34 Life and Death

“I WILL NOT put on the blues again,” Jason said firmly.

“We can make ... accommodations,” the officer facing him said. Miranda watched as the two argued at the kitchen table. She didn’t like him. He’d been the one to twice deny them permission to marry until Jason was discharged. Now he wanted him back. She poured coffee. Her aching back and protruding belly complained at the effort. “You will not be an official part of the army. You can even wear buckskins like your Indian friends.” There was a note of scorn in the captain’s voice that grated on my ears.

“What is this all about?”

“Red Cloud signed a treaty after the devil massacred Fetterman’s unit. He fashioned himself chief of all the Sioux and visited President Grant himself in Washington, D.C. Now he has his tribe at Red Cloud Agency east of Fort Laramie. We ceded the land near there and abandoned Fort Phil Kearny. But that damned Crazy Horse has refused to recognize the treaty. He prances all up and down the Dakota and Wyoming Territories harassing anyone who even ventures across the plains. Then there is Black Kettle, who just sits up north and waits for an opportunity. Nobody knows who is chief of what. The only Indians you can tell apart are the dead ones.”

“Sounds like you have it all figured out already,” Jason said bitterly.

“Red Cloud is sending his niece, Nellie Larrabee, to Crazy Horse as a bride to encourage him to become part of the family. You are to be part of the escort. There will be an official army representative to try to parlay with Crazy Horse, but you know and understand those savages. We need to know what that renegade is planning and how many people are in his camp,” the captain said.

“Nellie Larrabee does not sound like a Lakota name to me,” Jason responded.

“She is a half-breed. And do not get too close to her. She is a sneaky little savage whose loyalties are as divided as her breeding. She is supposed to get Crazy Horse to sign the treaty.”

“He won’t,” I heard Jason’s voice but recognized Kyle.

“Then she will probably kill him. Be fine by me. Never trust her or anything she says,” the captain said.

“Why would I be with that kind of party? Crazy Horse is no fool. He would know me no matter what I wore,” Jason said. He kept shaking his head and I knew that he was fighting against every word the captain said. Miranda held her peace, sitting in the chair by the fire, but her mind was in turmoil. She was near her time and the thought of Jason leaving was terrifying.

“You have that Indian friend, John Hamm. He and his white bride—your sister-in-law, I believe—are living somewhere up there either with Crazy Horse or Black Kettle. Your reason for being with this party is to find your old friend and tell your sister-in-law of your wife’s condition. Invite her back with you to tend your wife and child,” the captain said.

“Jason, don’t go,” Miranda moaned. “I’m near my time. I need you.” I’d have just demanded my husband stay put, but this was a different age.

“A husband is needed only for the sowing, not the reaping. Your women would chase him out of the house while you give birth regardless. Corporal Wardlaw will return within a few months.”

“I am not a corporal, Captain. I left the army behind and took a wife. I keep a shop.”

“The United States of America has need of your service, Mister Wardlaw. I would not expect a man who served under me for six years to have turned a coward in ten months. The unit with which you will travel will depart Fort Sanders at dawn. Good day. Missus Wardlaw, congratulations on your impending motherhood.” The captain stood and made his own way to the door. Jason did not stand to see him out. He nearly knocked Katie back down the stairs as she came up.

Miranda had begun to cry, but I took control and stood to face Jason.

“Husband Ramie!” Katie shouted as soon as she saw me. She rushed to me and kissed me, softly petting my distended belly. She turned to look at Jason. “Husband Kyle!” She gave Jason the same treatment.

I swear that Katie knows I’ve arrived before you do, Miranda.

“Jason, you must not leave me,” Miranda commanded.

“Leave?” Katie asked. “Why ever would he leave us? You are near term and little Katie-Lynn will be here to greet her brother just five months later.”

“Of course he’s not leaving,” I asserted. “Kyle, tell him. My god! What year is it?”

“Mid-June of ‘73,” Katie supplied.

