The Temptress (Montgomery/Taggert 8)

“They’re kids. I don’t want to—” Tynan began but Chris didn’t look at him.

“They want to talk to us. Don’t you realize we’re almost celebrities to them? You, the notorious gunslinger and me…”

“The lady who gets herself into trouble on purpose.” He held her back as the others got into the three canoes. They were out of sight of the picnic area. Just as Chris was about to step into a canoe, Tynan gave her a little push, causing her to stumble back against him.

“Chris,” he said and there was great concern in his voice. “You’ve hurt your ankle. Is it sprained? Here, don’t walk on it, let me help you.”

Before Chris could say a word, he had her in his arms and was carrying her toward the trees.

“She’ll be all right,” he called over his shoulder to the others. “I’ll take care of her.”

Chris could hear giggling behind her and knew he hadn’t fooled anyone.

“Now that you have me, what do you plan to do with me?” He smiled at her in such a way that Chris said, “You most certainly will not. And if you put me down and so much as one button is unfastened, I’ll never speak to you again.”

“No one has to say a word.”

“Tynan!” she gasped.

“Chris, enough is enough. I don’t mind adults but spending the afternoon with adolescents looking at me as if I might do something deadly at any moment is more than I can take. I thought maybe we’d go in the woods and…”

“And what?” she asked, eyebrows raised.

“I don’t know,” he said quite honestly. “What does a couple do if they don’t—” Again, a look from Chris stopped him.

“Talk, get to know each other. You may put me down now.”

Tynan kept walking with her. “Who are the Montgomerys? Your father mentioned them.”

“And what did he say? No, you can tell me the truth.”

He stood her on an overturned log so that her face was about even with his. “Let me see if I get this correct. He said you were related to them and a more headstrong, stubborn, stupidly fearless lot of people had never been born. Does that sound right?”

“Perfect. They’re my mother’s relatives, a very old family that came to America during Henry the Eighth’s reign.”

“Sixteenth century?”

“Yes,” she said, smiling at him and holding out her hand. He took it and Chris began walking along the narrow top of the log. “Tell me more about your meeting with my father. What else did he say? What did they say when they released you from jail?”

“Nothing much. They don’t do much explaining in jail, they just pull your chains and you follow.”

“Whenever I ask you about how you got into prison, whichever time you’ve been in, you were always falsely accused. Have you ever done anything illegal?” She turned on the log and started back in the other direction.

“Why do you have to know a man’s secrets? As a matter of fact I have done my share of outlawing, but I was never caught at it, which is why I keep getting accused when I’m innocent. I guess they figure they can hang me for one crime as well as another.”

“And when did you quit and start earning your way in a proper manner?”

Tynan snorted. “I think Red?

??s been opening her big mouth. I’ve been straight since I was twenty-two.”

“Seven years,” she said.

“Red has been talking. Get down, you’re making me dizzy. I know some things about you, too, Mary Christiana,” he said as he lifted her down from the log.

“Not as much as you think,” she said with eyes twinkling. “It’s not Mary Christiana. At birth, I was given the name of Mary Ellen after my paternal grandmother, but my name was changed when I was six.”

“All right, it’s your turn to tell a story. Sit down here, away from me and don’t come too close.”