He stood on the wood stoop for a few moments, evaluating the coming day as he looked out toward the east to catch the first rays of light on the silent prairie. First light, it was his favorite time of day, while the post was still and peaceful, before the first blasts from the bugler. He glanced back toward the bakery and almost spilled his coffee when he discovered an Indian boy quietly sitting on his horse no more than fifty feet from him. “Damn,” Barnes swore. Turning to the sentry standing by the orderly room door, he asked, “I swear I didn’t see that boy when I came out the door.” Looking back at the Indian boy, who remained silent as he stared at the door of the headquarters building, Barnes spoke again. “How long has he been settin’ there starin’ like that?” “Can’t say for sure, Sergeant,” the, sentry replied. “It was awful dark out here. I didn’t see nothin’, didn’t hear nothin’. Then, first light, and there he was. Kinda spooky, ain’t he? Scared the shit outta me at first, I can tell you that—till I seen he was just a boy.”
