Ghost Soldier Part 1

He was there, He told me so! On that cloudy morning a few years ago, When a shaft of light from the Montana sky Fell on his grave and caught my eye. The raindrops that fell as if tears from the sky Were quickly absorbed by the earth where he lie. And he told me, He did, in his very own words Of those days on the trail and his last day on earth. "Dust, dust--- two, three or is it four days of this damned cussed dust. It seemed an eternity since we left the Rosebud. Why the urgency it was beyond me, but when it came to the Indian Custer seemed to have a special mission known only to himself. Push, push, they just kept on pushing us. The horses were caked and white with the infernal dust. Even my neckerchief failed to keep the dust from my lungs. I was fighting for breath when a halt was called. As I stepped down a lizard skittered away from the rock where he had been sunning himself. I looked at Tom as he loosened the girth on his saddle trying to give his horse a breather. It was laboring for air and blood was in evidence in the foam at the corner of his mouth. It had been in a battle the month before and was issued to Tom as a replacement for his lame animal. This poor animal wasn’t going to make it much farther. I looked at my horse and decided I’d better check him over while I had a chance. He’d been there for me last month as we raced away from a group of renegades trying to lift our scalps. When it comes down to life and death all we have are each other. I gave him some grain and a much needed but sparse drink. Our supplies were following a safe distance behind us, so all we had were saddle rations. The spring grass was just beginning to work it’s way thru the earth towards the warming rays of the sun. The nights still held the winter chill and yet the days seemed insufferably hot. Such a contrast this land presented. You either froze to death or you were burned and blistered as if in the fires of hell. I brushed the damned sand from Poker and checked each hoof for damage. It was hard to tell where we’d be next, traveling ankle deep in sand or slipping and sliding our way over the loose rocky ground. Satisfied my mount was taken care of I removed my neckerchief and dipped it into the few drops of precious water Poker couldn’t get. Even it was hot to the touch. The only relief was the cooling breeze as it immediately absorbed the moisture from my skin.