But despite her sometimes disapproving demeanor, she had taken good care of him, and he appreciated that. He smiled at her and nodded, hoping that she understood he was grateful to her, and then stepped out of the hogan.
The air had that welcome coolness desert air always did, early in the morning. Matt breathed deeply of it and didn’t feel quite as tired.
He heard his name called, turned around, and felt even better.
Elizabeth was coming toward him, beautiful in her dark green long-sleeved blouse and long skirt.
“You’re all right,” she said as she came up to him.
Matt smiled.
“Did you expect something different?”
“After what happened yesterday, I didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “Do you still want to leave today?”
Matt’s answer came without hesitation.
“That’s right. There’s still something bad brewing here. I don’t know what it is and I wish I did, but my guts tell me we’ll be better off getting out while we can.” He paused. “You’re still coming with me, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know ... I hate to leave these people. I’d like to think I’ve done them some good. They’re going to be able to make their way better in the white man’s world because of me.”
She didn’t understand, Matt thought. The Navajo didn’t want to make their way in the white man’s world. They wanted to be left alone to live in their own world, in their own way.
You couldn’t convince the “Lo, the poor Indian!” people of that, though. Folks who believed they were going to make somebody change for their own good were doomed to failure.
He wasn’t going to say that to Elizabeth. For one thing, it wouldn’t do any good. He couldn’t change her beliefs any more than she could change those of the Navajo.
But he could get her out of what might well turn out to be a dangerous situation, and he was going to try his best to do so.
“I really think you ought to come with me. I mean, since I’ve been wounded and all ...”
He ought to be ashamed of himself for playing that card, he thought as he saw sympathy light up her eyes. Somebody like Elizabeth couldn’t resist the urge to help somebody. But if it got her clear of this canyon, he was willing to do it.
Anyway, he was wounded. That was just the truth. And while he felt stronger today than he had since winding up here, he still thought it would be a good idea to have somebody around to look after him, if need be.
“All right,” she said. “I’ll come with you.” She smiled. “Anyway, there’s nothing stopping me from coming back here later on, is there?”
“Not a thing,” he agreed. They could deal with what would happen later once they were out of here.
“Of course, we don’t know if Caballo Rojo will allow us to leave,” Elizabeth pointed out.
She was right. That could be a problem.
So the thing to do was tend to it right now, Matt decided.
He took her arm and said, “Let’s go talk to him.”
They walked along the creek toward Caballo Rojo’s hogan. With the air still holding that hint of coolness and the sun not blazing down in the canyon like it would later in the day, this would have been a pleasant moment if not for the fact that Matt was worried about what the Navajo headman would say.
Caballo Rojo was sitting outside his hogan, working with a bit of silver, fashioning it into some small piece of jewelry. He looked up for a second as Matt and Elizabeth approached, but otherwise he didn’t acknowledge that they were there.
“Caballo Rojo, I’d like to talk to you,” Matt said. “I know you understand me, even without Juan Pablo here to translate for me. I want to thank you for your hospitality, for seeing that I was taken care of while I was recovering from my injuries.”
Caballo Rojo grunted but still didn’t look up again.
“Now that my wounds are healing, I think it’s time for me to leave,” Matt went on. “I’d like to have my horse, my guns, and the rest of my gear returned to me.”
No response from the headman. Matt and Elizabeth traded worried glances. This wasn’t going the way they had hoped.
But there was nothing they could do except go ahead with their plan. Matt said, “Miss Fleming is going to go with me, to help me in case my injuries trouble me.”
Caballo Rojo finally lifted his head. He shook it slowly from side to side in stubborn refusal.
Elizabeth said, “Do you mean you don’t want me to go with Mr. Bodine, Caballo Rojo?”
From behind them, a harsh voice said, “Caballo Rojo means that neither of you will leave this canyon.”
Matt turned sharply and saw Juan Pablo standing there. The Navajo had one of the single-shot rifles in his hands, and the weapon was trained on Matt’s belly.
Behind Juan Pablo stood three more men, one of them armed with another rifle, the other two with bows and arrows. They glared menacingly at Matt and Elizabeth.
Juan Pablo smiled, though, the first smile Matt had seen on the Navajo’s face.
