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“Yes, sir. Sergeant, sir.”
“Why don’t you just cram it, Lojab?” Autumn said.
“Hey,” Kawalski said, “look who’s coming.”
Liada rode her horse along the side of the trail, coming from the front of the column. Her mount was a spirited buckskin stallion. When she saw the platoon, she crossed over and cantered her horse toward them. She rode bareback, with her bow and quiver swung on a leather strap over the horse’s shoulder. When she came abreast of the troop, she slid off, leaving her reins across the horse’s neck. She walked beside Alexander, while her horse followed.
“Sarge?” she said, “goodnight.”
“Hello, Liada,” Alexander said. “How are you this morning?”
“How are this morning?”
“Good,” Sarge said.
“Good.” She walked beside Autumn. “Autumn Eaglemoon are this morning?”
“Good,” Autumn said.
“Good.”
She patted the side of the weapons container, and with hand signs she asked where they were going. With her free hand, Autumn made a water motion and pointed forward.
“River.”
“River,” Liada said. She made a lifting motion with both hands.
“Yes, it is heavy.” Autumn wiped the sweat from her brow.
“Heavy.” Liada used both hands to sign for them to put it down.
“Hey, guys. She wants us to put it down for a minute.”
“I’ll vote for that,” Kawalski said as they moved off the trail and lowered it to the ground.
Liada took one of the handholds and lifted. “Heavy.” She wiped her brow and made hand signs to Autumn.
“She wants us to wait here for something,” Autumn said. “I’m not sure what.” She spoke to Liada. “Okay.”
“Okay,” Liada said, then swung onto her horse and rode away at a gallop, toward the front of the column.
“What a rider she is,” Lojab said.
“And did you see the way she mounted that horse?” Kawalski said. “Two quick steps, and she swung her leg over his back as if he were a Shetland pony.”
“Yeah,” Lojab whispered as he watched her ride out of sight around a turn in the trail. “What I could do with a woman like that.”
“My God,” Autumn said. “Will you two stop drooling all over yourselves? Someone would think you never saw a girl ride horseback before.”
The men stared at the place where Liada had been a moment before.
“Oh, I’ve seen girls ride horses before,” Lojab said. “But all the ones I’ve seen had to have a guy help them mount, and that was with the aid of a stirrup. Then, as the horse runs, the girls bounce up and down like ponytailed basketballs.”
“Liada just swings up on his back,” Kawalski said, “then rides as if she’s part of the horse.”
“Autumn,” Kady said, “do you think these guys have ever had a date with an actual woman?”
“Sure, an actual inflatable woman,” Autumn said.
“Yeah, eight-ninety-five on eBay,” Kady said.
“Just blow her up, and she’s ready to go,” Autumn said. “No buying her drinks, no dinner; just jump in bed.”
“Oh, yeah?” Lojab said. “How about the way you girls go ga-ga over that tall, pig-ugly officer in the Little Red Riding Hood cape?”
“Oooo, Rocrainium,” the four women said together, then giggled.
“Rocrainium?” Kawalski said. “How do you know his name?”
“Oh, we have ways of finding out.” Autumn made some wavy hand signs, then the other three did the same thing, followed by more giggles.
“Hey,” Lojab said, “here she comes.”
Liada came toward them on the side of the trail, passing a herd of cattle. She was followed by a wagon pulled by a yoke of oxen. Soon, they stopped in front of the weapons crate and Liada dismounted.
Alexander went to look in the wagon; it was empty. He glanced at the woman in the wagon. She stood with her arms folded, glaring down at him. He then saw the gel bandage on her arm and remembered the deep gash they’d treated.
“The sword wound,” he whispered.
Kawalski came to the side of the wagon. “Hello.”
The woman looked at Kawalski, and her face brightened. She knelt in the bed of the wagon and held out her arm for him to see. She said something, but he didn’t understand.
“Yes, it looks good.” He ran his fingers over the bandage.
She spoke again.
“Hey, Apache,” Kawalski said, “come tell me what she’s saying.”
Autumn and Liada came to stand beside Kawalski. The woman said something to Liada, who motioned to her, then to Kawalski. Liada touched two fingers to her lips, then her breast, and pointed to him.
