Trace stood listening to her, the pain of that loneliness etching lines in her forehead. “I can see you’re a real smart woman, Deb, educated and a writer. So I may not understand words to mean just what you’re saying, but I don’t exactly think those are the same. My loneliness out here and yours in a city full of people. Maybe both things feel bad, though they seem mighty different to me.”
Nodding silently for a time, finally Deb opened her eyes and lifted her chin. “Of course it’s different. Let’s go on in now. And my very much younger little sister, Gwen, a girl still, not a woman yet, can come out here and see the house with you. So long as you remember how young she is.”
“You mentioned she’s eighteen. How old are you? Nineteen?” Trace decided maybe she had taken leave of her senses, so it’d be best to get her back to the house before she said something else crazy.
“I’m twenty.” She said it with her spine straight and a glint in her eyes.
“When is Gwen nineteen?”
“Not for . . . for a few weeks yet.”
Trace rolled his eyes, and they walked back. He was careful not to get too close—he didn’t want to set her off again.
Or maybe he was just afraid that if he touched her right now, he just might haul her into his arms and kiss her.
CHAPTER
14
“I’ll miss the noon meal today.” Trace headed for the cabin door after breakfast. “I should be back in time for supper. But don’t worry if I don’t make it. I might be out overnight.”
Utah said, “The weather’s holding, Trace. I’ll push hard and get the second cabin done, then ride to catch up with you. It’s safer with a saddle partner.”
Trace nodded but didn’t speak.
Miss the meal . . . why? Out overnight . . . where? Safer from . . . whom? Deb struggled to follow the conversation.
Utah and Adam headed for the door right after him. They either knew where he was going or they just didn’t care.
“Wait!” Surprise made Deb’s voice louder than she’d planned.
All three men wheeled around as if she’d cried out for help.
“Why won’t you be here?” Honest to goodness, she shouldn’t have to ask that question. And yet it appeared she did have to. “Where will you be? When should we start worrying?”
Trace tilted his head a little as if the world was lopsided—or rather as if her questions made no sense. “You shouldn’t ever start worrying. The Bible says clear as can be that we’re not supposed to worry. In Matthew, Jesus says, ‘Don’t be anxious about tomorrow, for—’”
“Trace.” She cut him off with a near shout. “You’re missing the point.” She decided to use straight, simple questions that required brief answers. She’d interviewed a few reluctant witnesses in her day.
“Where are you going that will take you away all day?” There, how could he dodge that?
The men sidled past Trace and closed the door. Better than leaving it gaped open in this weather.
“I’m going to hunt the outlaws who attacked you.” He didn’t sound as if he was reluctant but rather that she was wasting his time.
“No!” Her heart lurched, and she rushed to him and clutched his wrist. “They’re dangerous. If they get their hands on you, they will kill you with no remorse. You saw what they did to the folks in that wagon train.”
Trace leaned down a bit, and his eyes held an intensity that kept her silent. She thought of him as young, but right now he had all the authority of a much older man.
“There is nothing to discuss. I have no choice but to go after those men.”
“But how can you do so by yourself? You can’t hope to handle so many.”
“How many do you think?”
With a weak shrug, Deb said, “It seemed like a lot.”
“The tracks I followed said three. Three men. All cowards who attacked innocent people while they were sleeping. My trouble won’t be fighting them off; my trouble will be catching that pack of yellowbelly vermin. I don’t want to shoot someone in the back, and you can bet they’ll run before they face an armed man who’s wide awake.”
“But this isn’t your fight.”
Trace narrowed his eyes, furrows appearing on his brow. “Deb, justice is every man’s fight. To right a terrible wrong and make evil men pay for their crimes is part of why I’m going, but there’s more. It’s not just about punishing the men who attacked your wagon train. These men are dangerous. They’ll hurt more folks if they aren’t stopped.”
“You’re right. Of course they need to be stopped, and I admire that you are willing to take that job on your shoulders. But, Trace, even if they are cowards, if you corner them, they’ll fight back. Can you just track them down, then go fetch the sheriff?”
Trace held silent for a moment. “It may sound boastful, but I’m as good as anyone at following a trail or slipping up quiet on a man. So I’m not taking that big a risk. And I take no great pride in saying I’m lightning fast with my six-gun and a dead aim with a rifle. It comes very naturally to pull the trigger and hit what I’m aimin’ at. I’ve learned to be cautious and think twice when it comes to shootin’ because it’s a little too easy for me. My horse is strong, mountain born and bred. And if I have to leave the horse, you saw that I can run for miles, lope along with Wolf, and be just as quiet. I’ll take these men to the sheriff if I can, but I won’t sit safe at home while they plot another attack. It’s late in the year for another train to go through, but there are always a reckless few who try and make