Chapter 7

Merchandise Runaround

The scene at the fort's mess hall was quite different from what it had been only a short time ago. Before, when mess had sounded, it had looked like a wild stampede of cattle making for a waterhole after roaming through a desert for three days. But now as the same herd slowly filed back out through the door, they patted full stomachs with satisfied sighs, ambling along to perform their regular duties. Their dragging boots showed that they were in no hurry to get them done.

Shouldering his way through the slow flowing current, O'Rourke stepped out onto the mess hall porch. From there he could see the entire compound and the leisurely dispersing men. Everything looked in order, but it seemed a bit grayer than usual. O'Rourke glanced up at the sky. The sun was trying to shine, but the thickly scattered clouds dulled it brightness, and the hint of coolness in the light breeze promised that things would probably be wet before the next morning. All tack and equipment would have to be brought in that afternoon so not to get rained on.

The sergeant leaned against the roof support with a satisfied sigh. At the moment, O'Rourke was feeling pretty good. By afternoon, Chase would be on his way back to Washington and they would be able to take the souvenirs back to the Indian camp and then O'Rourke Enterprises could get cracking again. He felt nothing could ruin his good mood today, not even the gathering clouds overhead or the tab to Wild Eagle. So far, things were going good and they would soon be home free.

Some action in front of Headquarters caught O'Rourke's attention. He was intent on watching it when a thumping of boots came close and stopped beside him. It was Agarn, looking quite rested and energized. The corporal been so worn out the night before that he had slept the entire ride back from the Hekawi camp. He still hadn't wakened even after they reached the fort, and the sergeant had had to carry him onto the barracks and tuck him onto bed.

Agarn brushed his mouth with the back of a hand. "Boy that was a good breakfast. Maybe not exactly in taste, but good in filling wise."

O'Rourke grinned amusingly at him. "You outta be. You ate enough to stuff a horse."

"I had to catch up on what I missed yesterday."

With a faint laugh, O'Rourke turned his attention back to the compound once again. Agarn followed the gaze and saw an empty wagon hitched up to a pair of horses in front of headquarters, Major Chase's horse tied behind. Two officers stood nearby talking.

Agarn pointed toward them. "That's the major talking to the captain."

O'Rourke nodded. "Yeah, he's about to head up to the Hekawi camp."

"And then it's on to Washington," Agarn added happily. The smile turned upside-down into a scowl. "And good riddins! Because of him it probably set us back a whole month."

"But," O'Rourke tried to cheer him up, "now we can get those souvenirs out of the barn and it won't be long before the profits'll be rollin' in."

It worked. Agarn's smile turned right-side-up again. "When do we move 'em back?"

"First we gotta wait for the major to get done up there, then keep the captain busy, and then we can."

"How we going to keep the captain busy this time?"

"Simple. I'll just tell him that he did such a good job with the major that he deserves a little relaxation, then suggest something similar to Wrangler."

Agarn snickered. "Looks like the captain'll be going out on another secret assignment."

O'Rourke grinned as he hooked an arm around the shorter corporal's shoulders and leaned on him slightly. "Then he leaves, we load up the wagon, and awaaaaay we go." He gestured off toward the hills beyond where sat the Hekawi camp.

Agarn smiled wide. "Looks like we're back in business, Sarge."

O'Rourke slapped him on the back. "And speaking of business, let's go onto town and check the cashbox at the saloon. We'll have a drink to celebrate."

Agarn hooked his thumbs in his suspenders. "You read my thoughts, Sarge! It'll wash down that biscuit that's still stuck in my throat."

With a pleased chuckle, O'Rourke started off with Agarn just behind, skipping a bit as he tried to get in step with the sergeant's long strides. As they reached the gates that lead to town, they quickly stepped to one side when a horse came galloping in. A blond girl in buckskins on the chestnut's back waved as they flew by.

"There goes Wrangler," Agarn commented as they waved back, but by that time she had long passed.

"Yeah," O'Rourke answered, still walking while looking over his shoulder. "Probably got a telegram for the captain."

Agarn scowled. "Hope it's not saying another major's coming out here. I'd hate to have to bury those crates all over again."

Wrangler Jane galloped up just as Major Chase was climbing into the wagon. She brought her chestnut to a sliding halt in a cloud of dust, which the slight breeze happened to blow right on Parmenter. He coughed as it choked his throat. The blond haired girl dismounted and came up.

