The next day Adam had packed supplies enough for himself and one other man for the trip to Fort Ruby. The trip would require crossing the majority of the state. While they had some Shoshone tribes there close to the Ponderosa, the territory that their ancestors had claimed as their own covered hundreds of miles. Fort Ruby had been established when the first of the refugees from the war between the states started to come through, meant to act as a waypoint for the mail. It had kept the far west connected to the union during the war, and continued to do so after.
If the Shoshone had gone from where Adam had last seen White Buffalo Woman, taking her with them until their tribe ran into men from the fort on the northern corner of the state, it meant that Ruth would have been forced to travel that distance again, possibly with child, before having Wi-Jah in an isolated hut in the mountains. The journey bothered him. The reasons behind the journey bothered him. He'd spent the night explaining his reasoning and his curiosity to Ben, convincing his father that even in the midst of winter, the trek had to be taken. When Adam mentioned wanting to take Thomas Freeman along with him, Ben had taken a deep breath, weighing the pros and cons of that decision in the span of the breath before he nodded.
Adam was told to be careful, and he and Thomas rode out the next morning with a pack mule behind them. Petsunahi rode out from Virginia City to the join them and led the way north. The skies remained clear for the first day on the trail, and by the end of the second day the snow had begun to melt. As they rode Adam filled Thomas in on the reason for their trip.
Thomas seemed to like hearing about Wijah and smiled often when Adam had another story to tell about the infant. Thomas spoke a little, from time to time, about his life in the line cabin. He had been learning basic construction from books that Adam had lent him and had made improvements in the cabin. While they rode Adam and Thomas started talking about the avalanche that had buried and demolished one of the cabins higher up in the mountains, about the kind of shoring that they could build into the simple structures, to strengthen them against future rock or snow slides. Petsu seemed content to lead and stay to himself.
They encountered one band of women, children and hunters while they traveled. The group was heading south looking for game. None spoke English, but with Petsunahi's help, Adam was able to get them to look at the jewelry he had. He was hoping to at least identify the artist that had made the beaded belt, but none of the women seemed to recognize the work. They did try to sell him some of their own artwork and Adam bought a small clay pot from one of the women in exchange for some of their supplies.
Closer to the fort the population of both white and native settlers began to intensify. The fort itself had expanded quite a bit in the past few years. There was a tent and teepee city camped around it, and a small settlement down the road half a mile. Adam and Thomas followed Petsu straight into the fort. Once they had cleared the gate, the old indian guide peeled away from Adam and Thomas, his job done. Adam headed for the commander's office, tying the mules and horses at the hitching post. Thomas drew plenty of attention, but was left alone. The men stomped mud off their boots before entering the log building, hit by a wave of heat that smelled faintly of mildew and sweat.
The sergeant of the guard stood up behind a desk that sat perpendicular to the front wall of the building and greeted them.
"You must be Adam Cartwright and Thomas Freeman." He said, putting out a hand. "I'm Sergeant Harry Loam. Sergeant of the guard."
Adam and Thomas both shook. The man looked clean cut, if comfortable. The heat in the room had forced the man to open his top button but as Sgt. Loam came around from behind his desk he buttoned it back up before going to the door of the commander's office. The sign on the door read Colonel Ethan Woodman. Sgt. Loam knocked and a high pitched voice commanded him to enter.
Loam announced them, then held the door open. It was even hotter in the colonel's office. The smell of mildew came from the same source as the heat. Colonel Woodman was reed thin and pale. He looked so sickly that Adam was loathe to shake the man's hand, but he forced himself to, wishing he had kept his gloves on.
Thomas put his hand out but Woodman faked a cough in that moment and used his hand to cover it instead. Thomas gave Adam a look then stepped back away from the commander's desk. Adam was unbuttoning his coat, desperate to get relief from the heat, and preparing to pull the evidence he had brought with him out for show and tell.
"I wouldn't uncover, son. It's frightful cold, you'll catch your death." The colonel said, sitting down. "Please sit, Mr. Cartwright. Your negro can step out into the outer office and wait for us there."
