“We need to talk about this.”
“Nothing to talk about,” he said as he swung up into the saddle. “I think we should leave, but then saying that might make you think you have to obey me, so do what you want.”
She didn’t move. “Maybe we should take the time to make a plan.”
He was on his horse while she was standing on the ground—and she looked so very small. Her glorious hair was down about her shoulders and there were sticks and leaves in it, but they didn’t take away from her beauty. Nate had never mentioned his sister’s hair, except to say it was red and her brothers teased her about it. Tally once dyed an old wig red and pranced around the house pretending to be Cay. She stopped him by dropping one of her mother’s prized Chinese vases over the balcony and barely missing his head. Alex had laughed at how both children had been punished by spending a week doing the household laundry.
“That’s a good idea,” Alex said. “You have any thoughts about what we should do?”
She blinked at him a few times, taken off guard by his honesty, but the truth was that she had no idea how to escape when being hunted. As she usually did in her life, she fell back on humor to cover herself. “We’ll put you in a dress and we’ll go back to Virginia together as two old women.” Her eyes were laughing. “Of course that would mean you’d have to shave and even take a bath.” She moved her horse close to a tree stump, climbed on it, and mounted.
“If it means a bath, then I can’t do that,” he said, and his tone was so serious that Cay wasn’t sure if he was teasing or not. “And I willna wear a dress.” He looked at her, his eyes very serious. “Do we go north or south?”
Cay swallowed. Never in her life had she had to make such a decision. It was the thought of what might possibly be done to her family that decided her. If her brothers were in this situation, they’d never hesitate in protecting their loved ones. “South,” she whispered at last.
She started to say more, but he gave a quick nod and reined his horse away, and they started riding at a rapid pace. They stopped twice to water themselves and the horses, then went on.
At one break, Cay asked how far he thought they’d have to go before they were out of the gossip area. She’d not so much as seen T.C.’s map. All she knew was that they were going south, with the sun always in her face.
“People love horror stories, and my guess is that we’ll have to reach Florida before we escape the talk.”
Florida, she thought, and couldn’t repress her shiver. Swamps and alligators and plants that eat people. At least that’s one of the stories Uncle T.C. used to tell her and Tally when they were little. Adam said it wasn’t true, and he’d been the one who held her that night when she screamed in a nightmare.
“Don’t worry,” Alex said. “You won’t go with me into the swamps. I’ll leave you with T.C.’s friends.” He went to his horse, checked the pack, and handed Cay a piece of beef jerky.
“I hate this,” she said as she reluctantly chewed it. “I thought you said you didn’t have a plan.”
“I didn’t if you meant to have me take you to Virginia.”
When he said nothing more, she said, “So? Do you intend to share it or not?”
He held out his hands to help her mount her horse. “Not.”
Annoyed, Cay put her hand on his shoulder and moved her foot to his thigh. It was a move she’d often done to her brothers and it was guaranteed to throw them off balance. But Alex was ready for her, and he stepped back in a way that made Cay nearly fall backward. He caught her hand before she hit the ground.
She started to bawl him out, but what she could see of his face looked so pleased with himself that she couldn’t help smiling. “Are you sure you don’t have sisters?”
“None, but I’m learning that I just think of the most devious thing you can do and that’s what you will do.”
Cay opened her mouth and closed it a few times, meaning to defend herself, but then she laughed. “You may be weaker and older than my brothers, but you might be smarter. Except for Adam, of course.”
He held out his cupped hands, she
stepped into them, and mounted her horse. “Except for Adam,” he said as he got back into the saddle. As he turned away, he said, “How old is Adam?”
“Twenty-eight.”
“That’s what I remembered,” Alex said thoughtfully as he glanced up at the sun. “I don’t know about you, lass, but I could use a bite to eat.”
“I’ve been looking at the rump of your horse ravenously.”
“Have you now?” Alex said. “Perhaps I should be glad it wasn’t my rump you covet.”
“The dirt would poison me,” she said without a hint of a smile. “The horse is cleaner. And smells better.”
Alex couldn’t help smiling as she tossed her beautiful hair back, put her chin up, and moved ahead of him.
Five