Only 06 - Winter Fire

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    â€œI’ll take care of your sister for you,” he said, looking over Sarah’s head.
    Oddly unwilling, Conner looked at her.
    â€œSis?”
    â€œGo sweat yourself foolish,” she said. “I’ll be fine.”
    Still her brother hesitated. He gave Case a look that was surprisingly adult in its measuring quality.
    â€œShe’ll be safe,” Case said evenly. “You have my word on that.”
    Conner looked at him again, then nodded. He and Ute headed toward the sweat lodge, which was about two hundred yards away. The small building was close to a deep pool that had been gouged out of bedrock during seasonal floods.
    Several times on the way to the sweat lodge, Conner looked back over his shoulder.
    Each time Sarah waved.
    Finally her brother vanished around a bend in the creek.
    â€œHe’s very protective of you,” Case said.
    Her expression changed. She didn’t like to think about why Conner had such an adult concern for his sister. Twice he had found her huddled around herself after one of Hal’s drunken sprees.
    There hadn’t been a third time.
    â€œHe’s a good boy,” she said.
    â€œHe’s man-sized.”
    â€œHe’s fifteen.”
    â€œOld enough to kill,” Case said.
    She looked at him. What she saw in his eyes made her wish that she had kept on watching her brother.
    â€œIs that how old you were when you went to war?” she asked against her better judgment.
    â€œYes.”
    Nothing about his manner encouraged pursuing the subject, yet she couldn’t let it drop.
    â€œAlone?” she asked.
    â€œNo. I dragged my older brother Hunter along with me.”
    â€œDid he—is he—”
    â€œHunter survived,” Case said curtly. “His family didn’t.”
    â€œYou sound like you blame yourself.”
    â€œI do.”
    â€œYou were just a boy.”
    He looked at her with eyes that were older than winter and much less inviting.
    â€œShould I saddle Cricket for this expedition,” he asked, “or do you just release the hawk around here?”
    â€œI usually climb up to the south rim and walk back in about a mile. That way my chickens aren’t the first thing to catch the hawk’s interest.”
    â€œI’ll saddle up.”
    â€œYou don’t have to go. I’m sure it’s safe enough. We haven’t seen any sign of Moody’s men or the Culpeppers in—”
    Sarah sighed and shut up. She was talking to herself.
    Case was headed toward the brush lean-to where bridles, saddles, and what small equipment they had for the ranch was stored.
    Conner is just like that when he doesn’t want to listen to reason , she thought. Irritating, irritating creatures!
    â€œMen,” she said under her breath as she closed the cabin door behind her. “What was God thinking of?”
    Then she began crooning gently to the hawk as she approached it.
    The bird’s wings flared and flapped strongly. Because it was leashed to the perch by rawhide thongs, the hawk made no real attempt to fly. It simply exercised its wings and its temper on whatever came close enough.
    â€œHello, my fierce feathered beast,” she murmured. “You’ve been working those wings so often, I bet you’ll jump toward the sky and just keep on going.”
    The hawk moved sharply, as though it sensed freedom.
    â€œYes, yes,” she said soothingly. “The next mouse or snake you eat will be one you catch. No more having chunks stuffed down your throat willy-nilly.”
    While she talked, she slipped a leather hood over the hawk’s head. Immediately the fierce bird stilled, for it could no longer see.
    Before Sarah managed to get on her jacket, hat, and the leather gauntlet Ute had sewn for her, Cricket had trotted up to the front of the cabin.
    â€œSarah?” Case called. “Better hurry, or it will be sunset before we get to the top.”
    â€œI’m hurrying.”
    But there was no impatience in her voice or hands when she reached for the hawk. She had learned that birds of prey were uncanny in their sensitivity to her mood.
    Gently she coaxed the hawk off the perch and onto her arm.
    â€œThere, there, no need to get all ruffled,” she murmured. “You’ve been on my arm before.”
    Alertly the hawk rode her arm to the cabin door. Even hooded, the bird sensed the difference between the interior of the cabin and the open sky beyond.