White Flame Read Online Free PDF Page B

fool.”
    “Why’s he after payment so soon? We jest gave him a bunch of stuff. Even had to give him my pa’s old huntin’ knife,” the young soldier grumbled.
    “Yeah, well, seems he decided to kill some chief’s squaw instead of just harassing the Sioux like I paid him to do. Now he wants guns to protect himself.”
    Gus sent a worried glance over his shoulder. “Cap’n, we didn’t pay him to do no killin’—especially not some chief’s squaw.”
    Derek stared out toward the distant hills on the far horizon. He twirled one end of his moustache into a sharp point. His plan had been for Yellow Dog to seem that he was under the colonel’s orders to drive out the Sioux, which was why he’d given Yellow Dog the colonel’s silver belt buckle as payment. He knew the renegade Indian would brag about his prize and importance.
    His voice was thoughtful as he smoothed his moustache with his thumb and forefinger. “Maybe Yellow Dog did us a favor. This should rile the Sioux enough to attack the fort. Then that damn Indian-loving colonel will have to take action and get rid of them.”
    Gus scratched his greasy brown hair and looked confused for a moment, then he grinned, revealing a mouthful of rotting teeth. “If they attacks us, we gets to attack them, and if we does, then we gets their women. Right, Cap’n?”
    Derek shook his head at the boy’s eagerness. It was a mystery to him how the boy had survived his stint in the army, but that very naiveté and eagerness to please made Gus a valuable asset. All it took to keep Gus loyal was an occasional lay with a willing or unwilling squaw.
    He lowered his voice. “Right. I’ll even give you first choice. Now, not a word. If anyone finds out our plans, they’ll take all the young maidens and leave you the old wrinkled ones.”
    Gus frowned. Derek gave him a none-too-gentle shove. “Get to your post, soldier. We don’t want the others to get suspicious, do we?”
    “No, sir.” Grinning ear to ear, Gus dashed off to stand guard at Emma’s tent.
    Hands on his hips, Derek watched him. Little did the boy know, there was much more at stake than rutting with a bunch of women. Sliding his hands into the pockets of his pants, he fingered the remaining gold nugget he’d taken from a widowed squaw who’d come begging to the fort.
    He’d gone to her tipi to check her out. After she’d proven her willingness to spread her legs for food—with a little encouragement, he thought—he’d gone through her pitifully few possessions.
    His hands closed over the cold rock. He’d been shocked to find a pouch with several gold nuggets of a size and weight he’d never before seen. Those alone would have made him a rich man, but he wanted more. After plying her with drink, she’d told him about the sacred mountains where the shiny rocks turned streams the same color.
    Not about to let anyone else learn of gold in the hills, he’d strangled her and buried her far from the fort. No one had questioned the disappearance of another squaw. He narrowed his eyes. If only he could get into those hills and hunt for the gold. But not with all the Sioux there. That’s when he’d come up with the idea of starting Indian wars by pitting the Arikara and the Sioux against each other. The two tribes were long-standing enemies. And if tensions between them escalated, the army would be forced to step in and he’d have the perfect excuse to drive the Indians out of the area.
    So far, his plan had failed. Damn the colonel for trying to work out peace treaties with the Indians. But the colonel was due to leave soon. Derek fiddled with his moustache then chuckled softly. Pleased with this new turn of events, he headed back toward camp.
    When Emma and her bothersome sister emerged from their tent to eat, he sat beside them, his rifle loaded and at his side. Emma, still on edge from Yellow Dog’s earlier appearance, kept glancing over her shoulder. Derek decided to shamelessly play on her fear,