Moistening the lead point, he wrote a quick note: “To Whom It May Concern: This is a good Indian. Pay twenty beefs for passing through his land.” And Benteen signed it “Judd Boston.” It was a dirty trick, but Boston had a few coming. He had no qualms about letting those Indians become Bull Giles’s problem. It was a way of getting back at the rival trail boss for being so forward with Lorna. He tore off the note and handed it to a grinning Spanish, who loved a good joke at someone else’s expense as much as the next cowboy.
Spanish relayed the message. The Indian considered it, then came back with a counter offer that widened the Mexican’s eyes. “While he waits for the big herd, he says he will take ten steers and the young squaw to look after him.”
Lorna’s mouth opened in shock. Benteen didn’t blink an eye. “Tell him the squaw’s no good. She complains too much.”
“Benteen Calder …” She breathed his name in outrage.
“Just shut up and stay out of it, Lorna,” he ordered. “Tell Spotted Elk what I said and repeat the last offer.”
When it was done, the old Indian looked at Benteen with a sidelong glance. “He says you insult him. If you don’t give him ten steers, he will have his braves stampede your herd tonight and you will not have any cattle.”
“Tell Spotted Elk if his braves stampede my herd, I will attack his village and kill all his warriors. Then ask him how his women and children will eat when there are no men to hunt for them.”
Lorna was stunned by Benteen’s threat. The Indians were only hungry. All they asked was for him to pay for crossing their land with his cattle. The old Indian had not said anything about attacking them, only stampeding the cattle. In her opinion, Benteen’s threat was much too harsh.
There was a long silence while the old Indian held Benteen’s hard gaze and weighed his words. Finally he nodded his head once.
“He will accept the offer,” Spanish confirmed; then a smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. “He says he will take the complaining squaw off your hands, too.”
Benteen hesitated an instant. “Spotted Elk can have the complaining squaw, but—”
“Benteen Calder, what are you saying?” Lorna was furious, and a little frightened, too. “How dare you—”
He raised his voice to drown her out. “—but tell him that she has had the spotted sickness.”
The instant Spanish repeated Benteen’s statement, the old Indian backed away, putting distance between himself and Lorna. A mumbled phrase to the other two braves had them retreating as well. Lorna was too incensed to be relieved.
“Rusty, tie a couple of tobacco sacks up with those bandannas,” Benteen ordered. “When you ride out to the herd, Spanish, have the boys cut out those two lame steers and three others. We’ve got a couple that have been trying to quit the bunch ever since we left.”
“Right.”
As soon as they had their bundle of loot, the gray-haired Indian and his two braves mounted their horses and waited for Spanish. Benteen stayed in camp while Shorty and Spanish rode together back to the herd.
Rusty walked to the chuck box and reached in a drawer, pulling out a six-shooter. “Guess I’d better be keepin’ this within reach,” he said. “They just appeared out of nowhere. I didn’t have time to get this.”
“There wasn’t much you could do with three of them,” Benteen said, and let his gaze travel to Lorna and Mary. “Are both of you all right?”
“We’re fine,” Mary replied. “They didn’t come near us except to take the food we gave them.”
“Do you really care?” Now that it was over, Lorna was starting to tremble, but her anger at Benteen hadn’t lessened, regardless of the outcome. “You were going to hand me over to that savage.” She didn’t believe for a second that he had seriously entertained the idea, but she thought he’d taken a big chance with her life when he had pretended to agree.
“You know better than that,” he said tersely. “If a situation like this happens again, Lorna, I want you to keep quiet and let me handle it. I know what I’m doing.”
“Just tell me one thing,” she demanded, staring at him. “If Spotted Elk had stampeded the herd, would you have attacked his village and killed his men?”
“Yes.”
A cold shiver danced over her skin. She believed him. “Why?” she murmured. “He didn’t threaten to harm us.”
“You don’t understand Indians and the way they think,” Benteen stated. “They respect strength. I promised a harsh penalty if he came against me—more severe than he would inflict. That’s why he agreed to accept five cows, and that’s why his braves won’t stampede the herd tonight.”
“Cattle.” Her voice trembled on the word. “That’s all you ever think about. You don’t care about me or anyone else. Just as long as those damned cows make it to Montana.”
“Those ‘damned’ cows represent our future.” He cuttingly emphasized the swear word Lorna had used. “And, yes, that’s all I care about! You and everyone else should be able to look out for yourselves. You aren’t a bunch of dumb animals. You can think. You’ve got a mind.”
Turning on his heel, Benteen strode to his horse and swung into the saddle.
Hot tears were welling in Lorna’s eyes. “I don’t have to ask where you’re going,” she told him angrily. “You’re going out to check on the cattle!”