there was no movement. Hope made him believe she’d already gotten away, but logic called his hope a liar.
Walking his horse carefully down the back of the ridge, rocky and overgrown, he thought he heard someone crying.
Panic slammed into his chest. Had Em been hurt?
He slid down the incline and moved toward the sound of someone softly crying as if her heart were broken.
In the shadows of a boulder, he saw her kneeling beside a horse on the ground. Relief let him take a breath before he whispered, “Em, are you all right?”
She stood slowly, shaking her head. “A bullet must have ricocheted off one of the rocks. It hit my horse. He’s dead. I thought I left him in a safe place, but he’s dead.”
Lewt touched her shoulder lightly. “Em, we’ve got to get out of here.” He could do nothing about the beautiful animal now, and if he didn’t hurry, he and Em might suffer the same fate. Men must be climbing the rise now looking for a shooter.
“I know,” she answered, “but I don’t want to just leave him.”
“Em, we have to go.” He pulled her a few feet, but she kept shaking her head.
“No,” she whispered. “I can’t just walk away. Papa told me to watch over the horses.”
Lewt leaned down and lifted her over his shoulder. “We have to go,” he repeated, angry at her for caring more about the horse than herself and angry at himself for caring more about her than saving his own skin. “We’ll both be dead if I don’t get you out of here. You may not be able to leave the horse and I may not be able to leave you, but unlike you, I can carry the object of my apparent obsession out of here.” He tossed her onto his horse and climbed up behind her. They had to be out of sight before full daylight.
Em didn’t argue or say a word. She must have known what had to be done, but she couldn’t make herself leave one of her beloved horses.
They rode east for a long while, then doubled back to head north. The night had been still, but the morning broke with wind whipping the dust around them with a vengeance. It erased their tracks within minutes and blurred the sky with dust devils.
Lewt kept one arm around her waist as he led the horse in the shadows and out of the wind as much as possible. They were making slow progress, but at least they would be impossible to track.
He knew Duncan and the others were flying toward the border. They would be waiting for them on the other side of the river. Lewt didn’t know much about this land, but he figured if he went a few hours east before turning north, he’d eventually reach the river, cross, and wander west to find where they’d camped on their way south. No one would look for them to be traveling east. It might cost them a day’s ride, but if it saved their lives it would be time well spent.
Only the Rio Grande twisted, making it hard to judge how far he’d gone. They reached the river while it was still light, and he decided to wait until after dark to cross. Lewt didn’t discuss his plan with Em. She hadn’t said a word for hours. He didn’t know if she was in shock or mourning over the horse. He didn’t care. She was with him, and that was all that mattered right now.
He stopped near a rock formation that offered a canopy from the afternoon sun, and the small cave sheltered them from the wind. While he took care of his horse, she brushed rocks away and spread his bedroll in the cool darkness of the cave. Then, without a word, she lay down and was asleep before he returned.
They’d both gone two days or more without sleep and he guessed they were too tired to talk. He lay down beside Em and pulled her almost roughly against him, then put the rifle down beside them within easy reach. For a while, he tried to stay awake, but as the sun set, he fell asleep holding her tightly.
There was something primal about the way he held her. As if by his saving her today she was his, if only for a while. She’d needed him, and her need filled a hollow in him.
Deep in the night he woke and felt her beside him. Without