She was sitting on the ground, her arms tucked about her knees and musing on what he’d done, when she remembered where he was going. He was just fool enough to go up to that robber and demand the return of his horse—and the robber would repay ’Ring with a bullet through his heart.
Maddie could do some of her own silent traveling when necessary, and now she began to move through the shrubs and low bushes with all the sound of a snake. When she was close enough to the robber’s camp to hear voices, she stopped. ’Ring seemed to have extraordinarily good ears, and she didn’t want him to hear her.
But he must have heard her, for the voices stopped as soon as she could see the men—and the voices were replaced with sounds of flesh hitting flesh. Before she thought about what she was doing, she started moving toward the two men. Maybe she could get the robber’s gun and—
She didn’t think anymore because Hears Good sent an arrow flying into her path. She put her hand on the arrow and her mouth turned into a grim line. He wouldn’t come to her when she called to him, but he stayed around and spied on her when she was with the man she loved.
“Show yourself,” she hissed at him, but only the wind in the trees answered her. She was tempted to defy him and go to ’Ring in spite of what Hears Good wanted her to do, but she wasn’t a fool. Even if she didn’t like his methods, she knew that Hears Good’s advice was right.
So Maddie sat down and waited, waited for what seemed to be an eternity. The sun reached its zenith and it became afternoon while she waited for ’Ring to return. Every muscle in her body was tense as she expected at any moment to hear a shot.
When a twig snapped behind her, she turned and saw ’Ring moving through the trees. She ran to him, put his arm around her shoulders. “Are you badly hurt?”
He leaned heavily on her. “I told you to stay away.”
“I thought maybe I could help you.”
“And I told you I didn’t want any help. I told you—What are you doing?”
She’d begun to run her hands over him, to check him for injuries. “I want to know if you’re hurt.”
He smiled down at her as she knelt and ran her hands over his calves and thighs, then up to his waist, and around his ribs. “Maddie, let’s stay here tonight.”
“No.” She ran her hands over his shoulders and down his arms. “You don’t seem to be bleeding anywhere. In fact, you don’t even have bruises on your face, yet I heard the two of you fighting. What happened?”
“Not much. I made him listen to reason, that’s all.”
“Got the drop on him, did you?”
“More or less. Now, about that staying here tonight…”
“No, it’s too dangerous. I don’t trust that robber. Let’s get down to the camp. I have to sing tomorrow night and then I have to meet the man and exchange letters.”
“About that—”
She put her hand to his lips and wouldn’t let him speak. “We’ll talk about that tomorrow. Is that your horse making all that noise? What do you think he’s eating?”
“Cactus probably. Loves the stuff. I have to pull the thorns out of his nose.”
“Just like his master.”
He smiled at her, took her hand, and led her to the horse and then mounted behind her. All the rest of the way down the mountain, he rubbed various parts of Maddie’s body and told her how much he was looking forward to a little privacy tonight. He hinted at things he was going to do to her.
“In the army, what with a lack of, shall we say, suitable females, I’ve had some time to use my imaginatio
n. I have a few things I’d like to try.”
“Oh?” Maddie asked, and her voice broke. She cleared her throat. “What sort of things?”
He put his lips to her ear and began to whisper things to her that made her so limp that, when they reached the camp, she couldn’t stand up. ’Ring helped her.
Toby came running to them. “Where you two been?” He was trying to sound harsh, and worry had made his old face look at least twenty years older.
’Ring had one arm around Maddie, and he put the other around Toby. “Talking mostly.”
Toby gave a grunt. “With you that’s probably true. Now, if I had been alone with this little lady…”
Maddie didn’t listen to any more of their banter. She eased away from ’Ring’s side and went to Edith and demanded that water be heated and a bath prepared for her. Edith complained about the late hour, saying that it was almost nighttime and time to go to bed.