At the far end he lay down and rolled, twisting this way and that, making a muddy mess of himself. When the girl turned to look at Lee, her gaze was wary, questioning. Lee knew what she was thinking: This horse had appeared at the ranch running loose, no brand, no mark of an owner. They?d taken him in, a nice horse like this. Maybe they?d looked for the owner, maybe not.
Did she think Lee was the owner, that he?d found the gelding at last, after all this time, and had come to claim him?
It was strange they didn?t know where the gray came from. Lee had bought him not that far away, out on the other side of Blythe. Ranchers, horsemen, they knew every horse for miles.
Or maybe these folks did know who?d owned him? Had old bowlegged Rod Kendall, who?d sold him the gray, had he for some reason not wanted the gelding back? Didn?t have the money, or the man?s health was failing? The girl watched Lee, assessing him, her look far older than her youth.
?Rod Kendall died last fall,? she said. ?You the fellow who bought the gray from him? Smoke. I call him Smoke.? Lee was silent, watching her. ?He?s not for sale,? she said. ?I don?t know how you lost him or why it took you so long to come for him. I figure, you abandon a horse like that for over a year, it?s finders keepers. He?s not for sale.?
Lee laughed.?I didn?t come to buy him. Where I?m headed, the way I?m traveling, I couldn?t take him with me. I just wanted a last look, see what kind of shape he?s in.?
Her look eased. The gray trotted back across the corral to shake mud over her, but when he saw Lee he nickered and trotted over, leaned over the fence nuzzling at him, stirring a pain in Lee?s heart. Lee scratched his neck, scratched under his forelock and behind his ears, then gave him a little push, moving him back toward the girl. The gray laid his head on her shoulder, pushing mud into her pale hair. She scratched his ears absently.
?Just came for a last look,? Lee repeated. ?Have to be on my way.? He looked the gray over good, filling up on the sight of him. He looked hard at the girl, wishing Sammie could live like this, with a good horse to love, free of the hard times, free of the haunts that plagued her.
?Means a lot to me,? Lee said, ?that you love him, that he?s with you and cared for.? He reached through the fence and they shook hands solemnly. Then Lee turned away, walked back up the road, got in his car feeling old and alone, and headed for Mexico.
He wasn?t alone long when the ghost cat settled beside him, warm and purring, and Lee knew, hoped he knew, that the spirit cat would stay with him for a while, maybe continue to move between Lee himself and Sammie for as long as he remained in ghost form. Who knew how long that would be, until Misto mustreturn to the world of the living? However long, Lee was glad for his company.
So it was that Lee and Misto worked their way south until they crossed the border to travel along the Mexican side; skirting Arizona, moving down into Sonora, Lee looked south across sage and mesquite to the distant gulf, imagining a small village right on the shore, a little empty hacienda waiting for him.
Each night he slept in the locked car, gun at hand. On a night when he?d parked beneath a grove of tamarisk trees, as he lay dozing, the moon filtering light down through the lacy branches, the ghost cat brought him awake, rubbing against Lee?s face. ?Just for a little while,? Misto whispered. And he disappeared, gone into another element. Only his last wordslingered. ?Sammie?s lonely, too, she needs a snuggle, too.?
MISTO WOULD RETURN to ride with Lee, watching over the old train robber as Lee headed at last where he longed to be. And though sadness filled the ghost cat that the old man traveled alone, he knew that could change. This night as Misto departed, willing himself back to Rome, slipping beneath the covers into Sammie?s arms, she woke and hugged him. ?Lee?s all right?? she whispered. ?You?ll keep him safe, you won?t leave him for long??
He pressed his nose against her warm cheek.?I will return to him, I will travel with him, just as I will be with you.?
?I saw him dig up money,? she whispered. ?Lots of money. Will that put him in danger?Will he be all right? Oh, Misto, will he be safe? And happy??
?The gods willing,? Misto said, ?I will tell you how he fares, and I can bring him messages. Will that please you??
?Oh, yes,? she whispered, hugging him tighter. ?But what happens when you must be born again? Then what will happen to Lee??
?My life on earth is but an instant, in the eternal warp of time. But always, as spirit, I am with you and with Lee, I can move anywhere, into any time. Always I will be with you, we belong together. Wherever I am, my spirit self is near.?
Yawning, Sammie kissed Misto?s nose. Holding him close, she drifted into dreams where for a few moments she felt herself a part of eternity, was lifted up into an incomprehensible freedom that buoyed and strengthened her. ?Wherever I am in endless time,? Misto repeated, purring, ?I will be with you, forever I am with you.?