“Come, Buttercup,” she called, and the horse trotted straight to her, went past her outstretched hand, and started munching on the coach’s red paint.
She laughed, took the reins, and mounted.
“He’s not used to anybody but me, so your lighter weight may disturb him,” ’Ring said as he shortened the stirrups for her.
She patted the horse’s neck. “I’ll manage. My father taught me to ride. We’ll get along fine, won’t we, you big, beautiful male?”
Frank looked at ’Ring and ’Ring shook his head. Women and horses.
Maddie handled Buttercup easily. It was wonderful to once again be on the back of such a spirited animal, and she went up the steep hill ahead of the coach so that ’Ring, on Toby’s horse, had trouble keeping up with her. She would have loved to try him out on a flat stretch of ground, but in the Rockies, flat land was not to be had.
When ’Ring pulled up beside her, she was grinning broadly.
“It must be wonderful to be back in the country where you grew up,” he said casually.
“Oh, it is. It’s heavenly. The air is so clear and cool and—” She realized he’d trapped her again. She looked at him, and he was smiling smugly. She looked away. “Captain,” she said slowly, “what is your name? I mean besides ‘boy’ as Toby calls you?”
“Or ‘devil incarnate’ as you call me?”
She kept her face turned away from him.
“It’s ’Ring.”
She turned and gave him an odd look. “ ’Ring? I see. And all these brothers and sisters you have, what are their names? Necklace? Bracelet? Anklet, perhaps?”
He chuckled. “No, actually it’s Christopher Hring Montgomery. My middle name is spelled with an H on the front of it, but the H isn’t pronounced. My mother always spelled my name with an apostrophe on the front of it. I guess it kept people from calling me Huh-ring”
She was silent for a while, enjoying the air and the wonderful horse beneath her. “Where did you get such a name?”
“My father has a big old family Bible full of names for our family.”
“Such as?”
“Jarl and Raine and Jocelyn.”
“Jocelyn’s pretty.”
“Not when it’s given to a boy, as it is in our family.”
“Perhaps you’d have to give the boy another name, such as…well, I don’t know. Lyn, maybe.”
“Lyn! He’d have to defend himself with a gun from the time he was six.”
“Lyn isn’t any worse than ’Ring. Why didn’t they call you Chris?”
“Christopher is my father’s name. I would have been ‘Young Chris’ or, in our family, ‘Young Kit.’ All in all, ’Ring is all right, just so it’s not Huh-ring.”
He smiled at her. “And where did you get the name Maddie?”
“From the queen, of course. She names all the little duchesses.”
“I guess she named your little sister Laurel after some Lanconian plant. I’ll bet—”
He stopped because all humor left her face. He searched his mind for what he’d said wrong. “Laurel,” he said softly, and saw her wince. “Look! Was that a mountain bluebird?” He watched her turn away, and when she looked back she had herself under control again. Laurel, he thought. Perhaps all this had to do with her little sister Laurel.
He didn’t try to provoke her again but let her enjoy the day as he vowed to keep an even closer watch on her than he had.
Chapter 6