Walks the Fire (23 page)

She began to think of the child as Daughter of the Wind. But when she finally shared her decision with Pierre, the name that came out was not Daughter of the Wind. Jesse was surprised to hear herself say, “Her name is LisBeth W. King. LisBeth for my grandmother.”

“… and the W.?” Pierre asked.

“Just W. Someday I’ll tell her. She was almost named for the wind.”

Twenty

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.
—
James 1:5

In the spring of 1855,
Corporal Gavin Donovan was off duty when Pierre Canard rode into Fort Kearney with three pack mules in tow. His arrival would have gone fairly unnoticed if it were not for the fact that he was accompanied by a woman and an infant. Leaning against the corner of the sutler’s sod building, Donovan whistled lowly and sent a stream of tobacco spewing toward the trapper’s mules before saying, “Well, if it ain’t Kay-nard. Looks like ya had yerself a good winter, Frenchie.”

“Trapping was not so good this year—too much snow. I have trouble keeping the traps set. Too many storms.”

“Trappin’ ain’t exactly what I was thinkin’ ’bout,” drawled the corporal, with a telling glance at Jesse and LisBeth. Pretending not to hear, Jesse sat straighter in the saddle and avoided looking at Donovan.

Canard ignored the coarse joke. He held LisBeth while Jesse dismounted and accompanied him into the sutler’s building. A few meager provisions lined the shelves in the sod hut. Moses Shipman complained about the poor freight service he had received all winter and apologized to Pierre for the lack of provisions. “If you can wait a week, they’s a freight train due through here. I’ll be stocked up then.”

“A week is no problem. I can wait.” Turning to Jesse, he said, “If you will wait outside, Madame King, I will request to see the captain.”

The idea of Donovan’s company for even a few moments repulsed her. “Please, Pierre, I can speak for myself.” As she completed the sentence, Donovan’s barrel-shaped form filled the doorway to the sutler’s. He made an exaggerated bow as Pierre and Jesse, with LisBeth held tightly to her body, squeezed by.

Coming outside into the sunshine, Jesse took a deep breath of fresh air. Across the square parade ground, soldiers were pouring out of the commissary and lining up for the morning’s drill. Jesse followed Pierre to the building next to the sutler’s, where he requested to see Captain Woodbury.

Having partaken of too much blackberry cobbler the evening before, Captain Angus Woodbury had been awake most of the night suffering severe indigestion. When he learned that Pierre Canard had requested an audience, he was irritated. But then he had not accounted for
Mrs.
Angus Woodbury, who had controlled her passion for blackberry cobbler the previous evening in hopes of still fitting into her one good dress at the officer’s ball.

Libby Rose Barber and Angus Woodbury had been married in the parlor of the grand house that represented Rosewood Plantation to the surrounding county. Blushing just enough to appear ladylike, she had congratulated herself on landing the most handsome graduate of West Point from the county. She had packed her dowry—including her great-grandmother’s porcelain tea set from England—and set up housekeeping in the tiny new home that she was sure would be replaced by lavish officer’s quarters in no time.

Angus did not disappoint her. He excelled in the military and was promoted readily. What did disappoint her, however, was his passion for the frontier. Libby stared in wide-eyed, speechless dismay the day Angus came home with the news that they were headed west, to Nebraska Territory, where he had been awarded the command of Fort Kearney.

“Just think of it, Libby. We can make a difference there! We’ll be protecting the emigrants that pass through, providing a place for them to pause and reflect, to get their bearings, to recuperate. We’ll assure their safety and do our part in helping this country grow.” Angus beamed with enthusiasm. Libby was not amused. But Libby Rose Barber was wiser than her years. She feigned excitement, pretended to share his enthusiasm, packed her great-grandmother’s porcelain tea set, and headed for the frontier without complaint. Thus, she began to grow the love and commitment that would hold her marriage together through fifty childless years of military life. Thus she sealed her promise that she would remain faithful to Angus until death required that she lay him in God’s arms.