“What year, Kyle? I can’t remember. What year was the Little Big Horn?” I screamed. We could not let Jason go to Crazy Horse. His long yellow hair would make him an easy target.

“I don’t know,” Kyle said. “I don’t think it’s yet, but it is soon.”

“Has Custer taken charge of the 7th Cavalry, Jason?”

“He has been around the 7th since ‘68 when he led the Battle of Washita down south. I have not heard of him lately. Why?”

“Custer led his troops into an ambush at Little Bighorn led by Crazy Horse. The entire cavalry was wiped out.”

“Wiped out?” Katie asked.

“No survivors,” Kyle said. I saw Jason pale and knew that Kyle must be sharing as much of the history as we knew.

“I do not believe that is what we are facing,” Jason said. There has been no word of that kind of uprising.”

“But you are not going!” I shouted. “Kyle, make him see reason!”

“My loves,” Jason said after visibly struggling. “I have no choice. Captain Riggs has the power to conscript me if he chooses. If I go willingly, at least I am not under his command. I have freedom to go where I choose within the commission,” Jason said. “My darling Miranda, I do not wish to leave you. I will rush back to your side as quickly as I can.”

The battle wasn’t over but it was clear that we’d lost the war. As we talked into the night, we became convinced that it was too early for the Battle of Little Bighorn. But it still wasn’t safe.

“I’ll send a message and warn Custer,” Jason said. “I can’t let my fellow soldiers march into their death without warning them.”

“Didn’t you learn anything from trying to save Lincoln?” I shot back. “To you, it is a dreadful thing that will happen sometime in the future. To us it is history. Nothing you say or do will change the outcome.”

“But don’t I have to try?”

I knew that Kyle was having the same argument inside Jason’s head as I was having outside. And I knew Kyle was just as conflicted. Just because we could not change history didn’t mean we shouldn’t try, did it? I just wanted them safe.

“Husband Ramie,” Katie said abruptly. “Husband Kyle, Husband Jason, and Wife Miranda are ignoring my needs. Will you not take your pleasure with me? I ache to feel you touch me. I would have Jason and Kyle with me as well, but they are determined to spend the night arguing.”

I could see what Katie was doing as soon as I felt Jason reach across me to pet our wife’s side. We needed to be together. All five of us.

“Katie dear, I cannot lie comfortably to kiss your privities. I will lie on my back for a while and if you can get them to my mouth, I will kiss them with ardor.” Katie scrambled to get us in a position that was comfortable. I scooted down on the bed so she could get her legs on either side of my head and I tasted her sweet nectar against my tongue. So wonderful. So intense. Her slight baby-bump—four months?—pressed against my breasts. She could not reach my pussy with her mouth. It was simply too far across my baby belly to reach it. Then I felt a tongue and knew Jason had edged down the bed and buried his face in my pussy.

Oh my! He’s never done that before!

I smiled and then gasped. Perhaps Jason did not know how to lick a pussy, but Kyle did.

Even after Katie and I had climaxed, I held her there as Jason climbed over me and entered our lover above my face. In this position I could kiss and lick both of them—all three?—and Miranda cherished the loving. At last we were together.

“Kyle? Are you there?”

Jason’s eyes opened and Kyle looked back at me.

“I’m here, love. I don’t like this.”

“What’s really going on?” I asked. “I can’t believe Jason could be conscripted back into the army after already serving six years.”

“It’s like being in the reserves. He can be called up at any time if he is near a conflict.”

“I’m worried, Kyle.”

“Me, too. I’ll do my best to protect him. At least one of us will always be awake.”

“Make love to me, Kyle. Gently. Don’t squash our baby.”

Miranda and Katie rose early, fed Jason well, and packed his panniers. He wore frontier buckskins Katie had made for him, but they covered his cavalry boots, not moccasins. We wept on his shoulder until he had to go round up Shadow and leave for Fort Sanders. He kissed us tenderly, kissed Katie, and hugged us to him. I shared their tears as I watched our men leave.