“But you and the other ranger did nothing about the illegal things going on down there, or the outlaws holing up there?” Em had to ask.
“It wasn’t our concern. We were just there to bring the woman back, and there’s no law that said we could do that if she didn’t want to come.”
Lewt had shown little interest in the story. “How much longer until we’re there?”
“We’ll reach the river by midnight and sleep there. Then we’ll cross in the morning and be at the Three Forks ranch before noon.”
They all looked tired as they climbed back on their horses and continued riding. Em worried that this trip might be too much for Sumner. He’d been twenty years younger when he’d crossed before, but they might never find Duncan without him.
As he’d told them they would, the little band reached the river before midnight. They camped and built a fire. Em helped make coffee and boil up a soup made from vegetables. Without more than a few words, they ate and spread their blankets out around the fire.
Lewt put the head of his bedroll so close to hers that the tops of their heads almost touched. He sat watching her unbraid her hair and comb it before braiding it once more in a smooth rope. She guessed they were both too tired to say anything, but the way he looked at her told her how he felt. He liked watching her, and the knowledge warmed her cheeks.
When she lay down, she raised her hand above her head and found his hand there waiting.
She liked the way he remembered to hold her hand and didn’t kid her about it. A friend and more, she decided. A friend for a few days and then only a memory.
CHAPTER 25
DUNCAN BEGAN TO WORK HIS LEG, EXERCISING until he was sweating. If he was going to break out of this place, he had to be strong enough to overtake Ramon in seconds, before the big man could alert any other guards. From bits and pieces he’d picked up, there were a dozen men working for Toledo and they took their meals in the kitchen just beyond his locked door.
He had no idea where they were the rest of the time, but pacing seemed to help him think. The sheet wrapped around his waist was bothersome, but necessary. She’d washed every part of him, but he couldn’t see himself standing nude in front of Anna, be she child or woman.
She watched him with her huge dark eyes as if she had no idea what he was doing. He thought he saw a slight reaction when he pulled his clothes from under the bed and found his guns tucked between the layers.
A few nights ago, after he knew they’d been locked in for the night, he motioned for her to sit on the floor.
She looked wary as if fearing he might be tricking her. Duncan started to take her hand, but she jerked back and he knew her fears. He lowered himself to the floor and hoped she’d follow.
She sat down slowly a few feet away, and he pulled a burned stick from the fire. With the ashes, he drew a square on the rock floor. “If this is the house, where does the sun come up?”
She watched him for a moment, then pointed to the left of the box he’d drawn.
“And where is this room inside the house?” He offered her the stick.
She drew a tiny square in the back away from the sun, and then she began adding squares to his drawing as if she understood what he was trying to figure out. A barn to the north with a corral. A road running northeast and then south just beyond the barn.
He smiled and whispered, “Horses?”
She pointed.
“Stores of supplies?”
She drew a circle to the left of their room.
For the next half hour, he whispered and she showed him on their crude map where everything was, down to the guards’ stations.
“Thank you,” he finally said as she handed him the stick back and began to wash the map away.
Duncan stood and forced himself to pace, working out the soreness in his leg. He listened at the door and heard nothing. The kitchen must be closed for the night. Which meant that Ramon, or maybe some other guard, was sleeping on the other side of the door.
Exhausted, he finally climbed into bed. Every night he was managing to do more, but