The Major's Wife Read online

  His commander at Fort St. Louis was the one who suggested it when he asked permission to take his wife with him to his new command. He received permission, but with the stipulation that he spend four or five months putting things in order after his predecessor had died of pneumonia. After ordering the lumber, his mind let it slide with his new responsibilities.

  The lumber was here and she was not. What a perfect time to rebuild. That surely would bring her back, and it was the perfect excuse to explain her absence from him and his bed.

  Chapter 28

  The eyes that watched Lucretia run to her Auntie belonged to Eagle Grant. He tried his best to ignore her and when he did have to acknowledge her existence, he did so like the officer and gentleman that he had become. At those times, he wished he had remained the savage he had been.

  Eagle would have been both amused and irritated that she considered herself a dung beetle in his eyes. He did not know that her aunt laughed when Lucretia told her that was the way she thought he pictured her. No, how he really pictured her was naked under him. He could not get her out of his mind. Never had he wanted a woman the way he wanted her. The fact that she was white made it even worse. Maybe he should take a leave and visit his people to the south for a few days to get himself back in perspective.

  Yes, that is what he would do. He moved toward the major’s house when the door opened. “Ah, Captain,” the major said. “Just the man I wanted to see. Did you see the lumber that came in today?” Eagle nodded. “It is to enlarge my quarters. They are very small for two people, especially one who came with a wagonload of trunks. So I am asking—not ordering—you to help me with the building. I am thinking of knocking out the wall this afternoon and starting the work tomorrow. Lucretia has gone to stay with her Aunt Liz until we can move back in. How about it? Will you help?”

  “Of course, Major. However, help is all I can do. I know nothing about carpentry. Our homes are of trees and buffalo hides. Muscle I have, so yes, I will be glad to help.” That was a blatant lie and he knew it. The last thing he wanted was to build a cozy home for two with a bed for their nights together. And days, too, considering how much time Major Sawyer spent with her, locked away together. It was not an order, but it might as well have been.

  Black Eagle was not the only one who lied. The major had not sent his wife to stay with her aunt. She had run away from him to Liz. Eagle wondered if the major thought this might bring her back. Maybe it would, maybe not. Build he would, either way.

  The major strode away and returned almost immediately with four troopers. They carried out everything, from the bed to the clothes hanging on the wall, and stored it in the officer’s office. What were a few more things, along with the pile of trunks?

  As far as Eagle could see, the only way to get this over with was to get it started. He joined the major as he began to tear the walls apart, carefully saving the lumber to reuse. Deke Carter wandered over and with his muscle, things went twice as fast. Sergeant O’Brian, with six young men in tow, showed up and no one complained when they understood the building was for Mrs. Sawyer.

  By dark, the entire structure was down and stacked in neat piles, according to the sizes of the salvageable lumber. Jeffrey called it too late to continue and thanked them all for their help, noting that if they so chose, he would welcome them again in the morning. Again, not an order, but again, it might as well have been one.

  Eagle grew up where conversation was only when needed or with very close friends. Idle talk was difficult for him, so much so that at the Academy he was considered aloof and distant. That was fine with him, although it did cause a few occasions where he had to defend himself against those his own age. Later it was upperclassmen, until they learned that he could best three at a time with no problem. After that, he returned to his solitary life. He made no real friends and that, too, suited him fine.

  His final year, he did find a closer relationship with Daniel Crockett Boone, a distant relative of the famous Indian killer, Daniel Boone. The friendship grew from a discussion in class of the hero who had died at the Alamo. Daniel begged to differ with the professor. He said his relative was no hero, but rather a man who drank heavily, killed without reason, deserted not one, but at least two families, and cared for no one but himself. The professor turned twenty shades of red that a student—even a relative—would talk that way about the revered Boone. The younger Boone was invited to leave the class and banished from it forever. When he rose to leave, Eagle stood and together, they left the lecture hall. Their punishment was hours of marching, both a written and verbal apology to the professor, and a warning that any further infractions would result in expulsion.

