INSIDE FRONT COVER

 

 

Reuben stood lazily, his Navy Colt in one hand, gunpowder smoke still rising several feet above the muzzle. One of the other men moved and there was the distinctive hammer-click of Johannes’ Sharps, which he had raised to his shoulder. Reuben’s jaw clenched. He grimly cocked the hammer of the Colt. “I don’t push, mister. You got exactly two seconds.”

The sun hung suspended behind dark, silhouetted mountains, the thin layers of softly glowing clouds laced with silver and bold strokes of fiery orange-red. A deepening purple sifted down from the highest peaks and curled around the foothills, spreading like a fog of color across the rolling plains. Transfixed by the sheer power of the scene, Sarah felt tiny and insignificant yet empowered at the same time. So many choices.

Eagle Talon raised the bow to the ready, its long alder body held with an almost rigid left arm diagonally in front of his chest. The mustang took two more careful steps. Suddenly, Eagle Talon caught a movement from the left corner of his eye. His pulse raced. The battle with the Pawnee was still fresh in his memory and he was high strung by the events of the last two suns. He brought the bow to full draw instinctively, without thought, sighting down the arrow shaft.

She was standing just inches away, her brown eyes wide, teary, looking up into his, full of sorrow and something else he couldn’t quite fathom. The blanket fell from her shoulders. She wore nothing but a sheer silk chemise, almost transparent, every curve of her lithe young body glowing in the low light. His voice was stilled as she raised her other hand to his mouth, touching his lips with the tips of her fingers. “Don’t talk. Not a word.” Her fingers fumbled with the buttons of his breeches.

He watched the two riders approaching, one medium build and moving easily on a big palomino, the other tall, with long blond hair. Something in his posture screamed military or maybe law. “Woman—my pistols. Pronto,” Philippe hissed back toward the tipi. He stood slowly, wanting to appear nonchalant.