"There is the camp, Captain," whispered the corporal to the tall man on the horse next to him. "Do you want us to attack now or watch them a while?"

The captain looked down the valley to the Indian camp laid out below him and spoke in his New England drawl, "We'll attack before we loose our surprise advantage. Remember, kill all the men but make your own choice about the women and the children. If they don't seem threatening take them captive but watch out for yourself. Don't take any chances. We'll burn everything when we are through. Give the order, Sergeant. Attack!"

The sergeant raised his saber and pointed to the valley. The men were ready for this fight. They had followed the trail of a pair of Indians who robbed and killed a small wagon train to this hidden camp in the Black Hills of Dakota Territory. No white man was allowed in the Black Hills but that didn't stop some from sneaking into find the treasure rumored to be in these hills. The Sioux were furious and often attacked these intruders, killing them if possible. This led to the orders these soldiers were here to carry out. "Wipe these murderers off the face of the earth. Let no adult males survive and take all prisoners to the internment camp in Kansas."

Riding hard and fast the soldiers attacked the small camp, swiftly shooting at anything that moved. The village contained a small group of women, their children and a few old men. The warriors left earlier that morning to hunt for meat, leaving the rest defenseless.

Soon only the sound of babies crying and the wailing of old women filled the air. The mothers were either dead or wounded. Several old men lay dead but not a single soldier received an injury. The men sat on their horses gloating at what a through job they accomplished. In five minutes they destroyed a non-hostile village with no defense.

A few of the men dismounted and began a search for survivors. Soon five women, fourteen babies, and seven children stood in the center of the camp with eighteen men guarding them.

Corporal Haynes carefully entered a tepee standing off by itself. In the doorway he stepped over the bodies of an elderly women and man. Both were shot through the head at point blank range. He looked around and didn't see anyone else, but sensed someone else in the place. Over by the far wall was a pile of recently harvested furs. The greedy glint came to his eyes; those furs would bring a nice profit with no effort. Shame to let them burn when this place was torched, he thought. He looked behind him to make sure no one was watching and approached the pile. As he reached down to pick up part of the pile, it moved. Corporal Haynes jumped and dropped the furs. He grabbed his rifle and clubbed it onto the pile.

Carefully he reached down and pulled the furs off and saw a mop of dark brown hair and a spreading patch of blood on the head. Grabbing the hair roughly, the corporal yanked up and saw the iron band cutting into the throat of his prisoner. "We're to take no male prisoners, so I guess that means you die now."

"Hold it Corporal. What did you find?" asked Sergeant Poweres.

"Just another savage, sir. I was just getting ready to execute him."

"You could kill someone just like that, in cold blood?" the young man asked. "What's the matter with his neck?"

"He's shackled. It looks like he's been this way for quite some time." The corporal was anxious to get rid of these witnesses.

"Let me see, bring him over here." the sergeant ordered.

"Careful, sir. No wait he's attached to the pole back here. Boy, does he stink. He's kind of small; maybe he's just a boy."

"He is white."

"What?"

"He is white. He must have been their captive for a long time. Look at the way his neck is scarred." The sergeant looked pensive. "Put him over there with the women captives. We'll deal with him later."

"Yes, sir." the corporal said disgustedly.

"Do you hear something? Wait. There is something else in this pile." The sergeant lifted two more furs and there was a small bundle, squirming and fussing. Gently lifting the baby, Sergeant Poweres walked from the tepee over to the huddle of women.

"Does this belong to anyone here?" he yelled.

No one answered. One of the women stepped forward holding her head up proud and slowly walked over to him. He handed her the small bundle. The entire camp remained quiet. The men who shortly before willfully murdered at point-blank range now stood and looked around at the carnage surrounding them. Nothing threatened them here. These people were simply living their lives.

The captain, not wanting to loose control of the situation yelled, "Get those prisoners rounded up and move them out NOW!"

"Sir what do you want to do with the wounded and that white boy we found?" the sergeant asked.

"Kill them ."

"Even the boy?"

"What boy?"

"We found a boy over there in that tepee. He's a captive or something. There is a neck iron around his neck. He was hiding and the corporal knocked him out. He's white, Sir."

"Well, bring him along. We'd better find out more about him. I don't like it though. We'd all be a lot safer if we killed all of these animals."

Two of the soldiers got the unconscious boy from the tepee and threw him over the back of one of the horses with the ironband still circling his neck.

