Chapter Twenty-Two
It was a cloudy day with just a hint of a chill, but even so John Hanlen had never been so appreciative of a breath of fresh air in his life.
He had been released from that unnervingly confining cell, and stepping
through the doorway
,
he filled his lungs, savoring it in great gulps. Freedom. Perhaps a man didn't truly appreciate such a gift until he'd been
cooped
up for quite awhile.
True to his word
,
John's old family friend, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Sedgwick, had convinced Colonel Chivington that John would be of more value to the cavalry outside of the brig than in it. With the war between the states still raging strong, the regiment was short on skilled manpower. Keeping him
incarcerated
would serve no purpose, he had said. There were only three hundred soldiers stationed at
Fort
Lyon
and even fewer at
Fort
Wise
, near
Denver
.
Every man was needed just to keep the fort running smoothly. There were gates to be mended, food to be prepared, clothing to be patched and sewn, stables to be cleaned, horses to be fed, groomed and watered, water buckets to be filled, wood to be gathered and stacked and a million small jobs which had to be accomplished daily. And
, even
more importantly officers
were needed
to supervise such routine work. John Hanlen had no doubt at all that his being a
major had been an added help.
Sam had filled him in on
the meeting with Colonel Chivington.
There was really no reason to hold him in jail any longer, Sedgwick had argued. There was no
charge against Major Hanlen, and no
evidence could be found to
warrant
a charge of desertion. Drawing himself up to his full
height
of five feet four, Sam had gi
ven his best
imitation
of the lieutenant colonel.
"Now
,
Colonel Chivington, I can understand how you could have been bitterly upset at t
he time Hanlen was sentenced, w
hat with those
marauding
tribes of Indians giving the United States Cavalry
and settlers out here such a bad time,
but I have known John since he was a boy. His...uh...father is quite influential. Perhaps you didn't know. A
genera
l in the
United States
army." Sam had looked at his friend with a new sense of veneration. "General's son are you? Why didn't you tell Chivington that yourself? Would have meant fewer days in here
, I would reckon."
John hadn’t wanted
to mention his father, didn't want the old man poking his nose into the situation. But now it didn't matter. Sedgwick had been all the help he had needed. All he cared about now was
that he was free.
As for Chivington he had handled the situation with political dexterity. He merely said that he had now discovered that many times when soldiers were presumed killed in a battle
,
the bodies could not be found. The steep terrain and
g
ullie
s
prohibited much exploration, he had mumbled. He said he had been told that in one instance in order to cross a deep ravine
,
the soldiers had to attach a rope to the wagon tongue and hand pull it over the trouble spot.
T
here had been no apology, in fact Chivington seemed to want to act as if a "misunderstandin
g" had never happened at all.
"Ah, well!" John had a happy skip to his step as he walked near the edge of the parade ground. It was good to be out of jail where he could exercise hi
s legs. Now
he could plan to take some of the leave he had earned in order to go to Skyraven's camp. He was determined to do j
ust that as soon as he could.
He hoped that she didn't believe that he had forgotten his promise to her. Well, he'd soon prove to her that he had not. He had
some money saved, and just as soon as h
e could
,
he'd go about buying those horses to give to her grandfather. He didn't want to wait too long. She was a beautiful woman
,
and he had no doubt but that Lone Wolf, the brave Skyraven had said wanted to marry her, would quickly g
ather up horses if he did not.
"Skyraven....." H
e whispered her name softly. All the time he was in the brig he had thought about her. In the long
,
lonely moments when it was quiet and he was in solitude
,
she had played on his mind and on his body. His skin flushed hotly as he remembered that just the memory of her soft curves had arou
sed him, made him ache for her.
"Yep, it's about time to think about getting those horses all right," he said to him
self.
It wa
s a long day. Just because Chivington had
found out he was a general's son didn't mean the Colonel intended to give him an easy time of it. In fact
,
it seemed as if he had enough chores to make up for lost time. He had just finished a work at the quartermaster's where he had been stacking ammunition in a storage shed and was walking along
whistling
a happy tun
e when he ran into Sam Dunham.
"My, my, my you sound happy, Major." Sam winked at him. "Glad to see you so cheerful. Don't suppose I can guess
why?"
"Feels great to be out of that cage. And I was just thinking about a pair of wide blue eyes and hair
as black as coal." John returned Sam’s wink
, knowing Sam would know immediately that he meant the Indian girl. Certainly he'd talked enough about her. "A woman will put a man in a downrigh
t agreeable mood every time."
Sam's smile changed abruptly to
a cautioning frown. "Shhhhh.
Don't speak too freely, Major." He laid his hand on the Major's arm. "Evidentally you haven't heard what Colonel Tippan
's scouts are saying."
"Colonel Tippan? I haven't heard a word all day, Sam. All I have heard is the sound of wooden crates being piled on top of one another." A deep sense of foreboding took hold of him. "Why? What's going on? What are they sayin
g?"
