Only Love

At least he’s keeping his distance. He won’t come closer so long as I have Prettyface and a loaded shotgun.

Squaring her shoulders, Sha

When Sha

She looked around quickly.

No one was there. Nor did the nape of her neck prickle with primal awareness of another’s presence.

Yet hours later, as the moon rose to send a rush of silver glory over the land, the husky music of panpipes was breathed through the night.

Sha

Slowly Sha

Prettyface grumbled quietly and flopped down in the corner again. His action told Sha

She went back to bed and listened to the sound of loneliness distilled by a man’s breath blowing through a primitive flute.

The next day was much the same for Sha

That night the flute woke Sha

Sha

The third day Whip’s gift was onions and potatoes, luxuries Sha

That night she lay half asleep, waiting for the sound of the flute. When it came she shivered and listened intently. Prettyface awakened, prowled the cabin briefly, and settled back into sleep once more. Finally Sha

The fourth day, Whip’s gift was a plot of jam that was like tasting a sweet summer morning, holding it on her tongue, and licking it from her fingertips.

The sound of the flute came early that night, whistling up the stars, giving them to Sha

The fifth day, Sha

Prettyface sniffed every object suspiciously, his ruff raised and his chest vibrating with a low growl. But nothing came forth to challenge him. Nor did he catch any sense of unease from his mistress.

The big dog’s ruff settled. Slowly he was coming to accept Whip’s scent as something normal.

That night Prettyface barely cocked his ears when the flute’s husky cries wove through the twilight. Sha

On the sixth day that Sha

While she looked at the wood, Whip’s flute whispered to Sha

Nor did the flute sing again.

On the seventh day, a bouquet of wildflowers waited for her.

Sha

If that was what Whip wanted from Sha

And the Culpeppers. She feared they knew it as well.

Sha

Protecting her.

The thought made Sha

But until then, Sha

Slowly Sha

She couldn’t think of one time. Even Cherokee’s unexpected gift had been meant to further Sha

With a ragged sound, Sha

When she looked up, she saw Whip silhouetted against the burning blue of the sky. She blinked away tears, trying to see him better.

She saw only empty sky.

WHIP walked down the far side of the rise to the place where his horse was tied. The sight of Sha

Why would she cry over a handful of flowers?

There was no answer.

Whip muttered a curse and swung into the saddle. Then he cursed again and shifted his weight in the stirrups. Seeing Sha

He was both a

But Sha

Whip wondered if Sha

Then he wondered again why she had cried over the flowers.

Maybe she’s just lonely.

He considered that possibility as he began casting for sign on the trail that led away from Sha