"Well, you don't sound like a Texan or an Indian."
"I'm not a Texan, ~xeept by choice for the moment. I was born in the
Black Hills. And my father was still alive when I went to England. My
mother convinced him that a half breed needed every advantage. My mother
knew that the Indian's day was dying. That the buffalo were being 93
slaughtered.
That the white men were going to push west, and push us west, until we
were pushed fight into the sea or given deser/land as our reservations.
Our prisons."
He spoke hard words, but he spoke them softly.
"You don't seem very bitter," Tess commented.
"Bitter? I'm not. Bitterness is a wasted emotion. I ride with Jamie now
because I choose to be with him. Some time this year, I'll go back to my
father's people. And if the whim takes me, I'll go visit my grandfather
in London. I enjoy the theater and opera there, and Grandfather is a
hardy old cuss. I think he's actually damned pleased when people stare
at his Indian grandson. Actually, I wear formal clothing rather well."
He grinned ruefully, but then his grin faded as he studied her.
"I love the west, too. I love horses, and the feel of a good one racing
beneath me. I love my tribe, and I love this harsh, dry land. And I've
stayed with Jamie because he knows people. He's spent most of his life
fighting, but he still knows people. He goes to war with men, but he
never attacks children."
He gazed at her curiously, looking her up and' down, studying her.
"Jamie believes you. He's come into Indian villages and seen what
certain white men are capable of leaving behind. There are many men in
the cavalry who think that an infant Indian is still an Indian, and that
it will grow to put an arrow in someone's back. There was a lieutenant
who liked to order his soldiers to shoot the women, then bash the
infants' heads together to save bullets."
"God, how awful."
"Jamie knows about things like that. God knows, he saw enough of it
during the war."
"There was nothing like that during the war" -- "Jamie came from the
Kansas and Missouri border.
There was all kinds of stuff like that."
"Yes, but the war's over now," Dolly interrupted mat- ter-of-factly.
"We need to put it behind us. Bless us and save us! It's been five
years!
And Mr. Grant is president now" -- "Mr. Grant could use some help out
here in the west," Jon said dryly.
He smiled again at Tess.
"Ever been to London?"
She shook her head.
"I've n~ver be~n out of Texas."
"Now that is a great loss. A girl like you ought to s~ the world." Jamie
was heading toward them.
"Miss. Stuart, you ar~ welcome to travel with me at any time, in fact,
I'd consider it quite an honor."
Jamie was scowling. Tess lowered her lashes, knowing that Jon had said
the words strictly for Jamie's benefit.
Jamie's great roan stallion was prancing around.
"We seem to be clear for quite a while ahead. Jon, want to ride again?
I'll take over the reins for a while."
"Sure thing." Jon pulled in on the reins. He started to hop down while
Jamie dismounted from his horse. Tess looked at Jamie.
"I do appreciate your concern, but I've scarcely taken the reins myself"
-- "Miss. Stuart, I'll drive the wagon for a while now. After all, we
wouldn't want to ruin the hands of a newspaper woman."
Dolly slapped her on the knee.
"You let him drivel" she said, then she yawned.
"I think I'll ride in back for a while."
She smiled at Tess like a self-satisfied cat and crawled into the back
of the wagon. Tess watched her stretch out on Uncle Joe's bunk. Jamie
climbed up beside her and took the reins. Jon had untied his pinto from
the back of the wagon.
"I'll ride on ahead," he said.
Jamie nodded. Tess was left alone beside Jamie, very aware of the heat
of his thigh despite the heat of the day.
They rode in silence, and the silence se~med to stretch on and on.
Finally Jamie drawled out, "You made it on time this morning. Did you
manage to have a good night's sleep?"
"Yes, I did," she lied pleasantly. She turned to him with her eyes
innocently wide.
"What about you, Lieutenant?
Did you manage to have any sleep at all?" He studied her eyes, then
smiled slowly.
"Yes, I slept."
He didn't elaborate and Tess was infuriated. She wanted some kind of an
answer on this subject, and he was determined not to give her one.
"You seem to have been having a darned nice morning," he commented.
"Have I?"
"I've known Jon Red Feather a long time now. I've never known him to
talk so much."
"He's charming."
Jamie grunted. He flashed her a quick gaze and gave his attention to the
road once again.
"And I'm not?"
"No. You're impudent, insolent and a royal pain, Lieutenant Slater."
"Oh, is that so? Then why were you so anxious for my company?"
She inhaled sharply, staring at him.
"Because you can shoot," she said flatly.
"Why, thank you, Miss. Stuart! Thank you kindly. And you threw yourself
right into my arms the other morning, half naked and all, just because I
shoot."
"Right. Wrong! I was not half naked" -- "You felt as if you were."
"Lieutenant, you are a scurvy, low-down, no-good rodent-"
"But a no-good rodent who can shoot, right?"
"Precisely, Lieutenant," she said with a touch of silk. He nodded,
looking ahead.
"You are awfully determined to stay in Wiltshire, Miss. Stuart.
Couldn't you run a newspaper somewhere else?"
"I could. But I wouldn't own the good cattle land that Joe" -- She
paused.
"Well, it's all mine now."
"Is your life worth the land?"
"You don't understand. It's not just the land. Somebody needs to stand
against this man."
"You do want it desperately."
He was watching her curiously, the hint of a curve to his lips. She
frowned, wondering what he was up to.
"Yes. I do want it desperately. He killed Joe. He might not have ridden
with the men, but he killed Joe. And I'm going to bring him down."
"With the help of a scurvy rodent who can shoot."
"With whatever help I can get. And you do believe me about the attack, I
know you do."
He shrugged.
"Maybe. I've still got my reservations, but I do intend to go into
Wiltshire with you."
"And that's all?" she asked, horrified.
He smiled.
"Just what, Miss. Stuart, do you want out of me? Spell it out. We might
need to come to a few terms here."
"But, but" -- she sputtered.
"But you said you'd find out the truth!
You told Clara"--" I told Clara I'd find out the truth. I didn't tell
her that I'd go to war on your behalf."
"Bastard!" Tess spat out the epithet.
"Calm down, Miss. Stuart! Such language from a very proper and genteel
young Southern woman! I told you, say what you want, and we'll take it
from there."
"What I want? Well, I ... I want you to stay! Then when he sends his
guns, I'll have my guns!"
"Jon Red Feather and I against a horde of hired gunmen. Mm. I should
stand tall and let this man pump me full of bullets for the benefit of
having you call me a scurvy rodent?"
Tess caught her breath and tried to control her temper. She lowered her
lashes and counted to ten, then kept going to twenty, then started all
over again because he was laughing at her.
She moved suddenly, and he must have thought that she meant to strike
him because he cast an imprisoning 97 arm around her. She stiffened in
his hold.
"Lieutenant, this is completely unnecessary."
"Is it? I can't help but feel cautious around you, Miss. Stuart."