“She wants to thank you for fixing her arm,” Autumn said.
“How do you say, ‘You’re welcome?’”
“Touch your heart, then hold your hand out flat, palm up.”
Kawalski made the sign to her. She smiled and said something else. Kawalski looked at Autumn, who then looked at Liada.
Liada said to the woman, “Kawalski.”
“Kalski,” she said. Then without looking at Sarge, she pointed at him and asked Liada a question.
“Sarge,” Liada said.
The woman spoke to Liada, who laughed. The woman said the same thing again, along with the word “Sarge” two more times.
Liada shrugged and spoke to Autumn. “Cateri talk Sarge, um…” She made some signs.
Autumn smiled. “Cateri, I like that name. Sarge, Kawalski, meet Cateri.”
“What did Cateri have to say about me?” Alexander asked.
“Well,” Autumn said, “she said you can load your box in her wagon, then walk behind.”
“Wonderful. Just tell her the box belongs to Kawalski. Then she’ll jump down, help load it, then probably let him drive.”
“Okay,” Autumn said to Cateri. “Sarge said that will be wonderful.”
“Oh, whatever,” Alexander said.
“Okay,” Liada said, then she spoke to Cateri.
“Okay,” Cateri said. She motioned to Alexander, then pointed to the weapons crate.
“All right,” Sarge said, “you heard the boss lady, let’s load up.”
As they loaded the crate, Liada swung onto her horse.
“I think Cateri likes you, Sarge,” Kawalski said as they slid the container into the wagon.
“Really? If this is how she behaves when she likes me, how would she treat me if she hated me?”
Lojab walked over and took hold of the bridle on Liada’s horse. “How you doing, Sweet Thing?”
Liada smiled down at him, then looked at Autumn.
Autumn, standing behind Lojab, stuck out her tongue and made a yuck face. She then brought up her foot as if to kick Lojab in the butt.
Liada laughed.
Lojab sneered at Autumn’s smile. “Ask her where people go to have a few drinks,” he said.
“Okay,” Autumn said. “Watch her to see what she thinks.”
Lojab looked up at Liada. Autumn pointed her right index finger at Liada, then her left one at Lojab. She then placed her two fingers together, laying one on top of the other and wiggling them up and down. Finally, she made a motion of rocking a baby in her arms.
Liada wrinkled her brow for a moment, but then her face brightened and she laughed.
The others, who had watched the pantomime, struggled to keep from laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Lojab looked at Autumn, then at the others as they tried to control themselves. Even Cateri recognized the humor.
“Autumn,” Liada said and motioned for her to come to her.
She leaned down to ask her something, then Autumn whispered to her.
Liada smiled. “Kawalski,” she said and patted the horse’s back, behind her. “Ride?”
Kawalski looked up at her, pointed to his chest, then at her.
She nodded.
“Here.” Kawalski handed his rifle to Autumn. “Hold this.”
He tried to throw his leg up over the horse’s back but couldn’t do it. Liada offered her hand. He took it and pulled himself up behind her.
“Catch,” Autumn said, tossing the rifle to him.
Liada looked back at him as he swung the rifle over his shoulder.
“Okay,” Kawalski said.
She kicked her heels in the horse’s sides. When the horse sprang forward, Kawalski almost rolled off backwards, but he grabbed Liada around the waist to hold on.
“That skinny son-of-a-bitch,” Lojab said. “What does she see in him?”
Autumn shrugged, then flipped the switch on her comm. “Hey, Kawalski.”
“W-w-w-what?”
“You’re bouncing.”
“No s-s-s-s-shit.”
The others laughed.
Alexander watched Liada and Kawalski ride out of sight, around a bend in the trail. “Cateri,” he said.
She looked down at him.
“I think this belongs to you.”
He pulled her whip from his hip pocket and tossed it to her. She caught the whip and unrolled it from the handle while keeping her eyes on him. Alexander then stepped back, and she grinned and popped the whip over the heads of the two oxen. When they didn’t move, she slapped the reins against their butts. The oxen lowed in protest but then plodded forward. The platoon fell in behind the wagon.
* * * * *
Liada slowed her horse as they came to the wagons loaded with supplies.