"Hi, Wilton."

"Hi, Jane," he wheezed hoarsely and coughed again.

Jane looked at him with concern. "Wilton, you outta do something about that cough."

"I will, Jane. I will." After a moment, Parmenter finally got his lungs cleared enough to ask, "Is there something you needed?"

"A telegram just arrived over the wire." Jane held out a piece of paper. "It's from the railroad department."

"Oh. Well, I'll read it in a minute."

"But, Wilton–"

Parmenter wasn't listening as he turned back to the major. "Are you sure you don't want some of my men to come along to help you?"

"No. No need, Captain," Chase answered as he gathered up the reins. "I'm sure the Hekawis will be able to help me just fine."

Jane tried again. "Wilton–"

The captain wasn't listening. "And don't worry about the wagon. I'll have one of my men go to the train station later on and bring it back."

"You needn't bother, Captain. I can pay someone to bring it back so you don't have to come all the way out."

"No, no, Major. It's no trouble at all. Beside, it wouldn't be right for you to have to pay–"

"Wilton!"

Parmenter jumped at Jane's loud exclamation. "What is it, Jane?" he asked a bit annoyed. "Can't you see I'm trying to talk to the major?"

Jane frowned slightly at the snipped remark. "I'm sorry, Wilton, but I was trying to say that I think you'd better read this before the major leaves. It kinda' concerns him." Again she held out the telegram.

"Oh?" Parmenter took the paper and read it. His brow lined.

"Something the matter, Captain?" Chase asked.

"It's from the railroad. Some of the cars of the train to Washington derailed a few miles out of its last stop. It says here it'll be at least a day before they can get it back on and going again."

"That means it won't even arrive at the station until tomorrow," Chase figured.

"I'm terribly sorry about this, Major," Parmenter sympathized.

Chase's hands dropped to his lap with a sigh. "It's not your fault, Captain." He rubbed his chin. "I guess I'll just have to change my plans."

"What are you going to do, Sir?"

Chase thought a moment. "Well, I'll go up and get the gifts from the chief right now, then come back. That way at least I'll be ready to leave tomorrow morning and I won't have to worry about stopping at the Indian camp. You don't mind if I stay one more day, Captain?"

Parmenter waved a hand. "Oh, no, Major. I don't mind at all. We're glad to have you."

"Thank you, Captain. At least I'll get one more of those delicious dinners before I leave." Chase smiled at Wrangler Jane.

"Why thank you, Major. I'd be most happy to," Jane replied cheerily.

"Good! I look forward to tonight then."

"Me too. I hope you'll tell us some of those fascinating stories of yours."

Chase sat taller as he said, "Of course, if you would really like to."

"Oh yes. I think they're just fascinatin'." Jane glanced slyly at Parmenter.

The captain averted his eyes from hers as he glared off for a moment, then cleared his throat awkwardly. "I think you had better get started, Major, if you want to be back by this afternoon."

"Yes, quite. I'll be back in a few hours." Chase flicked the reins and the horses trotted off at a brisk pace.

After he was out of sight, Parmenter turned to Jane, who was still grinning at him. "So, you're really fascinated by those stories of his," he said a bit resentfully.

"They are rather thrilling," she replied.

"And by the way you so readily accepted to make dinner again, I take it you're quite captivated by the major."

"Well, he is a gentleman. I think he's quite a dashing man."

"Well, it takes a lot more to being a soldier than just being dashing, you know." The captain straightened as he squared his shoulders a bit. "After all, there's more that makes up a man than just lots of medals and courage and strength and bravery and daring and good looks."

"There are?" she grinned affectionately at him.

With a small sigh Parmenter stared off as he said dismally, "Yes, but those do help a lot."

It was nearly noon when O'Rourke and Agarn came out of the saloon and started back for the fort. Both were in high spirits after having seen the profits of the last few days and had filled themselves with a generous lunch, washing it down with a glass of cold beer.

Agarn gave a satisfied sigh. "Things sure seem to be going good, Sarge."

O'Rourke grinned. "Yeah, they sure do. We've had more business in the saloon the last few days then we've had in the last two week."