  They graduated with honor and were assigned to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where they enjoyed the lives of modern young lieutenants, partial to demon rum and easy women. Once such woman was a Mrs. Delpha Glasgow. The Mrs. part of her name was always a question, but for sure, Mrs. Glasgow liked young men like the lieutenants. As dark as Eagle was, Daniel was the total opposite…as bright and pale as a summer morning. She especially liked to take them to her bed at the same time, and the men found it equally interesting.

  The men always undressed and waited for her to make her grand entrance. It was never the same. One time, she was wrapped in a sheet with a ribbon for them to open, like a birthday present. Another, she was a harem girl. Still another, she was a schoolmarm, complete with glasses and a pointer that she knew how to wield. This particular night she dressed as a queen in long robe and crown. Under it, she wore nothing at all.

  “Ho, Your Majesty,” said Daniel, keeping with the play she had set up for them for the evening. “You are so beautiful, I cannot keep my hands off you. Do I have permission to kneel at your feet?”

  “Yes, you do. And you,” she pointed to Eagle, “have permission to unfasten my cape and admire my tits.” Eagle did as ordered, enjoying her hardening nipples with his lips and tongue before biting them the way he knew she liked. She bent her torso backward until her back met the bed. She spread her legs for Daniel to worship between them, first with his mouth and then his cock. The men changed positions several times over the course of the evening, enjoying her as she enjoyed them.

  They paid her and wandered back downstairs to the bar for one more drink before returning to the fort. They were pleasantly tired and in no mood for any sort of altercation. That ended with one comment, “Hey, half-breed, that bitch will fuck anything. Might as well be a dog as an Indian.”

  Eagle’s knife pressed against the man’s throat so quickly that witnesses would later say no man could move that fast. In his rage, Eagle had let his guard down and had not sensed another man move up behind him until he felt the other’s knifepoint jab into his side. He swung around, killing the man with one stroke of his own knife across his throat.

  Daniel moved forward to protect Eagle’s back, just as the first man stepped forward, knife raised to bury it in the Indian’s back. Daniel jumped forward and the blade came down in the side of his neck. Blood spurted everywhere, covering the four men and a dozen or more spectators.

  Eagle dropped to his knees beside his wounded friend and pressed his hands into the gushing wound. “Get a doctor. Give me a towel or shirt or something. We have to stop the bleeding.”

  Mrs. Delpha Glasgow, naked in all her glory on the balcony above, yelled and threw a towel to Eagle. Everyone knew that nothing was going to stop this amount of blood, and while Eagle pressed his hands into it, the heart stopped pumping, and Daniel was dead.

  The murderer made it no further than the door before being stopped by the angry crowd, made up of many troopers from the fort. Others forced Eagle to stand and pushed him outside to the horses. They mounted and raced to the stockade, followed by several townsmen who were friends of the murderer.

  Inside the fort, Eagle was safe, at least for the moment. The fort commander himself rode into town with his major and a few troopers. They were just enough to deter the murderer’s friends from making any kind of
hostile move. Once at the sheriff’s office, several witnesses stepped forward and all told the same take, of the murderer of Daniel Crockett Boone and the retaliation to protect his own life by Black Eagle Grant. The sheriff dismissed the charges, but quietly suggested to the officers that in his opinion, the best way to put a lid on the potential boiling pot was to remove Lieutenant Grant from the area.

  Before dawn the following morning, Eagle was escorted to another fort to the west, then another, and another, until he arrived at Fort Mason. He mentioned to no one that if he could have requested any post, this would have been his choice. When he received his final papers with his assignment near his former home, he could not have been happier.

  By the time the soldiers reached the hill, Brave Eagle was the ranking one. He called a halt under my branches and ordered break. As the horses rested, he turned to the others and announced, “The fort is just over yonder. You have done your duty and now are to return to the train and your last assignment. I will go by myself from this place onward.”

