Accompanying Emma on her trip to Fort Reunion was not my that I have anything against spending time with 's the best, but I thought it was going to be like a quilting circle and Sunday School wrapped up all in one.
How wrong I was. We'd barely gotten out of Sweetwater when the excitement began. Emma fell off the ferry we were using to cross the river and I dove in after her.
Trouble was, I didn't know how to swim, and Emma ended up having to save me, instead of me saving her. As soon as we were across the river on dry land, I built a fire, and Emma and I stripped down to our underthings so we could dry our outer clothes.
Seeing Emma like that, and catching glimpses of her slender form in her lacy underthings beneath the blanket she had wrapped around her shoulders, stirred things within me I had no business feeling.
Later, after we arrived at Fort Reunion, and learned that Emma's friend, along with all the other women had been escorted to another location due to the increasing hostilities of the local Indians, we were pretty much imprisoned at the fort by its commanding officer.
I was fit to be tied. Edgy about being kept at the fort against my will. The only thing keeping me from trying to leave, was Emma. I couldn't risk doing anything that would get her hurt.
That first night at Fort Reunion, I went to bed feeling edgy, uptight, and something else I couldn't quite name. I was aware of Emma sleeping just a short distance away, and I felt a pull to go to her that I resisted. I was just finally dozing off, when I heard Emma let out a bloodcurdling scream.
I bolted off my army cot and burst into the adjoining room to mine in time to see Emma struggling with a young soldier. Rage exploded within me as I grabbed hold of the soldier and started hitting him. How dare he lay hands on Emma!
I heard Emma screaming my name and telling me to stop, just as the outer doors burst open and Lieutenant Cassidy and Doctor Frank came running in. They pulled me off the soldier as a shaken Emma assured Cassidy and Frank that she was fine. She even pleaded with them not to punish the drunken soldier who had attacked her, even as the young man in question repeatedly apologized to her.
I was glad to hear the lieutenant tell Emma that the soldier's punishment would be decided by Captain Ryan, and not him. I hoped the punishment was severe enough that the soldier would think long and hard about accosting another woman.
As soon as the other men left the room, I turned my attention back onto Emma. She started to tell me she was okay, when she broke down and I pulled her into my arms. Emma clung to me and I felt again that strange sensation flood over me as i held her close and told her I wasn't going to let anyone hurt her again.
Emma seemed to gather herself and drew back from me, but not out of the hold I had on her. She glanced up at me, and before I could think about it, I kissed her. Our lips met for a moment before Emma away from me.
I was quick to apologize for kissing her, but couldn't stop myself from telling her that I cared for her. I dared her to deny that she didn't feel something as well. Emma didn't deny that she had felt something too, but said 'feeling something didn't make it right.' She told me that I just needed to think of her as a big sister, and I told her I had plenty of sisters already.
She told me to think of her as a friend then, and left the room. Feeling a bit of a fool, I went to bed, but it was sometime before I fell asleep.
The next couple of days were busy ones. I convinced Captain Ryan to send me out as a scout, and Emma did her best to keep busy mending clothes for the soldiers or helping out with the cooking. We only saw each other at meals or at night right before we went to bed.
Then things got really interesting. We caught an Indian brave and brought him back to the fort for questioning. I snuck into see him, and he told me the story of how Captain Ryan had ordered the raid on his village. Many people on both sides were killed. He also told me that his tribe was caring for an injured soldier. I helped him escape and made plans to meet him the next day at a rendezvous point.
Getting shot in the side wasn't part of my plan. It hurt like hell and I didn't know if I was going to live or die. I couldn't help remarking to Emma how I was 'old enough to die, but not old enough for her', as the doctor dug the bullet out of my hide.
Tears filled her eyes at my words, and I felt doc soon had me patched up and I fell int a blissful, whiskey filled sleep until the next morning. I argued with Lieutenant Cassidy that he needed to take over command for Captain Ryan until we learned the whole truth about what happened in Cedar Springs.
With some reluctance, the lieutenant had the captain placed under guard in his quarters and just as I was ready to ride out to meet up with the Indian brave. Sam and Buck rode into Fort Reunion with the Army reinforcements Captain Ryan had told us about.
Seeing how happily Emma greeted Sam made me realize that Emma was right. I had to think of her as only a friend and nothing more, but my heart still ached a little.