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Sam heard a shot and heard Nodog squeal for a moment, then silence. Had they killed his dog? They would be sorry, if they did, that much he promised. A man could shoot at him, but if he raised a gun to his horse or dog, Sam was ready to kill.
Directly John stopped, got off his horse and came toward him. He spit his tobacco on the ground. Sam heard the sizzle of the tobacco. He held his breath and didn’t move. The best thing he could do now was play dead. John bent over him, but was satisfied he was either dead or close to it and remounted. “Guess that takes care of the girl and the stranger.”
As he rode off, Sam drew a quick breath. He lay still ‘til he heard the horse ride off. He had to make sure the stranger was gone before he got up, if he could get up. Everyplace on him felt as though his skin had peeled off him. Maybe he’d just lay here a while and rest, his mind directed him as he felt himself surrounded in a darkness that wasn’t there.
Two or three hours later, he cracked an eye as Nodog licked his face and whined. Pain registered all through Sam’s body, but he forced his mind not to think on it as he squinted to see. A horse was nearby and for a moment he was sure the cowboy had come back and wanted to reassure himself he was dead.
But directly he heard someone move about and as he squinted once more to see, he recognized her. Riley Morgan had come back, and Nodog had been bandaged on the leg.
She’d made a fire, gotten some water, and was trying her best to doctor him. He also saw Nodog panting heavily and laying on the ground with a bandage around one leg.
When she went to take his shirt off, he came to with a swear on his breath. “Dammit woman, what are you doin’?” he protested hotly.
“I’m tryin’ to heal you…” she whispered then continued to remove his shirt.
Sam fought to keep his shirt on.
“By takin’ my shirt off?” he yelled. “How bad is he?” Sam asked, staring at his dog.
“Nicked him in the leg is all; he’ll heal just fine. But you sure are cut up. You hold still so I can doctor this.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Let’s not be so loud or proud at the moment. I don’t know if anyone is about. I waited ‘til I was sure he was gone before I came in and made camp. Looks like you killed that George, alright. I’m obliged for that,” she exclaimed as she gently pulled the shirt away from him and the blood and sweat made it want to stick in places and she had to peel it from his body like the outer layers of an onion. Her hands felt gentle against him and he moaned despite himself. No one this soft had ever touched him, he was sure. The touch of her soft hands on his naked chest was unbearably sweet and provocative at the same time.
“Ain’t decent to strip me of my clothes,” Sam moaned.
“Be quiet. I’m doctoring you and I can’t doctor you between your clothes. Your skin is torn and it’ll get infected if we don’t put something on it. Land sakes they tore you to shreds. I found some aloe growin’ out here, and I’ll doctor you with that. It heals the skin better than anything. You hold still and let me tend it,” she directed firmly. “I once healed a man with burns on his body and everyone was amazed, but it weren’t me, it was the aloe. It’s like magic. I stitched Nodog up and he’ll be fine. He didn’t whimper when I bandaged him.”
“He don’t wear clothes either. Why did you come back?” he protested again. This time he couldn’t fight the sweet touch.
“Had to. Told you I was raised that way. You don’t leave nobody a foot in these parts. Without food, water, gun nor horse you’d die,” she argued. “Even with Nodog, you couldn’t make it.”
“That dog has saved me more times than I can count,” Sam protested. “Him and the horse are worth more than I got in my pockets…”
“Well, I’m glad you appreciate your animals and you’re probably right about that. That’s in your favor. This time Nodog needed some help too. So be quiet and be still. He was a better patient than you are.”
“Ain’t your concern…” Sam said in an almost sigh as her fingers spread the aloe against him. His whole body reacted to her touch and he couldn’t hide that fact either. “I’m a black man for God’s sake, what do you care if I die? Better me die than both of us.”
“You’re just a man to me. The fact that you’re black don’t mean a thing. When you gonna realize the war is over. You are a free man. My Pa hired many a black hands to help with the ranch, never treated a one of them different. Besides, a man that’s all I see. Anyway, I could say the same about you givin’ me a horse and gun too. You didn’t have to do that. You could have just left me…you didn’t. I’m a white woman for God’s sake.”
“That’s different, you’re a woman,” he explained. “No man leaves a woman stranded.”
“You didn’t have to bury that man neither, but you did. My Pa always taught me things about survival. He also taught me how to read a man,” she quipped. “He wanted me to know there was good ones and bad, and I had better learn to tell the difference. I’m pretty good at it now.”
“Read a man?” His head turned slightly to look at her. “Then why didn’t you read your foreman?”
Riley shot him a slight frown. “He was right under my nose, too close to be seen and detected. And…because I was too busy trying to run the ranch. I wasn’t looking at all the things he was doin’. You are right, I should have seen it comin’, and my dad would rise up from the grave to tell me so.”
She had cleaned up and her skin looked pretty and pink. She was tolerable to look at. But he wouldn’t notice any more about her, he determined, especially since her hands felt like velvet on his skin. The less he had to do with this female, the better.
“A decent man would do what you did: bury that fella and give me your horse. If you were of no character you wouldn’t have done that. You wouldn’t even think of doing that. So I came back for you. Figured we could travel by night and no one would see us.”
“We…” Sam shook his head and turned over so he could face her. But he was unprepared for the angel of a woman who bent over him to nurse him. She still wasn’t beautiful, however, something so sweet and innocent poured out of her face that Sam couldn’t take his eyes from her. No woman had ever captured his attention for long, but there was something almost angelic about her. She had no earthly idea what she did to him with those soft hands, sweet smile and eyes of an angel. “Look, I appreciate your decency. I do. But you ain’t usin’ your head, girl. The war might be over, but a black man is still a black man, and bein’ with a white woman…well, it’s not gonna work. Not here in the south at least.”
“Well, the way I see it, I ain’t gonna get nowhere out here by myself, and you ain’t gonna get nowhere without your horse. So we might as well stick together ‘til we can figure out what to do,” she insisted.
“Ma’am.” Sam rose and sat in front of her, ignoring the pain, wanting to be gentle and yet firm with her. He shook his head. “We can’t ride together nowhere. First time somebody seen us together they’d hang me and shoot you.”
