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“You’ve spent a lot of time looking at this, haven’t you?”
Tynan didn’t answer her, but lay on his back and looked at the sky. “I missed seeing the sky while I was in prison. What you can see is covered by iron bars. And I didn’t like the noise either.”
Chris wanted to hear more about the photo. “How did the old man get this picture? If she had this, she must have had other things too.”
“He sold everything else, even her clothes and her underwear. I imagine he threw her naked body off the side there. Or else it’s still around here.”
“Tynan! How can you be so crass? The woman was your mother, and she died giving birth to you.”
He sat up. “She died from three bullet wounds in her back.”
“But who wanted to kill her? Why?”
“Is there anything to eat around here? Maybe I could scout up some game.”
“Are you going to answer me? Do you have any idea why someone would shoot a woman who was carrying a child?”
He looked down at her. “Why do men cheat at cards? Why do men get drunk and try to kill each other? I don’t know. She wandered in here with three big holes in her back, lay down, gave birth to me, said ‘Tynan,’ then died. That’s the sum of all I know. The miner watched her give birth, planned to leave both her and the kid, but then he thought he could sell what clothes she hadn’t bled on and the screaming brat, so he stripped her and carried me down the mountain. That’s it, Chris, that’s all there is to tell. He sold everything except the picture. Nobody wanted a photo of a woman they didn’t know, so I took it one summer when he had me up here working. Now, can I eat?”
Chris sat on the ground and looked at the picture. “She’s a very pretty woman.”
“Was. Shewaspretty. She’s been dead for a long time. Chris, why are you so all-fired interested in my mother?”
“I’m interested in—” She stopped abruptly. She’d almost said that she was interested in him. “I’m a reporter,” she said, rising. “I’m curious, that’s all. I’m curious about everything.”
“Well, I’m curious about what’s cooking in that pot.” He moved closer to her. “Maybe you could go hunting with me.”
“I can’t leave Pilar.”
“She can go with us. It’ll do her good to walk around some.”
“I don’t think so. I need to clean up around here and…”
Ty moved even closer to her, then put his hand to the side of her face. “Chris, please go with me. I promise I’ll behave. I won’t do anything you don’t want me to.”
She took a step away from him. He could use that voice of his to make a person’s resolve melt. “I shouldn’t. I should…”
“Should what?” he asked, following her as she backed away.
“Chris!” Pilar called. “I’d love to get some exercise. Could you go with Ty for my sake?”
“I…I guess so,” she began, looking into Tynan’s smiling eyes. “But don’t you try anything,” she warned. “I’m not going to give into you.”
His eyelids lowered. “Sweetheart, I haven’t evenaskedyou yet.”
After Tynan had eaten most of the stew Chris had cooked, he took his rifle, helped Pilar to stand and started up the little trail behind the cabin. Chris complained twice about his walking on his injured leg, but he just grinned at her.
“Remember the time you and the Chanry boys robbed that bank down in Texas and—” Pilar began.
“Robbed the bank?” Chris gasped. “Robbed a bank!”
Ty winked at Pilar. “She thinks I’m as clean as a new snow, that I’m innocent on all counts.”
“I’ve seen you shoot people. I took him to a picnic and he got into a fight with a man and the man got shot. On a church picnic, mind you.”
“Rory Sayers,” Ty said to Pilar as if that were answer enough.
“I never met anyone who was asking for it more,” Pilar said. “Ty, didn’t you have a garden up here when you were a boy?”
