"Took a lead ball to the thigh, winter of '64. I was with the Willette troop up in Middle Boggy Depot, Oklahoma. Katie's mom, she was a nurse. Took me in for more'n a week."
Pause.
"Her momma and daddy had already been killed. See, her father married himself a Cheyenne Indian. ...She saw some things... well, bless her heart. Can't say I didn't fall in love with that girl the moment I saw them sad eyes of hers. Black as coal."
Dusty snorts in agitation when a small grouping of field mice dart from the wheat stalks to the fence on the other side of the lane, and Samuel hushes him calmly, stroking his long neck.
"Came back for her after I was discharged. My father wouldn't join the fight, for either side. Lynch mob took care of him, early on in the war. Mum got sick, and I was away... hell, I still regret that..."
A moment to collect himself.
"Was hard, marryin' a half-Indian, but we found a way. Brought her down here, showed her the land... it was the ugliest spit of property you ever did see, but she loved it instantly. It's been home, ever since."
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"Took a lead ball to the thigh, winter of '64. I was with the Willette troop up in Middle Boggy Depot, Oklahoma. Katie's mom, she was a nurse. Took me in for more'n a week."
Pause.
"Her momma and daddy had already been killed. See, her father married himself a Cheyenne Indian. ...She saw some things... well, bless her heart. Can't say I didn't fall in love with that girl the moment I saw them sad eyes of hers. Black as coal."
Dusty snorts in agitation when a small grouping of field mice dart from the wheat stalks to the fence on the other side of the lane, and Samuel hushes him calmly, stroking his long neck.
"Came back for her after I was discharged. My father wouldn't join the fight, for either side. Lynch mob took care of him, early on in the war. Mum got sick, and I was away... hell, I still regret that..."
A moment to collect himself.
"Was hard, marryin' a half-Indian, but we found a way. Brought her down here, showed her the land... it was the ugliest spit of property you ever did see, but she loved it instantly. It's been home, ever since."