resolve swelling in her heart.
CHAPTER TEN
Dear Miss Torvald,
Please forgive the great length of time since my last letter. I find it impossible to write when we are on patrol, and that has been almost constant these last weeks. The Apache are not biddable as the Sioux of the northern tribes. They do not believe they should be confined to the reservation. A more warlike group of people I have never known.
I cannot begin to tell you how much I treasure your letters. Two of them were waiting for me when I returned to the fort. Mail here is hit and miss, with emphasis on the latter. I’m glad to hear that Cimarron has put that terrible act behind her and is more herself. And Belle, well, Belle will be Belle and always taking care of Belle before all else.
It sounds like this winter has been relatively good for your hotel business. To think you have been in Little Missouri a year is unimaginable. How I wish I were there to help you all celebrate. You will have a celebration, won’t you?
Ruby paused in the reading. Celebration, anniversary, she’d not given such a thing even a thought. It wasn’t like the whole town—more accurately, the other inhabitants of the village— would rejoice with them. If they celebrated, it would have to be a private party for the hotel family. Now that was something else. Some family. Belle screeching about Cat. Milly mooning over the young private, Adam Stone, who’d left with the military when they vacated the cantonment. Cimarron snapping at Daisy over trivial matters. She herself wanting to strangle them all at times. Some family. Even Charlie had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed some of the short days and long nights of winter. And Belle, she’d caught her skimming again. She’d have to watch more closely, but what really rankled was that somehow Belle had turned it into Ruby’s fault. ‘‘I just made a mistake,’’ Belle had said, ‘‘and you act like it was deliberate.’’ Why did everything have to be a confrontation with Belle? Why couldn’t the woman be trusted?
Surely there was a better way to handle the cardroom—or perhaps she should close it all together. What a thought. Could she afford it?
Ruby was certain she had sugarcoated the local miscreants in the last letter. But then the captain knew the foibles of Little Missouri far better than she.
She returned to the letter.
You would be amazed at the difference in the land here compared to the badlands. Both have such stark beauty, but here there is more desert, with giant saguaro cacti’s arms reaching to the sky. Cacti is the plural of cactus, another of the many lessons I’ve learned here. One learns to stay away from the jumping cholla, a form of cactus that seems to throw its spines. The spines appear soft from a distance, but we are always digging them out of our horses’ legs if they venture too close. Denizens of the desert are fascinating. You would be delighted to see the long eyelashes of the jack rabbits. These rabbits are huge compared to the cottontails of Dakotah. They look almost like a dog when they stretch out in a full run. Please tell Opal that there are wild burros here that can be easily tamed once caught. One of the young recruits has made a pet of one, but of course everyone teases him unmercifully. Some of the older campaigners say donkey is as good as deer to eat, but when you are hungry enough, even rattlesnake tastes good.
Ruby felt her throat tighten. The thought of eating snake made her want to heave. Had he been that hungry?
Now that I have most likely offended all your sensibilities, I will finish. I am hoping and dreaming that someday I will return to Dakotah Territory and reacquaint myself with the friends I have made there. Since you have taught the girls to write, perhaps you could encourage them to write letters to some of my soldiers here. Many never hear from anyone at home, and letters mean so much. Thank you for making me one of those most envied. May our good
CHAPTER TEN
Dear Miss Torvald,
Please forgive the great length of time since my last letter. I find it impossible to write when we are on patrol, and that has been almost constant these last weeks. The Apache are not biddable as the Sioux of the northern tribes. They do not believe they should be confined to the reservation. A more warlike group of people I have never known.
I cannot begin to tell you how much I treasure your letters. Two of them were waiting for me when I returned to the fort. Mail here is hit and miss, with emphasis on the latter. I’m glad to hear that Cimarron has put that terrible act behind her and is more herself. And Belle, well, Belle will be Belle and always taking care of Belle before all else.
It sounds like this winter has been relatively good for your hotel business. To think you have been in Little Missouri a year is unimaginable. How I wish I were there to help you all celebrate. You will have a celebration, won’t you?
Ruby paused in the reading. Celebration, anniversary, she’d not given such a thing even a thought. It wasn’t like the whole town—more accurately, the other inhabitants of the village— would rejoice with them. If they celebrated, it would have to be a private party for the hotel family. Now that was something else. Some family. Belle screeching about Cat. Milly mooning over the young private, Adam Stone, who’d left with the military when they vacated the cantonment. Cimarron snapping at Daisy over trivial matters. She herself wanting to strangle them all at times. Some family. Even Charlie had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed some of the short days and long nights of winter. And Belle, she’d caught her skimming again. She’d have to watch more closely, but what really rankled was that somehow Belle had turned it into Ruby’s fault. ‘‘I just made a mistake,’’ Belle had said, ‘‘and you act like it was deliberate.’’ Why did everything have to be a confrontation with Belle? Why couldn’t the woman be trusted?
Surely there was a better way to handle the cardroom—or perhaps she should close it all together. What a thought. Could she afford it?
Ruby was certain she had sugarcoated the local miscreants in the last letter. But then the captain knew the foibles of Little Missouri far better than she.
She returned to the letter.
You would be amazed at the difference in the land here compared to the badlands. Both have such stark beauty, but here there is more desert, with giant saguaro cacti’s arms reaching to the sky. Cacti is the plural of cactus, another of the many lessons I’ve learned here. One learns to stay away from the jumping cholla, a form of cactus that seems to throw its spines. The spines appear soft from a distance, but we are always digging them out of our horses’ legs if they venture too close. Denizens of the desert are fascinating. You would be delighted to see the long eyelashes of the jack rabbits. These rabbits are huge compared to the cottontails of Dakotah. They look almost like a dog when they stretch out in a full run. Please tell Opal that there are wild burros here that can be easily tamed once caught. One of the young recruits has made a pet of one, but of course everyone teases him unmercifully. Some of the older campaigners say donkey is as good as deer to eat, but when you are hungry enough, even rattlesnake tastes good.
Ruby felt her throat tighten. The thought of eating snake made her want to heave. Had he been that hungry?
Now that I have most likely offended all your sensibilities, I will finish. I am hoping and dreaming that someday I will return to Dakotah Territory and reacquaint myself with the friends I have made there. Since you have taught the girls to write, perhaps you could encourage them to write letters to some of my soldiers here. Many never hear from anyone at home, and letters mean so much. Thank you for making me one of those most envied. May our good
Similar Books
