Desert Hearts (10 page)

“May I hold him, Private Stack?”

The private handed her the black-and-white puppy, and she bent her head over him protectively.

“May I have this one, Mr. Cooper?” she asked without thinking. It was awful enough to think about the other two being drowned, but not this little piebald.

“Why, Mrs. Woolcott, I would be more than happy to promise you a puppy from the next litter. You deserve better than this little mongrel. And how would you take care of him?”

Elizabeth hated herself for doing it, but if it would save the puppy, she would swallow her pride. Mr. Cooper was attracted to her, she was sure of that. She hadn’t liked him much before, with his arrogance and veiled contempt for field officers like her husband. He consistently treated Thomas as though he were lacking. He always treated her as though she had something that he wanted and would have been sure to obtain, were she not married. She liked him even less now. His arrogance extended to everything in his vicinity, even his dog. He was willing to kill three innocent puppies and deprive his dog just because they weren’t purebred.

So she would use that against him and set out to charm and flatter him.

“I don’t know much about dogs, Mr. Cooper.” For the life of her she could
not
bat her eyelashes at him, but she did gaze up into his face as though he were every bit the blond god he thought himself. “I can understand your disappointment. After all, Misty is a splendid greyhound and of course you want her pups to be just like her. It was a sad accident, and no reflection on you.” Of course, that was exactly what he thought it was, the arrogant…. Elizabeth could not quite bring herself to swear, even in her thoughts.

Cooper’s face softened as he took in her flattery. Not that he recognized it as such, she thought.
He
considered it only the truth and his due.

“I was wondering….”

“Yes, Mrs. Woolcott?”

“Well, I do not know much about keeping such a young puppy alive. Might we reach a compromise? If you gave your permission for him to stay with his mother until his eyes opened, I am sure I could take care of him after that. He would have a better start and it would only be a few weeks that his mother was nursing him.”

Cooper hesitated. He didn’t want to waste any time on the pup. But there was the delicious Mrs. Woolcott, gazing up at him with such pleading in her eyes….

“I could wait a few weeks, I suppose….”

“Oh, thank you, Mr. Cooper,” Elizabeth gushed.

“Private Stack, take the others and drown them in the trough. You can leave this one with its mother.” The lieutenant gave Elizabeth his most charming smile, bowed, and strode off.

“Here you are, baby, back with your mother,” she crooned softly as she placed him against a teat. She stroked him gently with her finger while he nursed and his mother, after a low growl, let her, as though she realized she would have had no baby at all, were it not for Elizabeth.

* * * *

When the wood detail returned later that afternoon, Michael walked by the stall and peered in.

“Only one puppy, I see, Private. And him not looking much like a greyhound,” he added, trying not to smile at the thought of Cooper’s reaction.

“Actually, she had three, Sergeant, but the lieutenant had me drown the other two. Would have had me drown them all, were it not for that nice Mrs. Woolcott.”

“Mrs. Woolcott?”

“She came back from her ride just as I was popping them into the sack. Charmed the lieutenant in two minutes, the lady did. Convinced him to save this pup for her and to leave him with his mother for a few weeks. Of course, it’s clear that the lieutenant was enjoying being charmed by her,” said Private Stack with a knowing wink.

“Mrs. Woolcott never struck me as a lady who would be drawn to anything that wasn’t well bred,” observed Michael.

“She is a bit prim and proper, Sergeant. Of course, she comes from the East,” he added, as though that explained everything. “But I could tell she was sweet on the pup right away, and if those eyes of hers had looked up at you, they would charm the bejesus out of you too, Sergeant!”

Michael knelt down on the straw murmuring soothing noises to Misty. The puppy was asleep, a furry little bundle with his belly tight as a drum from nursing.

“He’ll thrive, this one, if he’s the only one. I wonder if he’ll grow up wanting to chase rabbits or herd sheep,” added Michael with a grin as he got up.

“He certainly takes after his sire,” said Private Stack with a smile.

“If he inherits even some of his dam’s speed, he’ll be a fine fellow. Mrs. Woolcott made a good choice.”

“Weil, she’ll have some work ahead of her, for the lieutenant has only given her a few weeks before he’s to leave his mother. He’s a real….”