Just at the moment that Canard requested to see the Captain, LisBeth decided she was hungry and let out a demanding wail. Squirming unhappily, she refused to be quieted. Libby Rose heard LisBeth’s hungry wail. Jesse was sitting on a hard, narrow bench in the commander’s office, wondering how to find a private place to nurse her baby when a tiny woman burst through the door behind the desk.

“Oh, a
baby,”
she exclaimed with delight. “May I
see
him?” And when Jesse complied and pulled the quilt away from LisBeth’s face, Libby exclaimed more pleasure and swooped the baby up in her arms, covering the squalling face with kisses. She was lost for a moment in her enthusiasm and then stopped short. Still holding LisBeth, who had stopped crying, seemingly made breathless by the attention, Libby gushed, “Goodness. You must think me a fool! I’m sorry. I didn’t even introduce myself, did I? I’m Libby Rose, the captain’s wife.”

Jesse rose, smiled a hello. “Jesse King, ma’am. Pleased to meet you.”

“And you are here with Pierre?” She cuddled LisBeth, who had miraculously gone to sleep in the stranger’s arms.

Jesse found herself unable to explain. She stammered and was relieved to see the door open again and the Captain enter the room. Pierre came in behind her, and the four looked at one another momentarily before the Captain invited explanations.

“You requested to see me, Mr. Canard?” His stomach still felt disagreeable and he rang for an officer and ordered tea.

“Thank you, sir. I have, as you see, a traveling companion this spring. Mrs. King came to me the day before the last blizzard.” Pierre had asked Jesse’s permission to give an abbreviated account of her story to satisfy the curiosity of strangers. He repeated what they had agreed upon. “A Sioux warrior brought her, bound and gagged, to my cabin. He wanted only a few horses in exchange for her. Of course, when I saw that she was captive, I immediately made the trade. The child, she came the very night they arrived. Thanks to God both mother and child are well. With the bad weather, so many storms, there has been no chance to travel this far until one week ago, when finally the thaw came. I wanted to get her to safety before the rivers swelled with spring thaw. I have told Mrs. King that she will find only sympathy with her plight here. I am hoping that you will be able to help her find her way, as God wills.”

While Pierre talked, Jesse looked from the captain to his wife. Libby’s face expressed horror, then compassion. Tears welled up in her eyes as she gazed down into LisBeth’s face. She placed another kiss on the infant’s cheek and smiled warmly at Jesse. Clearly, this was a matter for women to handle.

“Angus, dear,” Libby said in a low voice. “As always, I defer to your wisdom in matters affecting the military…” Then her eyes flashed and she seemed to come to life. “But Angus, honey, we’ve just got to help this poor woman! Just look at this precious face. Why, when I think what they’ve been
through.
We must help. Angus, what can we do?” Clearly, Libby Rose had taken Jesse King under her wing and intended for her to stay there until it was certain that she and her baby were safe.

Angus thought his options through carefully. Libby Rose had no patience to wait for him to do so. She felt that further urging was required. “Just think, Angus, if it were
me
—if
I
had been taken by the Indians—what if
I
were being returned to the care of some military officer! How would you want
me
to be treated, Angus?”

The last thing Angus wanted to ponder was the fate of his Libby Rose in the hands of the Sioux. He hastened to speak, lest the image remain too long in his mind. “Mrs. King, we will do all that the military can do to help you locate your family and return to them. Please, give me their address. We’ll have a communiqué sent immediately. And while you make arrangements to return home, you’ll be afforded shelter…”

The question of shelter was a hard one. The few frame structures were all occupied by officers or commissioned men, the sutler, and the teacher. Only crude sod buildings completed the relatively small square of structures that surrounded the parade ground and its focal point, the flagpole. There was barely room enough for those assigned regular duties at the fort. Adding a guest would not be an easy task.

Jesse broke the silence and solved the difficulty. She also closed off her past and finished the separation from her family in Illinois that had begun the day she had been carried off by Rides the Wind. “Truth be told, Captain, I have no family. At least none that would welcome me home, now.”

