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either, but it occurred to her that she really had been bickering. Of course, she'd been provoked, but
still, a lady shouldn't bicker. Miss Pritchard would certainly disapprove. She remembered the last
time she had seen her teacher. The woman had risked her life to come to Victoria's aid, just as these
men were risking theirs.
"Jack," she called to the man, as he trudged toward the horses with a saddle over his shoulder,
"and Mr. Hawkins, if I've been rude to either of you, I'm sorry." Both men turned to stare at her
in surprise.
She smiled playfully. "Maybe I'm just trying to act like a boy."
Jack grinned back at her. "A boy as sassy as you are would get his backsides tanned, fer sure!"
Hawk just stared at her suspiciously.
Victoria again rode behind Jack through another monotonous night. After the sun rose, she
waited expectantly for Hawk to select a spot for their camp. She finally asked when they were going
to stop.
"Soon," he replied.
The Silver Heiress Sarah Winn 64
The sun blazed hotly before Hawk reined in near a small butte. "You two wait in the shade. I'm
going to ride ahead."
After he left them, Victoria turned to Jack. "Where's he going?"
"There's supposed to be a water hole around here somewhere."
"Supposed to be?" Good Lord, were they lost?
"When you dead reckon your way across a desert, you don't always come out exactly where you
want to."
After that remark, Victoria was too anxious to sleep. She sat in the shadow of the butte, nibbled
on one of the flat biscuits called hardtack, and frequently scanned the horizon. She had assumed
these men knew exactly where they were going. Mr. Hawkins acted like he knew everything. Now,
he'd probably gotten them lost in the middle of nowhere. If he had, she'd certainly give him a
dressing down. If he ever found his way back to them.
The man had a most irritating nature, but she had to admit, with the right clothes and manners
he could be quite presentable. The broad shoulders tapering down to lean hips would display a well
tailored suit to great advantage. With a decent haircut and a proper hat, his chiseled features would
The Silver Heiress Sarah Winn 65
make him most handsome. Of course, even dressed up, he'd probably smirk and say something rude
or disrespectful. Too bad he wasn't the strongsilent type.
When he finally appeared in the distance, she and Jack mounted up and rode out to meet him.
"Did you find it?" Jack called as they drew near.
Hawk held up his canteen and grinned. "You want a drink of fresh water?"
Victoria closed her eyes and said a silent prayer of thanks, then pulled her horse into line and
followed the men toward a clump of rocky hills. After riding for almost an hour, Hawk had them
dismount and led the horses up a narrow trail and down into a ravine.
Finally, she saw a spurt of water gushing from a cleft in a rocky wall and flowing down to form
a small pool. Hawk pulled Victoria aside as the horses rushed to the water. Moving to a spot
undisturbed by the animals, she knelt beside the pool, dipped a handful of water to her mouth, and
watched enviously as Jack leaned over and completely immersed his head. He came up shaking
water from his beard and smiling with pleasure. Soon he and Hawk led the horses away to keep
them from foundering.
Victoria continued to kneel beside the pool and dribble water up to her sweaty face and neck
until the horses were unsaddled, then she spread her bedroll and stretched out. Dead tired from
The Silver Heiress Sarah Winn 66
riding all night, but so hot and sticky that she couldn't relax, Victoria twisted and turned a number of
times before drifting off to sleep.
After a couple of hours sleep, Hawk relieved Jack. He checked the horses and looked down the
trail. The sun had dipped behind the top of the ravine, making the shadowy depths cooler. Miss
Chandler lay sprawled on her pallet, one leg bent out to the side and her neck crooked in a funny
angle. Poor thing, she didn't look a bit comfortable.
He admitted a grudging admiration for her. She could handle her horse decently, and her
mounting ability improved daily. He knew from the little grimaces she made that pulling herself up [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]