Only 06 - Winter Fire

searching real hard, but you musta got it all. Them holes is as empty as a grave waiting for a burying.”
    Case wasn’t surprised by Ab’s words. He had guessed what the raider wanted from the moment he saw Conner’s hat.
    â€œWe give you the silver, we get Conner back alive, and every last one of you sons of bitches hits the trail for California,” Case said neutrally. “Deal?”
    Wind combed through the brush, rattling dry branches. It was the only sound for a time.
    â€œShe brings the silver,” Ab said finally.
    â€œNo.”
    Silence and wind moved through the brush.
    â€œGuess that boy’s a goner,” Ab said indifferently.
    â€œHe dies, you die.”
    â€œNo!” Sarah called from the brush. “I’ll bring the silver to you!”
    Case hissed something savage.
    â€œI’ll bring the silver or there’s no deal,” he said to Ab.
    â€œWhat makes you think I’d cotton to you more than to a lively little gal?” Ab mocked.
    â€œI’m one of those Texicans you worry about.”
    Ab went real still.
    â€œAny particular part of Texas?” he asked.
    â€œHeaven Valley.”
    Ab grunted and his lean face flattened even more.
    â€œThought so,” he said. “Mind showin’ yourself? Your voice is kinda familiar like.”
    â€œIt should be. You thought I worked for you in the Ruby Mountains.”
    The lean mule jumped as though it had been stuck with a needle.
    â€œYou murdered my kin,” Ab said savagely.
    â€œI killed them,” Case said. “There’s a difference.”
    â€œDead is dead.”
    â€œYour kin were men and they were armed. They had a choice. That’s more than you ever gave our children or women.”
    Ab looked to the place in the brush where Sarah’s voice had come.
    â€œHe can carry the silver for you,” Ab said to her. “Bring it at dawn to our camp.”
    â€œShe stays here,” Case said flatly.
    â€œHer choice.” Ab grinned and spat again. “But I think the gal wants to see her brother alive.”
    â€œI’ll go,” Sarah called.
    Case didn’t think so, but he kept his mouth shut.
    â€œDawn,” Ab said.
    With a sharp movement, he reined his mule around.
    â€œAb?” Case said softly.
    The quality of his voice froze the other man in place. Mule and man looked warily back at the brush.
    â€œIf Conner is hurt,” Case said, “everything you did to him will be done to you. And then we’ll hang you.”

23
    â€œ D amnation, woman , will you listen to reason?” Case asked loudly.
    â€œSay something reasonable and I’ll listen,” Sarah retorted.
    â€œ Stay home .”
    â€œAnd get Conner killed? If that’s your idea of reason, it’s a wonder even your horse listens to you!”
    Ute, Morgan, and Hunter were outside the cabin, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t hear every word. They shifted their feet uncomfortably and tried not to listen to the man and woman who were standing nose to nose inside the cabin and hollering as though they were across the yard from each other.
    Lola just grinned and kept on carding the wool she had gathered from the black and white goat.
    â€œA sawbuck says she goes,” Lola said to no one in particular.
    Ute grunted and shook his head, refusing the bet.
    â€œBoys?” Lola invited.
    Morgan and Hunter looked at each other. Neither one accepted her offer to wager ten dollars on the outcome of the argument.
    Lola spit an arc of tobacco juice, chuckled, shifted her legs on the cold ground, and kept on carding wool forSarah to spin as soon as she quit arguing. The basket in Lola’s lap was rapidly filling with a mound of clean, combed wool.
    â€œThat boy done met his match,” she said after a time. “He just don’t know it yet. But he’ll settle to it.”
    â€œDon’t bet any money on the long run,” Hunter said quietly. “The war changed Case. Cold where he was hot. Silence instead of laughter. Have you ever seen him smile?”
    Lola looked thoughtful, then shook her head.
    â€œSome men don’t have no sense of fun,” she said, shrugging.
    Hunter smiled sadly. “Case had enough play in him for a sack full of puppies. The war burned that out of him, too.”
    â€œShe’s going to Spring Canyon,” Lola said.
    â€œUte could keep her here,” Morgan said.
    The old