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56f3979
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Why would you bother lying?" Her eyes darkened. "What would you gain?" "Your ruffles?" He watched her face and knew the moment when she realized he was teasing her. "You said I could steal them, yes?" "As I recall, we decided you should take them when I wasn't them." He ran a knuckle along the shadowy contour of her jaw. She tipped her head to press her cheek into his palm, tears spilling in sparkling splendor from her eyes. "Oh, Hunter, ..
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Catherine Anderson |
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45a1580
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He ran his palm up the curve of her back and then removed his arm from around her, amused at how swiftly she rolled off him, fussing with her many skirts to be sure her ruffled breeches weren't exposed. Her shyness baffled him. He could remember how her body looked in firelight, her skin as pale as moonbeams, the tips of her breasts the delicate pink of cacti blossoms. How could such loveliness bring shame?
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Catherine Anderson |
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7e04305
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Sensing reprieve, grasping for it with eager disbelief, she lifted her lashes in confusion to see the same emotion reflected in his cobalt eyes. He began to tremble, as if the lance weighed a thousand pounds. And suddenly she knew that as much as he longed to murder her, a part of him couldn't, wouldn't throw the lance. It made no sense. She could see nothing but hatred written on his chiseled face. He had surely killed hundreds of times an..
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Catherine Anderson |
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9a7bec4
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If I could be the one to go, I would. She's daughter." "And she's my little sister. Maybe not by blood, but in all the ways that count. Hunter--he may be too late to spare her completely. But he can reach her before they take her across the border." Loretta's stomach quivered with fear, fear she refused to analyze. "He's only three days ahead of me. The village won't have moved this quickly. I can find them. And that's exactly what I'm go..
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Catherine Anderson |
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c756c20
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She knew no horse of Tom's could catch him. Like his sire, he ran like the wind.
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Catherine Anderson |
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108bd58
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Frightened and horribly frustrated, Loretta sank onto a rock and hugged her knees. Amy's life depended on it. And so did hers. The word dripped into her mind, as cold as melt-off ice. Hunter had made it look easy, but he was a Comanche. She was a stupid How could she hope to track Comanches out here when some of the finest scouts in the country had failed? Loretta sighed and stood up. She couldn't turn back. The Comancheros had Amy. T..
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Catherine Anderson |
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dc85d1e
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You are angry?" Her reply was frigid silence. "Blue Eyes, what wrong words have I said?" "What have you said?" Hunter frowned. "It would not please you to marry with me? Better a wife than a slave, yes?" "I will play second fiddle, !" Hunter studied her, trying to figure out why she had switched the topic of conversation from marriage to making music. "How you!" she cried. "Of all the-- You arrogant, simple-- Oh, never mind! Just you u..
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Catherine Anderson |
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194d511
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One unto the other, with no horizon, that is what she wants! Imagine her setting up a lodge, tanning hides, sewing, cooking, gathering wood, all by herself. And what if she became ill while I was away? Who would tend her? Who would keep her company? The way she believes, if I was gone for a long while, she couldn't even go to Warrior to seek solace." "Would you wish for her to?" Hunter gave the ashes a vicious poke, sending up a cloud of gr..
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Catherine Anderson |
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0f62e60
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It is good I came, my father. You have the gift. Already my heart is lighter." Many Horses ran his tongue over his own jagged teeth, nodding thoughtfully. "I am proud of all my children," he said huskily. "Of you, most of all. It is a strange thing, my son, but when a man takes a babe into his arms and claims him as son, it becomes a truth within his heart. The blood in his veins is as nothing. The color of his eyes is as nothing. When you ..
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Catherine Anderson |
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e1d20c6
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You came here angry because your yellow-hair is angry, yes? If you love her, it will be the same when she is sad, when she is happy. Have you ever stood where a stream spills into a river? The two become one. They laugh over the stones together, twist through the sharp canyons together, plunge down the waterfalls together. It is the same when a man and woman love one another. It is not always a pleasant thing, but when it happens, a man has..
