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near sleep. That just proved he'd been right in thinking she couldn't have kept up with the other men.
He let his horse drop back closer to hers, so he could catch her if she toppled over.
As streaks of pink and gold began to show on the eastern horizon, Jack pulled his horse up
beside Hawk's. "Ain't it about time to make camp?" he asked.
"We haven't covered much ground yet," Hawk replied.
"Well, it's almost light, and the little lady is about to fall out of her saddle."
Victoria's head snapped up, and she blinked her eyes.
"She's probably feeling all that wine she drank at last night's party," Hawk said.
She looked over at the two men in surprise. "Were you watching us?"
The Silver Heiress Sarah Winn 44
Jack grinned slyly. "Yes, ma'am, we watched fer three days. That's how we knowed which
room you'd be in."
"Give me the reins of the pack horse, Jack, and you ride over and check out those trees. Looks
like that's all the cover we're gonna find around here."
Soon they dismounted in a grove of cottonwood trees. Hawk pulled the saddle from Victoria's
mount and dropped it on the ground near her. He pointed at the roll of canvas tied to the back of it.
"That's your bed, lady."
She stared at him as though she hadn't understood what he'd said, then glanced around
nervously, turned, and walked away from him.
"Hey, you stay here!" Hawk called.
"Can't I just...." She pointed at a clump of nearby bushes and her cheeks reddened.
"Oh, yeah," he said and chuckled self-consciously. By the time she returned, Hawk had lined up
all three saddles in a small clearing. He went ahead and spread her bedroll while she stood and
watched him. Turning her saddle upside down, he pointed at the padding that normally rested
against the horse's body. "You can use this for a pillow," he said.
She wrinkled her nose and frowned.
The Silver Heiress Sarah Winn 45
"You'll get used to it." He pointed toward the canteen propped beside the saddle. "That's
yours, but go easy on the water. There's hardtack and jerky in that bag over there."
"I just want to sleep." Keeping all her clothes on, she sat rather timidly on the bed roll and
looked over at him. "Did my father really send you?"
Hawk huffed in disgust. "Didn't you hear me tell the other fellas that we'd meet at Chandler's
place?"
She looked relieved, until her brow furrowed again. "Are we going to ride through the desert?"
she asked in a plaintive voice.
"That's the only way to get back to the U. S.," he said.
A look of such dread came over her face that he wondered if she'd survive another trek across
the desert even at a snail's pace. Then she turned her back to him and stretched out on the bedroll.
The Silver Heiress Sarah Winn 46
Chapter Three
Victoria awoke with the late afternoon sun in her face. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and arched
her stiff back.
"I'll be damned!" Jack said. "Look'a there." He grinned foolishly as he stared at her head.
Hawk, who sat nearby cleaning a pistol, looked up and frowned. Victoria's hand flew up to her
hair. Without the weight of her long tresses, floppy curls had formed all over her head.
"She makes a mighty poor boy, don't she?" Jack said, and laughed.
"Just keep your hat on when we get around people," Hawk said, looking like he'd just bitten into
a crab apple.
She continued to finger the curls. "Where are we going, anyway?"
"East, into Chihuahua, where de Luca isn't such a big man. Then we can take a nice easy ride up
to El Paso and get the train back to Lordsburg."
"Why didn't we go with the other men?" She still didn't know if she should trust this ruffian.
"With you along, I figured we couldn't outrun the greasers."
The Silver Heiress Sarah Winn 47
She'd never heard the term "greasers" before, but felt sure it was something nice people didn't
say. "I still don't understand why Father didn't pay the ransom. I could have gone home in a carriage
then." Victoria stuck her lower lip out, so irritated with her situation that she didn't care if she did
look petulant.
Hawk raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure of that? Old de Luca might have given you to that
skinny son of his. The boy plainly wanted you."
"Juan is very sweet and he's only fifteen years old and--" She remembered the recent scene in her [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]