The women and children were herded out of their valley and the soldiers only stopped when they needed to water the horses. The mothers carried most of the children with no chance to rest. As the sun went down the Captain gave the order to halt. Six men took turns standing watch through the night the Sioux women who were tied to each other to prevent their escape. They feared these soldiers would want them and use them but they were left alone. The boy from the tepee remained unconscious and laid unceremoniously where they dumped him from the horse.

At sunrise the call for revelry sounded and the camp came to life. The soldiers gave the women some water and hardtack for breakfast. Sergeant Poweres walked over to the boy as he saw him rousing. "Thought you weren't going to ever wake up. Here is some water." he said.

The boy stared at him, took the canteen and drank. "Whoa," said the sergeant. "Too much will do you in for sure. How long have you been living with these redskins? Come on boy talk to me. The Captain would just as soon shoot you as haul you around."

The boy stared at him and said nothing. He looked around but didn't recognize where he was. He took a long drink of water and handed the canteen back to the sergeant.

"Suit yourself, boy. We'll be back at the fort by nightfall if'n we can get these squaws up and moving." Sergeant Poweres picked up his canteen and walked over to his horse.

The Captain ordered the men to move out and the second day's journey began. By noon many of the women carried most of the children. All of them needed a rest. The boy joined the walking women. No one spoke the entire morning, only the sound of saddles creaking and the harnesses jangling broke the silence.

Shortly after noon, the Captain called for a short rest period. The women were allowed to go to the shallow stream for water. They crawled under bushes with their children to be protected from the hot sun and many fell asleep. The soldiers sprawled out, covered their eyes with their hats and caught a few minutes of rest, too.

The Captain looked over the sorry lot of his company and sighed. These boys didn't know how to fight. If there had been any men back in that village his entire troop would have been wiped out. The sergeant was good, but he didn't trust Corporal Haynes. It was going to take a lot of work but he would shape these boys into men and real soldiers.

Sitting by himself was the white boy. No one removed the iron neck band from him yet and the chain dangled in the dirt. He stuffed the end into his pants but it was still heavy. His head hurt and he couldn't remember the last time he ate. Looking at the swirling water made him dizzy. The boy tried to stand but his legs went out from under him and he fell into the water.

Corporal Haynes saw him fall and began to laugh. "Looks like that boy won't be a problem after all, Sergeant."

Sergeant Poweres walked down to the stream and pulled the boy out of the water. "Better watch your step, son. Now is no time to go swimming. Hey, wake up. Boy, do you hear me?"

There was no response from the limp body. The sergeant drug him over to his own horse when he heard the Captain's call "Mount up." Hoisting the captive up, the sergeant mounted his horse.

"Hey, Sarge. You're going to wear your horse out before we get back to the fort. Is that kid worth it?" a private asked.

"We won't know till he talks will we? After an hour he'll ride with you." the sergeant's voice was angry.

Muttering to himself the private said, "No way will that stinking Indian lover ever ride my horse."

But an hour later the limp bundle was transferred to another man's horse. Hour after hour they trudged on, never stopping, except to toss the boy to another horse.

Just before twilight, the lights from the fort came into sight. Sergeant Poweres rode up to the Captain. "We going to go in yet tonight or camp?"

"I plan on sleeping in my own bed tonight, Sergeant. Let's get these savages moving. Once their locked up I'll feel a lot better. Speed it up, I'm hungry!"

Poweres gritted his teeth. "That man has no heart," he muttered to himself. "They walked all day, with nothing to eat, and he's complaining of being hungry and tired."

The entire company moved faster, pushing the women. Many stumbled and the soldiers prodded the lagging ones along.

Darkness greeted them when they arrived at Fort Carter. Soon several companies helped get the prisoners locked in the guard house compound.

A private rode up to Sergeant Poweres and asked, "What do you want me to do with your boy?" He was the last one ordered to haul the former captive.

"Take him to Doctor Farrell's and see if he can help him." the sergeant replied.

The private rode to the doctor's house and dropped the boy off by the back door and rode away. "Let him sleep awhile, the doctor will find him in the morning." He returned his horse to the stable and went to the bunkhouse for a hot meal.

Later that night the night sentry made his rounds. He saw a dark shape near the doctor's house and went to investigate. Nudging with his boot, he heard a moan and saw the neck band. "So you escaped did you? Well, you sure didn't get far enough. Get up or I'll shoot you."

The boy was awake enough to hear what was said. After living as a captive of Crazy Goat and his wife for the last five years, he tried to rise. He heard the guard call for help from another sentry but he couldn't place his surroundings. A long time since hearing English, the soldier's words droned in his head. The two sentries jerked him up and hauled him off to the guardhouse. The next thing the boy knew the chain dangling from the neck band was attached to the loop on the wall. The chain was too short to let him lay on the floor without hanging himself, so he tried to lean against the post. Another prisoner pushed him away. Whatever hell he just left, this one seemed to be worse.