Adam had started to sit but he straightened and said, "Colonel Woodman, this is Mr. Thomas Freeman. He works as a cowhand on my father's ranch. He's not my negro."
Colonel Woodman's eyes passed up to look Thomas over before he shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever he is, he's too big for the room. Step on outside, Mis-ter Freeman, if you please."
Adam looked up to Thomas and said, "Your choice."
Thomas mumbled that he would see Adam outside and left.
"I'd offer you refreshments, Mr. Cartwright but I don't take spirits, nor do I eat in the middle of the morning. If you'll forgive that discourtesy we can get down to business. The telegram from Mr. Roy Coffey said that you were looking for a white woman who might have been rescued from the Shoshone."
"Her name was Ruth Halverson. She had voluntarily gone with a Shoshone medicine man a few years back, when their tribe was very ill with fever. They...they believed that she held magic for them. She had been raised from childhood by the Bannock before her tribe was killed, and her going with the Shoshone at the time...saved my life."
"So you, let the Shoshone take her." Woodman said.
"She left with the Shoshone of her own accord, Colonel."
"What white woman would willingly go to a redskin?"
Adam cocked his head to the side and his eyes narrowed. He tried a polite smile then asked. "Forgive my impudence, but how long have you been in command here, Colonel Woodman?"
"Two years." Woodman said, reflecting Adam's polite smile.
"Come from back east?"
"California, close to Oregon."
Adam nodded. "As I was saying, I was told that Ruth Halverson had been picked up by some men from your company when the Shoshone she was traveling with were killed. I was wondering if you could tell me a little about her stay here."
"I've invited you to sit, Mr. Cartwright. I can see that you're uncomfortable. I'd hate to have a conversation of this nature with you so ill at ease." Woodman said. As small as he was, and as weak as he looked, Woodman had learned how to use good manners to rule a conversation. He'd already stripped Adam of his witness by inviting Thomas to leave the room. Now he wanted to reduce Adam's physical advantage by putting them both on the same plane. He was reliant on Adam's strong desire for answers, to keep Adam cooperative.
The difference was that Adam had seen these ploys before, from a man with a played-out claim and a mule, in the middle of the desert. He knew how quickly manners and veiled good intentions could strip a man of humanity.
"What puts me ill at ease is a commander who remains seated when a man brings important business to his attention." Adam said, keeping to his feet.
Woodman startled. It was a small reaction, nothing more than a blink and the shifting of a foot, but Adam knew he'd struck a chord. Woodman stood, bowing his head a few inches and offering Adam a smirk that said, 'Touche'.
"Forgive me." Woodman said, his voice calm. "As the commander of a fort of this size I have very little to do with the personal lives of guests. I believe Sgt. Loam will be of greater service to you. You and your...hand...are welcome to stay at the fort until you've satisfied your curiosity. I ask only that your presence not impede the important work of my men. As we have a full compliment of soldiers at this time, you'll have to find your own sleeping accommodations. Goodday, Mr. Cartwright."
Adam turned and left, leaving the door open when he did. He saw Sgt. Loam's eyes jump to the open door, but put his body between the door and the sergeant, asking him a question. Adam knew he had a solid win when he heard the door shut behind him, a door that could only have been closed by the colonel himself.
The sergeant wasn't too pleased, but he relaxed a little more once the colonel's door was shut. Adam asked the same question he had asked Woodman and the sergeant told him he hadn't been Woodman's aide at the time. "Another man, Mooney, he was the aide. But he isn't here anymore."
"Well where is he?" Adam asked.
"Transferred, I guess or busted down to corporal. It's a big fort, Mister Cartwright, I don't know everybody."
"Who would have seen to the needs of the captives."
"Captives?"
Adam sighed. "Ruth Halverson, and others like her. White settlers living with the Shoshone."
"Probably the doc. Major Steiner. He's over in the infirmary."
"Anyone else?" Adam asked.
Loam gave him a look that begged Adam to stop asking him questions and Adam gave in. He thanked the man for his time then asked to be pointed toward the infirmary.
He and Thomas crossed the open ground in the middle of the fort, leading their animals. Adam glanced back over his shoulder once and spotted Loam leaving the office only minutes after they had, striding with purpose to the officer's barracks.
