Free All or Nothing by Ashley Elizabeth Ludwig

Jewel stood almost as tall as RuthAnne and had a similar build. Their hands clasped in greeting, and Dolly held on, empathizing with RuthAnne’s story.
    “Don’t worry yourself, Captain. Katie and I’ll see to it your Mrs. Newcomb finds everything she needs. Another pair of hands is always welcome, with all of this fort’s dirty laundry.”
    The young woman shooed off her daughter, who pressed a quick hug and kiss against her mother’s apron and set off running. Bowen laughed in a rare, unguarded moment. A look of genuine affection, and if she was not mistaken, mutual respect passed between the soldier and the laundress.
    RuthAnne inspected a loose string on her blouse, averting her eyes from the intimate moment.
    So there is something to love in this gruff soldier, after all. And this must be the woman who loves him. Could that be his child? She closed her eyes and prayed for strength to get through this day.
    “You coming?” The soft look that graced Bowen’s chiseled features had vanished. His eyes shone like sun-struck emeralds and were just as hard.
    “Of course. Nice to meet you, Miss Jewel.” RuthAnne gave a nod and hurried to follow Bowen who had retreated into the compound. She hesitated, hearing Dolly call out to her.
    “Wait one minute, Miz Newcomb. Here. Take this. He won’t think to feed you. And you call me Dolly, y’hear?” She shoved a cloth napkin hastily filled with some hard biscuits and bacon into RuthAnne’s grateful hands. “Be seein’ you.” With a wink, Dolly returned to the animated conversation at the table.
    RuthAnne gratefully nibbled her breakfast and followed the captain’s footsteps out into the open air.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 10
     
    RuthAnne squinted at the bright blue, cloudless sky as she hustled to keep up with Bowen. She fell into a quick step behind his lunging gait as he gave the nickel tour of the new Fort Lowell.
    “The laundresses’ quarters are around the other side of the mess. You’ve already seen the stables.” He gestured toward the split rail fence that served as a corral and yet another adobe brick structure ever-present throughout the fort. The buildings were all low and squat, constructed from dried mud brick and framed with split-beamed open windows. The creek and dense mesquite forest lay beyond, thickening the fort’s borders. Miles away to the north, the sheer rock face of the Santa Catalina Mountains towered above the foothills and sloping floodplains in silent majesty.
    Already, the heat of the day pricked RuthAnne’s skin with sweat, her cheeks flushed. Bowen seemed undaunted by the weather as he marched her around the fort. He answered hasty salutes as they passed startled infantrymen performing their morning duties.
    “We keep the horses for the whole regiment and any who visit. Alex McDole’s in charge of the stables. You probably saw him last night. He keeps a flock of chickens, a rooster, even has some turkeys out in the back; tends a small garden there, toward the bosque on the edge of the creek. Grows beans, corn, onions, carrots, squash, whatever seeds he can manage.”
    “Bosque?”
    “It’s a Spanish word for forest.”
    She turned her gaze toward where he pointed and drew to a halt, wondering at the thought of calling that scrubby stand of trees a forest, but even more at the thought of growing fresh vegetables out here in the middle of the godforsaken desert.
    “We don’t have all day now. Let’s keep moving.”
    She turned as a throng of brass instruments blasted the still morning. Bugle, horn, and drums played together in a cacophony of mismatched sounds.
    “That building over to the left is the band barracks, the pride of the 7 th Cavalry. They’re practicing for the dance this week.” He grimaced at an off note. “Sounds like they need it.”
    She stifled a laugh more at the captain’s wry attempt at humor than his joke. The men outside the adobe band barracks picked up where they left off