pretty good whipping.”
There was a corporate gasp from the others, and conversation halted in mid-syllable as all stared toward Benteen to see how he would react.
Benteen said nothing. He lifted his glass to his lips and glared at the young lieutenant. He held the silent glare for a long moment, and as the moment lengthened and the silence stretched out, the lieutenant became visibly shaken.
“Uh, I didn’t mean you got the whipping,” the lieutenant said. “Everyone knows that you weren’t actually with Custer when he went into battle, that you hung back and—uh . . .”
“Lieutenant Simmons, I think you had better quit before you get yourself in any deeper,” Colonel Whitehead said. Lieutenant Colonel Whitehead was Benteen’s counterpart, the commanding officer of the Sixth.
“Yes, sir. I—uh—told Sergeant Templeton that I would look into something with him. I need to leave.”
“But, Lieutenant,” Benteen said. “You didn’t finish your drink.”
“I’m not thirsty, sir,” Lieutenant Simpson said as he hurried out of the club, chased by the laughter of all the other officers therein present.
“You’re going to have to teach me that stare some time, Benteen,” Whitehead said.
“Yes, sir, I would be glad to,” Benteen replied.
“But, first, I would be interested in knowing what you think about our current situation. I’ll ask you the same question Captain Jones asked. Do you think there is going to be another Indian war?”
“Do you think there will be?” Benteen replied.
“I don’t know,” Whitehead admitted. “I know that Mean to His Horses has been leading some renegades on a tear. There was that massacre of the Kennedy family up in Montana Territory, then the attack on the freight wagons.”
“Yes, but you said it for what it is. It is a group of renegade Cheyenne.”
“Not just Cheyenne,” Whitehead said. “There was the Barlow family that got murdered, and those two white prospectors found shot and scalped in the Yellowstone Valley. That was down here in Wyoming, and more than likely, it was Crow that did that.”
“How many prospectors do we have poking around out there right now?” Benteen asked.
“I don’t know for sure. Twenty or thirty I would say,” Whitehead said.
“With that many gold hunters out there, don’t you think it is just possible that those two got into an argument with some other prospectors, were murdered, then scalped to make it look like Indians did it?”
“As I understand, there were also some Indians killed, no doubt reprisals by the whites who live nearby,” Whitehead said.
“At this point I don’t see a couple of white men and a few Indians getting killed being enough to get us into a war. Especially with the Crow. I have put my life in the hands of the Crow many times.”
“Yes, but that was then, and this is now. Things are different now.”
“What is so different?” Benteen asked.
“I’ll tell you what is different. It is this Spirit Talking business.”
“As long as they are talking to spirits, they aren’t fighting the army,” Benteen said.
Whitehead chuckled. “Yes, I guess that’s true. Still, one wonders. I know for a fact that General Miles is worried about it. He thinks Sitting Bull might be leading the Indians.”
“Sitting Bull? Are you talking about the same Sitting Bull who went into show business with Buffalo Bill Cody? That Sitting Bull?”
“Yes, the one who led the Sioux in the fight at Little Big Horn.”
Benteen made a dismissive snort. “Sitting Bull remained in his tipi for the entire fight. He couldn’t lead a bunch of Holy Rollers to Jesus,” he said.
“What if we do get into a fight?” Whitehead said. “Can we count on you?”
“What do you mean, can you count on me?” Benteen snapped back, forgetting military courtesy in his response. “Sonny, I was fighting Indians when your mama was changing your britches!”
“I don’t mean you, personally,” Whitehead restated, quickly. “I meant can we count on your colored soldiers?”
“Don’t you worry about my colored soldiers, Colonel Whitehead,” Benteen replied. “They are as good as any soldiers I ever served with.”
Whitehead laughed out loud. “They are as good as any you ever served with? That’s quite a statement isn’t it? I mean, considering that you served with Custer and the Seventh.”
“I will say again,” Benteen repeated, more slowly and with greater emphasis. “My colored soldiers are as good as any soldier I ever served with.”
CHAPTER NINE
After leaving Fort Yates and their rendezvous with Sitting Bull, Falcon, Cody, and Ingraham proceeded farther west by rail, leaving the train at Miles City, Montana Territory.
At Miles City they would take a boat down the Tongue River to Sheridan, Wyoming Territory, but that would not occur for three days. Cody suggested that they pay a visit to Fort Keogh.
