Free Courage to Love (Flynn Family Saga) by Erica Graham Page B

Maggie eating fish from a stick; Maggie lying in his arms, flushed and naked, with a smile that made him feel proud and humble at the same time; Maggie radiant and bulging with their child.
    Ruthlessly, he thrust those images out of his mind.  He drew a deep breath, held it, and let it out.  He felt the hard, dry earth beneath him.  The wind stirred listlessly, and he felt the hot, dry air against his face.  He heard the pop and snap of Frank’s fire behind him.
    And then, he felt it, felt the thin thread of water beneath the ground.
    Flynn ran to the picket line and saddled Wakta.
    Maggie followed him.  “Where are you going?”
    “To find water.”  Flynn cinched Wakta’s saddle tightly.
    “I’m going with you.”  Maggie tilted her chin up.
    Flynn bowed his head a moment.  Slowly, he raised it.  “No, Maggie.  Not this time.  I need—I need you to be here when I get back.”  He touched her belly.  “I need you to take care of our child.”
    Tears filled Maggie’s eyes, but she nodded.  “Billy!”
    The young boy ran up to them.  “Yes, Mrs. Flynn?”
    Maggie smiled at him.  “I want you to look after Flynn for me.”
    Billy blushed.  “Yes ma’am.”
    Flynn repressed a grin.  “Thanks, Billy.”  While Billy saddled Shadow, Flynn fastened two water barrels on either side of the little packhorse that Maggie had brought with her, all the way from Lawrenceville.  Sancho Panza looked at him lugubriously.
    Flynn laughed.
    Then, the two of them mounted and rode away.
    Flynn looked back once.
    Maggie stood at the edge of the circle of wagons, looking small and scared.
    *  *  *
    Three days later, Flynn and Billy were still gone.  Maggie walked to the edge of the circle of wagons.  Ben stood there, staring at the mountains.  “He’s just a boy, Maggie.”
    Maggie touched Ben’s arm.  “But his father taught him everything he knew.”
    Ben shook his head.  “Somehow, that’s not very comforting today.”
    Maggie squeezed his arm gently.  “I know.  Neither of us is going to get much sleep tonight.”
    They made camp under the shade of a wall of tumbled rocks.  It was a little cooler in the shade.  The horses couldn’t go on much longer without water, and in a few days, both people and livestock would start to die.
    That night, Maggie took the first watch, hoping that exhaustion would make it possible for her to sleep.  She stared at the mountains.  The moon rose casting harsh shadows on the sand.  There was no sign of movement.
    At midnight, Ben relieved her.
    In the morning, Patches lay on his side, panting.
    Maggie turned away and wept.
    By noon, seven horses were dead, including Patches.
    Maggie walked away from the wagons and glared at the desert.  “You’re not going to beat us!  You hear?”
    Only the hiss of wind-blown sand answered her.
    That night, Maggie could not sleep.  When Ben came to relieve her, she shook her head.  He nodded and walked back to the lead wagon.  Maggie heard footsteps behind her.  She turned, half-expecting to see Flynn.
    Instead, it was Samantha.  She smiled at Maggie shyly.  “I heard about Patches.  I’m sorry.”
    Maggie nodded.  Her throat ached too much to speak.
    Samantha looked at the mountains.  “Henry and I have a spare horse.  Her name is Lady.  We’d like you to have her.”
    Maggie swallowed hard.  “Thank you, Samantha.”  Her voice was hoarse.  “But I couldn’t.”
    “You must.”  Samantha squeezed her arm.  “And it’s the least I can do after all the trouble I caused you.”
    “She’s a beautiful mare, Samantha.  I—I kind of coveted her ever since Henry bought her in St. Jo.”
    Samantha laughed.  “I didn’t know you were human enough to covet, Maggie.”
    Maggie smiled ruefully.  “That’s not all I covet.”  She rubbed her belly.  “I envy you your waist.”
    Samantha’s laughter halted abruptly.  She looked eastward, back the way they had come.  “I’d trade a slim waist