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Catherine Anderson |
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d8b54e5
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Swift Antelope, I don't think she even likes you." "Your yellow-hair doesn't like you too well, either." He had a point."
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Catherine Anderson |
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0de4ee6
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You sure are a purty thing," he murmured, his voice husky. "I bet that buck of yours'll be hot on our trail to git you back. That is if he ain't dead." The stench of the man's body filmed the lining of Loretta's nostrils. She hated the contemplative look on his face. If she admitted she was married to a Comanche, he would consider her fair game and use her himself. His men would follow suit with Amy. The thought made Loretta's stomach roll...
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Catherine Anderson |
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9e5a533
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Peace filled Hunter. With so many Great Ones, both his and hers, surely they would be blessed. Relaxing his body, he surrendered himself to fate. The Great Ones would guide them. Loretta's God would lead his footsteps in the hunt when his own gods failed him. Together he and Loretta would find a new place where the Comanche and could live as one, where Hunter could sing the songs of the People and keep their ways alive. Rising, Hunter tur..
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Catherine Anderson |
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b377ce3
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I would ask one thing of you, Ride beside me one last time into battle. It will be our final memory of each other, yes?" Once again Hunter remembered looking into that white man's blue eyes. When would it ever end? But his brother had made this request of him. "I will ride with you," Hunter whispered. "One last time."
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Catherine Anderson |
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5f5b0ed
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What'sa matter? You afraid I'll get too friendly if I find out you've been pleasurin' Comanches?" Struggling to stay calm, she said, "You're a smart man. I heard you and your men talking. You were hired to captives, not abuse them. Touch one of us, and it'll be the mistake of your life. We haven't been pleasuring anyone. And if we end up pleasuring you, I guarantee you'll hang for it." He didn't bluff easily. Running his fingers under the..
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Catherine Anderson |
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f321e2c
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I cannot fight an enemy whose face is hidden.
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Catherine Anderson |
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cfbb3a0
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Hunter crouched beside the fire, a cup of coffee cradled in his palms, his gaze fixed on the shifting flames. He could see his yellow-hair from the corner of his eye and knew every time she moved, every time she looked at him. Somehow she had managed to stay covered with the fur while she pulled on his shirt and her ruffled breeches. His brother, Warrior, squatted next to him and began tossing chips of bark onto the coals, watching them ign..
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Catherine Anderson |
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e671520
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You must teach her, eh? If you go down in battle and I have to take her into my lodge circle, I want to know her children are yours." "She will learn. I will teach her honor if I kill her doing it." Warrior plucked a blade of grass and began to nibble on it, his expression distant. Hunter recognized the signs. His brother's thoughts were flitting to yet another place. After a moment Warrior spat and said, "Old Man tells me that you may have..
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Catherine Anderson |
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969b262
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When they reached the river, he turned left. " , Blue Water River. You call it the Brazos, eh?" He pointed ahead of them. " , upstream." Jabbing a thumb over his shoulder, he said, " , downstream. You will listen good, Blue Eyes, and learn. talk is dirt in my mouth." His tone set Loretta off balance. Dirt in his mouth? If he hated the whites so much, why on earth had he taken her? Upstream, downstream, she couldn't remember the words. She..
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Catherine Anderson |
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0b9b3b4
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The girl is half my size. I think I can handle her without calling council." "You disappoint me, Hunter. Where is the patience you show with the wild horses you train? Has it gone the way of the wind?" "A horse is worth the trouble. A yellow-hair is not."
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Catherine Anderson |
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144de64
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Another rock jabbed her insole, and she winced, missing a step. He released her elbow and swept her off her feet into his arms. He took her so much by surprise that if she could have screamed, she would have. Their eyes locked, his mocking, hers wide. Though he now bore Loretta's weight, her position was such that her back was in danger of breaking if she didn't loop an arm around his neck. He stood there, looking down at her and waiting. H..
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Catherine Anderson |
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cf38742
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When she lowered her hands, her reflection shimmered up at her, pale and golden in contrast with the bronzed, dark-haired man next to her. Seeing herself beside him made the nightmarish situation she was in seem all the more real. She turned to look at him, and at the same instant he looked at her. For several heartbeats they simply studied one another. "Even the water sings our song." He sighed and rose to his knees, glancing back down at..
