It was only a while later that the rangers rested on the edge of camp, belies barley full of old soup still filled with shattered fragments of buck bones. With too many to spit out most of em just gritted their teeth against them in annoyance. Whoever caught supper had been showin off. Beans cursed them as he stood by his pitiful makeshift fire, roasting his puny little skinless rabbit he'd caught as a replacement supper. The rest of em sat around him in a jagged oval either watching or chatting amongst themselves. Save Flores who'd gone to get drunk over on his side of camp, a little camp city buried in the tree line with hammocks hanging between the connecting branches where the mexican soldiers slept.
He and Zachariah had always been closest.
Lily May sat on the upward slope of the ground with her back against a fallen log, leaving chips of it on her faded, clean, white men's shirt. Truitt and Yancey giggled between themselves but nothing much was said until a tiny hand tugged on Lily May's sleeve.
"Well hello there."
The little mexican girl from the wagon climbed into Lily May's lap without saying a word.
"I'm Lily May. What's your name?"
The little girl looked around nervously and clung to the blonde ranger, playing with her necklace.
"These here are my friends Kit,"
Kit smiled and gave a little wave."and that's Henry," Karnes tipped his hat, "and that there's Truitt and Yancey, and thats Beans."
The little girl gave her a funny look that left Lily May in giggles. They watched silently as Beans called out to the dog eyeballing his rabbit a few yards away. She smiled to herself when it ran straight past Bean's offering of a burned leg for a slice of Karnes apple.
"Now I know why they call you Beans! It's cause that's all you can cook!"
Kit joked, nudging the toddler in Lily May's lap, getting a little smile from both girls.
"Well I should go start packing up. You want to come help me?"
The little girl nodded and let Lily May swing her up on her hip and carry her to the General's tent. Sam was already inside packing up papers and maps in a satchel when the girl's walked in. Lily May sat the child on her cot in the corner and walked over to him. He didn't look up.
"So what's the plan?"
"Like I said, we retreat to Victoria."
She waited. "And?"
"And, we wait for the right time to fight."
"So we run off with our tails between our legs until then?"
"I can get one good fight out of these men. Maybe. I need it to be the right one."
"You really think the men care about that? They want blood and if they can't have Santa Ana then they're gonna want yours."
"I've got a plan for that too."
Lily May threw her daddy a skeptical look. Sam laughed.
"Darlin do you trust me?"
She nodded hesitantly.
"Then have a little faith. We're both gonna be fine. Besides I believe you've got someone waiting on you."
He tipped his hat to the little girl watching them curiously from the bed.
"Ma'am."