Chapter 9 ~ The Dance

[M/M] [Protection in a Wild Land] A war torn major travels west to an isolated fort commanded by a man whose intentions become increasingly suspicious.

Chapter 9 ~ The Dance

The promising and appreciated warmth and soft sun of the morning had carried over into the afternoon just in time for the dance outside on the parade ground and as he stood on the edge of the low stage that had been set up especially for the occasion, General Prior couldn’t help but smile. These few hours had already far surpassed the birthday that they had tried to throw for him the previous year. The sky had been swollen with rain, the supplies had run almost completely thin due to a harsh winter (winters were always harsh out there, Prior thought) and to top it all off, there had been a nasty sickness going around the barracks. He’d retired to his HQ for most of the day and had had to postpone most duties for the men more on account of the amount that had been restricted to their beds rather than for any special celebratory reason.

Luckily, this year, there, so far, had been no sign of any of these things. The regimental band was out playing �" they always made the soldiers smile, no matter what the occasion, the sky was blue with not a raincloud in sight and Prior was relaxing, allowing himself a drink or two. Standing with him were some of his fellow officers, also with the fanciest glasses in the fort in their hands, and watching their companions in the regiment dance, to varying degrees of success.

Beside him, Captain McDowell smiled and laughed as one of the prettiest young girls at the fort tried, with not much accomplishment, to teach Lieutenant Louis Marshall a few steps to the next dance. Prior could see others watching also, the event being one of the highlights so far.

‘’I got sympathy for that poor gal,’’ McDowell smirked, nodding over to her. ‘’I swear Louis caused our company officer in the War hell when he was trying to teach us the basics. Of tactics that is, not dance. Though it wouldn’t have made much difference, I see.’’

Prior smiled. ‘’Poor girl. But…she had her choice. I wish I could say the same.’’

McDowell laughed and finished the remainder of his drink. ‘’Another, general?’’ he asked. Prior shook his head.

‘’No, I’ll pass, thank you.’’

‘’Very well.’’ McDowell nodded and made his way back over to one of the tables to fill up his glass again. Prior continued to watch the show on the stage before his eyes were drawn over to Dandy and Major Bailey who were standing on the side with Colonel Dawes. He had seen them spending a lot of time with him over the past few weeks when they hadn’t been on duty. He had known that Bailey had been friendly with the colonel but he had never seen Dandy with him that often before the major had arrived. In fact, before Bailey had arrived, he hadn’t been aware of Dandy spending a lot of time with the other officers at all. Of course, he had his friends there but most of the time, he remained in the HQ with the rest of the staff.

He could have befriended anyone but it had to be Colonel Dawes.

Prior immediately shook that thought out of his head and glanced over to see where Captain McDowell was. He smiled when he saw he had become sidetracked by Lieutenant Fields’ lovely young wife. Prior returned to Bailey, Dandy and Dawes where the former was trying to convince either of the other two to dance. Dawes was firm, shaking his head, though still laughing, but Dandy looked willing.

Together, they went onto the stage and Prior watched as, to the bouncing tune of the next song the band began to play, Bailey grasped Dandy and swung him around, trying to find some type of rhythm. If Prior was honest, they weren’t much better than Lieutenant Marshall and his partner but at least they looked like they were having fun, which was something Marshall was certainly lacking. He found himself smiling as he watched and when Captain McDowell arrived back from his conversation with Mrs Fields, having been given a rather severe look from her husband, he didn’t notice at first.

‘’How are they?’’ he asked, a full glass now in his hand. It took a while for Prior to understand what he was talking about. He nodded at Bailey and Dandy, swinging around and getting in the way of the other soldiers who had resorted to dancing together because of the lack of available women.

‘’They’re well,’’ Prior replied, not sure what else he could say. ‘’Very well.’’

‘’Major Bailey certainly seems to be doing his job well. If I may be so honest, general, better than Captain Hamilton.’’

Prior decided to not respond to that statement. He turned back to Dandy and Bailey and despite his best efforts to stop the memories seeping in, that morning by the river flashed before his eyes. As they danced, he saw them splash each other with water, the sun gleaming down onto them and making their bare skin shimmer softly. McDowell’s voice brought him back into reality.

‘’And Major Bailey �"‘’he said, noticeably a little quieter. ‘’…has he been sucked into the prejudices of some of the other men?’’

Prior almost sighed. He took another sip of his drink and then looked down into it, swirling the red liquid around and watching a small whirlpool form. McDowell was still waiting for an answer when he raised his head. ‘’No…’’ he said, as quietly as the captain had spoken. ‘’No. He hasn’t, which is good. But…’’

Prior didn’t know what he would have said. As it went, he never got the chance to continue because a voice suddenly echoed across the parade ground, calling his name. He thought it was McDowell at first and he had drifted into a faraway state once more, making his voice sound much louder than it actually was, but when turning to him, he was looking away, across towards the gates. Prior followed his gaze and saw a guard rushing towards him, wildly pointing over to the hills. As he got closer, he heard the words that caused anger to boil in his stomach.

‘’Indians!’’ he cried. Everybody had stopped dancing. They stared and all listened in as the guard hurried over and stopped by the general, though his message was already conveyed. ‘’Indians, general…’’ he gasped. He didn’t salute in his haste. Prior noticed. ‘’Up on the hills �" a Lakota war party, I’m sure of it! They appear to be about to charge, sir!’’

‘’Are you sure?’’ Prior asked, his own eyes scanning the hills above the fort.

‘’Heaven, general, a’course I’m sure!’’

The first thing Prior did was to slam his glass down on the table. It spilled, the red staining the perfect white table cloth. Everyone was watching and listening. He couldn’t think straight, fury clouding his mind. This was his day. He opened his mouth to say something �" anything - but was cut off. He hadn’t noticed Colonel Dawes hurry over. He saluted and didn’t wait for a reply before speaking.

‘’General,’’ he said strongly. ‘’Permission to ride out.’’

‘’Colonel �" I �" well -‘’ Prior bit his tongue. Everyone was still watching and listening, their eyes on the hills and on them. ‘’Yes, colonel. We will form a �"‘’

‘’Companies A, E and G!’’ Dawes shouted, turning his back on Prior and looking out across the parade ground. Prior stood, mid sentence, cut down. ‘’Form columns of fours! Right now, on the double quick!’’

They did as he said. Everyone listened to Dawes, no matter what he was saying, Prior thought. And as the detachment was formed, right there on the parade ground with the men still in their best uniforms �" they would be ruined �" everyone watched as well, staring with an obvious awe in their eyes. Prior looked across and he saw Major Bailey smiling, his gaze on Colonel Dawes, who was directing the surprised men into an impressive orderly state. Prior curled his hand into a tight fist.

This was his day. Taken away once again.

It took maybe ten minutes, possibly not even that, for the men to be fully prepared to exit the fort and face the war party. The weapons were handed out by a couple of willing orderlies, the horses rushed from the cavalry stables and all the while, everyone still watched. As if they hadn’t seen these damn things happen before.

And when they left the fort, Colonel Dawes shouting for them to go forward, the general half expected them to cheer. They didn’t, though as the detachment exited, Dawes turned and looking straight at Prior, saluted. It was a respectable thing to do, polite, decent, infuriating. Prior felt the first drops of blood spill from his hand where his nails had dug in.

He had wanted to get back to the dance. After all, it was his birthday. But nobody was interested any more. Some danced yet not with the vigour and laughter that they had had before. Only some of the band played. Bailey and Dandy were still looking up at the hills. Prior had hastily poured himself another drink.