his, the heart of it beating there in Prim’s body. “Mrs. Maguire,” he said, forcing his voice to be steady, “I have to make a start in the cattle business. Wages aren’t enough. I thought you might agree to cut some of my wages so I could run a few cows. I’d make more that way. And today—today I found out I had to make more than just a wage.”
“Why?” The word was frosty. It would have withered a strong man.
Her still, composed face was suddenly sharply clear to him there in the few feet of dusk that separated them. And he knew that she was not a woman a man lied to. He told her the truth then. And when he had finished there was such an ache in his heart he could no longer face her. He walked a few steps away and stood by himself in the corral with the wet-manure smell rising around him.
Beyond the corral, on the side of the hogback, he could see still the muted scarlet of the aspens, and he was touched with sadness. The night was coming down, night that blotted away everything, all the color and shifting light of day. Only the mind and heart kept alive what was gone. The aspen fire didn’t die with the darkness, not as long as he was there to remember. It was in him, Kelsey Cameron, that the world lived and died. And when he was gone there would be the child that was his and Prim’s—the child to speak his name when that name was no more. That child would remember him through its whole life, even as he would remember Taraleean in the silence of himself long after she had gone.
Would this strange woman never speak? Why must he stand here waiting for her temper, for the curt tongue that would tell him he must move on and find another job? And then her voice was there, with a softness in it that had been unknown to him before this moment, and her fingers were hard and strong on his arm, giving him a little impatient shake. “A hell of a man you are, going to Vic Lundgren instead of to me if you needed help. And as for cattle, Vic’s not dry behind the ears yet when it comes to learnin’ cow business. Keep your cow. Run her here, and I’ll make the cut in your wages. As soon as you have enough money, buy another cow. But get the rest of ’em from me—you hear?”
Weakness swept over him, making his knees tremble. He tried to thank her, but the words wouldn’t come out through the tightness in his throat.
“A tough break doesn’t hurt a man,” she said. “Sometimes it makes him what he is. I’ve had ’em. I know. And I can look the whole damn world in the face and tell it to go to hell and never miss it.” Her hand came away from his arm, and he heard the sharp catch of her breath.
“I’ll make this up to you, Mrs. Maguire. I’ll—Some way I’ll show you how much I—”
“There’s nothin’ you have to prove to me, Kelsey. And I’m not giving you anything, either. You’ll earn what you get. Better yank the saddle off your horse and come to supper. That cow’ll keep till mornin’. She won’t look any different come daylight.”
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