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«Gather up some supplies while I check Crowbait. He’s walking kind of light on his left fore-foot.»
Sha
She packed all but one day’s worth of her supplies into a burlap bag and carried it out to Whip. He tied the bag onto Crowbait’s pack with a few rawhide strings.
«All set?» he asked.
Numbly Sha
Whip swung up into the saddle and looked down at Sha
«Hey, honey girl,» Whip said gently, tilting her chin up to him with his left hand. «Turn that smile right side up. People as stubborn and hot-blooded as we are will argue from time to time. Nothing wrong with that.»
Sha
«Thank you,» she said in a low voice.
«For what?»
«Not riding off in anger. I…I don’t think I could have endured it…not knowing where you were, knowing only that you were angry when you left.»
For an instant Whip could only think how good it would have felt if Sha
«You’ll know where I am,» he said flatly. «You’re coming with me.»
Hope flared like lightning across Sha
«I am?» she asked.
«Bet on it.»
«Where are we going?»
«To Cal’s ranch, just like I said.»
Sha
«No, thank you just the same,» Sha
«Judas H. Priest, you do know how to push a man.»
«— Prettyface wouldn’t do well with strangers,» Sha
Whip looked down at the slender, determined girl. He couldn’t help admiring her spirit even as it infuriated him.
«What’s to keep me from picking you up, tying you to that old mule, and taking you wherever I want?» Whip asked.
«Common sense.»
Whip hesitated, then let air hiss out between his teeth.
«You’re going to fight me every step of the way, aren’t you?» he asked.
«I’m not going anywhere with you, so I can’t very well fight you every step of the way, can I?»
Sha
It set his blood on fire, too. She could see it in the sudden dilation of his pupils, feel it in the hard tension of his body, taste it in the hot kiss that left her shaking and clinging to him, whispering her foolish love for a yondering man.
«It won’t work,» Whip said roughly, hating him-self and the girl who watched him with love in her eyes. «I won’t stay here. I won’t love you.»
«I never asked —»
«The hell you didn’t,» he interrupted savagely.
Whip put Sha
«I want you like hell on fire, but I won’t give up my soul to have you. That’s what love is, honey girl. Giving up your soul.»
He backed Sugarfoot away from Sha
«Whip!» Sha
Nothing came back to her but the fading drumroll of Sugarfoot’s hooves.
Only when Whip was out of sight did Sha
Even though Whip was furious, he had thought of her welfare rather than his own.
«Whip!» Sha
Only silence answered Sha
I want you like hell on fire, but I won’t give up my soul to have you. That’s what love is, honey girl. Giving up your soul.
12
Prettyface nudged Sha
Crying definitely wasn’t on the list.
She put one hand under Prettyface’s big jaws and rubbed his head with her other hand. His shrewd wolf’s eyes glazed with pleasure. She smiled slightly, smoothed thick fur back into place, and put her cheek against his broad head.
«I’ll be all right, Prettyface,» she said. She straightened and released him. «Go rustle up your di
Prettyface stood, head cocked, watching Sha
«Go on, boy. I know you’re hungry. The pickings were pretty slim for you up in Grizzly Meadow. Go.»
Waving her arm in the direction of the meadow and forest beyond the cabin, Sha
After a moment Prettyface turned and trotted off to the edge of the meadow. He put his nose to the ground and began quartering the area for scent of game.
Sha
«Don’t think about it,» Sha
Sha
Just as Sha
Prettyface made that sound only when strangers came too close.
Motionless, cursing herself for being so addled by Whip’s leaving that she had forgotten to carry the shotgun, Sha
Abruptly two long-legged mules appeared at the edge of the concealing forest and came swiftly toward Sha
Sha
Before Sha
A long, wiry arm reached out and grabbed Sha