“Private Stack.” Michael agreed with whatever the man was about to say. But encouraging his criticism would only cause trouble.

“Yes, sir. But I’m sure you know what I mean, sir.”

Aye, I do, boyo, thought Michael as he walked down to his quarters. Lieutenant Cooper was an oily, stringy-arsed bastard. But Mrs. Woolcott? Now there was a puzzlin’ woman. Looking down her small nose at him for being Irish. So refined and genteel. Yet willing to fight for a misbegotten mongrel like that little fellow in there.

* * * *

“I have a confession to make, Thomas,” Elizabeth said to her husband that night as they got ready for bed.

“What awful thing could you have done, Elizabeth?” he asked as he got under the covers. “Come on, sit next to me.”

Elizabeth finished plaiting her hair and sat next to him.

“I flirted with Lieutenant Cooper, Thomas.” She lowered her head as though she was a fallen woman but when he put his finger under her chin and lifted her face, he saw that her eyes were dancing.

“Lieutenant Cooper, Lizzie? I thought you detested the man? Now, if you had said anyone else…Sergeant Burke, for instance, then I’d be jealous,” he joked.

Elizabeth had been pretending her penitence, but when she heard Sergeant Burke’s name, her face colored for a moment.

“I am sure the sergeant has plenty of female attention directed at him, Thomas. The likes of Mrs. Casey always find these Irishmen charming.”

“He’s a competent soldier, Lizzie, and seems a fine man to me. And for the men who aren’t lucky enough to be married…well, you know as well as I do that we’re lucky to have the laundresses, er, available,” said Thomas mildly. His wife was clearly determined to dislike Burke, but there was no reason to make him out as worse than anyone else at the fort.

“Thomas, you would speak well of the devil,” said his wife. “And anyway, it is Mr. Cooper we were talking about.”

“Ah, yes, you were flirting with him.”

“Yes, but it was for a good purpose, Thomas. Not that he thought it was for any reason but his own irresistible self!”

“Now,
Lizzie
, he is an officer and a gentleman.”

“I am not so sure about the gentleman part.”

“He has never done anything to you, has he, Elizabeth,” asked Thomas, turning serious and putting his arm around her protectively.

“Oh no, Thomas.” Though I think he would like to, she thought with an involuntary shiver. “I just meant that a true gentleman is not so arrogant and full of himself that a helpless little puppy could affect his self-consequence.”

“A puppy?” Thomas was completely lost. “What has a puppy got to do with Cooper?”

“Everything.” All the indignation that Elizabeth had suppressed in the stable was rising now. “His greyhound gave birth to three puppies today.”

“Misty? He’s been looking forward to that for days. He has high expectations for those pups, being sired by the major’s Major.”

Their eyes met and they smiled at the dog’s name, which was a source of humor for everyone on the post.

“Evidently Misty was too free with her favors before she met Major, Thomas,” said Elizabeth demurely.

Thomas’s face creased into a smile. “No!”

“Yes. And an Indian dog at that. Or so it would seem.”

Thomas’s shoulders shook with silent laughter. “But we still haven’t gotten to the flirtation part, my dear.”

Elizabeth became serious again. “He had Private Stack drown the other two, Thomas. He was going to drown the third but I convinced him to leave the puppy with his mother.”

“That’s my Lizzie.”

“Um, for a few weeks, Thomas. Then he is mine to care for. I hope you don’t mind?”

“Of course not,” he said, giving her a hug. “A dog is just what we need around here. And such a dog too: a good mix of purebred East and the Wild West! He’ll be good company and then good protection for you when I am away.” He did not add, And a good substitute for the child we never had, though he thought it.

“You are too good to me, Thomas,” she said as she turned to kiss him on the mouth. It was rare that she initiated their lovemaking and the weariness of the past few days fell away as he responded. Their mating was gentle and sweet as always and he fell asleep satisfied, believing that he had satisfied her.

Which he had, thought Elizabeth as she lay awake beside him. He always satisfied her need to be held and loved and kissed. She had guessed a long time ago, from the other women’s conversations, that there were other ways a woman might be satisfied, but if it pleased her to please him, if it felt good to hold him while he shuddered and poured himself into her, then she didn’t mind what else she might be missing.