"Music to my ears, Sarge!" Agarn rubbed his hands together. "So what do we do now?"

"Well, the major should be long gone by now so I'll go to work on the captain this afternoon. By tomorrow this time, all our stock should be back up at the Hekawi camp and things can start moving along again. Until then, we relax and take it easy."

"It ain't hard to do that, Sarge!"

Happily, they walked on and a moment later the two men entered the fort. As they crossed the compound for the barracks, they passed by the cannon where Trooper Dobbs worked on polishing the metal surface with a rag.

The bugler looked up as the two approached. "Hi, Sarge. Agarn."

"Dobbs," O'Rourke answered back. He paused a moment as he gave the cannon an inspecting glance.

Dobbs grinned. "Looks pretty, don't it? I've gone over it four times."

O'Rourke nodded in approval at the polish job. "Looks alright."

Dobbs straightened a bit at the praise as he whipped his hands on the rag. As he did, Agarn noticed the ends of the bugler's fingers were wrapped in bandages on his right hand.

"Hey Dobbs, what happened to your fingers?"

Dobbs looked at his hand. "Oh, that. They accidently got smashed in the lid of a crate in the barn."

"Oh, that's too bad–" Agarn's face tensed and he and the sergeant exchanged glances. "Did you say "in the barn"?" he asked.

"Yeah." Then Dobbs grinned. "I didn't tell you fellas yet, but Duffy and me found a whole stack ah' crates and boxes underneath the pile ah' hay in there. At first we didn't know what they were, but then we realized what they were when I took a peek in one. That's how my fingers got smashed. Duffy accidentally dropped the lid on 'em."

"You … looked in one," Agarn said anxiously. "What'd you see?"

"Just some blankets and what looked like some gear," Dobbs answered honestly. "That's how we figured out they were supply boxes. We figured that they must've been misplaced and we accidentally dumped the last load ah' hay right on top. Figured you were probably trying to figure out what happened to them."

"O-oh, yes, we certainly were," Agarn stumbled, trying to look grateful.

"Yes, we sure were sure stumped as to where they went," O'Rourke added in. Then asked hesitantly, "Have you … uh… told anyone else about this?" He and Agarn leaned forward nervously.

Dobbs shook his head. "No, we didn't want you fellas to get in trouble for a little mistake. So we didn't say anything about it to the captain."

O'Rourke brushed a hand over his mouth as he breathed a relieved sigh. "Well, that was mighty nice of you, Dobbs, and thank you for telling us."

Dobbs flipped a hand, trying to look modest. "It was nothin', Sarge. I was happy to help you out. Anyone can make a little mistake."

"And now that you've told us where they are, we'll take care of 'em out of that haystack right away."

"Oh, you don't have to. They're not in the haystack anymore."

O'Rourke felt a sinking inside. "They're not?"

"No, Sarge."

"Where are they?"

"Duffy and I already put 'em in the supply shed, right where they were 'spose ta' go." Dobbs smiled proudly.

O'Rourke scratched an ear as the dilemma began to come clear. "Yes, the supply shed. Where else," he mumbled then tried to smile. "I must say I wouldn't have thought to look there to find them."

Agarn nervously rubbed a hand over his jaw. "Just out of curiosity, where exactly did you put them in the supply shed?" he asked.

Dobbs brow puckered. "What do you mean?"

Agarn tried to look casual. "Oh, just want to make sure that everything is orderly and neat. We wouldn't want to be known as the fort with the sloppy supply shed."

"Oh, well you don't have ta' worry about that, Corporal. Me and Duffy stacked all 'em real nice with all the rest. Course, we had to put 'em wherever they would fit, there were a lot of 'em, but I assure you they're all stacked in proper military fashion."

O'Rourke forced a smile and patted Dobbs on the shoulder. "That's a good boy. Always do things properly."

"Thanks, Sarge. And don't you worry none, I won't tell a word about them being misplaced."

"Thanks, very kind of you, Dobbs. And we appreciate it very much, and I mean very much. Now, why don't you run along now and practice your bugle."

Dobbs nodded happily. "Alright, Sarge. I think I'll practice my taps call. I still have a little trouble with the ending."

"You don't know how appropriate that may just be," O'Rourke mumbled through smiling teeth.

Dobbs nodded a farewell. "Well, see ya' fellas later. Glad to be of help." He walked off while squawking taps on his bugle.

