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“Ma’am, after my wife was murdered by savages, I suspected every damn Indian that lived in the area,” he said tightly. “Even though I had always been told that Chief Brave Wolf was peaceful toward whites, I could not rest until I checked him out personally. I went to his village. We clashed immediately.”
“How?” Mary Beth gasped. “Was there a fight?”
“Not the kind you mean,” he said. “It was instant dislike between us. Even though I came away knowing he was innocent of the crime, I still did not like the man. He is, and always will be, a savage just like all of the others.”
“Was i
t something he said that riled you so much?” Mary Beth persisted, for she could not see how anyone could dislike Brave Wolf.
“Ma’am, sometimes a person doesn’t have to have any reason for disliking someone,” he said flatly. “It’s just something that flows between them. I don’t like Brave Wolf. He doesn’t like me.”
She understood why Brave Wolf had hesitated to bring her to Fort Henry. He not only didn’t like this colonel, he didn’t trust him.
“I see,” was all that she replied.
“As for Blackjack Tom,” he said. “When he saw you dressed like the very people he loathes, he must’ve snapped.”
His eyes roamed slowly over her again. “And as for that dress,” he said. “We’d best do something about it right now. We don’t want you as a reminder of the killing of innocent women every time my men look at you.”
She ran her hands slowly down the skirt of the doeskin dress. She had fallen in love with this dress the moment it had been given to her. Yet she could see how it represented all the wrong things to the soldiers.
“Come into my bedroom with me,” Colonel Downing said, reaching a hand out for Mary Beth. “I’ve kept my wife’s personal belongings in a trunk. She had many beautiful dresses. Earlier, when I mentioned your needing a dress, and said there were none here at the fort, I did not think I could lend you one of my wife’s dresses, but things have changed. It has been proven how my men feel about you, so I’d best forget my own feelings for the time being. And I don’t believe my wife would mind if you wore one of her dresses, especially if it means protecting you from harm.”
Although Mary Beth knew that she didn’t plan to stay at the fort after David was found, she saw no choice but to accept the dress. Still, she didn’t relish the thought of accompanying this man into his bedroom.
What if his intentions were illicit? What if he was just pretending to be a friend when all along he wanted what any lonely man wants from a woman?
“Sir, I’ll wait here while you get the dress,” Mary Beth said, standing her ground.
“You don’t trust me?” he said. Then he chuckled. “Don’t guess I’d blame you much, especially after what you’ve just been through at the hands of a stranger.”
He nodded. “I’ll be back in a jiffy,” he said, walking from the room.
Mary Beth looked around the room again, at all the lovely trinkets that must have been acquired by his wife. They were pretty things only a woman would desire. Back in Kentucky, her trinkets were simple, yet loved no less than this lady’s possessions.
“Here we are,” Colonel Downing said, carrying a dress across his outstretched arm as though it were a delicate treasure. “My wife was a tiny thing like you. I’m sure the dress will fit well enough.”
Mary Beth nodded and took the dress, then winced when she caught the smell of perfume on it. When she wore it, she would smell like the colonel’s wife.
“I’m not sure . . .” she said, trying to hand the dress back to him.
“As I see it, you don’t have any choice,” he said, his eyes suddenly cold. Perhaps he was angry that she did not want to wear a dress his wife had adored.
“Come now,” he said, gesturing toward the door. “I’ll escort you safely to the cabin and then go and arrest Blackjack Tom. He’s had it coming for some time. He’s always in some kind of trouble or another, usually gambling. He’s been accused of cheating more than once.”
As he turned to open the door, Mary Beth looked quickly at the knife that he had placed on the table. When he wasn’t looking, she grabbed it, then slid it among the folds of the dress.
When he turned and again gestured toward the door with a hand, she smiled and went past him, then walked with him across the courtyard toward her cabin.
She looked cautiously from side to side. Could Blackjack Tom be hiding somewhere nearby?
She followed the colonel, then stepped into the cabin as he opened the door for her.
“I’m sorry there are no locks on the door,” he said. “But you can feel safe enough. The bastard’ll be locked away real soon.”
“Thank you for your kindness,” she murmured.
He gave her a strange, lopsided smile, then walked away.
