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Slowly Sha
«Go on, now,» Cherokee said, taking the cup of medicinal tea. «Put it away.»
Not until Sha
«I don’t know how to thank you,» Sha
«No need. I’ll feel better knowing you have it. High time it was put to its real use.»
Sha
«No, not as a whore’s decoration,» Cherokee said, laughing. «As a satin snare for a man. Whip, for instance. There’s a man worth —»
«No.»
«Yes,» Cherokee retorted. «He gets one look at you in that little bit of satin and lace and he’ll forget all about hitting the trail alone. You’ll be married before you can say aye, yes, or maybe —»
«No,» Sha
Cherokee sighed. «Gal, you don’t —»
«No,» Sha
Cherokee nodded without surprise.
«I was indentured to a tailor,» Sha
Again Cherokee nodded, unsurprised.
«One day my mother’s uncle came to town,» Sha
«That’s about how I had it figured,» Cherokee said matter-of-factly. «No gal like you takes up with a man like Silent John unless she’s desperate.»
Sha
«I always felt that way, myself. Except I come here older than you, and alone, and I come as a man. My pa was a Mexican and my ma was a rawboned Te
«Nor did you look for a man to marry,» Sha
Cherokee shrugged. «Like I said, I was full tired of being some man’s slave.»
«Yet you wantmeto go looking for a man.»
«That’s different.»
«Yes,» Sha
Cherokee swore and smiled at the same time. «You’re always too quick for me. But then, anybody is, these days. I’m getting old. This blasted ankle ain’t healing worth a handful of spit. I’ll be lucky to hunt for myself this summer, much less for you.»
«Then I’ll hunt for both of us.»
«Gal, you’ve got sand enough for three men, but you’re mighty thin beer when it comes to hunting.»
«I’ll get a lot better before the end of summer.»
For a long moment Cherokee’s dark eyes searched Sha
But Sha
Cherokee could only pray that Sha
Whichever came first.
4
It was sunset by the time Sha
Rarely had to clearing looked so good to Sha
«Take it easy,» Sha
Prettyface waved his tail and licked his chops.
«Don’t look at me,» she said tiredly, rubbing the dog’s head. «If you’re hungry, go catch something. And this time, make it big enough for both of us to eat, okay?»
Because Sha
Other than a few scraps of jerky just after she had gotten up, there had been nothing to put in her stomach all day long. The jerky she had stuffed in her pocket that morning had ended up in Cherokee’s soup, along with whatever tender greens Sha
It was a better di
Glumly Sha
Prettyface trotted ahead of Sha
Instantly Sha
Prettyface reacted like that only in the presence of men.
Someone was near her cabin. Perhaps even inside it, hiding, waiting for her to walk in unawares.
Trying to make no noise, Sha
Prettyface showed no interest in any of the scents he found along the way. Only the cabin held his attention.
When Sha
Silent John had used the same logs to hang game on while he sliced it up to be dried.
«Silent John?» Sha
Suddenly Prettyface whipped around and looked back up the steep rise that they had just descended. His ruff stood on end.
Sha
Whip.
He tipped his hat to her, then reined his big gray horse around. Moments later he vanished down the far side of the rise.
Though Sha
Finally Prettyface yawned, prodded Sha
«All right, boy. Guess Whip knows better than to come back now that we’re onto him.»
As she spoke the words, Sha
But she knew that she was lying.
Sha