she’d been carrying a reticule of gold coins. The little fool.
She’d made a half-hearted attempt to seduce him out of hanging her, but her shoulders slumped in defeat, as if she knew she’d swing . Damned eager sheriff had made it difficult to do otherwise. Ward had had to do some fancy footwork to make it look like she’d escaped and taken off with the gold as well.
That gold had helped Cameron build this house, and the gift of the woman and the horse had helped establish his relationship with Ned Hamby . He could take her, Cameron told Ned, provided that she never again turned up alive to talk.
Remembering Hamby’s reputation, Cameron could barely imagine how the blonde had managed to escape alive . But she must have. There couldn’t be two women in these parts by that name.
God help him if she reappeared and met up with Singletary and the real story ever saw the light of day.
He sighed and tried to take some comfort in the memory of his recent request that Hamby kill her. This time, they’d both better pray that Anna Bennett would stay dead.
* * *
As if he sensed her tears, Padre Joaquín nuzzled against Anna’s leg. She scratched the shaggy brown and white head and wondered once again what had possessed Señora Valdez to name a randy billy goat for a Catholic priest the old woman had once known. The moment Anna quit scratching to stroke Canto’s thin neck, the goat butted her leg for more attention.
“Ow!” Anna jerked away from the sharp horns and glared at Padre, who stood on his hind legs as if to meet her gaze . “Do that again and you’re cabrito dinner.”
Despite her threat, she could neither resist another scratch nor think of anything much tougher than old goat . One of the nannies wandered out of the open shed for her share of attention, but Anna instead led Canto from the pen. She needed to ride, to check her traps, but more importantly, she wished to get away from what Quinn Ryan had told her.
Two days . . . Had they really led to weeks in jail, then to years to replace what she had stolen? Maybe he’d been lying to punish her. Maybe it hadn’t been as bad as he’d made out.
She was a fool if she believed that . No, he hadn’t lied. She had only to recall the anguish in his voice to know his words had been the truth, or part of it. She didn’t think she could bear to hear the rest.
She led Canto by his rope halter . The speckled horse followed quietly, swatting his tail at thick snowflakes as if they were fat flies. After closing the gate, she stopped by the feed shed and saddled the old gelding.
If it makes you feel any better, I was punished for my crimes . She couldn’t imagine why she’d tried to tell that to Quinn Ryan, why she’d thought the little mound of red gravel might make a difference to him. Did she really think her suffering would somehow diminish what he’d endured because of her?
She lowered herself slowly onto Canto’s sunken back and touched his side with gentle heels . Heaven alone knew how old the poor beast had been when he’d stumbled into the clearing two years back and started munching on her beans. Anna thought light work and good care kept him going. Señora Valdez swore it was the howling of coyotes, the black silhouettes of buzzards against the brittle winter sky. The fear of dying, she claimed, proved a powerful incentive for those of her age to continue. Not the being dead part, but the painful crossing over into the next life.
Anna imagined that was true, for she’d experienced the pain part the day that slack-eyed demon had plunged a long steel blade into her gut . She’d surprised him by fighting harder than he imagined any saloon slut should against his attempts to rip her clothes off, and he’d lost his temper with her. Not that it mattered much. If she hadn’t fought, the filthy beast and his drunken friends all would have taken their turns, perhaps for days on end, and then they would have tried to kill her all
She’d made a half-hearted attempt to seduce him out of hanging her, but her shoulders slumped in defeat, as if she knew she’d swing . Damned eager sheriff had made it difficult to do otherwise. Ward had had to do some fancy footwork to make it look like she’d escaped and taken off with the gold as well.
That gold had helped Cameron build this house, and the gift of the woman and the horse had helped establish his relationship with Ned Hamby . He could take her, Cameron told Ned, provided that she never again turned up alive to talk.
Remembering Hamby’s reputation, Cameron could barely imagine how the blonde had managed to escape alive . But she must have. There couldn’t be two women in these parts by that name.
God help him if she reappeared and met up with Singletary and the real story ever saw the light of day.
He sighed and tried to take some comfort in the memory of his recent request that Hamby kill her. This time, they’d both better pray that Anna Bennett would stay dead.
* * *
As if he sensed her tears, Padre Joaquín nuzzled against Anna’s leg. She scratched the shaggy brown and white head and wondered once again what had possessed Señora Valdez to name a randy billy goat for a Catholic priest the old woman had once known. The moment Anna quit scratching to stroke Canto’s thin neck, the goat butted her leg for more attention.
“Ow!” Anna jerked away from the sharp horns and glared at Padre, who stood on his hind legs as if to meet her gaze . “Do that again and you’re cabrito dinner.”
Despite her threat, she could neither resist another scratch nor think of anything much tougher than old goat . One of the nannies wandered out of the open shed for her share of attention, but Anna instead led Canto from the pen. She needed to ride, to check her traps, but more importantly, she wished to get away from what Quinn Ryan had told her.
Two days . . . Had they really led to weeks in jail, then to years to replace what she had stolen? Maybe he’d been lying to punish her. Maybe it hadn’t been as bad as he’d made out.
She was a fool if she believed that . No, he hadn’t lied. She had only to recall the anguish in his voice to know his words had been the truth, or part of it. She didn’t think she could bear to hear the rest.
She led Canto by his rope halter . The speckled horse followed quietly, swatting his tail at thick snowflakes as if they were fat flies. After closing the gate, she stopped by the feed shed and saddled the old gelding.
If it makes you feel any better, I was punished for my crimes . She couldn’t imagine why she’d tried to tell that to Quinn Ryan, why she’d thought the little mound of red gravel might make a difference to him. Did she really think her suffering would somehow diminish what he’d endured because of her?
She lowered herself slowly onto Canto’s sunken back and touched his side with gentle heels . Heaven alone knew how old the poor beast had been when he’d stumbled into the clearing two years back and started munching on her beans. Anna thought light work and good care kept him going. Señora Valdez swore it was the howling of coyotes, the black silhouettes of buzzards against the brittle winter sky. The fear of dying, she claimed, proved a powerful incentive for those of her age to continue. Not the being dead part, but the painful crossing over into the next life.
Anna imagined that was true, for she’d experienced the pain part the day that slack-eyed demon had plunged a long steel blade into her gut . She’d surprised him by fighting harder than he imagined any saloon slut should against his attempts to rip her clothes off, and he’d lost his temper with her. Not that it mattered much. If she hadn’t fought, the filthy beast and his drunken friends all would have taken their turns, perhaps for days on end, and then they would have tried to kill her all
Similar Books
