The Whippoorwill Trilogy - Sharon Sala Page 0,286

they were on the same side.

“I see that.”

To his surprise, she pushed out of his arms and dragged herself up. Swaying slightly, she moved back to the stack of firewood and picked up another stick. One after the other, she threw them all on the burning pyre until flames were higher than her head, sending wild, renegade sparks flying up, up, up, into the darkness.

He didn’t intervene. He understood the need for revenge. God knows this woman had done a hell of a job getting hers.

It wasn’t until she’d thrown the last stick on the fire that he moved to her side, and laid a hand on her shoulder to let her know he was there.

She turned and the look on her face was one of calm resolve.

“Letty.”

“What?”

“Did you know him… the man who shot your man?”

“George Mellin.”

Robert Lee froze.

“You talkin’ about Miz Alice’s husband?”

“Yes.”

He stared back into the fire. The implications of this revelation were such that it could drive someone mad—if that same someone was assigning the blame.

If he’d never walked out into their valley looking for work, they might have never moved into town to the hotel. And if they hadn’t been in that hotel, they would have never known Alice Mellin, or gotten involved in her tragedy—or felt the need to intervene on her behalf.

George Mellin would have continued on his way. Letty would never felt impelled to take a bullwhip to the man, and the grudge the man obviously bore her would never have evolved, and Eulis Potter would not be dead.

Robert Lee’s father had often said that if wishes were horses, then beggars would ride, but he’d learned long ago that wishing for something didn’t change the truth.

There was nothing more to be said.

Promises Kept

Letty kept the fire going all night, dragging limbs, dried brush, and anything she could find that would burn. The higher the flames, the easier it became for her to breathe without wanting to scream. Her hair was singed at the ends, and her eyes were raw and red-rimmed from the heat and burning ash. Her hands and arms were so bruised and scratched, they looked like she’d fought a bear and won, but she was impervious to pain. No matter how many times Robert Lee tried to coax her to rest, she refused to stop. He finally gave up the fight and followed the creek to where she’d tied her horse and walked it back to George Mellin’s camp.

T-Bone shadowed every step Letty took, from going into the trees after more firewood, to standing watch at the fire as it burned.

When Robert Lee came back with her horse, Letty staggered to the saddlebags and dragged out the food that Alice had packed for her. She pulled a piece of jerky from the pack and handed it to Robert Lee, then dropped to her knees and began feeding the last of the cold flapjacks to T-Bone.

Robert Lee was dumbfounded. He didn’t know what to make of this woman. She was in shock, so weary she could hardly put one foot in front of the other, and yet she was still taking care of those around her.

“Letty… ma’am… please. I sure wish you would eat somethin’, too.”

“No food,” she said shortly, and handed T-Bone another piece of flapjack.

“You could at least rest a bit.”

“I can’t rest. The fire will go out.”

“No. I promise I won’t let it.”

Letty dropped the last of the flapjack in front of T-Bone and then stood up, wiping her shaky hands on the legs of her pants as she turned toward the fire. If a person hadn’t known there was a body was in there, it would have been impossible to tell. But Letty knew it, and in her mind, she still saw him, sitting there breathing when her Eulis was dead.

“He’s still there,” she said, and wiped a hand across her brow.

Robert Lee frowned. Letty sounded like a woman out of her mind. He knew grief could do a thing like that. What he didn’t know was if she’d come out of this with her sanity intact.

He took her by the arms, and gently gave her a shake.

“Letty… Letty… look at me.”

Her eyes were burning, and she’d inhaled wood smoke for so long that she felt lightheaded. Having to focus on Robert Lee was more difficult than he could imagine.

“What?”

He cupped her face with his hands, gently rubbing his thumbs along the edge of her jaw.

“The man is dead. You know he’s dead… don’t you?”

Letty looked