Cowboys 08 - Luke

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Authors: Leigh Greenwood
just ex-princesses who don't like it. Most women out here can't wait to be snatched up. They can be the devil to get rid of."
    There was so much in that group of sentences to take exception to, she didn't know where to start. She waited
    too long and lost her advantage. They reached the trees, and he set her on her feet.
    "If I were you, I'd unbutton that dress and try to cool off. You can wade in the water if you like, but drink first. It's not so good once you stir up the mud."
    "I'm not going to drink that water," Valeria exclaimed.
    "What water are you going to drink?"
    Surely he couldn't expect her to drink from a river. The idea was revolting. "You must have a water barrel you filled before we left town."
    "It's on one of the wagons."
    She turned to look back across the tangle of thorns and rocks and saw Elvira being carried by Zeke. Elvira looked as white as he was black.
    "Zeke won't harm her," Luke said. "But it would help if she didn't look so petrified."
    "She's no more used to being picked up and carried by strange men than I am."
    "But her fear is caused by prejudice. I saw how she looked at Hawk. He'll stay away from her, but Zeke will torment her. He was a slave. He hates all white women except Isabelle."
    "Isabelle?"
    "The woman who adopted us."
    "All three of you?"
    "There were ten of us."
    "Poor woman."
    "Nobody would cross Isabelle. She could be mighty tough when she wanted."
    Valeria couldn't imagine a woman tough enough to handle these three men, even as boys. She watched, hardly daring to breathe, until Zeke set Elvira down.
    "I'll be back for you in a little while," Zeke said, a big grin exposing white teeth.
    Valeria thought Elvira would faint.

    "I've got to check the wagons," Luke said.
    Hans and Otto arrived as Luke left, Otto wiping his forehead with his handkerchief.
    "I've never though I'd be thankful to sit in the woods," he said. He tottered over to a fallen tree and settled on the trunk. "You'd better sit while you can. We'll be back in that infernal oven soon enough."
    But Valeria didn't want to sit. She made her way through the sparse undergrowth toward the water. She hated the West, but the creek beckoned to her. She knew it was supposed to be a river-Luke had said it was the San Pedro River-but the water didn't seem more than a few inches deep. If she hadn't seen a leaf float by, she wouldn't have been able to tell there was any current.
    Maybe it was the profound stillness, but she didn't think she'd ever felt more at peace in her life. It was odd that such a feeling should settle over her in the heart of an alien and fiercely dangerous land. Even the birds seemed to have fallen quiet.
    Moments later the mules crashed through the undergrowth about a hundred feet downstream, shattering the quiet. They waded into the water to drink.
    "I told the men to water them downstream," Luke said.
    Valeria nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of his voice. "I appreciate that, but I don't want a drink."
    He waded a short way into the river, squatted down, scooped up some water in his hands, and drank.
    "It's good," he said, "the best you'll find until you reach the streams up on the Rim."
    "Thank you, but I don't want any."
    He scooped up more water and came toward her, water dripping from his hands.
    "Here, taste it. You can't condemn what you don't know."
    She backed away. "I don't want any."
    "I thought you royal people were supposed to have courage and an adventurous spirit."
    "We do, but-"
    "You look like inept cowards to me. You get thrown out of your homes and have to run six thousand miles before you can stop. Then you're afraid to take a swallow of water. That's the definition of a rank coward if you ask me."
    "I didn't run," Valeria snapped. "I was sent."
    "Then what's your excuse for being afraid of everything around you?"
    Talking to this man did no good. She either had to show him or save her breath. "I have the courage to do anything you do," she said.
    She pulled his hands toward

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