“Though we hear it is nearly contained,” Will’s commanding officer told him when he reported in. “And I appreciate your warning about the possibility of fire being used to drive animals beyond the park boundary. We’ll be on the lookout for that.”
For as long as Will had known the captain, Harris had kept his sandy hair short and mustache trimmed. Even now, he was better groomed than many of his men, his uniform clean and pressed, the brass buttons gleaming. His eyes gleamed nearly as bright as Will laid out his plan while standing on either side of the planks and sawhorses Harris was using as a desk.
“Excellent,” the captain proclaimed when Will finished. “That will allow us to concentrate our lumber resources on the other detachments. I’ll make sure to send the wintering supplies and hay to the Geyser Gateway. You’re certain Mrs. Tremaine is amenable?”
“Mrs. Tremaine and her staff have done all they can to aid us, sir,” Will assured him. “She wants Yellowstone protected as much as we do.”
Captain Harris nodded. “Then, by all means, proceed.”
Will saluted. As he lowered his arm, he met his commanding officer’s gaze. “Permission for me and my privates to visit Gardiner, sir?”
Harris’s eyes narrowed. “For what purpose?”
The closest town to the northern entrance, Gardiner had a reputation for wildness. The population stood at less than five hundred, but the town boasted more than a dozen saloons. Harris wasn’t keen on his men visiting any of them.
“Mrs. Tremaine’s son, Danny, has shown a potential aptitude for baseball,” Will explained. “I was hoping one of the mercantiles might have a ball and bat for purchase.”
Harris’s face relaxed. “Permission granted. Just see that Private Smith stays away from the gaming tables. The miners and ranchers won’t appreciate his style of play.”
Will knew better than to question his superior. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t question Smith as soon as he left the blockhouse Harris was using as a command post. He found both his privates lounging in armchairs on the long porch of the big National Hotel, feet out and heads back. Only Franklin jumped to attention as Will approached.
“We’ve been given permission to ride to Gardiner,” he told them. “Franklin, see to the mounts. Smith, a word.”
Franklin ducked his head and hurried past Will. Smith slowly climbed to his feet. “Lieutenant?”
“I have been advised to keep you away from the gaming tables,” Will told him. “Why would that be?”
Smith spread his hands. “Other men have limited vision?”
“Or more vision than I do,” Will allowed. “Is there something I should know, Private?”
“A great many things, I’m sure,” Smith had drawled. “But you needn’t worry about me. I have no interest in coming near a card table again.” He had stretched like a cat awakening from a nap. “The Army is my life now.”
Somehow, Will had doubted that.
But he couldn’t doubt how eager he was to reach the inn now. He tried to tell himself he was looking forward to seeing how Danny liked his present, the leather-bound ball and ash bat he’d found in Gardiner. But he knew the real reason.
Kate.
Even the scream of the elk in the hills to the east didn’t slow him.
“Do you expect trouble at the inn?” Smith asked beside him as if he noticed the swift pace.
“No,” Will said. “Check the geysers. I need a word with Mrs. Tremaine.”
“Of course you do.”
Will refused to dignify the comment with a response.
Leaving Danny’s present in his saddlebag, he hitched Bess and ventured into the Geyser Gateway. Kate’s youngest maid, the one with the bouncy blonde curls, pointed him through the kitchen to the rear yard, where he found Kate, Danny, Alberta, and two older women gathered in a circle. Kate looked up, then grinned as he approached, and he hurried his steps.
“Just the man for the job,” she declared. “Mrs. Pettijohn, Miss Pringle, this is Lieutenant Prescott, head of the cavalry detachment assigned to our area of the park. Lieutenant, meet my newest guests. They’re sisters from West Virginia. They’ll be staying with us for the next week or so.”
Will removed his hat. “Ladies.”
Two pairs of button brown eyes regarded him from wrinkled, powdered faces. Their hair was white and crimped into curls that were fading in the warm, dry air.
“Are you mechanically inclined?” the taller lady inquired, both chins pointing in his direction as she stiffened in her tailored, violet-colored gown.
“Sufficiently muscled?” the shorter lady asked, gaze traveling from his boots to his face as her tiny hands smoothed the ruffles and ribbons on her lavender skirts.
Will looked to Kate. “Is there a problem?”
Her grin widened, and she stepped aside to wave at the contraption in the center of their circle. “We have all the ingredients for ice cream, but we can’t get the crank to turn, even with Caleb’s help.”
“Ice cream is really nice on a warm day,” Danny said wistfully.
“I’m your man,” Will said. He dropped his hat onto Danny’s head, where it tilted over the boy’s eyes, then crouched beside the wooden bucket with its iron yoke across the top. The metal canister inside was surrounded by chunks of ice, salt sparkling on the flat edges.
“Where’d you get ice?” he asked, giving the bucket a shake to break any blockages.
“We brought it with us from Virginia City,” the taller lady—Mrs. Pettijohn?—informed him.
“We brought many things with us,” her sister—Miss Pringle?—added.
Will settled the bucket between his knees and seized the handle. “Let’s see what we can do.”
He could feel their expectations as he cranked the handle to turn the canister. It stuck at first, and Mrs. Pettijohn tutted. Danny sighed, shoving the hat back on his head. Will glanced up to see Kate’s smile. He tightened his grip and rocked the handle back and forth. He knew the moment the ice jam broke, for the chunks rattled against the wood. He started cranking to Danny’s cheer.
Twenty minutes