  Someone started to argue that their orders were to accompany him to the fort. He reminded them that he was the senior officer, and that he was releasing them from that duty. No one argued and, within a few minutes, turned to return east.

  I was pleased, as a tree can be pleased. I am pleased with warm sun, birds in my boughs, and a man I admire within my sight. Black Eagle appeared very different to me in his blue uniform and short hair. Not short by army standards, just cut much shorter than his tribesmen. I wished I had been able to tell him of things since he left. I would have warned him of the buffalo hunters sent here by the army to kill for meat for the soldiers in forts across the plains. The kill was of thousands, sometimes in one day, dropping the herds so much that the Indians had little to hunt.

  The hostility toward white men had festered into what was now a full hate. Those living around the fort here were not hungry, but by the snows…well, who knows? As long as there are deer and such, they can get by, but without the buffalo, they will have no new blankets, teepees, clothes, and the countless other things the bison provide.

  I should warn Black Eagle and hope he can stop what I know is ahead.

  Chapter 29

  Lucretia ran into Auntie Liz’s arms, sobbing. She still cried as the noise started. Liz peeked out the door from the windowless cabin to see several men taking down the major’s house. “Lulu, you have to see this. Did Jeffrey tell you he planned to dismantle your home? Is that why you are so upset? I should think you would be delighted to see it gone, and you know you can stay with me forever if you want. I think it is best you tell me what is going on, or I cannot help you.”

  Lulu peeked outside, too, and shut the door. Amazed, she turned to her aunt and nodded. Since there was no furniture in the room, they sat side by side on the edge of the cot that served as a bed.

  “We had a fight. At least Jeffrey had a fight. He got mad at something I did and he tried to…to…but he could not at the last minute. So I ran here to get away from him. In the morning, we will start back to St. Louis. Marriage is not a fine thing after all. Being a bride was fun at first, until I found out that I did not know my husband at all. There is no reason to delay.”

  “I think you are leaving a lot out of your explanation, honey. What did you do that upset him? Jeffrey is such a mild-mannered man, it must have been something dreadful for him to do what he did.”

  “Auntie, I do not want to talk about it. It was too horrible for words.”

  “Lucretia, the best way to handle the unmentionable is to simply mention it. I figure that he tried to have his way with you and could not. That is good. But what did you do?”

  The girl started to cry again. Through her tears, she whimpered, “He was getting out of the bathtub and I put my mouth…”

  “You put your mouth on his penis?” Lulu nodded and cried harder. “Honey, you are not the only woman who has ever done that. I found it stimulating to both your uncle and me.” Lulu stopped crying, looking at her aunt with eyes wide.

  “Yes, my dear. That is part of a marriage bed and nothing to be ashamed of—as long as you both want it.”

  “Oh, Liz, that is the problem. Jeffrey was so angry when he finished. He told me it was not right and asked where did I even hear of such a thing. I felt humiliated and ashamed, so I lashed out at him. I told him I watched Ruby do that and learned how by practicing on a long squash. Why are you laughing?”

  “Honey, I wish I had thought of a squash myself. I was not good at it for a long time. Now, I, too, want to know about Ruby. I think perhaps Ruby will be a problem for you two until you tell Jeffrey about her. I cannot imagine any woman letting another watch her do what couples do unless she were…oh, Lulu, wherever did you meet such a person?”

  Lucretia felt exhausted from crying and hiding her secrets from everyone. Telling Aunt Liz lifted a cloud and cleansed her fear of talking about it. Actually, Liz at first was horrified and then began to calm until she was asking questions, one after the other. Soon they were laughing at some of the tales Lulu related.

  Lucretia refused to share the tiny bed with her aunt, instead laying a blanket down on the dirt floor and covering herself with another. Sleep was impossible for either of them, with the sounds of laughter and demolition on the other side of the compound. Only when it was too dark for the men to work did the noise stop. Lucretia wanted desperately to know why Jeffrey was doing that, but she suspected it was to eliminate her from his life forever by destroying the place where she had done the unthinkable. Yes, St. Louis was best.