Shortly after they had tied their animals to the post outside the infirmary an officer left the barracks, got a horse from the livery and rode out of the fort at a gallop.
"Can't wait to find out what that's about." Adam said.
"Trouble, Cartwright. With you, always trouble." Thomas said, not filtering the sarcasm.
They went into the infirmary and found the doctor tending to a single patient in the far corner of the room. Steiner was an older man, a little shorter than Adam. He had white hair and mutton chops, a mustache and goatee, surrounding a round face that continued to be handsome in his sunset years. He wore a white coat over dark gray jean wool. Adam instantly spotted a veteran of the war between the states and suspected that this Steiner was a hold-over from the West Point class that produced General Lee and his contemporaries.
Adam introduced himself and Thomas. Steiner kept his hands on his hips. "Forgive me for not shaking your hands but a doctor learns to avoid such contact in the workplace. My office is back that way. There's coffee on the stove. If you'll both make yourselves comfortable I can join you in a minute."
Adam had prepared three cups by the time the doctor returned.
Steiner sat behind his desk and picked up the cup. He took a sip, pulled a flask from a pocket of his white coat, tipped a small amount into the coffee then sipped again and sighed. He offered the flask to both Adam and Thomas, but both declined.
"When I was a young man, I would add milk and sugar to my coffee. Now my body won't take milk, and the sugar rots my teeth. But coffee alone is like putting a gourmet on bread and water." The doctor took another sip then sat back in his chair and crossed one leg over the other. "How can I help you?"
Adam took a few minutes to explain who they were and why they had come. He pulled the medicine bag, knife and belt from his pockets and the doctor looked over each article carefully. He listened to Adam's description of Ruth Halverson while staring at the edge of his desk, then stayed quiet when Adam had finished.
When the doctor's silence went beyond a normal pause in the conversation Adam sat back in his chair, ready to wait the doctor out. Steiner put the native articles down and sat forward in his chair. "Mr. Cartwright, you aren't likely to get many of the answers you're looking for. Ms. Halverson's case was a unique one. We never knew her as Ruth, we knew her as Jane. Just...Jane. When she arrived at Fort Ruby she was in good health, and as far as I could tell when I examined her, she was not with child. She was reluctant to speak to us, and not happy about being in our care. She didn't appear to have been abused among the Shoshone, and when she did start speaking it was to declare that she wanted to be allowed to leave."
Adam set his teeth together, jutting his jaw out a little before he set his lips in a thin line and said, "If she wasn't with child before she arrived, how did she come to be with child after she left?"
"There are many men in and around this fort that could be responsible." Steiner said carefully. "There's an awful lot of Nevada between Fort Ruby and your Ponderosa." He added facetiously.
"Do you know who was responsible?"
Steiner pursed his lips and toyed with the handle of the knife but said nothing.
"Sergeant Loam said there was a Sgt. Mooney serving as aide de camp-" The mention of the name had brought the major's eyes up to his and Adam heard a low chuckle come from Thomas.
"Would you happen to know where Sergeant Mooney is now?" Adam asked.
"Sergeant Mooney was transferred, west. To Washington I think." Steiner said.
"Did he spend a significant amount of time with Ms. Halverson while she was here?" Adam asked.
"It's likely." Steiner said.
"And he was transferred shortly after Ms. Halverson left, I suppose."
"About that time, yes."
"If I were to ask for his posting.."
"The army doesn't give out that information to just anyone, Mr. Cartwright."
"Did Mr. Mooney have friends in that little town?" Thomas' basso rang out.
Steiner's eyebrow came back up and quirked a tiny smile. "I suppose he might have. Mooney was as fond of the drink as anyone else. His favorite color was blue, I seem to recall."
Adam had to hide his own smirk, forcing himself out of his chair and collecting the Shoshone charms from the desk. "You've been a genial host, Major Steiner." Adam said, remembering at the last moment not to put his hand out. Steiner had automatically put his hands in his pockets when he stood, but he smiled softly at both men, walking them out to the boardwalk.
