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Lucy got up and walked off. She turned around to look at her and smiled. "You are a brave woman and I respect you."
Gloria stared and then she broke out in a smile, "Thank you, Lucy. And I'm learning to respect you, too. I've got a feeling I might learn a lot on this trip."
Lucy sent her a shy smile.
Chapter Five
Lucy watched the interplay between Gloria and her husband, or lack of. Mr. Winters was a nice-looking man, not tall, but thin, which made him look taller. He had dark brown hair and eyes that pierced. But he didn't appear to be all that happy a man, judging by his expressions. Lucy paid a lot of attention to expressions as her husband had many. She looked at Aiden. "He doesn't talk much, does he?"
Aiden was tending the horses, as he was loosening the cinches and removing the saddles. He turned to glance over his shoulder at Mr. Winters. "No, he doesn't."
"Don't you find that a little strange?" She asked twisting her head and waiting for his answer.
"Hadn't given it much thought." Aiden told her, as he walked toward her. "Did you talk much to your husband?"
Lucy threw him a glance, "No, he was pretty silent too."
"How come?"
She almost laughed. "He had scarlet fever when he was a child and couldn't talk. He could hear. We communicated by sign language. I taught him a lot, he was even learning to write English before he was killed. Just like you taught me to read and write English. I remember those days well, Aiden."
"You learned fast. You know," he turned to her, "I remember him, I think, a mute. Yes, I do remember him. He was pretty nice kid. But I only knew him as a kid."
"Yeah, he was. I was kind of hungry to learn things back then I don't know if I ever thanked you for that."
"I'm glad you taught him, Lucy. You passed the knowledge on, that's always good." Aiden smiled.
Aiden's head reared, and he studied her a moment, "I didn't realize you married him."
"It wasn't like you may think Aiden."
"What do you mean?"
"We were able to communicate. It was one of the reasons he was lonely, no one else bothered to learn to understand him. I enjoyed conversing with him." She saw him staring and made a face. "We grew up together, we were best friends. But when he was very young, he had the Scarlet fever and was very sick, they didn't expect him to live. He survived. He was very good with animals, and it was his job to take care of the horses in the village. He became a very good horseman."
Aiden didn't say anything but there was an expression she couldn't quite read on his face.
As they were bedding down for the night, Lucy glanced over at him. "Why haven't you married Aiden?"
It was about the last question he expected.
Gloria looked up and propped herself on one elbow to listen. She was obviously interested in the answer too, Lucy surmised.
"My kind of life, who would want to live it?" He asked her.
"Why don't you change it then?"
"Maybe someday. For the right person." He tossed her a crooked smile.
"Have you ever been in love?"
"I'm not sure I know what love is." Aiden replied, indulging her curiosity. "Have you?"
She laid down now, and whispered, "Yes."
"With your husband?" Aiden smirked.
She fell silent a moment. "No." Lucy turned away, so he couldn't see her expression. "I liked him, don't get me wrong. I liked him a lot." she turned to look at him with a smile and propped her head on her arm. "But I don't think I was in love with him. Not the man and woman kind of love. When you grow up together you have a bond, a good bond, but not always a love bond. I loved him as a person, but it wasn't the personal kind of thing. What he did for me, made me care a great deal for him."
