The Officer and the Traveler (5 page)

Leading his stallion in a slow trot, he took his time heading back toward the barracks. With any luck, he’d have been gone long enough that he’d have missed dinner. Even with an exhausting game of rounders this afternoon, he wasn’t hungry enough to have forced himself to be upset at missing the meal. Anything—even a night of hunger pangs—was a preferable option over being forced to dine with Colonel Lewis and his guests while fending off an unwanted announcement of marriage. At least if he wasn’t there General Davis might have the good sense not to make such a foolish announcement.

He clenched his jaw. He doubted that. When General Davis took a notion into his head, it was impossible to sway him. So why was Michaela so amiable? She’d all but sworn she didn’t want to marry him and that she’d dissuaded her father from making the announcement. Unfortunately, he still didn’t know if he could believe her.

As much of this puzzle he’d solved, there was just as much unsolved. His best course of action was to remain out of sight for the night. No dinner, no cards, no going to his room, no nothing. Perhaps he’d offer to take Private Kellogg’s place and hole himself up in the watchtower.

The outline of the barracks came into view and it took every ounce of strength Gray possessed not to steer his horse back toward the open field. With any luck he could stable his horse and make his way to the watchtower undetected.

Or perhaps not.

He stopped his horse and narrowed his eyes. There was a man on a horse positioned just in front of the alley in the corner of the fort by the stables where Gray needed to enter. He shifted his eyes to the left. There was another man at the mid-wall position.
Damn
. On the far right there was another officer
on his horse. Someone—General Davis, if Gray had to guess—had planned this.
 

Gray’s hands itched to tighten his hold on the reins and steer Quicksilver the other way. But the thought was fleeting. He might be able to outrun them, but to where? The Cherokees’ land? No, thank you.

Taking a deep breath and stiffening his spine to full height, he casually guided Quicksilver to the alley.

“
Halt there, Captain Montgomery,” came the cold voice of General Ridgely.
 

Gray obeyed and stopped his horse. “Sir?”

“
Your presence is needed immediately.”
 

Gray scowled. All respect he’d held for General Ridgely fled. Did General Davis, though retired, have some sort of spell about him that made even General Rigid cow to his demands? “I have no intention of going anywhere other than to my bed.” There was no way he was going to tell the man where he really planned to go, lest General Davis come looking for him.

“
Whether you intend to or not, you will be coming with me. Now.”
 

“
No, I won’t.” Gray dismounted his horse and started to walk toward the stable.
 

“
Arrest him,” General Ridgely barked.
 

From out of nowhere, a man ran toward Gray. Gray transferred the horse’s reins to his left hand and punched the man in the jaw as soon as he was close enough. With a grunt the man fell to the ground and large, strong-arm grabbed Gray from behind.

“
Shall we add resisting arrest to your list of crimes?” General Ridgely asked tonelessly.
 

The fight fled from Gray. Though he was being arrested over something as asinine as not bowing to General Davis’ whims, it wouldn’t do to upset General Rigid and have him add more erroneous charges against him. “No, sir. I’ll go. No need for the handcuffs.”

“
Good.” The general released his hold on Gray and motioned for a private who’d been observing to come take Gray’s horse and put him away. “What’s that smug look on your face for, boy?”
 

Gray shook his head. “Nothing you’d understand.”

General Ridgely gave him a sidelong glance. “I’d venture to say you’re right, but then again, I probably know more about you than you’d like for me to.”

Gray bristled. He was going to strangle General Davis and his loose lips. Gray was not marrying Michaela and if she still had some sort of affection for him, this was not the way to win his in return. Surely her father was wise enough to know that.

“
One minute you’re resisting arrest and the next you’re practically running to your superior’s house,” General Rigid said with a chuckle. “Don’t be gettin’ no ideas about dining with your friends.
This is strictly a—”
 

“
Don’t worry about that. I don’t plan to take a bite.”
Unless it’s of General Davis’ heart
.
 

They reached the steps that led up to the adjoining cabins where the commanding officers lived and Gray took all four in one stride.

“
Hold up there, Captain,” General Rigid called.
 

Gray ignored him. He was not going to be told what to do by a man who didn’t have enough meddle to stand up to an old, fusty, retired general. Gray reached for the door and was about to open it when General Ridgely’s strong hand latched onto Gray’s wrist.

“
You will respect me, Captain Montgomery. I am your superior and the highest ranked officer at this fort. You will do exactly as I say when I say to do it or you’ll find yourself spending some time in the stockade. Is that understood?”
 

Gray clenched his teeth. He couldn’t say ‘yes, sir’ to him. Not now that he’d lost all respect for the man. “I will do as you ask,” Gray forced.

The general’s cold eyes bore into Gray, demanding he modify his answer to at the very least include a “sir” on the end. When no such thing happened, General Ridgely reached for his handcuffs. “Very well, I see that there is no reasoning with a man as belligerent as you. Perhaps after a few days of having to piss in a pot in front of anyone who passes by and eat moldy scraps while being taunted and laughed at by the men under your command, you’ll be more inclined to show proper respect.”

“
Perhaps if you had a backbone, I’d be more willing to follow your orders,” Gray spat.
 

The color heightened in the older man’s face and his eyes turned to stone. “Though I’ve never agreed with the choices you make on your time, I never imagined a man who Colonel Lewis speaks so highly of could be so foolish.”

“
Not foolish, sir,” Gray interrupted. “I know exactly where respect is owed, but it’s not to a man who cows under the words of a retired general who instructs him to go fetch a certain officer, then bring said officer to him so he can foist his daughter upon him in an unwanted marriage.”
 

General Rigid’s lips thinned. “I don’t know what you’re talking about anymore than you do, boy. Now, come with me.” He tightened his hold on Gray’s arm and yanked him backwards.

