woman’s usually stolid face actually wore a worried expression for a change.
“Matt, are you all right?” Elizabeth asked. “Someone said they heard a shout from this hogan, and then a man ran out.”
“That’s right,” Matt said. “Somebody snuck in here and tried to knife me.”
Elizabeth’s beautiful green eyes widened.
“Who in the world would try to do that?”
“I can only think of one fella I’ve had a run-in with lately.”
“You mean Pino?” Elizabeth asked.
“He was ready to stick a knife in me earlier,” Matt said.
Elizabeth shook her head.
“That was just a spur of the moment thing, because he was angry. I don’t think Pino would deliberately murder anyone. He’s one of the clan’s spiritual leaders.”
“Who else would come after me like that?”
“I don’t know,” Elizabeth had to admit.
A harsh voice spoke outside the hogan. She turned her head toward the doorway.
“That’s Caballo Rojo,” she said. “He wants to know if everything is all right.”
“Not hardly,” Matt said. He started to get to his feet.
Elizabeth took hold of his arm to help him. Out of the habit of being fiercely independent, he started to shake her off.
But he had to admit, having her there to lean on felt pretty good. When he was standing, she kept her hand on his arm.
They went outside and found Caballo Rojo standing there with his arms crossed, waiting to hear what had happened. Juan Pablo’s wife followed Matt and Elizabeth out of the hogan and started talking before they could. A steady stream of Navajo words came from her mouth.
When she finally finished, Matt said to Caballo Rojo, “I don’t know what she told you, but someone snuck into the hogan while I was dozing and tried to kill me.”
The clan leader nodded solemnly.
“Who would do this?” he asked.
“Well, I think it was Pino.”
Caballo Rojo shook his head.
“Not Pino. Pino is good man.”
“I haven’t had trouble with anybody else from your clan,” Matt pointed out.
Stubbornly, Caballo Rojo said, “Not Pino.” He jerked his head in an indication that Matt and Elizabeth should follow him. If that wasn’t clear enough, he added, “Come.”
They exchanged a glance. Since they were both here because Caballo Rojo had extended his hospitality to them, they couldn’t very well refuse.
They followed the clan leader along the creek, past several of the other hogans and the grazing herd of sheep. When they came to another hogan, Caballo Rojo called out to someone inside.
Matt wasn’t surprised when Pino emerged from the dwelling. The man gave him and Elizabeth unfriendly looks, then spoke to Caballo Rojo in Navajo.
When Pino was finished, Caballo Rojo turned to Matt and said, “Pino here.” He made a flat, slashing motion with his hand. “All day.”
Matt wanted to point out that Pino could be lying about that. Even if the members of the man’s family backed him up on that, they could be lying as well.
But while Caballo Rojo might be a judge of sorts, this wasn’t a court of law, Matt realized. No rules of evidence applied here. What Caballo Rojo believed was the only thing that mattered, and clearly the clan leader was on Pino’s side in this dispute.
Anyway, to be absolutely honest about it, he
“All right,” he told Caballo Rojo. “Maybe Pino didn’t try to kill me. But somebody did.”
Caballo Rojo shrugged as if to say that wasn’t his worry.
“Fine,” Matt said. “But I’ll be sleeping with one eye open from now on, you can count on that.”
Caballo Rojo grunted and turned away. Matt had the distinct impression that the clan leader was washing his hands of the whole matter.
Pino glared at Matt and Elizabeth again and went back in his hogan, leaving the two of them alone.
“I don’t understand, Matt,” Elizabeth said. “Why would any of these people want to kill you? No one here even knew you until you were brought in wounded.”
“I don’t have an answer,” Matt admitted. “Maybe it would be best if I just got on my horse and left.”
