“I should have a talk with Dega. Find out what his intentions are.”
“You will do no such thing,” Winona cautioned. “It would embarrass her. Did my father ask you your intentions before we went out at night to stand under a blanket?”
Nate grinned at the recollection. “I’ve never been so fond of a blanket in my life.”
“You are avoiding the issue.”
“What’s embarrassing,” Nate said, “is that you speak my tongue better than I do. I hardly ever use the word ‘issue.’ Or ‘avoid,’ for that matter.”
“You do not fool me, Nathaniel King.”
“Whenever you get formal I know I’m in trouble.”
Winona kissed him on his chin. “You may not use those words, but you know them. You are a reader. We have more books in our cabin than anyone in the Rockies.”
“Twenty-seven isn’t a lot.”
“Shakespeare has only one.”
“Yes, and he’s been reading it for thirty years. No wonder he has the darn thing memorized.”
Winona laughed and kissed him again, on the cheek. “Have I told you today how much I love you?”
“I have two cheeks.”
Winona kissed him on the other. “But you are still avoiding the issue. You think that by talking about something else I will not notice, but I do.”
“You’re female.”
“What does that mean?”
“Women notice everything. It’s why men get in so much trouble.”
“Men get in trouble because they are men.” Winona kissed him full on his lips. “Now back to Evelyn. We both know how she feels about Dega. We see it in her eyes when she looks at him and hear it in her voice when she talks about him.”
“Could be it won’t last,” Nate said hopefully. “Could be I’ll be an old man before she thinks about taking a husband.”
Winona tilted her head skyward and pointed. “Look there!” she cried.
All Nate saw was blue, save for a puffy pillow of a cloud off in the distance. “What did you see?”
“A flying cow.”
Nate couldn’t help himself. He cackled, then forced a sober expression and said, “I take it that was your notion of a hint.”
“Was I too subtle?”
“My God, the words you use. Have you been reading my books when I’m not around?”
Nate struggled to recollect what
“He is a good boy. Good in heart and good in mind. She has chosen as I chose you.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Nate said. “After all these years you’re telling me you became my wife because you thought I have a good heart?”
“I do not think you do. I know you do. You have the best heart of all the men I have ever met, red or white.”
“Shakespeare has a good heart.”
“It belongs to Blue Water Woman. And he is old enough to be my grandfather. I wanted a slightly younger man for my husband.”
“
“In broad daylight? With our daughter in the cabin?”
Nate glanced up. “Where is she, anyhow? She should have been back by now.”
“Maybe she is brushing her horse.”
“Without being told?” Nate scoffed. He kissed Winona and tugged on the reins and made for the side of their cabin. “I’d better check on her.”
“I will fix a meal. If she has gone off to see Dega, don’t be mad. Young love does foolish things.”
Nate walked faster. He was willing to admit that Winona had a point, but he still wasn’t comfortable with the idea of his daughter being interested in a man, no matter how good the man’s heart might be. She was his little girl. She would always be his little girl. He saw her standing at the corral gate, and smiled. “There you are. We were wondering where you got to.”
Evelyn didn’t respond or move.
“What the devil has gotten into…” Nate began, and felt a chill ripple down his spine when a blunt triangular head rose a few inches off the ground. He snapped his Hawken to his shoulder and thumbed back the hammer but didn’t shoot. At that angle the slug might go through the snake and hit Evelyn in the leg. Slowly circling, he said quietly, “Don’t move a muscle. I’ll take care of our visitor.”
“Don’t kill it, Pa.”
Nate stopped. “Why in blazes not? It’s a rattler. One less won’t be missed.” He had seen two or three since summer began. One morning he nearly stepped on one on his way to the chicken coop to collect eggs; he had chopped off its head with his ax.
“It hasn’t tried to bite me.” Evelyn didn’t like snakes all that much, but she didn’t like to kill at all.
“It’s a
“So? If it’s not bothering us, why must you kill it? It has as much right to live as we do.”
“Where do you get those strange notions of yours?” Nate took another step and had the shot he wanted.
“Please, Pa.”
“What if it sticks around and bites my horse or your horse or your mother?” Nate was glad Winona hadn’t heard him mention her last. He would be in for no end of barbed tongue.
“You don’t know that it will. You just want an excuse to shoot it.”
Nate lowered the Hawken. “That was harsh. I don’t go around killing for the sake of killing things. I only do it when it’s necessary.”
“Is it truly necessary now?”
Nate scowled. She had him. The snake wasn’t hissing or rattling or doing anything except stare at her. “All right. Shoo it off. But if you get bit, don’t come crying to me.”
Evelyn took hold of her rifle and bent and poked at the rattler. Instantly, it reared and its tail buzzed. She poked at it again and it retreated, whipping its body from side to side.
“Careful,” Nate cautioned.
“Isn’t he beautiful, Pa?”
Nate had never thought of snakes as anything but, well,
Evelyn jabbed and took another step—and the rattler did the last thing she expected. It launched itself under her rifle at her legs.
Nate reacted purely on reflex. He drew a pistol and fired from the hip. He didn’t think, he didn’t aim, he pointed and shot and the rattlesnake’s head exploded in a shower of gore.
Evelyn had started to recoil. Bits of snake spattered her arms and face and a piece of snake flesh flew into her mouth and partway down her throat. Gagging, she doubled over and nearly swallowed it.
All Nate could think of was how close she had come to being bitten. He put his hand on her shoulder and
