for you?â
Susanna gritted her teeth. That was the hardestthing about Maynell and Jimbo living as a hired couple in the other end of the dog-trot cabinâMaynellâs scoldings and preachings. But who else would work for her for no money, for only a place to live and food to eat?
âMaynellââ
âTheyâre liable to gang up and steal your cattle and leave you lost and alone out there on the prairie somewhereâ¦if they donât kill you first.â
To her surprise, Susanna rushed to Eagle Jackâs defense.
âHeâs not that kind of liar, Maynell.â
Maynell gave the potato in her hand a vicious swipe with the knife. âI wasnât aware there was more than one kind,â she said.
âWell, heâs more the kind thatâ¦I guess youâd say he changes his mind about what he said before.â
âLike what?â
âLike agreeing to my deal, then an hour later trying to back out on taking me up the trail with my cattle.â
Maynellâs tight mouth turned up at the corners. âWell, he might be forgiven for that,â she said wryly, âdepending on what all you did and said in that hour.â
âThanks a lot, May.â
But Susanna smiled, too, in spite of herself.
Maynell was irritating beyond belief, but she did have a way of putting things into perspective.Eagle Jack probably had expected to go to the bank, get his money, pay her back for his bail, and talk her into letting him out of the agreement theyâd made.
Well, she had fooled him, hadnât she?
âI picked the crew,â Susanna said, âat least part of it. We hired three men.â
âI seen âem ride in,â May said. âTucker put âem right to work. And Jimbo, tooâheâs buildinâ a fire for the brandinâ.â
âWell, thatâs good,â Susanna said. âWeâre wanting to head out day after tomorrow at the latest.â
Maynell got up again and brought Susanna a cup of cool water. âNow,â she said, âtell me about that big Indian.â
Susanna stopped in mid-swallow and stared at her.
âIâm old but I ainât blind yet,â May said. âI seen that long black hair and that handsome profile from the porch.â She smiled and looked off out the open door as if she could still see him. âRides like a Comanche, too,â she said, musing to herself. âAlways did like a handsome man who could ride.â
It was true. Eagle Jack was a handsome man. Horseback or not, any woman would turn her head to look at him twice. Or three times.
âHeâs a Cherokee,â Susanna said. âHis name is Eagle Jack Sixkiller.â
âPretty name,â Maynell murmured. âAlways did like a handsome man with a handsome name.â Then she fixed her steely gaze on Susanna and picked up her knife to get to work again. âWhereâd you find him?â
Susanna told her the story from the minute sheâd walked into the Salado Jail to the moment Eagle Jack had ridden away and left her down at the corral. In detail. Maynell, who hardly ever went anywhere, demanded detail in her stories because stories were few and far between. Brushy Creek had few visitors.
But in this story Maynell especially wanted detail because sheâjudging him completely on looks, of courseâwas so taken with Eagle Jack.
But the main reason Susanna didnât mind telling every detail was that it gave her a chance to try to figure him out.
âYou see, May, in the jail I instinctively thought that I could trust him, that he was an honorable man. But it wasnât an hour later that he was saying he wouldnât take me up the trail and heâs been back and forth on everything ever since.â
Maynell gave her that narrow-eyed, suspicious look of hers.
âWhat dâyou mean by âeverythingâ?â
âThen he said he will take me up the trail and that