arm. “Ow!” he yelled, glaring at Jengibre. “I can’t believe I’m in bed with a mountain lion and a damn chicken, and it’s the chicken who’s trying to eat me! Get her off me!”
Zafiro gently placed Jengibre on the floor.
And Sawyer handed her the egg the hen had laid in the sheets.
She slipped the egg into the pocket in her skirt. “You do not know for sure that you are not a ballet dancer, Sawyer. When you dance for us, then we will know.” Zafiro pulled up a chair, sat down, and crossed her legs. “For now, though, all we know is your name and that you have ballet dancer legs.”
Before he replied, Sawyer took a moment to appreciate the fact that she was barefoot and that her skirts fell in such a way as to afford him a tantalizing view of her shapely legs.
She had pretty feet. Dainty, and with tiny toes. Her ankles were slim, but her calves were well-rounded with sleek muscle.
“Do you like my legs as much as my breasts?”
He raised his gaze to hers, intrigued again by her candor. “I do.”
His answer pleased her. “How many other breasts and legs have you seen?”
He grinned. “You know, we’re talking about a lot of intimate things here, and I don’t even know your name.”
“Zafiro Maria Quintana.”
He took a second to think about the way she’d pronounced her name: Za-feer-oh. “Zafiro. How do you spell it?”
She spelled it for him.
“Nice name. I like it.”
“It means ‘sapphire’ in Spanish.”
“You’re named after the jewel you wear. It’s the biggest sapphire I’ve ever seen. Nearly as big as your fist.”
“I am named for the color of my eyes.”
Sawyer stared at the large gemstone. “You know, if you sold that stone you’d get enough money to last a long time. Then you could buy the supplies you need. The villagers and the nuns might be hurting, but I’m sure the mercantiles around here are stocked with the things you need.”
Zafiro picked up the sapphire and rubbed it over her cheek. “I cannot.”
“Why?”
“My grandfather gave me this jewel when a grasshopper was as tall as my knee, and I have worn it ever since.”
“When you were knee-high to a grasshopper.”
“That is what I said. My sapphire, it was once the knob on a walking stick that belonged to a very rich man in Puebla. One day Grandfather saw the man beat a dog with the cane, so he stole the cane from the man. Grandfather, he was a wonderful thief.”
“So you keep the sapphire for sentimental reasons. Because your grandfather gave it to you.”
She’d never heard of anything so selfish in all her life. If she could have sold the jewel she’d have sold it years ago and used the money to care for her charges.
But she dared not. The sapphire, large and unique as it was, would surely rouse a lot of talk. Word of the magnificent jewel would travel quickly through the circle of thieves, and the news would eventually reach Luis, who would know exactly who owned the gem.
And then he’d track her down.
She couldn’t sell the gem. Not for all the money in the country. Even in the world.
“Zafiro?”
“Yes?”
Sawyer wondered what caused the intense look in her eyes, then decided she was remembering her grandfather. “You must have loved your grandfather a lot.”
“What? Oh. Yes, I did. I thought I would be with him forever. But, as time is supposed to do to all of us, Grandfather became old. So did the rest of the gang. It is a very sad thing to think about. Maclovio was the best horseman in the world, Sawyer. There were times when I thought he worked magic on the horses. He even taught Grandfather’s horse to come when he heard Grandfather whistle. And Pedro never missed his target with his gun. Not once. Lorenzo could open any lock invented. But…well, when the men became old…Pedro began to believe he was Saint Peter, Maclovio started drinking heavily, and Lorenzo lost his hearing. Tia became more determined than ever to find her little boy, Francisco, who had