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Eyebrows arched, Garret turned in his saddle, looking not at her, but past her to Lenny. Whatever he’d seen in Lenny’s face, it made him slow down and untie the thin leather string securing his rifle to his saddle.
A half an hour more of riding without interruption, and she’d relaxed into the rhythm of Buck’s gait again. Her body could only stay tense and fearful for so long before it tired of the game.
“Time to settle in for the night,” Garret announced in a tone which brooked no argument.
Not that she would have squabbled anyway. She had been working on her endurance in the saddle, but still would be walking bow-legged for a good while after an entire day of riding.
She dismounted stiffly in a small clearing along with Burke and Lenny while Garret rode around the perimeter. Lenny was still unusually quiet. Granted, around the men she was usually on task and not talkative, but even her movements were careful and calculated. And her eyes were lighter than she’d ever seen them, which said her wolf was riled up about something.
She turned around to find Lenny standing within inches of her.
“You scared the devil out of me!” Eliza clutched her chest.
Lenny glanced at Burke, who was unloading their provisions for the night. At such a distance, he wouldn’t easily hear a whispered conversation.
“I feel trouble coming,” Lenny whispered as she pressed one of Garret’s pistols into her hand and waited for her to give any response she understood.
Eliza put the heavy pistol in the belt and folds of her skirt, and squeezed Lenny’s hand. She had only seen the girl scared when Wyatt approached, and for good reason. Such apprehension in her toughened friend was unsettling.
Garret tied Rooney loosely to a rope Burke had draped between a couple of trees. The other horses were already relaxing weary muscles after the long day and tearing through any grass within reach. By the time Garret came back, she and Lenny had already begun preparing ham and beans in a travel skillet, and Burke had started a fire with some tinder he’d collected.
Like the trilling of an extremity that had fallen asleep from prolonged inactivity, her ears tingled with the constant thrum of readiness. Every few seconds the hairs on her nape would rise as if a predator’s gaze was upon her back. If the feeling of dread was so potent for her, it had to be tenfold for the others, more trained to be wary of unseen danger. Restless and watchful, no one spoke a word as they set to their task of making dinner and camp.
“You’re spooking us all, Lenny,” Garret murmured as they ate.
“You can’t feel them?”
“No.”
“Me neither,” Burke admitted. “My wolf is completely relaxed.”
The stubborn set of Lenny’s lips made Eliza want to back her up. “If Lenny feels something, we do need to be careful.”
“She just doesn’t like getting so close to the other Pack’s territory,” Burke said around a bite. “Ain’t no shame in being wary, woman. You just can’t let it make you jumpy. Being jumpy is when someone gets hurt for no reason.” He jutted his chin at Eliza. “She’s got a pistol in her belt, and for what? I can’t even smell other wolves in these woods. Stop scaring Eliza.”
Lenny growled at Burke, and then stood abruptly and stormed into the woods.
Eliza moved to follow her, but Garret stopped her. “Let her be. She needs to work her way through this.”
“She shouldn’t be alone out there,” Eliza whispered.
“Sometimes the wolf needs a little space,” Garret explained low. “Let her be.”
So she did. She felt like the worst friend, but she let Lenny have space. A couple hours later, just when they were all readying their bedrolls to go to sleep, Lenny appeared out of the woods like an apparition.
“Get a good look around?” Garret asked.
“The Jenningses are all in their territory, settling in for the night.”
“You went to their house?” Eliza blurted out in shock.
“I wanted to know where they were,” Lenny said with a shrug. “Now we know, and maybe I can settle down.”
Garret hid a smile, but Eliza swatted at his arm. “This isn’t funny, Garret. We should’ve gone with her. She could’ve gotten hurt.”
“You saw her wolf,” Garret argued. “She can handle herself. Well, as long as she doesn’t have your clumsy ass to protect.”
Burke snorted, and Eliza narrowed her eyes at them both. “Do better at life, boys. Be better friends.”
