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"Why did she confide in you?"
Chase looked at the Captain with surprise, "I guess she trusted me. Captain, as much as she hurt your ego or I did with those soldiers, the girl has been in danger ever since I met her. First with those soldiers, then with Indians, then Hawks. She hasn't known a peaceful moment since her folks died. She tried to nurse her folks back to life, she tried very hard, but she had nothing to cure them with. She knew not how to help them. And the fever was too strong and she had no way to save them. Her and her brother took care of them until they died. She's been through hell and is still going through it. I know she is from Missouri, has four more brothers she sent back East. Her and Josh were close to dying themselves, they had been through so much by the time I met her. Hawks has been stalking her since before I came along. And those soldiers wanted to rape her. They didn't make a secret of it, Captain. Men cooped up on a post too long, fighting Indians every day, and women being so scarce in this part of the country. Anyway, I aim to help her Captain, and I don't intend to see her hang or harmed in any way."
"Do you know the names of the soldiers?" The Captain asked.
"Yeah, I do. One was called Denver and the other Hogg. And I'll give all that information to you too, if you'll just listen to me. The fort disbanded, Captain, not long after I left. The army had been there a long while and nearly every day attacked by either Renegade Apache or Comanche. The soldiers were all tired and bone weary with not much food rations. They were threadbare and mean. Most of them held a grudge, a rightful grudge against the Indians. I was there, Captain, I saw what happened. The prisoners they took, they abused, though. I guess that was their revenge. The women and children did not deserve what they got. Perhaps the warriors did. They arrested me for killing the Sergeant of Arms. A mean man who deserved to die, Captain. I did kill him. I'd do it again if I had to, because he was beating a very old Indian woman. He beat her to death, and I killed him for it. Had it been a man he beat, maybe I wouldn't. But this was an old woman who wanted nothing more than to go home. And couldn't. That's all. She hadn't murdered anyone, hadn't hurt a soul. And he beat her, every day because she wouldn't keep quiet. One day, he beat her and he wouldn't quit. And finally, she didn't get up any more. I watched till I could watch no longer. I took a gun and shot him dead where he stood. His body fell over the woman he killed. Now an Indian doesn't have much right in this country, even though it was their country first. But that was wrong, Captain. So I killed him. For that they want to hang me."
The Captain seemed to listen, and consider his words. "Did anyone see it happen?"
"A few, but they wouldn't side with a half breed."
"And the soldiers at the station, who killed them?"
Chase sighed heavily then explained. "The one called Denver shot Mr. Bowlins the stage driver because he was defending Katherine. He tried at least. She picked up his gun and shot one of them dead. The other man approached her and I broke his neck before he could touch her. I put the ropes that bound me around his neck and twisted until he fell dead. They were making crude remarks about taking her, how much fun they would have with her, Captain. It was obvious what they wanted. I couldn't let them do that. She had done nothing to provoke them Captain, she was merely feeding them as any stationmaster would. They also had plans to blame it on me, when they were
done," Chase said as though he were remembering the happening with sick regret.
The Captain eyed him for a long moment. "There was one with a broke neck, and the other had been shot, that much I know for a fact. I never saw Mr. Bowlins."
"They buried him next to their folks, out of respect for him." Chase nodded. "Katherine cried when he was dying, saying, 'Please don't die, Mr. Bowlins, please don't leave me.' I could not stand another woman being hurt not after seeing Walking Woman beat to death. It was too much. Men see war and death a lot. It's part of our life. We live with it, sometimes everyday, but women…shouldn't have to. Women are the reason we fight, to keep them safe and away from all the bad things in life. They are our life, Captain, they sustain us. It is our duty to protect them, even if it means dying ourselves."
Again the Captain stared almost in disbelief. "If what you say is true, I owe you an apology. And I will find out, myself. When we get to the station, we will dig Bowlins up, if he has a soldier's bullet in him, then I will drop the charges on the girl. But I'm afraid I can do little about you."
Chase eyed him again, this time with more tolerance. "Thank you, Captain."
"The only charge will be for the Sergeant's death. And…because you risk your life to save this soldier…I will speak up at your trial."
Chase wrinkled his brow. "That is more than fair, Captain."
The Captain nodded. "Don't thank me yet, Hawks may kill us all."
"Katherine told me once not to underestimate him. She was right. He might not have any formal education, but he's clever. I hadn't given a thought to him doing something like this. Have there been any shipments of gold from the forts lately?" Chase asked.
"Gold?" The Captain speculated. "Why do you ask?"
"Because money is the root of all evil, and the money has to be what Hawks is after. Either Katherine's father had money, or the two men had gotten money from somewhere."
Lee nodded. "He's right about that. There have been some movements of gold from the south, but they were by ship."
"For the south?" Chase questioned.
"Looks like, headed for Georgia." Lee remarked. "I happened to see a communication on the Colonel's desk a few weeks ago."
"So they are expecting war…" Chase muttered.
"I don't think it can be stopped. There's too much dispute over slavery and too much miscommunication between the north and the south," The Captain said, as he drew out a pipe and fingering his own tobacco lit it. "Here in Texas it will be more difficult as we are not in the middle of this fight. Although Jefferson Davis is. That alone could put us in the middle. But this is one state that would be split, I'm sure of that."
"And will the soldiers leave and take up that fight?" Chas asked.
"I'm afraid so…a lot of them may end up fighting their own kinfolk in this war. The country is very divided. Even families…"
"Then that will leave this territory wide open for the Comanche…" Chase stood up and paced as though the thought made him uneasy. "The settlers will have no chance against them. The south will have no chance against the north either."
"Why do you say that?" Lee asked his allegiance to the south still weighing on his mind obviously. Chase looked at him and smiled.
"Because it's the truth, the north has a trained army. Texas has no quarrel with the north, only that is it the north and they do not understand them. Likewise, the settlers will have no defense against the Comanche." Chase frowned.
"There's a lot of good turkey shooters from the south, Chase," Lee offered.
