Free Stranger by Sherwood Smith Page A

you have my weapons?”
    â€œNo, Sheriff Crow took them. Don’t worry, she’ll give them back.”
    â€œPoint out where she is. I’ll get them on my way out.”
    Mia flapped her hands frantically. “No, no, no! I have to study your book some more! Please don’t go! Do you have somewhere you need to be?”
    Ross had never in his life had somewhere he needed to be. “I have to take my book and go.” Before someone decides to keep my book and get rid of me, he finished silently.
    â€œHow’s your arm?”
    â€œFine.”
    She offered him a wrench. Confused, he held out his right hand to take it.
    She shook her head. “Left hand.”
    His shoulders tensed. She knew he couldn’t use it. She could turn that to her advantage if it came to a fight. He said warily, “What do you care?”
    â€œSheriff told us how you warned her. My father can help with your hand, if you stick around a while.”
    â€œBut they wouldn’t let me stay here . . . would they?”
    â€œSure,” Mia said cheerfully. “That’s why we put you in the guest room. Why not?”
    â€œThere’s this guy after me. The one who shot me. How long was I out, anyway?”
    Mia pursed her lips. “One night.”
    His hand went to the scar over his ribs.
    â€œDad healed you,” she explained. “Whoever’s after you, no one’s seen them, and no one can sneak into Las Anclas. And if you stay, we can have a dance! The mayor always holds a dance if someone new comes.”
    Ross had considered a number of possible outcomes as he’d headed for the cottage, several involving his own death. This was not one of them. “I don’t know how to dance.”
    â€œYou’ll learn.” Mia smiled. “Hey. About learning. We’ve got a schoolhouse here. And my best friend’s the teacher.”
    â€œYou have a school?” He couldn’t keep the longing out of his voice. It had been years and years since his grandmother’s lessons; all he could remember was her teaching him, not what she’d taught.
    â€œA library, too. It’s got three hundred and nine books, and twenty-two of them are artifacts. Not all of them are complete, though. But you could sit there and read all you liked, once you learned how.”
    Ross felt as if he’d tunneled into some unpromising-looking rubble heap and found a treasure trove.
    â€œWell?” Mia asked. “Would you like to go to school?”
    â€œI guess so,” he said slowly. “But I don’t want people to know about my book. Don’t tell anyone about it.”
    â€œI won’t,” she assured him. Her brown eyes widened hopefully. “If you stay, will you let me look at it? You could keep it here, at my place.”
    That roused his suspicions. On the other hand, the easiest way to get the book would have been to simply let him die and take it. But her father had healed him instead. Still, it didn’t feel right to walk out the door, leaving his book behind.
    â€œYou can take it back with you, if you like,” she offered. “But unless you carry it all the time, it’s safer here. And if you do take it, everyone will wonder why you’re always hauling your backpack around.”
    She had a point. Besides, it would take seconds to search the room he was staying in, while her cabin was full of hiding places.
    â€œLet’s make a deal,” he said. “If you don’t tell anyone, I’ll let you look at it as for long as I’m in town.”
    â€œDeal,” Mia said formally, holding her hand out flat.
    Ross laid his palm against hers. She had calluses in the same places he did. “Deal. Guard it for me.”
    She smiled radiantly at him and then at the book. “Why don’t you go back and get some rest? Got a big day ahead of you tomorrow.”
    â€¢Â â€¢Â â€¢
    Ross next woke to the pale