brushed against his chest, and he groaned aloud and waited. He wanted to
pull her beneath him. He wanted to see her eyes widen and darken to
mauve with the startling strength of passion. He wanted to feel her arms
wrap around him.
But the smoke was coming again. The powder. And people were shouting;
they were at war again. The war was over, but the fighting hadn't ended.
It was the Indians. It wasn't the Indians. That was it. They could dress
up all they chose, but they were not Indians. They had Tess. he couldn't
remember. yes! They had Tess, they had ridden away with her. By God!
What they would do with her! He awoke and jerked up. A staggering pain
seized his temple, and he cried out hoarsely, grabbing his head. The
pain slowly subsided to a dull thudding, and he opened his Jori was
sitting in front of him, watching him. Jamie groaned again.
'what the hell happened? Where's Tess?'
'Von Heusen's pseudo-Comancbe,' Jon said calmly, still studying him;
Alarmed, beginning to remember much more clearly everything that had
happened, Jamie sat up. He saw that his legs were bare, that he had only
been covered with blankets, and he saw that Dolly and Jane and Hank were
hovering anxiously behind Jon. He gritted his teeth against the new pain
that had come with his movement, frowning.
'Tess?'
'She was gone.'
'Gone! And you didn't go for her'
'Wait a minute, my friend,' Jori warned him.
'You were supposed to have been dead--that's the way they left you.
You would have been dead, if I hadn't brought you here. I couldn't trail
them in the dark'--' You can trail anyone!' Jamie savagely reminded him.
' Not when they ran the river, not without some light,' Jon said'.
'But I did find out where they're taking her.'
'Where?'
Jamie exploded. The sound of the word seemed to reverberate in his
skull, and he grabbed it in an effort to ease the savagepain.
'They're taking her to the Comancheros. And the Comancheros are taking
her to a renegade Apache chief down in Mexico named Nalte.'
Jamie grabbed a blanket and staggered to his feet. Dolly cried out
softly then scolded him, 'Jamie Slater. What do you think you're doing?
You can't go anywhere' -- Jon had risen, too.
'Sit down, Jamie. rll go.'
'No! It's my fault they took her. I'm going after her.'
'You're in no condition' -- 'I'm in damn fine condition!' Jamie roared.
The sound of his own voice ravaged his temple. He shook his head.
'I
need my pants. And if you don't want to be offend&t, Jane and Dolly, I
need you two ladies to disappear. Now!'
'Jamie Slater' -- Dolly began. But he was already rising.
'Jamie' -- She turned around, pinkening. Jane let out a little gasp and
went tearing up the stairs.
'Want to wait until I've got some clothes for you?' Jon asked dryly.
'I'll throw something down the stairs,' Dolly said. She let out an
indignant little snort.
