“Then where?”
She took a sip of her coffee. “Kantalan.”
He had half-known that would be her answer. “Why?”
“I don’t know. Many reasons, I guess. White Buffalo once told me that my life was already laid out for me and there was nothing I could do to change it. Perhaps I want to prove him wrong. Or perhaps I want to find the treasure so that my child will not have to depend on the Delaneys to have a good life.” She looked down into the dark depths of her cup. “Or perhaps I want to see if I can find my shadow again.”
He swallowed. God, he was hurting. “Dominic and Elspeth are four days ahead of you. You’re not going to be able to catch up with them.”
“It doesn’t matter, I will see them in Kantalan.”
“You’re with child, the trip will be hard on you.”
“I’m healthy.” She took another sip of coffee. “And, if the trip is hard, then I will not be able to think. I don’t want to think right now.”
He gazed at her helplessly. She sat there, cool and remote as a sparkling fountain. And Rising Star was never cool, dammit.
He threw the rest of his coffee into the logs. The flames hissed, sputtered, and then leapt high. “So we go to Kantalan.”
Her gaze flew to his face. “We?”
“I’m going too.” He stood up and began spreading his blankets. “I want my share of that treasure. Yes, sir, I’m going to be as rich as bejeezus. I’ll wear one of those silk vests and have a gold timepiece with an emerald watchfob. All the ladies will be trying to marry me for my money, but I’ll take my time about picking and choosing. Maybe I’ll find myself one of those fancy princesses or an Oriental dancing girl.”
“Patrick, you’re going because you don’t want me to go alone.”
He took off his gunbelt and laid it beside his saddle. “Why should you say that? I like money as well as the next man.” He sat down and pulled off his boots. “And I think I could make quite a splash if I was rich as a nabob.”
She smiled. “I don’t doubt that you could.”
“Then quit trying to cheat me out of my share of the treasure.” He stretched out and nestled his head on the leather saddle. “There will be plenty to go around.”
“What about Torres?” she asked quietly. “Won’t Shamus need you to help track him?”
“Nope.” He pulled the blanket over him. “Torres wasn’t trying to hide his sign when he doubled back. He probably thinks he’s lost us. A blind man could read his trail now.”
“Your grandfather still won’t like you doing this.”
“Too damn bad.”
“Joshua won’t-”
“Let Josh find his own treasure,” Patrick interrupted. “Now, hush and go to sleep.” He closed his eyes. “I’m tired of talking. I want to go to sleep and dream of princesses and Oriental dancing girls.”
Tenderness pierced the ice surrounding Rising Star as she gazed at him. The firelight had softened the hardness of his face and reminded her how very young he was. Patrick was emerald watchfobs, and Oriental dancing girls, firecrackers, and practical jokes. He was also sensitivity, gallantry, and a loyalty that was as warm as the fire she was gazing into now. Perhaps she would have a son like Patrick. Patrick was a Delaney, too, and it would be wonderful to bring up a son with those qualities.
“Go to sleep.” Patrick didn’t open his eyes.
She set her cup down, and lay down, pulling her blanket over her. “Sleep well, Patrick.”
He didn’t answer. Perhaps he was already on the verge of sleep. She found herself relaxing, the tension gripping her gradually ebbing away. She was no longer alone. The knowledge spread warmth through the desolation enfolding her. Patrick was going to Kantalan with her.
The realization suddenly jarred her from drowsiness.
The embers of warmth she had been feeling cooled and a shiver ran through her. “Patrick?”
“Yes.” His voice was wide awake. “Do you need something?”
“What would you do if I told you I wasn’t going to let you come with me?”
“I’d follow you.”
The threads tightened, brightened, almost revealing themselves to the naked eye. Destiny.
Patrick spoke again. “Is that all you wanted to know?”
“Yes, that’s all.”
They lay there but did not speak again.
Patrick’s thoughts were on Rising Star.
And Rising Star’s thoughts were on… shadows.
Sleep did not come to either of them for many hours.
19
The town of Rosario, Mexico, baked in the late afternoon heat. Actually, it was more village than town, consisting of several tiny stucco houses, a church, a cantina, and a blacksmith’s lean-to with a corral in the rear. Three brown-skinned women scrubbing clothes in the large chipped fountain in the center of the square stopped their work to watch Elspeth and Dominic ride down the street.
Dominic stopped before the church. “Stay here.” He swung down from his horse. “I’ll go and see if I can arrange for a bath and a place for you to sleep tonight. Father Leon is the only man in Rosario I’d trust to house you in this town.”
Elspeth looked at him in surprise. “You’ve been here before?”
“About four years ago.” He climbed the steps and opened the tall brass-studded door. “Arizona was getting a little too hot for me so I came down here. There’s no law in Rosario.”
“Then why didn’t you stay?”
He looked over his shoulder as he stepped into the dim coolness of the chapel. “I got tired of drinking tequila.” Then he was gone, and she heard the soft jingle of his spurs as he walked down the aisle of the church.
He had been homesick for Killara, Elspeth thought. Who could blame him? Even to her, the green valleys of Killara seemed like paradise after the hot, burning desert country they’d been traveling across for the past two and a half weeks.
She reached for the linen handkerchief tucked into her belt and wiped the back of her neck, thinking longingly of the dimness of the chapel. The fine dust was entering her lungs with every breath and the heat-blurred horizon was wavering before her eyes.
The women at the fountain were still staring at her. Elspeth smiled tentatively, but they did not return her smile. Their round brown faces were stolid, their dark eyes expressing no warmth only curiosity at the foreigner in their midst. She was suddenly acutely conscious of the whiteness of her skin, the fairness of her hair, and the delicate slenderness of her body. She looked quickly away from the women. No wonder Dominic had not stayed here, even though it was safer for him.
“Elspeth.” She looked up to see Dominic coming down the steps. “Father Leon will let you stay at his casa next door to the church. He begs you to forgive him for not coming to greet you, and asks that you come to him. It’s painful for him to walk.”
Elspeth got down from the mare. “Is he ill?”
Dominic shook his head. “Crippled. Before he moved to Rosario he had a brush with the soldiers at a village closer to the border. They thought he knew the hiding place of Indino, a bandit who raided the silver shipments of the great mine owners in the area. They tied the Father down spreadeagled and galloped their horses over
