Free A Woman Called Sage by DiAnn Mills Page B

and prepared last nights supper. Goodness, Miss Bess. You ought to be more careful. Startling someone in the dark could get you hurt.
    Oh, Ive been told that before. I heard you come down the stairs and wondered if youd like a fresh cup of coffee.
    The woman was a saint. Thanks. You must have read my mind.
    Cant remember if I introduced myself proper. The older I get, the more I forget. She held out a mug of coffee. It smelled better than a field of wildflowers.
    My papa always says that the best way to get to know someone is over a cup of coffee. Sage inhaled the fresh aroma and took a sip. This smells wonderful, maam.
    For a bounty hunter, you certainly talk proper. Like a lady.
    Sage laughed. I was born a woman. I chose to be a bounty hunter.
    What about breakfast before you head out? Bess sat beside her on the boardwalk. I have some biscuits and ham left from yesterday morning. In fact, I have them right here. I imagine jerky gets old when youre trailing somebody.
    Yes, maam, it does. Id be happy to take something to eat. Sounded like Bess understood her habits. Sage had seen how the woman treated the soiled doves, calling them honey and treating them like they were respected women. Perhaps her kindness extended honestly to a woman bounty hunter who was part Ute. Maybe when this is all over, I can enjoy another one of your fine meals here at the hotel.
    Glad to help. Bess handed Sage a small cloth bundle, then slapped her ample knees and stood. Ill be praying you find those boys without trouble. Leah doesnt need to bury any more of her family.
    Strange for a woman who worked with the worst of the towns men and women to mention praying. Ill do my best.
    Wheres your hawk?
    Sage heard the fearfulness in Besss voice. Hes most likely watching us from the windowsill until I call for him. He looks menacing, but he obeys me.
    Obedience for all of us is an important thing. When we have that meal together, we can sit and talk. Id like to get to know a woman who puts aside a womans role for a hard job like bounty hunting.
    A friend was a rarity Sage hadnt ever enjoyed. But a friend equated to trust, and shed never been able to inspire that trait in anyone other than her parents and Charles. Maybe we can.
    Bess held up a finger. Dont leave yet. She stepped back into the building, leaving Sage a little warmer and not just because of the coffee. A moment later, she returned with a lit lantern. You can leave it with the livery boy, and Ill fetch it later.
    Sage thanked her and stepped into the inky blackness with the lantern to light the way. Last night shed assigned the livery boy the job of keeping an eye on her pony, saddle, mule, and provisions, and told him to sleep in a nearby stall until she arrived this morning.
    As much as shed needed another solid nights sleep, dreams of Charles had kept her awake. In the past, nightmares reliving the shooting brought the tragedy to the surface. Other times, peaceful ideals of the life they could have shared together brought tears and a renewal of her vow to find his killer. Oh, for a home again. Bess had observed much in their brief encounters. Sage hadnt completely given up the mannerisms of a proper white woman, perhaps because of some deep understanding that she was just as much white as she was Ute.
    Last night, Charles spoke in her dreams about forgiving him. Her nighttime visitation had become a confusing mixture of memories and a vague reality that ended abruptly, as though the dreams meaning was to enlighten her for the days ahead. The quest to find the truth would gnaw at her until it was laid out raw. Until it was, shed not give in to the nagging doubts that plagued her. Hed been a good man. She simply hadnt learned the whole storyyet. Charless words from the past echoed around her as they had in her dream, pointing to a good reason not to believe hed run with an outlaw gang.
    A man has two choices in this life, Sage, hed said. He can take the path of his own selfishness or take the