She tried to stay busy; noting with some relief that Spotted Horse patrolled the fort with the Colt rifle resting in his thick arms. To reassure herself, she appraised the situation. She no longer held any fear about the Osage’s loyalty and felt if the fort came under attack, the Wichitas would help defend the place. Only fools would try anything against a force this size. Besides, she expected Noble back in a week—if the weather held. To occupy her time, Fleta planned a vegetable garden for the coming season. It would contain all the things she had missed during the hard winter months. The mere thought of corn on the cob, beans, peas and greens made her mouth water. She had strung a line outside to dry clothes and, when she wasn’t washing, she aired the quilts, another way of passing the long days. That first evening, she found no sleep at all. Tossing and turning without Nobles’s strong arms and warmth, she finally got up and sat huddled under a blanket.