The two noncoms watched him go, slightly stunned. Agarn couldn't decide whether to be mad, panicked, or cry, his face showing almost a combination of all three. "Sarge, what do we do now?!"

"We get those boxes back!" O'Rourke listened a second to the bugle still playing taps in the distance. "Or that tune will be blowing for us. C'mon!" He grabbed Agarn by the arm and hauled him along as they rushed back across the compound.

A moment later, both rushed through the door of the supply shed. High spirits plummeted at the sight as the dilemma become bigger. Piles of crates and boxes lined all walls and were stacked throughout the room. All looked alike and were simply stacked wherever they would fit; and somewhere, scattered through it, all was their merchandise.

Agarn looked around with an expression of doom written across his face. "Sarge! How are we going to find them all?!"

"Only one way." O'Rourke pried up the corner of a near crate lid and peeked inside. Ammunition. He put the top back and slammed it down with a fist, then went to the next. "Start pryin' the lids off, Agarn. You take the ones over there and I'll take these."

"Right!"

Progress was slow, but slowly they found their targets one by one. They stacked them together in the narrow walkways, keeping a tally as each was found and added to the rest. As the piles grew larger, it became more and more difficult to maneuver around them. Space was getting tighter and they nearly had to crawl over them as the search continued.

"I found another one!" Agarn announced nearly an hour later.

"Good. How many does that make now?"

Agarn stacked the crate with the others. "This makes number 31," he puffed.

O'Rourke nodded, wiping his brow. "Well, we're a little over halfway there." He observed the growing stacks that nearly filled the walkways. "We've got to move some of these outta' here, so here's what we're going to do. Agarn, go get the spare wagon and bring it around beside the shed. We'll load 'em on as we find 'em; then when we're finished, we'll hide it behind the barn. Hopefully no one'll see it there. And if they do, we'll just try and pass 'em off as supply boxes. Shouldn't be too hard to convince anyone of that since they've already passed that test once."

Agarn scowled as he crawled over the crates to the door. "The why things have been going for us, I wouldn't bet on that too hard, Sarge."

It was nearly mid-afternoon and the sun hazily shone behind an overcast of clouds. Though the temperature was still warm, the breeze had picked up with a touch of dampness to the air, telling that rain was definitely on the way. Together, O'Rourke and Agarn carried the last crate from the slightly emptied shed and heaved it on top of the sagging wagon. With grateful sighs of relief, they wiped the sweat from their faces.

"We did it, Sarge," Agarn said breathlessly as he leaned against the wagon wearily, fanning himself with his hat.

"Yup," O'Rourke agreed, as he too tried to catch his breath. "Took some time, but we got 'em all back."

"I'll sure be glad when this is over. I've never been so exhausted in my life!"

O'Rourke gave his friend a pat on the shoulder. "Well, it won't be too long now, pal. All we have to do is take these back up to the Indian camp and we're home free."

"I'm glad to hear that. 'Cause there's one thing that seems to be at work here."

"What's that?"

"Luck and fate."

"That's two things."

Putting his hat back on his head, Agarn looked up at the sergeant with a deep frown. "Well, I think they've joined forces against us to give us one large enemy."

O'Rourke grabbed a coil of rope off the corner of the wagon. "Well, if they have, we haven't been doing too bad so far. Now, let's tie these down and get it out of sight."

They quickly tied down the large load and secured the knots. So focused were they, that they didn't hear the approach of boots behind them.

"Good afternoon men."

Startled, they spun to find themselves face to face with Major Chase. So stunned were they, that they forgot to salute right away.

"Oh! Uh, g-good afternoon, Major," O'Rourke finally got out, quickly snapping to attention with a salute, nudging Agarn to do the same.

"At ease," Chase said pleasantly.

"I thought you left this morning, sir," O'Rourke said.

Chase nodded. "I thought I was too, but I got word that the train I was 'spose to take fell off the track and it'll be at least another day before they can get it going again."

"You're spending another night, sir?" O'Rourke asked.

"Yes. I'll just be leaving tomorrow afternoon instead of today as I had planned." Chase peered over the sergeant's shoulder. "What's all that?"

Agarn's face went expressionless. "What, Sir?"

"That."

