ached from the day's long march, and she wanted nothing more than to stretch out on the ground and let them rest. She looked around their small camp and shook her head. "I don't think I'd be able to find any out here. I haven't seen a tree since I arrived."
"Either you find us some leaves, or I'll start this fire using that pretty braid of yours," Cora replied.
Clutching at her hair, Victoria took a step backward. "You wouldn't dare."
"We got to have us a fire," Cora said, "and what we got here ain't going to take. Ain't the first time I've had to use hair to keep myself from freezing to death during the night. Leaves burn better, but I'll make do with what I got. Now, you want to move your rump, or should I take out my knife?"
Victoria threw up her arms, but she moved away from the camp to search for Cora's leaves. Above her, the sky had turned a deep blue. The sun had already set, but the western horizon still burned orange where it had slipped away. One or two stars glittered in celebration of the coming night. Only a few days ago, she might have stopped to admire them before going about her task. She'd always loved the stars, but she never knew they could be as bright and clear as they were in the American desert. It almost felt as though she could gather them in her palm if she pushed up on tiptoes and reached for them.
Surprisingly, it didn't take her long to fill her satchel with dark green leaves stripped from one of the larger bushes that stood near their camp. Cora nodded in approval when Victoria presented them, and within minutes, a small fire was snapping and hissing at their feet.
Victoria sat down beside it with a groan and worked her boots off, wincing with each tug. The blisters on her heels and the bottoms of her feet glared at her like dark red eyes. A few strips of white flesh still clung to some of them like grotesque eyelids.
"Best to let those air out for the night," Cora remarked.
Victoria blushed and tucked her feet under her, ignoring the renewed screeches of pain. "They aren't so bad."
"Sure they ain't. First few days in a new pair of boots are the hardest. You'll toughen up in a week or so. If not, the sawbones back in town can take your feet off for a decent price."
Victoria knew she wasn't serious, but the thought still made her shudder. She inched closer to the fire. Feeling the hunter's dark eyes on her, she reluctantly pulled her feet back out and clasped her hands around her knees.
A silence fell between the two women. Victoria gazed skyward, watching the stars grow brighter in a sky the color of a drowned man's lips. The sight brought to mind memories of the night her parents died, and she was suddenly fighting back tears. She kept her head upturned so Cora wouldn't see them glistening in the corners of her eyes. The same stars that had watched her parents die now looked down on her in disapproval. It had been almost two months since their deaths, and she had done nothing to avenge them.
"Yet," she murmured to them. "When the time comes, you will get your justice."
"That right there is a dangerous habit," Cora said.
Startled, Victoria snapped her head toward her. "What is?"
"Talking to them that's dead," she replied. "Don't go making it a habit, or you won't be able to tell that they're dead before too long."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Sure, and I'm the Queen of England." The hard lines of Cora's face softened as the old hunter gazed into the fire. Her brows twitched, and her eyes flitted about the flames like moths. Confused by this change in her companion, Victoria held her tongue and watched. Somewhere in the distance, the cry of an animal echoed off the darkened cliffs. Others raised their voices in reply like a chorus of wailing banshees. Victoria hugged her knees tighter to her chest.
Across from her, Cora sighed. "I reckon I ought to let you in on what's going on here."
"What do you mean?" Victoria asked.
"Well," Cora said, "like it or not, you're caught up in this whole mess now. Before last night, I didn't figure things would get as complicated as all this. My plan was to ride out to that ranch, beat my answers out