Free Diamond Duo by Marcia Gruver

distance. Annie charged toward it, and Bertha followed.
    “Where were you?” Annie demanded when they came within shouting distance.
    “Sorry, ma’am,” he called. “We got stuck.”
    He pulled alongside and tipped his hat, the only piece of cloth on his body not covered in muck. “Thought we’d be spending the night out in the woods until Julius Ney happened along in his oxcart.” He wiped his sweat-beaded face with a handkerchief, smearing all the spots on his face, except for the freckles, into a palemuddy mask. He jerked his finger toward the back. “Nothing less than a team of oxen could’ve hauled us out with a load like that weighing us down.”
    The wood was stacked so high, Bertha didn’t know whether to laugh or console the poor horse.
    Mose saw the look on her face and hurried to defend himself. “You heard me say I still had three loads to get. We’re running short on daylight. I was trying to make up for lost time.”
    Rhodie sat pouting on the seat. Muddy water had recolored her blue overalls and bright auburn hair to a dull grayish brown. “I told you not to cross that ditch, Mose. I knew we were bound to bog down.” She raised her head long enough to scorch him with her eyes. “You don’t never listen to me.”
    As if to prove her point, Mose ignored his sister. “I should be headed into town with this cypress, Bertha, but I figured we’d best come and fetch you.”
    Annie brought her hand down on the side rail so hard it had to hurt. “Let’s go, then. Stop all this messing about.”
    “Sure thing, Miss Annie. Only. . .”
    “Only nothing. Turn this thing around and let me get on.”
    Mose flicked the reins and spun around so tightly that Bertha held her breath until he straightened out again. She could just see Rhodie, Mose, and the wood becoming an oversized game of jackstraws in the center of the narrow road. When he pulled alongside them again, Annie headed straight for the tailgate.
    Mose’s eyes widened, and he stood up. “Wait, Miss Annie. Don’t.”
    She stopped with her hand on the latch. “Why not?”
    He shook his head. “If you open that, you’ll be high-jumping logs. Besides, there ain’t no room for a passenger now. Not in the bed, at least. Ain’t safe.” He inclined his head toward the buckboard seat. “And only room for one more up here.”
    Bertha watched while Annie figured it out.
    When the truth dawned, she gasped and covered her mouth. “Oh no. Oh, Bertha.”
    Bertha placed an arm around her shoulders and walked her to the front of the rig. “You go on ahead. I’ll come later.”
    “No, I couldn’t.”
    “Yes, you can. You have to.”
    “But it’s going to rain.”
    Bertha patted Annie’s back. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. Mose will come right back, and when he does, he’ll find me even closer because I’ll be walking.”
    Mose scrambled down to help her, but Annie didn’t wait. She lifted her skirts and clambered aboard before Mose could offer his arm. He jerked his gaze from her exposed legs and then leaned to check the load’s balance.
    Annie turned to wave her hand at him. “Leave that, Mose. Just get me back to town. And hurry!”

L ightning, visible between the trees on the high bank of the bayou, prowled across the lowering sky. Standing on the bank, Thad did a slow count to five before thunder echoed over the tops of the tall cypress.
    In the distance, T-Bone Taylor stopped paddling long enough to sit up straight on his seat and gaze toward the gathering clouds. Then he dipped his oar with renewed vigor while shouting to his little brother seated at the opposite end of the boat. Thad couldn’t make out the words, but it became obvious what he said when Beau bent his shoulders to the paddle and dug in.
    Thad nudged Charlie. “That storm is about a mile away. Looks like they’re bound to get wet.”
    Charlie chuckled. “And all their loot, too. I hope that pilfered ’backy’s in a tin, or tomorrow they’ll be spreading