Gray’s body tensed. General Ridgely intended to take him to the stockade? For as much as he didn’t like the idea of going there, he had to fight his urge to resist being taken or General Ridgely would have no reservation about adding more time, or giving him a harsher punishment. He didn’t doubt that for a second.

General Rigid practically spun him around to face the door of his quarters. He yanked the door open. “In,” he barked.

Gray hesitantly walked inside. He’d never been in General Ridgely’s home before and didn’t know what to expect other than it would be similar to Colonel Lewis’ in size and the amount of furnishings.

“
Afternoon, Captain,” Sarah Ridgely, the general’s wife, greeted.
 

Gray nodded toward her. “Mrs. Ridgely.”

She swallowed and smoothed her skirts, casting a glance to the sofa where sat one stone-faced Indian wearing more feathers than a chicken and not much else and one trembling Indian maiden, clasping her hands over her uncovered abdomen.

He jerked his gaze away. It wasn’t uncommon for some of the Indian women to not cover their chests and abdomens, and while there was absolutely nothing sexually arousing about seeing her like this, he had no wish to look.

“
You wait here,” General Ridgely commanded of Gray. He and his wife exchanged looks and she gave a single nod before General Ridgely stomped from the room, slamming the door behind him.
 

Gray lifted an eyebrow at Mrs. Ridgely, hoping she’d explain what the blazes was going on. Did they think to have him wait here and have General Ridgely bring him back to announce his presence at the same time General Davis made
his
announcement? Gray’s blood turned cold.
He can’t force you. You’re not under his command or in need of his protection any longer.
He relaxed. Marginally. It wasn’t that he was afraid of the man and he knew he didn’t
have
to marry Michaela, but neither did he want to have to make a scene and publicly deny any interest in her. It likely wouldn’t affect her marriage prospects back wherever it was she was living now, but it would likely humiliate her while she was here, not to mention completely kill his friendship with Jack, her brother-in-law. He breathed a heavy sigh and crossed his arms. He wasn’t marrying her. He didn’t care what her father wanted; he wasn’t marrying her.
 

So why was he even concerned about this?

The screeching of old, rusty spring hinges rent the air. Every muscle in Gray’s body tensed. This was it. He contemplated turning around to face General Ridgely one more time, with the intent of talking sense into the man in hopes he’d rediscover his testicles and realize he was his own man and didn’t need to cow to the demands of Davis, but his body stilled instantly when he heard the words, “In, Walker.”

Jack came in the room and took his place next to Gray.

The two men exchanged looks and shrugged.

Two more sets of boot falls entered the room. Gray turned around to see a worried Colonel Lewis and what most would think was an impassive expression on General Davis’ face. Gray knew better. The man was scheming. With a grunt, Gray turned his attention away from them and back to the silent guests who were sitting on the sofa.

“
We have a problem,” General Ridgely announced, walking to the center of the room where everyone could see him whether they wanted to or not.
 

“
Which is?” Colonel Lewis asked.
 

That everyone is playing the pawn to General Davis.
Gray bit his tongue to keep those words safely in his mouth where they belonged and waited for General Ridgely to make a fool of himself and speak again.
 

“
Soaring Eagle has reason to believe his daughter here, Soft Dove has been attacked by one of our men.”
 

The room went as quiet as a graveyard.

“
And you think the attack came from a man under the command of either of these officers?” Colonel Lewis asked.
 

General Ridgely shook his head, his lips clamped into a tight line. “It was an officer.”

Every ounce of Gray’s blood drained to his toes and his mind raced. “You think it was one of us who did it.” Gray hardly recognized his own voice.

General Ridgely nodded. “Is there another officer who has wandered into Indian lands recently?”

Gray’s stomach clenched and he thought he might be sick. “No. But I can guarantee it wasn’t either of us. We were together the entire time.”

Color rose in Colonel Lewis’ face. “Gray, a man with your reputation isn’t likely to help himself with a statement like that.”

Gray scowled at everyone in the room. That didn’t make it any less true, however. Everyone at the fort thought he was nothing more than a womanizer always on the hunt for the next bit of skirt. The idea of him and Jack sharing a woman probably wouldn’t surprise too many, except that Jack had never been very obvious about his primal urges. He blinked to clear the thought. The
last
thing he ever wanted to envision was he and Jack sharing a woman.
 

“
Though I’m fairly certain I already know the answer, I have a duty to uphold and I need you both to tell the truth—”
 

Gray’s hollow laughter cut off General Ridgely. “You’ve already made up your mind that it was me, so can we please suspend the formality?”

“
Are you admitting guilt?” General Ridgely asked, narrowing his eyes on Gray.
 

“
No.”
 

“
Then are you saying it was Captain Walker?”
 

“
No.”
 

General Ridgely sighed. “It had to be one of you.”

“
It wasn’t,” Gray said tightly. “There are a dozen or more other officers at this fort it could have been.”
 

“
None as dimwitted as the two of you to risk an attack on this fort and all who inhabit it by going into their lands unannounced and forcing themselves upon an innocent woman,” General Ridgely boomed.
 

“
Sir, sneaking off to a Cherokee camp at night might not be the most intelligent thing either of these men have ever done, but I can assure you that their reasons for going had nothing to do with this young lady,” Colonel Lewis defended.
 

General Ridgely narrowed his eyes on Colonel Lewis. “You act as if you know more about their outing than you led me to believe.”

“
That’s enough,” Jack said in a loud, even voice. “I take full responsibility for our going onto Cherokee land without orders from you or permission from them. It was my idea to go, not Gray’s nor Colonel Lewis’, and I’ll take whatever punishment you find fitting, but that’s as far as my responsibility goes. We were together the entire night, and didn’t encounter this girl or any others.”
 

“
And just who did you encounter?” General Ridgely asked.