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Catherine Anderson |
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c49d255
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The joy of Loretta's homecoming was overshadowed by Henry's rage. Friends with a murderin' savage, was she? A Comanche slut, that's what, kissin' on him in broad daylight, comin' home to shame them all with her Injun horse and heathen necklace. His land looked like a bloomin' pincushion with all them heathen lances pokin' up. He was gonna get shut of 'em, just like he had those horses. Half of 'em stole from white folks! Some trade that was..
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Catherine Anderson |
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ca80adb
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The girl is half my size. I think I can handle her without calling council." "You disappoint me, Hunter. Where is the patience you show with the wild horses you train? Has it gone the way of the wind?" "A horse is worth the trouble. A yellow-hair is not." "I know men who greatly treasure golden women. Perhaps she will grow on you." "I prefer a horse. A one." "Women, horses, there is little difference, eh? Well trained, they both give men ..
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Catherine Anderson |
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678beca
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She clutched her skirt. "What does that mean?" "I love you."
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Catherine Anderson |
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db06e1b
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A loud clunk resounded behind her. She glanced over her shoulder, expecting to see her husband. Instead she looked straight into Red Buffalo's black eyes. For an instant her heart stopped beating. She stared at him. He stared back. His arms were laden with firewood. One piece lay at his feet. Very slowly he hunkered down and began unloading the rest. At last Loretta found her voice. "Get out of here!" "I bring you wood," he replied softly i..
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Catherine Anderson |
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8e7cd8d
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He had once told Loretta that he would be as nothing without his people, and that was true. He would be giving up all that he was to be with her. Yet how could he live without her? The prophecy had come to pass. Without her, he had no tomorrows. How could a man live without them?
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Catherine Anderson |
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c45e3de
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From the moment she had stepped out from her wooden walls, the path ahead of him had been clearly marked, but he had been too blind to see it. A woman and a Comanche, their pasts stained with tears and bloodshed, had little hope of coexisting happily with either race. To be as one, they had to walk alone, away from both their people.
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Catherine Anderson |
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c622c51
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From the moment she had stepped out from her wooden walls, the path ahead of him had been clearly marked, but he had been too blind to see it. A woman and a Comanche, their pasts stained with tears and bloodshed, had little hope of coexisting happily with either race. To be as one, they had to walk alone, away from both their people. Where, that was the question. And Hunter had no answers. West, as the prophecy foretold? Into the great mo..
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Catherine Anderson |
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9f2057f
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Looking skyward, he searched for Loretta's Great One, the Almighty Father to whom she gave thanks for her food. At first he had been disgruntled by her prayers. Her God didn't bring her the food; her husband did. Loretta had explained that her God led Hunter's footsteps so his hunts were successful. Was her God up there in the sky, as she believed? Did he truly hear a man's whispers, his thoughts? Hunter could see his own gods, Mother Earth..
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Catherine Anderson |
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8595c7b
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Looking skyward, he searched for Loretta's Great One, the Almighty Father to whom she gave thanks for her food. At first he had been disgruntled by her prayers. Her God didn't bring her the food; her husband did. Loretta had explained that her God led Hunter's footsteps so his hunts were successful. Was her God up there in the sky, as she believed? Did he truly hear a man's whispers, his thoughts? Hunter could see his own gods, Mother Earth..
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Catherine Anderson |
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033b428
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Smiling, he plucked a blade of grass and feathered it along her arm, reaching up under her loose sleeve. Next he directed his attention to her leg, tracing a circle around the top of her moccasin, grazing the curve of her calf, the back of her thigh beneath her skirt. Loretta's belly knotted, and delicious shivers coursed down her spine. She felt a blush creeping up her neck. He was deliberately calling to her mind the things he had done t..