"You boys take care in town. It's a might rough these days."
Adam looked from the doctor up to Thomas, and the doctor nodded. "Ah. I see."
"Have a good day, Major." Adam said. He and Thomas mounted and they rode toward the gate.
But the gate didn't open and they were stopped by one of the guards.
"Halt and step down, sir."
"Why?"
"We need to search your property."
Adam looked at the faces around him then calmly said. "You're not going to search anything. Let me pass."
"Orders from the colonel, all persons coming or going are to have their property searched for contraband."
Already there were men trying to take the mule's lead from him, and another man had Sport's bridle.
"We weren't searched on the way in." Adam said.
"New orders, sir. Please step down."
Adam looked over his shoulder to Thomas then asked, "What contraband are you looking for?"
"Substances that might be used for trade with the Shoshone and other tribes camped around the fort. The indians aren't to have liquor or spirits of any kind. No weapons are to be sold to them of any nature. If you want to visit their camps you'll need to turn over those guns, and any whiskey you might have."
"And if I'm not visiting their camps." Adam said.
"We still need to make the search."
"Show me your orders." Adam said. He turned in his saddle then spurred Sport straight into the men already peeking at what the mules carried, backing them away. "Show me your orders, or let me pass." He repeated.
"I ca-...I don't have written orders, sir."
"Then get Colonel Woodman out here so that he can confirm the order himself." Adam shouted, knowing his voice was loud enough for him to have been heard.
After staring helplessly at Adam for a second the soldier that had been talking pointed at a private, who looked like he wanted to refuse the order, before he scampered over to the colonel's office. He got to the boardwalk before Sgt. Loam appeared in the doorway. They exchanged salutes and Loam handed a piece of paper to the private. The frightened subordinate raced back to the guard at the gate, the paper leading him by about three feet. Adam thought the paper might have been a hastily scrawled order from Woodman to be shown to Cartwright to appease him. He was surprised when the guard ordered the gates to be opened and told Adam they were free to go.
The colonel's refusal to leave his office made the situation all the more peculiar, but Adam took the blessing and stormed out of the fort with Thomas close behind him. The ride into town was brief and finding the only accommodations available took even less time. Adam and Thomas were able to secure a place for the night in the loft of the barn. They paid for the animals to be tended to and fed, then crossed the street to one of two saloons in the small town. The sign pounded into the ground ten feet in front of the last building on the street had said, "The Town of Ruby." The name of the first saloon was The Red Ruby, and the other saloon was called Rubyville Saloon.
"It would seem that creativity is lacking in these parts." Thomas commented. Adam just shook his head, pushing the doors open to The Red Ruby. The building was typical of others with the same purpose. The furniture was a mismatch of whatever had been available and cheap. Most of the customers were off-duty soldiers from the fort and the girls, all three of them, looked like they had been at the job for a decade or more.
Adam gave the tender and the soldiers time to accustom themselves to Thomas before he went to the bar and asked for a coffee. The tender tipped a finger of liquor into the cup without being asked, and charged Adam the price of a shot. It took him a beat, but the tender asked Thomas what he wanted and provided the same doctored coffee.
Adam led the way to a table in the corner and sat, waiting to see what kind of attention they attracted. It only took a few minutes before two of the four soldiers playing poker at a table, sidled toward their corner.
Neither man wore their uniform coats, effectively removing any sign of rank. One of them wore a vest, while the other wore his white uniform blouse with suspenders. The one with the vest was a little redder in the face than the other, but he seemed sturdy enough on his feet.
Vest turned to White Shirt and smiled. "You think that one is pure black, or a mix, Clive?"
Clive seemed content to keep Vest in front of him, the whiskey only making him so brave. "He's far too ugly to be pure anythin', Potter."
Adam felt Thomas shift a little in his seat but neither of them spoke, or moved.
Potter, the man in the vest, thought that funny enough to chuckle at. "Ain't it funny how the winter keeps all the pretty people to home. Only the ugly cusses come out this'a way."
Adam smirked and mumbled something quietly to Thomas. The big man chuckled, a smile breaking across his face. Potter's face went blank, and got a little redder.
