Sabers And... Snippet 3

July 20, 1899

It was a conundrum.

The red-legs had surveyed the area and we were still in the Dakota Territories, barely a mile from the fort which was clearly not there.

Earth but not Earth?

It was lieutenant Wilson of E-Troop, fresh from The Point who asked the question once we realized we were still where we were.  He's a good kid, but he's got a lot to learn about keeping his mouth shut when someone outside the family was listening.

"If we'd ceded, according to the treaty, all the land from here to here and there to there and THIS place had land from here to here and there to there and the 'escaped' Indians where living within the confines of that space...  Aren't they obeying the treaty?"

If he hadn't said it where Mrs. Fitzhugh could hear it, this mission would have remained a scouting mission for the gathering of intelligence and information.

But what Mrs. Fitzhugh hears, Mr. Fitzhugh hears, and Mr, Fitzhugh being our representative agent from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, is a man who can make "requests" of the commanding officer which have career implications.

One ignores such requests at ones peril.

Now it was H-Troop's job to find an Indian encampment and ask them, pretty please, what they thought they were doing here and if they believed everyone was obeying the treaty.

That made it my problem.

I also note that that ring knocking son of a bitch who started this entire mess is not in the troop given the task.

There's no Justice.