Nathan Stark, Army Scout by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
Published: 2020-11-16T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 23

The food was very good. As Delia had intimated when she first greeted Nathan at Fort Randall, she hadn’t been renowned for the quality of her cooking when he had been friends with her and her husband. She had gotten better, though. The chicken was fried just right.

“This is a delicious meal,” Red Buffalo complimented as they ate.

Nathan couldn’t let that pass. “A lot better than a hunk of raw dog meat on a stick, isn’t it?”

“Nathan, that was uncalled for,” Delia scolded him, frowning. “You should apologize to Mr. Red Buffalo.”

“Please, call me Moses,” the Crow scout said.

Nathan didn’t like the idea of that at all.

Delia just smiled and said, “Of course, Moses.” She looked at Nathan. “We’re still waiting for that apology.” There was a hint of iron in her voice.

He could imagine her speaking to unruly school kids that way. “Sorry,” he muttered, clearly not meaning it.

Red Buffalo waved a hand in nonchalant dismissal, angering Nathan that much more. It just wasn’t right for a damned redskin to talk and act like a white man.

Delia made small talk about life at the fort as the meal continued. For dessert, she brought out apple pie with cream. It was a shame Red Buffalo had to be there and ruin an otherwise perfectly fine supper, Nathan thought.

When they were finished, Delia poured coffee for all of them and then leaned back in her chair, cradling her cup in both hands. Solemnly, she said, “Nathan, I believe you should tell Moses about what happened to your family.”

Taken by surprise, Nathan bristled. “What? I’m not gonna... It’s none of his business what happened to them.” His upper lip pulled back from his teeth as he grimaced. “It was the Pawnee who raided Badger Creek that day, not the Crow. If it had been his relatives, I would have killed him by now, scout or not.”

“You might have tried.” Red Buffalo cocked an eyebrow and raised his cup to sip from it.

“The two of you have a great deal in common,” Delia insisted. “You both lost loved ones to violence.”

“A lot of people have, out here on the frontier,” Nathan said. “That doesn’t mean this savage and I are anything alike.”

“You know perfectly well Moses isn’t a savage. I couldn’t have done as good a job of educating him as that missionary lady did.”

Red Buffalo looked surprised. “You know more about my background than I expected, Mrs. Blaine.”

“If I’m going to call you Moses, you should call me Delia. And I’ll admit, I did some asking around about you.” She smiled. “Corporal Cahill was very helpful when I asked him what he could find out.”

I’ll just bet he was, Nathan thought. Delia had always been able to wrap any man she wanted to around her little finger. A meek little fellow like Winston Cahill wouldn’t be any challenge at all for her.

“For instance,” Delia went on, “I know that your village was attacked by the Blackfeet when you were a young man, Moses.

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