"It seems a large band of Indians robbed some white men of their provisions a few miles east of Sand Creek a few days ago. They stole some horses, a wagon and buffalo hides too. Blatantly attacked the three men. Whooping. Hollering. Colonel Chivington has already sent out several groups to scout the territory and find out where those braves could be
. He wanted them followed
and brought
to punishm
ent but the men came back empty-
handed with no Indians or any sign of sighting any. The terrain is so steep and rocky that some of the units had to turn back.
But t
hey did spot some
Indian
villages
."
"Indian villages?" the
muscle in John's body
all
tensed. He had been listening to every word without blinking an eye or uttering a sound
,
but he couldn't hide his emotions. "Do they know what tribes were responsible?" The thought of Skyraven's peopl
e being punished worried him. "It was probably Utes.
Those savages ar
e capable of almost anything."
"No its not the Utes. Colonel Chivington has had several reports of skirmishes that took place between the
Colorado
troops and the Cheyenne Dog soldiers. Some men are already out with the order to burn villages and kill any
Cheyennes
they may fi
nd, men, women and children."
"Women and children? Oh, my God!"
It was just the kind of event
that he had feared. Pacing back and forth like a caged bear
,
he racked his brain for a way he might be able to help. "There has to be a be
tter way. There just has to."
"Sergeant Andrews was in several such fights. He was the one who reported this incident. He says that everyone he has talked to thinks the
Cheyenne
are hatching up a plot with the other tribes to run the whites out of the country. Hea
rd it said that some of Arapaho
are suspect. There is even talk of an all out Indian war. The people up and down the
Arkansas River
are scared to death.. Colonel Chivington is on his way back from
Fort
Weld
, near
Denver
City
now. He sort of bounces back between the two forts from time to time. Prefers the more "civilized" fort near
Denver
City
. Guess it really is an emergency if he is leaving his beloved
Camp
Weld
to come back here."
John Hanlen's face turned an ashen white. "There has to be some mistake. Both the
Cheyenne
and Skyraven's Arapaho tribe are peaceful. I remember her telling me so. They do not want war." He didn't have to be a military genius to know there was going to be trouble on a large scale. "I have to get out of here, Sam. I have to go warn her." He looked around as if trying to find some means of escape
,
but the guards and the walls gave proof that it would
be
dangerous
ly difficult.
Sam grabbed John's arm and spun him around. "Don't do
anything
rash! If you do
,
that time you spent in the guardhouse will seem like paradise. Just hold your shirt on, John." He gulped and stammered as he looked down at his hand and realized what he had done. Quickly he pulled his hand back. " I'm....I'm sorry, Major. I had no right to hold on to a
superior
office like that. Its just... well its just that we are sort of friends and well...somebody has to talk some sense into you." As if to make amen
ds he quickly saluted. "Sir!"
John shook his head from side to side. "After what we have been through together I wouldn't dream of pulling rank." God, how quickly things could turn topsy turvey, he thought. When he'd stepped out of the guardhouse he had been so filled with hope, now all he could think about was that all his dreams could quickly crumble into dust. His fingers trembled slightly as he combed them through his hair. He had to stay calm. A foolish action on his part now
could snowball into tragedy.
"You are the best m
an for talking sense into
me.
You’re
right. I'll use my head."
"Can't you go to Chivington and ask him to send you on a peace mission ?" Sam was quick to pose the idea. "
Lean Bear
's
Cheyenne
village isn't more than a day's ride from here. So far
, at least,
the fort has a
reasonably
peaceful relationship with them.
They're said to be friendly."
"
Lean Bear
?
Cheyenne
. That might help some
,
but I need to talk to Skyraven's grandfather and the Arapaho, not the
Cheyenne
." He supposed it was selfish of him but all he could think about was Skyraven. First and foremost her face hovered before his eyes. "If there is any danger I don't wan
t her to be anywhere near it."
"Sure. Sure. I understand. But listen to me. One of our Indian scouts told me that the Arapaho and
Cheyenne
are like one tribe. They always travel and hunt together. Maybe you can at least send a message on ahead with a
Cheyenne
, to warn the Arapaho
s. It's worth a try. And maybe the
Cheyenne
chief would offer you a gui
de to Skyraven's camp, so
if there is trouble the Indians will know you are on a peace mission. It wouldn't hurt to hav
e a friendly Indian with you."
"No, it wouldn't," John replied thoughtfully. He realized that while Sam was thinking about the matter objectively
,
he had let his emotions rule. Going to Skyraven's camp might be just the wrong thing to do. Perhaps Chivington wasn't even aware of her people's camp. The
Cheyenne
camp he already knew about. Going there would be a cautious beginning.
He turned to the lieutenant.
"T
hanks, Sam.
It’s
worth a try."