set in thin lines. They looked hard.
Another flicker of unease coursed through her. What would the men be like? Thomas had said he knew them from the war, from being in the prisoner of war camp. But what did that even mean? Were they good men who had been at the mercy of an enemy? Had they just happened to have been captured and were victims?
Or was there something else about them that had set them apart from other soldiers on the battlefield?
Did they, too, have dark pasts that had marked them like Thomas’s did? Or were they everything she’d grown up to believe gentlemen and officers of the Confederacy should be?
Everything she’d been brought up to believe was so blurred in her mind now.
To her surprise, Thomas didn’t bring them right to the hitching posts at the front of the house near where she was standing. Instead, the three of them rode toward the barn. At first, she was a little hurt and confused. Wasn’t he eager to introduce them to her?
Then it all began to make sense. Of course. The horses would need to be watered and taken care of. The men had likely ridden for hours in the hot Texas sun. No doubt the animals were exhausted.
No doubt the men were too. Should she go right in and prepare for them or wait until Thomas gave her some direction?
After debating a moment about the right course of action, she walked to the barn to greet them. She would say hello, then let them take care of their mounts while she prepared a simple meal. That seemed to be the most polite way to act.
All three of the men
stopped what they were doing when she approached. She hesitantly smiled back at them.
Then, to her bemusement, Thomas walked out to meet her halfway. When he reached her side, he presented his elbow for her to take.
She clasped it as he led her to the other men, liking how she now had Thomas to hold on to.
“Miss Tracey, may I present Major Ethan Kelly and Second Lieutenant Robert Truax?” He took a breath, then continued in a firmer, more authoritative tone. “Ethan, Robert, may I present Miss Laurel Tracey, owner of the Red Roan Ranch?”
Both of the newcomers bowed slightly at the waist.
“Miss,” Robert murmured.
“Miss Tracey, it’s an honor to make your acquaintance,” Ethan said with a kind-looking smile.
Though it had been awhile since she’d done so, Laurel moved her right foot back and executed a curtsy. “Gentlemen, welcome. Thank you for coming to our aid.”
“The pleasure is ours, I assure you,” the major said with another smile. “Plus, it gave us a reason to see each other, which is always a blessing.”
“A blessing,” she murmured.
Thomas groaned a little bit under his breath. “Don’t mind Major Kelly, Miss Tracey. He can’t seem to help but be charming. It’s a character flaw.”
In spite of the gravity of the situation, Laurel felt her pulse race a bit. The major really was extraordinarily handsome. Blessed with an impressive height, wide shoulders, slim hips, and chestnut-colored hair, he no doubt had set many a woman’s heart aflutter. Especially when dressed in his officer’s uniform of gray and gold.
Beside him, Robert Truax appeared far less refined. He had piercing dark eyes, almost black hair, and pronounced cheekbones. He looked as if he could take anyone on in a back alley and come up the winner.
Realizing she’d been staring, she turned to Thomas. “Sergeant, please do bring your friends into the house after you get your horses settled. Their rooms are ready, and I’ll set out a light meal.”
A pair of lines formed between Robert’s brows. “There’s no need for you to go to any trouble on our account, miss. We can bed down here in the barn and help ourselves in the kitchen.”
“Of course you’ll do no such thing! Just come in the house when you’re ready.” Turning to Thomas, she said, “I’m counting on you to make sure they listen to me.”
“Yes, Miss Tracey,” Thomas said with a hint of a smile.
Major Kelly chuckled. “Thomas, you’ve just answered the question every officer has ever asked after they met you.”
“And what was that?”
“If it was ever going to be possible for you to settle into your skin.”
“And what was your answer?”
“Get you a woman to order you around, obviously!” Robert finished with a laugh. “Miss Tracey, I would have paid good money to have you at my side when I gave Thomas orders during the war. Your presence would have saved us from many hours watching him pace and fidget.”
As the major’s grin broadened, Thomas scowled. “Don’t you pay them any mind. I wasn’t ever that bad.”
Enjoying the light bantering, Laurel couldn’t resist joining in. “Somehow I can’t help but think they might not be exaggerating too much.”
“We are not,” Ethan Kelly said. “He was as difficult to supervise as he was a skilled tracker and horseman.”
“It sounds as if you are a man of many talents, Sergeant.”
Cheeks red, Thomas said, “My former officers enjoy bringing up my flaws a bit too much. I’m sorry for their clumsy conversation. They are usually as polite as preachers on a Sunday morning.”
“I think I’d rather have them like this. Take your time, gentlemen. I’ll see you inside.”
Laurel couldn’t help but smile when she turned her back. Something told her she was just about to learn a whole lot more about Thomas, thanks to these friends of his.
Though she regretted the reason for their visit, she was certainly looking forward to getting to know more about Thomas. From the moment she’d first seen him, he’d intrigued her more than any man she’d ever met.
It was almost a full hour later when the men entered the house. She’d expected them some time earlier and had even heated up water so they could bathe before supper.