"You wanna say somethin' smart you say it to my face." He bit out. That was all it took for the bartender to step in.
"You boys been here all mornin'. I know you ain't got more than a few hours pass from the fort. Skedaddle and don't cause no trouble."
Potter lingered a few seconds longer than he needed to but eventually turned back to their poker game. He and Clive collected their coats and winnings and left the bar. With the game broken up, the other two soldiers moseyed out after their compatriots. Two of the girls headed into the back for a break and the third, a woman dressed in yellow satin, sauntered over to the table. She looked Adam over, then flashed Thomas a smile and asked, "You fella's need any company."
"What'll you have?" Adam asked her. The girl grinned and sat at their table. "Manny, beer."
The tender served the drink, freshened their cups, then left the bar to haul wood in for the stove in the corner.
"You aren't soldiers, and you aren't trappers." The girl said. "Cattlemen?"
Adam gave her a tight smile. "We're here asking about a friend at the moment."
"A friend of yours?" She asked, pointing at Adam, "Or a friend of his?"
"Friend of mine." Adam said. "A woman. You might have known her as Jane. She spent some time with a sergeant named Mooney from the fort."
"Sergeant Mooney." She said, nodding. "He spent most of his pass down at the Rubyville Saloon, after he got kicked outta here one too many times. Liked to play poker and drink, and he wasn't very good at either one." The saloon girl waggled her knee, poised as it was to reveal her ankle and some of her calf. "Who is this woman? Your wife? Sister?"
"Just an old friend." Adam said. "She was living with the Shoshone before the soldiers attacked the tribe. Blonde, blue eyes. Had an accent when she spoke."
"You say her name was Jane?" The girl asked. Her eyes kept flitting back and forth between Adam and Thomas. She looked curious about the big man, and maybe just a little afraid of him.
"I knew her by a different name. Ruth Halverson." The name meant nothing to the saloon girl.
She shrugged and shook her head. "I know there was a woman got messed up with some of the soldiers. Took advantage of. They didn't think much of her cause she was dressed up in injun clothes, and wouldn't take to wearin' white woman's clothes. I heard rumors that it was an officer done her in...you know." For a few seconds the saloon girl had a look of pity on her face, but it was clear she had no higher an opinion of this unfortunate than the soldiers. "But I couldn't tell you who it was. And I never did learn the lady's name. Like I said, Mooney spent most of his time down t'other saloon."
Adam thanked her and waited for her to drink her beer. He fought the urge to tear out of there, storm down to the second saloon and demand answers from the first patron he saw. He knew that answers had to come in on their own, or they wouldn't come at all. He also knew that he would make an even bigger target of himself if he pushed too hard, too soon. Thomas seemed to be along for the ride, unfazed by anything the army or its underlings had to say about him.
When the saloon girl, who told them her name was Missy, had finally finished her beer, they stood, payed the last of their bill and left. The sun was waning by then and Adam noted the increase in uniforms in the town.
"More folks in town, might mean more answers, or more trouble." Thomas said.
"That officer that tore out of the fort before we went in to talk to Steiner. You can bet he came here to town and Woodman's stalling tactic was part of an effort to keep somebody from talking to us." Adam said. "If it's a man, I'll bet it's Mooney. If it was a woman, it was that saloon girl that Steiner told us about."
"Maybe they cut outta town already. We should skip the saloon and follow their tracks." Thomas said. He seemed suddenly fidgety and Adam remembered, belatedly, Thomas' aversion to people.
The eldest Cartwright thought for a moment then said, "Do you think that's a task you can handle on your own without anybody getting bushwhacked?"
Thomas gave him a small grin that flashed white teeth for only a second. "You already paid the liveryman, right? Wouldn't do to have him think a big black man was preparing to cut out on the bill."
"I paid him. I'll go with you to make sure he doesn't get in your way." Adam pulled in a breath then sighed. "Then, I will go and get myself a beer at The Rubyville Saloon. See if I can spot a lady wearing blue, or an officer with a guilty conscience."
"You be sure to watch yourself, Mr. Cartwright."
"Likewise, Mr. Freeman."