The Wake of the Bertrand — C.J. Petit

Kyle MacKenzie left Fort Omaha to head to do some scouting at Fort Sully in the Dakota Territory at the request of their new commander.He'd been riding west for a few hours with his packhorse in tow, he noticed a set of wagon tracks heading northwest that appeared to be just a couple of days old. It raised his curiosity and as the tracks were going in the direction he was headed anyway, he followed.As each hour passed, his curiosity grew as did his concern for the occupants of the wagon. Just by the signs that they had left behind, he had identified the men guiding the party and had been astonished when he realized that the group that was being led into hostile Sioux territory consisted of not only men wearing inappropriate footwear but there were two women with them.He then picked up his horses' pace to try to reach them before the unsuspecting people in the wagon were murdered by their guides..