Or think you know?”
“You heard her scream when that wagon started to tip?”
“Yeah.” He remembered wondering who had screamed after he’d stepped back into the muck.
“Well, you probably didn’t hear what she said after that as she was running to help. I did, because I was standing closer than anyone else, watching out in case Jonas needed a quick hand with those oxen.” Griff studied him with a sharp eye. “She was crying out your name.”
Luke jerked upright. The man couldn’t have surprised him more if he’d slapped him awake with a wet towel to the face. “Mine?”
“Yep. Like this.” Griff lifted a hand to flutter over his heart dramatically, and swept his eyes upward. He affected a high, feminine voice. “Luke! Oh, no. Luke!”
Griff started to laugh, and a flush crept into Luke’s face at the ribbing. He picked up a green branch the width of his thumb and used it as a poker to stir the fire. The old man’s deep guffaws gave way to a cough, and the hacking doubled him over for a minute. When he caught his breath, he was still chuckling.
“At least one of us finds your joke funny,” Luke said in a voice as dry as a Texas plain.
“Oh, it’s funny, all right, but I’m not joking. That little slip of a girl was running to rescue you, calling out your name.”
Disbelief stole over Luke. Emma was coming to his rescue? Not that she could have done a thing. And her help caused far more harm than good, but knowing why she acted as she did started a warm glow simmering in the pit of his belly.
He turned around and strained through the darkness, looking over the sleeping herd. There, in the distance, a campfire flickered in the area where he’d left the Switzers and their wagon. The memory of Emma as he left her, her head downcast, wrenched something in his chest. He’d responded coldly to her apology. There’d been no cause for that. Especially when she’d only been trying to help.
With a rattle and a grunt, McCann climbed down out of the chuck wagon. Luke turned back to see him bend over and pick up the metal dishpan by the handle. “I aim to give these dishes a good scrub in the river, and then I’m hitting the sack.”
He crossed to the campfire and hooked the arm of his cook pot off the tripod with a towel.
An idea formed in Luke’s mind. “What are you going to do with the rest of those beans?”
“Throw them out, unless you boys want them.” He looked from Luke to Griff.
“Not me.” Griff patted a rounded belly. “I ate my fill.”
“Rather than throw them out, do you have a crock or a smaller pot I can put them in?” Luke cleared his throat and cast a warning glance at Griff to keep his silence. “Those folks back behind us might appreciate a sample from the best cook on the Chisholm Trail.”
McCann looked at the pot in his hand and shrugged. “I got a couple of empty cans I can put them in.”
He headed back to the chuck wagon. The axle creaked when he climbed up inside, while Luke carefully avoided eye contact with Griff.
The old man rose to his feet and stood in front of Luke. “You and I have guard duty together in a couple of hours. You’ll be back by then, won’t you?”
Luke cleared his throat. “Of course. I’m only going to drop in on them for a minute and check to make sure they don’t need anything.”
“Uh-huh.”
When Griff turned away and headed toward the front of the chuck wagon, Luke glimpsed a grin deepening the creases around the edges of his mouth.
Emma sat beside the campfire and gritted her teeth against the tug of the comb through her hair. Maummi’s hand had never been gentle with this nightly task. When she was little, Mama used to comb her hair with such care that Emma hardly knew the task was being accomplished.
Thoughts of Mama turned her mind to the lost quilt, and the sting of tears prickled her eyes.
Stop it! There is no sense in being silly over a piece of fabric.
She blinked hard and managed to banish the tears before they filled her eyes. It wasn’t only the quilt bothering her tonight. The blundering dash that caused the incident with the cows, followed by Luke’s chilly farewell, lay heavy on her heart. But what weighed her spirits down most was the underlying