  Chapter 30

  At first light, the noise started over again, but this time included sawing and hammering and not a few swear words. They took turns peeking out the door, but with no idea what it was until the roof went on.

  “Oh, Auntie. I have it figured out. He tore down the old cabin to build a new one that has no memories of me in it.”

  “That is utter nonsense, Lucretia. Get dressed and let us go for breakfast. I am famished.”

  “No, you go. While you are out there, tell Jeffrey to arrange our transport to Cottonwood Creek. This morning, if possible.”

  “I will not! If you want transportation, then you will have to arrange it yourself. Do you want me to bring you something to eat when I return?” Lulu shook her head. She sat on the bed with her back to the wall and let her tears run as soon as Liz closed the door behind her.

  Lucretia told herself that she loved her husband, but the fact was that now she was not sure. Oh, yes, she loved the sex, but beyond that…well, what was to love? They talked about nothing. She listened to his tales of battles and running the fort while daydreaming. Her fashions and plans were of no interest to him, as he always changed the subject. Actually, they did enjoy walks together, which gave them things to notice and discuss. Otherwise, they did not talk at all.

  She knew she resented his not telling her about the fort and how they would live. In truth, all she wanted was the physical part of marriage. That was the only level on which they communicated, but that was not enough for a marriage.

  Lucretia did not understand why he had become so angry with her for doing something she thought he would love. She knew that he enjoyed it as she had. She could feel his cock harden even larger as she slid her mouth up and down its length. It throbbed, he moaned, and yet still, he pronounced it wrong.

  Ruby said the same thing her Auntie did…if they both liked it, then there was nothing wrong about it. Therefore, the problem was Jeffrey, she decided. She was wrong only because she did not mention it before doing it. Jeffrey was the problem, for sure.

  Liz ate a leisurely breakfast before wandering over to where the men worked. “Good morning, all,” she said pleasantly. “You gentlemen made such a racket last night, we did not get to sleep until way into the night. Will you be doing the same tonight?”

  “Yes, Mrs. Elizabeth Harold,” answered Sergeant Michael O’Brian. He bowed to her in a courtly manner before taking her hand to kiss th
e back of her glove. “It is a fine morning, but cold, so it is good that you are dressed warmly. Later today, if the major approves, would you care to join me in a buggy ride onto the plains? I promise it will be a proper ride, and if you prefer, I can find a chaperone for us. Your niece, perhaps?”

  Jeffrey heard the conversation and grinned. “Sergeant, if the lady agrees to ride with you, I see no reason you cannot take a bit of time off. Surely, the lady will be safe with you without a chaperone.”

  “I suppose that will be fine, Sergeant. But I think my niece needs some air, too, so I ask for her to accompany us.”

  “More than fine, Mrs. Harold. I shall call for you at fourteen hundred hours in front of your home. I am looking forward to this ride, madam.” Michael bowed again before bursting into song as he nailed yet another board to the cabin door he was building.

  Lulu did not want to go with them, but found she had little choice. Leaving the cabin would mean she and Jeffrey might see each other, and that she did not want. When it was time to leave, she rushed to the wagon and climbed into the back without looking anywhere but the conveyance itself. Had she looked around, she would have seen her husband walking toward the wagon, but by the time she realized he was joining them, it was too late for her to escape gracefully.

  Michael and Liz sat in front and Lulu and Jeffrey sat in the back. Conversation was strained at first, but with Liz around, that could not last long. “Tell me,” demanded Liz, “what was all that racket about last night and today? Cats got your tongues? Sergeant? Okay, Jeffrey Sawyer, I am talking to you. I have never known you to be so uncivilized as to ignore a lady’s question, so do not start now.”

  “I was trying”—he started slowly—“to surprise my lovely wife with a new home. I guess in my excitement, I did not think of the noise and chaos.” He turned to Lucretia. “Darling, I am sorry I upset you the other night. For all the world, that will never happen again. I promise. I am a lout and beg you to forgive me. I love you.”