Agarn turned and looked at the wagon behind him. "Oh, that!" He pretended to give a little laugh as he turned to the sergeant. "Sarge, he wants to know what all that is."

"Oh! Yes, Sir." O'Rourke shrugged lightly. "Just some crates of supplies. We just brought them in a little while ago."

The major's eyes ran over the large stack. "Quite a large load I see."

"Yes, well, the captain likes to make sure his men have everything they need."

Agarn nodded. "He's a real humanitarian, Sir. They don't make 'em like him anymore."

"I wouldn't think so," Chase said without much fluctuation. "Would you like a detail to get these unloaded and into the supply shed?"

"Oh no!" Agarn nearly yelped with hands out. He quickly restrained himself and said more calmly, "That is – I mean – we weren't going to unload them right now, Sir."

"Oh?"

"No, Sir," O'Rourke jumped in, mind thinking fast. "You see, the men are, uh, on their assigned duties and the captain doesn't like to break routine. I'll talk to him tomorrow about when he would like to do it."

Chase nodded. "I see. Very well then. Carry on men." With that, Chase strode on with hands behind his back.

Agarn fell against the wagon. "That was close, Sarge!"

O'Rourke nodded. "I'll say. We got to get this wagon outta' here fast!"

They began to turn when, just then, the captain's voice sang out. "Oh, Sergeant O'Rourke! Corporal Agarn!"

Agarn growled. "Why is it that everyone always drops by when you're busy?"

They turned and again saluted as Parmenter came trotting up. "I'm glad I finally found you," he said. "I have something I wanted to tell you."

"I'm sorry, Sir. We were a bit, uh, busy the last few hours. What is it?" O'Rourke asked.

"I just wanted to let you know that the major will be staying with us another day. Word came this morning that train he was going to leave on fell off the tracks, so he'll be leaving tomorrow instead of today."

"Now he tells us," Agarn muttered under his breath.

O'Rourke nodded. "Yes, we know that, Sir. He just told us himself a few moments ago."

"Oh, well then you can carry on with whatever it was you were…" Captain Parmenter trailed off as he noticed the crates behind O'Rourke. "What are those, Sergeant?" He pointed as he took a step forward.

O'Rourke sidestepped in front of the captain. "Oh those! Just some supplies that came in a little while ago, sir. Some more of this and that and other things and stuff."

Parmenter nodded. "Oh. That's a good idea. We could always use extra of those. Do you need some men to help you unload it?"

O'Rourke quickly held up a hand. "That won't be necessary at the moment, Sir. You see, I figured we'd wait until the major left before we got into anything else, sir. I didn't want to distract him from his mission here, you know."

Parmenter nodded understandingly. "Good thinking, Sergeant."

"Agarn and I will move them out of the way till they can be unpacked, sir."

"Very good, sergeant. Carry on." The captain saluted.

O'Rourke returned it. "Thank you, sir."

Parmenter started to go, but then hurried back over. "One other thing," he whispered. "I've been giving it some thought and I think it'd be a good idea if you told the other men not to mention anything about raccoons around here for a while."

Agarn blinked. "What?"

"I figured that way someone wouldn't accidentally remind Dobbs about you-know-what-happened in the barn."

At first there was blankness, but then understanding shot across Agarn's face. "Oh that! Oh of course, Captain. You can count on us."

O'Rourke nodded. "That's right and we'll be sure to tell them, sir."

Parmenter nodded. "Good. Don't tell what happened, but just try to, you know, mention it to them casually."

"Sure thing, Captain," Agarn agreed. "While I'm talking to the fellas, I'll just casually say, 'By the way, I wouldn't talk about raccoons around Privet Dobbs'. They'll never suspect a thing."

"Good men," Parmenter praised, still whispering. With a finale salute, he tiptoed off toward headquarters.

Agarn frowned as he watched him go. "Why's he tiptoeing?"

O'Rourke turned back to the wagon. "Never mind that. Let's just get this outta sight before anyone asks any more questions. It's getting too hot around here."

"Oh really?" Agarn looked surprised. "I didn't think it was too hot. In fact, I thought that breeze was really quite nice."