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Catherine Anderson |
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1dcc33d
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What is this to do with spit?" "It's just a saying. When someone or something looks just like something else, it's called a spittin' image. I don't know why." "You do not know, but you say the words? The words from your mouth say who you are, Blue Eyes. I make a lie; I am an , storyteller. I speak hate; my heart burns with hate. The People do not make talk if they do not know the words. If it is spoken, it must be. A man is what he speaks...
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Catherine Anderson |
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5246149
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The spittin' image of--What was your dead friend's name?" "It is not to be spoken. He is dead, no? To say his name would not show respect. What is this to do with spit?" "It's just a saying. When someone or something looks just like something else, it's called a spittin' image. I don't know why." "You do not know, but you say the words? The words from your mouth say who you are, Blue Eyes. I make a lie; I am an , storyteller. I speak hate;..
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Catherine Anderson |
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6e4de95
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You will learn the meaning of this spit image, no? And say it to me. When we meet again?" Loretta tightened her hand on the reins. "Yes, we meet again." He glanced over at her, his expression suddenly solemn. "We walk backward in our footsteps, eh? Maybe you will walk forward a new way when we reach your wooden walls. You could be a little bit happy as my woman, no?"
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Catherine Anderson |
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ef1e488
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Reflection?" "Yes, he is his reflection." "The spittin' image of--What was your dead friend's name?" "It is not to be spoken. He is dead, no? To say his name would not show respect. What is this to do with spit?"
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Catherine Anderson |
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6b5200d
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We walk backward in our footsteps, eh? Maybe you will walk forward a new way when we reach your wooden walls. You could be a little bit happy as my woman, no?" Loretta fixed her eyes on the horizon ahead of them. They were only a day and a half's ride from her home. A day and a half from real clothes, a chance to wash her hair, to eat her own kind of food. Yes, he had been kind to her. As reluctant as she was to admit it, she'd even come to..
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Catherine Anderson |
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e2bd8b9
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At noon the following day, the Comanches crested the rise above the Masters farm and drew in their horses, well out of firing range. Loretta clutched her horse's reins with such force that her knuckles ached. Hunter sat astride his stallion beside her, his knee brushing hers. Loretta couldn't look at him. Instead she stared at the little house she had thought never to see again. Nothing about it had changed. She wondered what Uncle Henry ha..
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Catherine Anderson |
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eff1bd7
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Well, I guess this is it." "For this little bit time." She looked up. "Hunter, you mustn't--" He leaned toward her and crossed her lips with a finger. "You can read my trail, eh? You can walk in my footsteps and come to me. I will leave you signs." With a nod, Loretta slid off the horse and stretched the reins out to him. Instead of taking them, he dismounted and walked around his horse to stand with her. She tipped her head back, trying he..
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Catherine Anderson |
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76bd7c0
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I'm here if you need an ear. You can count on me." With that, she left the loft. Loretta wrapped her arms around her knees and gazed out the window at the moonlit yard, remembering another night, a lifetime ago, when Hunter had sat astride his black stallion there, his arm lifted to her in a salute, his fisted hand holding her stolen bloomers. How could it be that a Comanche understood the song her heart sang and her own aunt did not?"
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Catherine Anderson |
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ffb8de5
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Only a White Eyes would walk when she had a perfectly good horse to ride.
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Catherine Anderson |
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f7383ae
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He could only trust in the Great Ones that all would be well for her there. He feared her adoptive father might abuse her, but there was no way he could protect her when she wasn't at his side. His chest tightened. What if the song did not come to pass? What if the great circle of fate never brought her back to him? He clenched his hands into fists, struggling with himself not to go after her. His woman, yet not his woman. Did she know she ..
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Catherine Anderson |
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d1ca70b
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Did she know she took with her a little bit of his heart?
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Catherine Anderson |
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d3ddedd
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Hunter made the time pass more quickly by teaching her things while they rode: how to find water by watching the birds and wild horses and by searching for certain types of grass that grew only near underground springs; how to track; and, most fascinating, how to read the signs left by Comanches to show which direction they had traveled. "Hunter, if you leave signs for other Comanche bands, why do white men have so much trouble finding you?..
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Catherine Anderson |