But a quick glance told her that wasn’t going to be necessary. Each of their faces looked freshly scrubbed. The edges of their hair were damp too.
“Please tell me y’all did not bathe outside. I’ve been heating up some water for you to bathe in the bathing room,” she blurted before realizing it was rather unseemly to talk about such things.
“That’s right kind of you, but my mother would’ve had my hide if I’d come inside your home smelling of dirt and sweat.”
“Well, my mother would have been ashamed of my poor manners, allowing you to bathe in the barn.”
“I’m not sure what my mother would have said,” Robert said. “But I do think she would have cautioned me not to worry about such things when one was among friends.”
Thomas, who was standing to one side with his hands clasped behind his back, looked a bit aggrieved by his friends’ gentle flirting. “Miss Laurel, would you care to serve supper now, or wait a bit longer?”
“Everything is ready and warm in the oven. If you would follow me?”
She led them to the dining room, then brought in bowls of bean salad, fried chicken, and mashed potatoes. She also set out some pickled cucumbers and peppers she’d been saving for the right occasion. This had seemed as good as any.
The men stared at the table as if in wonder.
Robert cleared his throat. “Thomas led me to believe you didn’t have any help in the kitchen.”
“I don’t. I made it all myself.”
“Just now?”
She shrugged. “It’s never too much trouble to fry up chicken and boil potatoes.”
“It looks wonderful,” Robert said. “I’m obliged.”
Thomas led her to her seat and held her chair for her. She smiled up at him, feeling as if the situation was becoming more awkward by the second. Sure that the newcomers wouldn’t enjoy a blessing, she said, “Gentlemen, I hope you will enjoy your meal.”
“I’ll lead us in prayer,” Thomas said easily.
After they bent their heads, Thomas spoke. “Dear heavenly Father, thank you for this food we are about to receive. Bless the hands that made it. Be with our captain as he makes his way here. Let him feel your protecting arms as he makes his way across the state to come to the aid of friends. Amen.”
“Amen,” Robert and Ethan murmured. Laurel followed suit.
Moments later, after all the serving dishes had been passed around and the first tentative bites of her meal had been taken, Robert sighed in appreciation. “Only you would be taken prisoner, be beaten, then land in a spot as fine as this, Thomas. You really do always land on your feet.”
“One could say the same of you.” Looking pointedly at the man’s gold ring on his finger, he said, “I didn’t know you had gotten hitched.”
“It’s a recent development. It only just happened. Two weeks ago.”
“There’s a story there too,” Major Kelly said with a ghost of a smile. “He married Markham’s widow.”
Thomas set down his fork. “You married Miranda?”
“The one and only,” Robert said.
“I can’t wait to hear how that came about.”
“It’s quite a story, I’ll tell you that.”
“Major, were you there to witness the nuptials?”
“I was there when Robert sent word that he needed help. Monroe and I did what we could.”
Thomas looked hurt. “I didn’t receive such a missive.”
“It all happened just weeks ago. The captain told us you were unable to join us, but I know now how you were otherwise occupied. In, uh, your jail cell.”
“Indeed, I was.” Looking back at Laurel, he said, “I’d still be there if Miss Tracey hadn’t seen fit to release me.”
“I’m glad I did, though I fear the sergeant has probably spent more than one evening wishing I’d left him where he was,” Laurel said.
Thomas grinned before turning solemn. “I wish I could tell you this”—he gestured toward the table—“is all I’ve been doing since I arrived, but that certainly hasn’t been the case. Miss Tracey has had to endure one loss and fight one problem after another since the war began. However, her troubles have escalated as of late.”
“Care to tell us about it now?” the major asked.
Not hungry, Laurel spoke. “I’ll do it. The first morning after the sergeant arrived here, just two days ago, I discovered someone had left a dead calf at my doorstep.”
“Strange calling card.”
Thomas nodded. “Feeling sure that it hadn’t died of natural causes, I took it into town to the sheriff and to get looked at by the doctor.”
“What did he discover?”
“As far as I can tell, nothing yet. No one has been out here to tell us.”
“Then, one day after that, yesterday, we were out riding. We not only discovered six more cattle dead, but someone shot at us.”
Robert turned to face them. “Say again?”
“One moment we were reading a note left by whoever had poisoned the cattle, and the next I had pushed her to the ground and was trying to get in a shot,” Thomas said.
“Do you know who did such a thing?” the major asked.
“I wish we could tell you, but we never saw them close enough to know,” Laurel said. Unsuccessfully fighting a shiver, she added, “It was frightening.”
Laurel noticed that all three men exchanged concerned looks.
“Forgive my sad manners,” Robert said. “Thomas might have told you that I had to learn about comporting myself in social situations. Apparently I still have to learn. We’ll discuss this at another time. Most especially when we are not enjoying your delicious meal.”
“Indeed,” Major Kelly said.
But Laurel wasn’t about to let them decide her future without her input. She had come too far to pretend she didn’t need to be completely involved.
An Uncommon Protector Page 20