Free Sawbones by Melissa Lenhardt Page A

what they’re doing. What we don’t like is the government taking care of Indians, and then the savages turning around and massacarin’ our people.”
    “The peace policy—” Sherman said.
    “The peace policy.” Amos sneered. “That might be the worst-conceived idea the government has ever had, and that’s saying something. Even your Quaker up in Fort Sill thinks it’s a failure. And he’s the one administering it!”
    “These Indian stories are all blown out of proportion.”
    Pike shook his head in wonderment. “You aren’t going to believe it until you see it for yourself. It’s a terrible thing more innocent people are going to have to die brutal deaths to get their government to believe there’s a problem. I only hope the Comanche has the politeness to murder a bunch of farmers when you’re in the neighborhood.”
    “It’s only a matter of time before our men beat them.”
    “How do you propose to do that? Line them up behind a fence and fire on them until time to charge? That ain’t how Indians fight. Never have, never will. You ain’t fighting one army with a bunch of commanders of the same mind. You’re fighting different nations and tribes within the nations. You don’t know where or when they will attack because they don’t think like we do. There is only one way to stop them.”
    “Please, Mr. Pike, tell us.”
    “Kill or hang ’em all.”
    “Even the women and children?”
    “They don’t care about killing our women and children, why should we care about killing theirs?” Amos said.
    “That’s barbaric,” Anna said.
    “It is. Nothing else will stop them.”
    “I know our soldiers, the quality and resilience of the American man, will win in the end,” Sherman said.
    Though I agreed with the sentiment, it was said with such dismissive arrogance even I was offended.
    Amos stood. “I’m glad you have such confidence. I ain’t seen no one since Jack Hayes who could outsmart an Indian.” He walked off.
    Maureen was pale and her hand shook as she lifted her cup to drink. Damn these men for scaring her with their stories. I changed the subject by addressing a nearby cowboy with his arm in a sling. “Walter, how is your arm?”
    “Fine, Doc. Though it itches a bit.”
    “That’s normal. I’ll remove the cast in a week or two.”
    “Doc?” Sherman interjected.
    My back straightened. My midwife ruse had abruptly ended when I set Walter’s compound fracture. Everyone in the wagon train took it in stride. Sherman didn’t strike me as the type of man who would approve of a female physician. “Yes, General. I am a doctor.”
    “I have heard rumors of female doctors in New York, but I never put much stock in such an outlandish idea. All the more reason to get away from that cesspool, I say.”
    “I trained in London,” I said. Sherman shrugged, as if it was the same to him.
    “She did a fine job on my arm,” Walter said.
    “Hell, son, I can set a broken bone. There’s not much skill in it.”
    “When the bone is sticking up out of the skin, I guess there is,” Frau Schlek said. “I don’t know a man who could have fixed it.”
    “Thank you, Frau Schlek. Do not bother trying to convince General Sherman of my skills. Men rarely believe a woman could be better than a man at a profession such as medicine. Their doubt only makes me more determined to prove them wrong.”
    “Let’s hope you never get the chance,” Sherman laughed.
    “If there are more reckless cowboys out here like Walter, unfortunately I will.”
    “Now, ma’am, I told you my horse got spooked by a snake.”
    “Yeah, the mysterious, disappearin’ snake,” another cowboy said.
    “Did you hear of the female doctor in New York who killed a man?” Beau Kindle said.
    I forced myself to stay relaxed and turned my attention to Lieutenant Kindle. “No.”
    “She killed him out of jealousy,” Beau Kindle said with enthusiasm. At Sherman’s expression of disgust, Beau turned red and clarified without