Captain Woodbury cleared his throat. The specter of the poor woman’s experiences with the savages rose up and forced him to take immediate action to protect her. “Mrs. King,” Woodbury said quietly, “God forbid that anyone I love be called upon to endure the hardships you have known. This government is sworn to protect its citizens, and, as its representative, I offer you everything in my power that will assist you in reclaiming your rightful place in our society.”

It was a pretty speech, but still, the captain had no idea how to help her. Libby saved him.

“Angus… perhaps she could
work
here at the fort. The men have been complaining that there aren’t enough laundresses, and with the dragoons arriving in the fall…”

Jesse spoke up quickly. “I’d be grateful for any work, sir.” Her calm gray eyes met the captain’s. “The Lord has blessed me with good health and a strong constitution. He seems to have declared that I’ll need to make my own way in the world. I’m not afraid of hard work, if it will provide the means for me to make a home for my daughter.”

The daughter in question woke and without warning began to squall again. Libby was unable to quiet her this time and reluctantly returned her to her mother, then ushered Jesse into her own drawing room for privacy.

When the two women were alone, Libby remained warm and concerned. “The laundresses’ quarters are sod right now, but Angus has plans to rebuild as soon as possible. Most of the other laundresses are the wives of enlisted men. They’re not rough or undesirable at all, and some have children, too. I think you’ll be comfortable.”

“I’m grateful for your help, Mrs. Woodbury.” Jesse took a deep breath. “But of greatest concern to me is this: Can I depend on you to help me protect my child?” Cool gray eyes and stormy green eyes met and understood one another. But Jesse would not be content with unspoken promises. “Obviously, LisBeth is not Pierre’s child. I was among the Sioux, as you call them, for many years. I was returned here against my will. But after a long spring of constant prayer seeking God’s will, I feel that he has a plan for us that does not include our staying with the people. Tensions mount every day. I know the power of the government and the will of the Lakota. There will be trouble, and for LisBeth’s sake, we should not be with the Lakota when hostilities break out. I owe it to her and to her father to do my best for her. So, against my own desires, I have come here, seeking a new life.” Jesse’s eyes had not left Libby’s for the entire speech. “Will you help me build a new life—for the baby’s sake?”

Libby Rose Barber Woodbury stretched to her full height—which was not quite five feet. Earnestly, with her hands clasped, she said solemnly, “Mrs. King, I promise you at this moment, on the memory of my beloved father, that your secret will go to the grave with me.” She was the perfect portrait of a child acting the dramatic climax of a play. Her promise seemed genuine, but it was her next words that truly comforted Jesse and enabled her to trust this stranger. “God’s Word says that the Lord hates a lying tongue. Mrs. King, I try to obey his Word with all my being. I am no gossip. Your secret is safe with me.”

Jesse finished feeding LisBeth and was ushered once again into the captain’s office, where Pierre Canard and another soldier waited. Woodbury bowed formally to Jesse and extended his hand. “Mrs. King, may I officially welcome you to Fort Kearney. Private Dennison will escort you to your new quarters and introduce you to Gilda, the head laundress. If there is anything we can do to help you get settled, please do not hesitate to make your needs known.”

Jesse followed Pierre and the soldier past the sutler’s quarters and the hospital to a long, low sod building. At one end of the building was a closed door. The soldier swung it open to reveal the dusty room that was to become their new home. At the look of dismay on Jesse’s face, the soldier stammered explanations. “Don’t fret, ma’am. Captain gave orders for three of us to clean it up for ya’, and we’ll be doin’ that right away—bringin’ in some furniture too. It won’t be fancy, but it’ll be cozy. Sod don’t look like much, but it’s cool in the summer and warm in the winter. And we’ll be buildin’ a new place for ya’ soon, leastways, that’s what Ma’am says.” The soldier grinned at Jesse. “And one thing we all learn real quick around here is that she’s tiny, but when Ma’am speaks, it gets done.”