Two days later, Sergeant Poweres ran into Doctor Farrell."Hey Doc, how's that boy doing that we brought in from the Sioux camp?"

The doctor looked puzzled and said,"What boy? I've seen a few of the Indian women and babies but no one that I saw was a boy."

"Didn't they bring you an unconscious kid that night we came in with the captives? He still had a neck band on where he had been chained in the camp."

"Can't say I saw anyone like that."

"You'd remember this kid.I wonder what happened to him. He was too weak to walk away himself."

"I was home all that night and no one came to the door."

"Damn. That boy never had a chance. He was tied up like a dog. It hadn't helped that Corporal Haynes took clubbing practice on him too. He'd come to a couple of times but never really seemed to be there."

A young private from another troop came up to the doctor. "Excuse me sirs, but there is prisoner down in the guardhouse who ain't doing so good. He ain't no soldier but no one knows why he's been locked up."

"I say we might have found your boy, Sergeant." the doctor commented.

All three of the men hurried to the guardhouse. The sight that greeted them was enough to turn the stomach of the toughest man. There was the captive boy, locked to the wall, dirty and smelly, and barely breathing.

"Why wasn't I called earlier? This boy is almost dead." The doctor was furious. "Get him loose and over to my office immediately."

The Officer of the Day came to the door. "I'm sorry, Doc. I didn't even know there was any one else down here, who he is or why he was locked up."

"I'll tell you." Sergeant Poweres was mad. "We found this boy held captive in that Sioux village that we attacked. Why anyone locked him up here was not doing their job and I intend to find out that miscrent."

The four men carried the small body over to doctor's house, though as light as he was, one of them could have done it.

"Martha, I need your help now." The doctor hollered at the maid, cook and nurse. "This boy's in bad shape. Get me some hot water and some rags. Let's start by getting some of this grime off of him. Sergeant, could you get something to remove this neck band? It's so tight. I don't hold much hope for him."

The sergeant ran out followed by the other two soldiers. He returned with a file. Eventually the encircling band was off and the doctor could see how bad the infection inflamed the boy's neck. The doctor told the nurse to wash off some of the dirt and to remove the boy's smelly clothes. Afraid this was a loosing cause, but the doctor wouldn't give up until he tried everything possible to save this life.

Shaking his head at the hopelessness, he walked toward the surgery when Martha screamed. Fearing the boy awoke and attacked her, he ran into the room and saw his maid's white face. "What is it Martha? What is wrong? Why did you scream? Speak up girl!!"

"This boy is a girl, sir." she whispered.

"What did you say? Let me see." the Doctor walked over to the table and stared in amazement. It was a girl, a very abused, bruised and sick girl. The Doctor swallowed and turned his head. He served in an Army hospital during the War and saw some terrible wounds, but never a girl, or woman, he wasn't sure which she was, so horribly beaten.

"Sergeant Poweres, I want to thank you for rescuing me back at the Sioux's camp. I heard how you saved me from getting shot."

The young officer looked down at his boots. He wasn't sure he wanted to look this young women in the eye. There was so much more he should have done had he known. "Ah, ma'am I was, ah, just doing, ah, my duty."

She smiled and held out her hand. He looked up and saw her face. It was certainly a different face than the one he saw a few weeks earlier. She reached out and took his hand and shook it just like a man and made him smile. "That's more like it. Thank you. I owe you my life and I'll never forget you."

"Are you leaving?" he asked quickly.

"Yes. Before the War I had a brother and sister in Independence. I want to try to find them. They'll be all grown up by now and they probably think I'm dead. I've got to find them." she answered.

"I hoped you'd stay here a while longer now that you're up and feeling better." he said while thinking to himself that he'd never said that many words to a woman except his mother. "I'd kinda hoped we could, ah, I could call on you."

"That's sweet, but I'm leaving on the stage in the morning. I couldn't leave til I'd given you my thanks. Good-by Sergeant Poweres."

"Good-bye ma'am. I'll never forget you either. Good luck finding your kin." He felt very small. "I don't even know your name."

"It's Louise, but I'm usually called Lou. Louise McCloud." she smiled at him. "I really have to go now."

"Good-bye Lou, good-bye." He watched her walk down the boardwalk towards the doctor's home. He'd waited too long and the right time passed him by.

On to Chapter Three

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