Major Chase walked along, wondering where Parmenter was and observing the fort around him. A few of the soldiers were unhurriedly cleaning up the corral area, while others strolled about picking up bits of paper and trash that the wind blew around. Most were standing around talking, as others played horseshoes or just sat around dozing. If they were on Captain Parmenter's schedule, Chase figured this must be a recreation period. He would have to ask about it to the captain.

A gust of cool breeze tugged his hat and Chase looked up to see the cloud blanketed sky and the hazy ball of light trying to peer through overhead. Rain would be falling by late night. The major paused as he thought, then strode over to the corral. A trooper with a bugle slung across his shoulder chatted with another privet with a thick mustache as each leisurely rubbed down a saddle set on the fence. They quickly stood to attention at the major's approach.

"At ease men," Chase said. "I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

Dobbs nodded as he glanced at Duffy who gave the same sign. "Sure thing, Major. Anythin' we can do ta' help."

"Good. I want you to put a wagon into the barn for me. If it's going to rain, I don't want the boxes with all the chief's gifts to get wet. I would put it in myself, but there's still some things I want to go over with your captain before tonight and I'd like to get started right away."

Duffy nodded. "Sure, Major. We can do that."

"Good men. I'll bring the wagon around and leave it outside the barn doors. Then, when you're through here, you can just put it inside and take care of the horses." Chase instructed.

"Yes, Sir," Dobbs and Duffy saluted and the major walked off. They went back to rubbing the saddles but at a faster pace.

Carefully, O'Rourke guided the horses along as they brought the wagon up to the barn. Beside him, Agarn peeked around the edge of the load watching the compound.

"I don't think anyone sees us, Sarge. And if they are, they're not paying any attention. And no sign of the captain or the major."

"So far so good." O'Rourke reined the team in to a standstill beside the barn wall. "Agarn, make sure there isn't anything in the way before I take the wagon back there.

"Right, Sarge." Agarn climbed down and scurried around the corner. A few second later, the corporal's voice called back. "Hey, Sarge! There's quite a bit of old gear and junk back here that's in the way! Could you give me a hand moving it?"

Jumping down from the seat, O'Rourke hurried around behind the barn, leaving the wagon where it was.

After finishing up their work, Privets Dobbs and Duffy quickly hurried across the compound towards the barn.

"The major should be pleased that we got done so quick," Duffy said.

Dobbs nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's ah' good thing we were on our last one."

Presently, they came up to the barn and spotted a wagon full of crates hitched up to a team of horses.

"Here's the wagon," Dobbs announced as they came up to it. "The major must've really been in a hurry to get it here. We only talked to him no less than three minutes ago."

Duffy's brow wrinkled in puzzlement. "I thought the major said he was going to put it outside the doors, not here."

Dobbs scratched his neck then shrugged. "Maybe he changed his mind. Majors have the rank to do that you know. Well anyway, it's here, so let's get it inside before the rain. You bring it around and I'll open the doors."

"Right," Duffy said and climbed up into the seat and snapped the reins, bringing the wagon around.

A bit later, the two privets exited the barn. Dobbs brushed his hands together as Duffy shut the barn doors.

"Well, that's all done. The wagon's safe from the rain and the horses taken care of."

Duffy nodded. "The major doesn't have a thing to worry about now." With pleased smiles, the two trotted off.

Seconds later, two noncoms rounded the corner from behind the barn. O'Rourke brushed some dirt off his uniform.

"Whew! I didn't realize how much junk was thrown back there."

Agarn did the same to himself. "Me neither. I wonder if there's anything we can salvage. We might be able to sell some as genuine antique souvenirs."

O'Rourke chuckled. "Now that's a thought. We'll go through it once we get all the merchandise back up to–" He suddenly skidded to a halt so fast Agarn collided into him. The corporal looked up at his friend who stood staring with eyes wide.

"What's wrong, Sarge?"

"Where'd the wagon go?" O'Rourke said almost monotonic.

Agarn started to point. "Don't you remember, Sarge? It's right over–" His eyes went wide when he too saw the empty space. "Where'd the wagon go?" he repeated in the same tone. They rushed to the spot, looking frantically around.

"Sarge!" Agarn cried. "Someone stole our wagon!"

"But how?! It was here only a minute ago! It couldn't've just–" He broke off again as the rattle of a wagon came to their ears.

