Chapter 7

It was a typical morning for Colonel Anderson. He had just sat down with his first cup of coffee of the day and the overnight reports when he was interrupted.

After knocking on his door James Gaunte, the regiments executive office, said. “Sorry to bother you, Colonel, but it looks like we’ve got visitors.”

“Really, Jim? What kind of visitors?”

“It looks like a regular army cavalry troop is headed this way. They should be here in 10 or 15 minutes.”

“I guess we should head to the gate and see what these folks want. Has Sergeant Major Young been advised?”

“Yes, sir, the guard force is on yellow alert also.”

When Colonel Anderson and Major Gaunte arrived at the command gate, the cavalry troop was coming through the main gate. It was apparent from the condition of their mounts, uniforms, and the men themselves that they had been on a long trail.

When they reached where the Colonel was standing, they formed into ranks. Their leader, a Captain, saluted and introduced himself. “Good morning, sir. I am Captain David Davis from Fort Boise.”

Captain Davis was a tall and thin man in his early 30’s. While dusty and trail worn, his uniform was well-tailored and of good quality.

“Welcome, Captain Davis. What can we do for the US cavalry today?”

“Sir, if we could, I would prefer to go over that in a less public space.”

“Not a problem Captain.” Joshua turned to Sergeant Major Young. “Sergeant Major, see to the care of these men. Let’s be good hosts.”

After dismissing his troop, the Captain followed Colonel Anderson through the headquarters gate.

Sergeant Major Young turned to the Corporal standing next to him. “Johnson, Take these men over to the temporary housing in the troop area. See that they have food and water for their horses and get ahold of the vet and somebody from the hospital for any issues. Also, let the mess sergeant know that we have visitors. Let’s get something special for them. I think steak and eggs would do the trick.”

Meanwhile, Sergeant Major Young saw that the troop’s first sergeant was looking intently at him. That’s when it dawned on him.

“Draper? Aaron Draper? Is that you?”

“I was wondering when you would recognize me, Young. Long time no see Top. How ya been.”

“Not bad I see you finally made First Soldier. Took you long enough.”

“How about you, Wayne Sergeant Major? Who would have thought it? I see you made it through the war.”

“Yeah, spent some time as a prisoner, though. Didn’t think I’d have made it except for Colonel Anderson. He pulled me and a lot of others through.”

“About that Colonel and this Regiment. I hear tell that ya all are some kinda vigilantes and bounty hunters. I find that hard to believe, hard to believe you’d be hooked up with that kind of folks.”

“No truth to it, Aaron. Granted, we give the law a helping hand. We don’t go looking for trouble. But if it comes knockin, we don’t back down.”

“As it should be Top. Tell me about this” He waved his arm at the Hacienda. “Give me the straight of it?”

“Well, it isn’t too complicated. We’re just a bunch of survivors of the war. We’ll take anybody that served or was hurt because of it. We’ve banded together and take care of each other. Plus, we inherited a bunch of Spanish speaking folks that were here when the original owner was massacred.”

“Yeah, but why all this military stuff? I’d a thought folks would be tired of all that.”

“Not so much. We use the cavalry as a base for tradition, structure, and organization. A lot of our folks need that structure. For some of them, it’s all they’ve ever had. But what about you? You should be getting close to retiring, aren’t you?”

“This will be my last patrol. As soon as we get back to Boise, I’ll be getting my papers and mustering out pay.”

“What are you going to do afterwards? Going to get that chicken ranch everybody dreams of.”

“Don’t quite know yet. I’ll have my pension, and Peggy, she’s my wife, makes good money as a seamstress. Anyway, we’ve got some money saved up. It’ll be tight, but we’ll make it. I guess I could try farming, but I’ve been cavalry most of my life. I am gonna miss it.”

“Aaron, I’m going to suggest something. Now you don’t need to decide right away, just think on it some. Why not join us? I’m sure we could find a place for you and your wife. And I’ll sweeten the pot a bit. We’ll see about you keeping those stripes of yours. We always need good noncoms here. Or, if you want, we can stake you to whatever you want. We would even set your Peggy up as a seamstress, set her up in business.”

They had reached the stables that the visitors were using for their mounts by this time. Draper looked around at the care that his troopers were giving them. At the same time, he was looking at the stables themself. Satisfied that all was right, they proceeded to the mess hall. The half dozen cooks dressed in whites were busy cooking and serving the troopers with their first meal other than beans and jerky in weeks. The smell of beef and onions was more than enough to get Draper’s mouth watering.

“You seem to be living pretty high on the hog Wayne. I assume the barracks are just as well set up. I noticed that section of field tents, though. Is that a punishment section?

“Nope, That’s a group of recruits. We’re putting them through basic training right now. That’s one of the reasons I need you, Aaron. I need a good First Sergeant for these guys when they graduate. I’d think you’d be great in the spot.”