Summary

In Chapter 21, Thomas waits to be officially discharged by the major, who also lodges Winona as he “feels he must protect her all in all“ (265). The major is arrested for going “beserk out there” (266) and for killing Caught-His-Horse-First without federal approval. One of the captains, Captain Sowell, is mysteriously murdered, and some suspect the major. Rumours go around the fort that Sarjohn saw a trooper stab Starling Carlton in the face. Worried that he will be identified, Thomas decides to flee with Winona. He disguises himself as a woman using the late Mrs. Neale’s clothing. He and Winona escape in a stagecoach and try to blend in with the other passengers. Thomas’s disguise makes him realize that he feels like a woman in a man’s body, and that he does not “foresee no time where this ain’t true...