As she drifted off this evening, however, she felt something she couldn’t put a name to. It was as though she had been left behind somewhere. But that was foolishness. Thomas was a most considerate lover, never just turning away from her to go to sleep, but cuddling her to him and making her feel she had given him something back for all he had given her. She had never wanted to know what other women seemed to know: the almost out-of-control loving they intimated they received and even gave back. For her, loving Thomas and being loved by Thomas was all she needed. Anything else might have reminded her too much of the day before he found her.

By the time of the next race day, the puppy’s eyes had opened and Elizabeth had charmed Cooper out of one more week with the puppy’s mother. Whenever she had time to spare, she visited the stables and had even started feeding the puppy with milk from a makeshift bottle. “Just so he’ll be used to it when he comes to us,” she told Private Stack.

She had been looking forward to seeing Serena again and telling her about the new “addition” to their family. She was very disappointed when she couldn’t immediately find her among the women who were showing their blankets. She was sure she had seen Antonio ride in today, but perhaps he had not brought his wife with him. She was just about to join the other officers’ wives when she saw Serena standing quietly by herself, watching the men getting ready to race.

Elizabeth hurried over to her. “Serena, I am so glad you came today.”

The
bilagaana
woman’s face was open and smiling and Serena looked at her warmly.

“You didn’t bring any weaving?”

“I have no great need of trade goods, so I only do it occasionally,” said Serena. “Today I am just here to enjoy myself and watch my husband beat the
bilagaana
soldier. The one whose horse looks like it has been sprinkled with ‘sweet salt.’ “

“Sweet salt? Oh, sugar! Yes, the mare does look like that. It was a close race last time,” acknowledged Elizabeth. “I hope your husband does win. Sergeant Burke needs to be taken down a peg or two.”

Serena frowned. She didn’t understand the expression, but she understood Elizabeth’s tone well enough. “You don’t like this sergeant? My husband thinks he is very unusual for a
bilagaana
and counts him as a friend.”

Elizabeth didn’t want to insult Antonio’s taste in friends, so she only explained, apologetically, “He is Irish, a people I was taught were dirty and ignorant.”

The Navajo woman just raised her eyebrows and said nothing.

“But I don’t want to waste our time talking about Sergeant Burke,” said Elizabeth. “I wanted to show you something,” she said with a touching eagerness that Serena’s heart responded to instantly. She guessed she was only a few years older than this Mrs. Woolcott, but somehow she felt very motherly toward her.

“I am sure we can get back before your husband races,” Elizabeth reassured her friend.

Elizabeth led her through the gates and toward the stable. Serena had not been inside the fort, although Antonio and the headmen had. It was an interesting place, something like the Zuni town. She could not imagine living so squeezed together, but obviously some people didn’t mind.

She wondered what there was in the stable. A new horse, perhaps?

“Look at him. Isn’t he a handsome puppy?”

The maternal crooning was irresistible as was a woman’s instant pull toward babies of whatever species and Serena was as entranced as Elizabeth with the black-and-white puppy.

“He doesn’t look much like his mother,” Serena said with a smile.

Elizabeth grinned at her. “No, he is a Navajo dog.”

“Diné,” Serena corrected her.

“Diné,” Elizabeth repeated. “Mr. Cooper was going to drown him, but I convinced him to give him to me. I’ll be taking him home later this week.”

“Mr. Cooper?” The name sounded familiar to Serena.

Without thinking, Elizabeth said, “He is the yellow-haired lieutenant who always struts like a rooster after he wins a race.”

Serena’s eyes twinkled. “Oh, he is the one my husband calls ‘Stringy-Ass.’ “

Elizabeth laughed out loud. “He doesn’t really fill out his trousers behind very well, does he?”

“Not like that Sergeant Burke,” said the Navajo woman appreciatively. Elizabeth had managed to banish the memory of Michael Burke’s muscled bottom from her mind, but Serena’s humorous comment brought it back and she blushed.

“We are both married, Serena,” she said, “Surely we shouldn’t be thinking of any other men’s bottoms, skinny or firm!”

“Surely being married does not make us blind!” Serena joked. “A man who fills his breeches is something to appreciate. My husband has nothing to fear, for he fills his leggings, both front and rear very well!”