The two quickly crept up to the front corner and flattened themselves against the side of the barn. O'Rourke carefully peered around to see a wagon approaching. He squinted slightly as he looked closely at the driver, then recognition crossed his face. "It's Major Chase," he whispered.

Agarn's face peeked around the corner just below the sergeant's. "Sarge, do you think that's our wagon?"

"Naw, it couldn't be," O'Rourke whispered back. "But there's something funny goin' on here."

Agarn frowned. "I'm glad you think so. I can't seem to find the humor in it."

They waited until the major had brought the wagon to a stop before the closed barn doors, then stepped out as Chase climbed to the ground.

"Is there something we can help you with, Major?" O'Rourke offered with a salute as they came up.

Chase shook his head. "Oh, no thank you, Sergeant. Two of the other men are going to be here in a bit. But thank you for your offer." Changing subjects he said, "I'm going to talk over some things with your captain now, that I didn't get to ask before. Do you know where he is?"

Agarn jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "I think he went to his office."

"Oh. Thank you, Corporal."

Chase started to walk away, but paused when O'Rourke abruptly asked, "Are those the gifts Chief Wild Eagle gave you?" He gestured toward the wagonload.

"Yes, I wanted to put them somewhere safe if it's going to rain tonight. I told them I'd put the wagon out here so they could drive it into the barn when they were done with their work. They'll be along shortly." With that the major marched off.

Only after he was a good distance away, did O'Rourke and Agarn exchanged glances of impending disaster. On the same impulse, they rushed for the barn's doors. O'Rourke heaved one of the doors open and they dashed inside. They stopped short with jaws dropped and eyes staring incredulously. Inside sat their vanished wagon.

Agarn sagged. "I told you, Sarge! It's fate and luck – they have joined forces! They're toying with us!"

"Those men must've come sooner than the major expected and they mistook our wagon for the major's!" O'Rourke reasoned out.

"What do we do now?!"

"What else? We switch 'em back before anyone finds out! C'mon!" O'Rourke grabbed Agarn by a suspender strap and hauled him out the door.

As they stepped out, Agarn skidded to a halt. "Sarge, look!" O'Rourke looked to see Major Chase along with Captain Parmenter come out of the headquarters office. They sat down in two chairs on the front porch, discussing something. "Sarge, what'll we do?"

O'Rourke rubbed his jaw as he quickly thought. "Well, the major is expecting this wagon to be put into the barn and we can't just leave it here or he'll see it and get suspicious. And the major might see us if we try and switch them back. Boxes is one thing, but wagons are a bit more conspicuous."

"So what'll we do?" Agarn repeated.

"There's only one thing we can do. Take this wagon and put it behind the barn. If the major thinks everything's alright, he might not poke around too much."

"You think it'll work?"

"It has too! C'mon before they see us!"

The two quickly climbed on the wagon and hurriedly urged the horses around the side of the barn and out of sight. Luckily, the major had sat on the porch with his back to them and the captain was too into their conversation to notice anything. Once safely behind the barn, Agarn jumped down, followed by the sergeant.

Agarn blew out a breath as he wiped his forehead. "We made it!"

"Yeah, barely," O'Rourke said as he began to unhitch the team.

"Well, at least we know the souvenirs are back where we left them in the first place. We won't have to run around looking for them."

O'Rourke gave him a dark glance as he unclipped the wagon tongue from the horses' collars.

Agarn spread his arms with a shrug. "I was just trying to look on the bright side, Sarge." He took a second to look at the barn's back wall. "Can you believe it?" he mused as he touched the weathered wood. "Both wagons are almost side by side! They're just separated by this wall!"

The horses unhitched, O'Rourke led the team away from the wagon. "As much as I don't want to believe it, I have to."

Agarn quickly followed. "At least the major didn't see the other wagon. He doesn't even suspect anything," he said with a hint of success.

The sergeant wasn't enthused. "Oh, sure. We made it without being seen. Now all we have to do is figure out how to get our souvenirs back without arousing suspicion and without the major or the captain seeing us and how to give the major back the stuff he thinks he has."

Agarn patted his friend's arm. "Don't worry, Sarge. We'll think of something. You always do."

O'Rourke laughed without humor. "You got from "we" to "me" in a hurry."

"You're the one with the brains, Sarge. I'm only a corporal. Maybe someday when I make sergeant, then I'll think like one."