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«Will you?» Whip pressed.
«Will I what?»
«Visit Reno and Eve.»
«Don’t worry,» Sha
«That’s not what I meant!»
«Isn’t it? Well, in any case, it’s what I meant.»
«What about Caleb and Willow?» Whip demanded. «Are you just going to walk away from them, too?»
Sha
«They’re your family, not mine,» she said distinctly. «I’m not walking away to anywhere but home, yondering man.»
«Damn it, that shack isn’t a home,» Whip said between his teeth.
«It is to me. Nothing you can say or do will change that. Accept it. Just as I’ve accepted that you’ll leave me as soon as your conscience lets you.»
Sha
Whip watched, too. A muscle at the side of his jaw worked visibly as he fought to control his temper at Sha
But there was nothing he could do about that, any more than he could take the darkness from Sha
«It’s getting late,» Whip said finally.
Sha
And love.
Sha
And he wouldn’t come back.
I never go to the same place twice.
«It takes time to find gold,» Whip said, keeping his voice level. «We have better things to do than watch Reno and Eve working.»
«How long does it take?»
For a moment Whip didn’t answer. He was too shocked by the flatness in Sha
«It could be days,» Whip said. «The needles are tricky and tiring to use.»
«Days.»
The word was almost a ragged sigh, telling Whip that Sha
Perhaps even until the snows came, closing the trail to Avalanche Creek’s highest reaches.
«Then you’re right,» Sha
«Sha
«No,» she said, speaking over Whip’s interruption. «You’re right. It’s time to move on.»
«Damn it! You make it sound like I’m saying good-bye right now. I’m not!»
«You should be. It might be easier that way.»
«Is that what you want? For me to walk away right now?»
«What I want?» Sha
Tears flashed unhappily in her eyes.
«Sha
«No.»
Sha
«Don’t touch me.»
Her voice was raw from the fierce grip she had on her emotions.
«But —»
«If you touch me,» Sha
Whip moved with alarming speed and strength, yet his hands were gentle when he pulled Sha
«I m-meant it,» Sha
«I believe you.»
He bent and kissed her eyelashes where silver tears already glittered.
«Go ahead and cry, honey girl. Cry hard and long. For both of us.»
A shudder went through Sha
Then she looked up at Whip’s eyes and saw her own helpless pain reflected there, an anguish that was all the more intense because he had never expected to feel it.
Cry hard and long. For both of us.
The fierce tension in Sha
Eyes closed, jaw clenched, Whip held Sha
Yondering man.
After a time Whip carried Sha
Somewhere between Rifle Sight’s dreams of gold and the cabin’s lonely reality, Sha
When they reached the cabin, Whip carried Sha
«I’ll be back as soon as I’ve taken care of the animals,» Whip said.
Sha
When Whip returned he found Sha
Then Sha
«Honey girl,» he said roughly, kneeling beside her bed. «Oh, God, I wish I were a different man!»
«I don’t.» Sha
«I’ll stay.»
For an instant joy blazed in Sha
«It wouldn’t work.» Sha
«I’ll make it work.»
«How?» she asked simply. «Will you stop playing your flute at dawn, calling to the sunrise you’ve never seen? Will you stop looking into the clouds at sunset with hunger in your eyes for a different land, a different language, a different life? Will you stop yearning for something that has no name, no description, simply your soul-deep belief that such a thing exists somewhere on the face of the earth, waiting for you to discover it?»
Whip’s breath caught. He hadn’t realized that Sha
Better than he understood himself.
«I want you,» he said starkly.
«I know,» Sha
Abruptly Whip closed his eyes. «I’ll come back to you, honey girl.»
«Don’t,» Sha
«Sha
Whip’s voice broke. Tears glittered wildly in his eyes.
«It’s all right, yondering man,» she whispered. «It’s all right.»