that David and Jeremiah were involved in a fistfight with one another.

David was swinging and screaming at the same time.

"What the hell's the matter with you, Jeremiah? You can have your damned

turn when I'm done" -- "No! Von Heusen said no! He promised the chief an

in- noeent woman " -- "What do you think she was doing by the river with

Slater?"

"I don't know anything! I saw the girl washing her face, and I saw

Slater going for a swim. That's all I saw. Von Heusen promised the

Comancheros an innocent. And he made us swear not to touch her. I'm not

getting my balls shot off for your entertainment, and that's a damned

fact."

"I give the orders here" -- "Von Heusen gives the orders here!"

Tess realized that she was just staring at them. They were fighting like

madmen and not paying the least bit of at ten- 185 finn to her, and she

was just staring at them. She rolled over and stumbled to her feet. It

was time to start running again, before David convinced Jeremiah that

she was no innocent and that no one would ever know if the two of them

used her, too.

She hadn't gone three steps before fingers laced into her hair, dragging

her back. She gasped and sobbed, swinging and flailing out, but she was

so exhausted, and in so much pain, that she knew that no matter what her

will, she could not fight much longer.

"Stop it! Stop it! Come on, Miss. Stuart, calm down, and make the night

easier on all of us! I won't touch you, and he won't touch you, you

understand? Just calm down." It was Jeremiah who held her. He was as

young as David, she decided. He had lanky blond hair and colorless blue

eyes, but they didn't yet hold that absolute cold, cruel streak that

touched David's.

He almost smiled.

"I'm going to get you something to wear. Then I'm going to tie you up. I

have to. But I'll get you water, too, and something to eat. We're not

going to touch you."

"Speak for yourself!" David snarled from a few steps away.

"We're not going to touch her?" Jeremiah snapped. "We're going to turn

her over to the Comancheres, just like we promised yon Heusen."

Tess didn't know who would win out. Jeremiah kept a firm grip upon her

arm and pulled her along. She saw that there was a third horse on the

trail, and that a number of rolled packs were tied on the animal's back.

Jeremiah kept one hand and one eye on her as he tugged at the bundles to

free them.

When they fell to the ground, he pulled her down with him to dig into

one.

"Here," he said roughly.

"Take this. And get into it. But if you try anything funny, I'll turn my

back and close my ears and David can do whatever the hell he wants.

Understand?"

She understood. She hadn't the strength to fight them. She needed some

sleep. She needed a little time to think and plan.

She snatched the clothing Jeremiah handed her. Apache, she thought.

There were fine, soft trousers and a traditional blouse of buckskin with

beadwork and tin cone pendants. She slipped into the bushes with the

garments.

"You stay where I can hear you!" Jeremiah called. "I'm here!" she

replied.

The buckskin garments concealed much more than the tattered remnants of

her clothes had. She couldn't believe she could be grateful to Jeremiah

for anything, but she was glad of the clothing. If--not if, when! --she

found her opportunity to escape, she would be much better able to

weather the elements.

"You still there?" Jeremiah demanded.

Tess tossed her torn undergarments into the bushes and stepped 'out in

the Apache attire.

"She should have had a skirt. No warrior trousers," David commented.

"She couldn't ride in a skirt," Jeremiah retorted. Tess stood quietly.

Jeremiah was the one to work on, she thought. He seemed to have a few

human qualities left. She lowered her eyes and stood still.

"Miss. Stuart, you come over here and let me tie your hands," he said.

She didn't move.

"Please ..." she murmured softly. "Well ..." Jeremiah began.

"Well, nothing! She's taking you strictly for a fool, that's what she's

doing!" David strode over angrily and snatched the rope from Jeremiah's

hands. He walked roughly toward Tess. Seeing his face, she almost

panicked.

She almost ran.

"Try it. I'd love it if you did!" he told her, his eyes narrowing. He

meant it. He liked the chase, he liked the fight and he even liked the

smell of blood.

She held out her hands mutely. David looped the rope around them

tightly, tugging hard on the knot. Then he caught her arm and dragged

her past the horses to the center of the little clearing where they had

paused. He shoved her down to her knees and warned her, "Sit! Just sit?

He looked over to Jeremiah.

"There's a creek down past the scrub bush over there. Nothing much. But

you can go get rid of that paint. Then I'll decide if I trust you to

keep an eye on her so I can do the same!"

Jeremiah hesitated.

"Don't you go getting' no ideas, now, David Birch."

"I ain't going to get any ideas! I want to get this blasted paint off,

and that's all!"

Jeremiah walked to the bundles and picked up a satchel of clothing.

He stared at David, then walked toward the brush.

Tess kept her eyes on David. He smiled as he watched her in turn.

"You think you're going to get around Jeremiah, don't you? Well, you're

not going to. I'm going to see to that.

You're going to reach old Chief Nalte, and then you won't have to worry

about writing those rabble-rousing pieces in that newspaper of yours

anymore, ever again.

You'll have lots of other things to think about." He cackled with

laughter.

"Lots and lots of other things. Like raising a whole little troop of

papooses, yeah." ,. Tess edge~l-around in the dirt, turning her back on

him.

He laughed all the harder, then he came forward and jerked her head back

so her eyes watered as they met his.

"I'm going to enjoy knowing where you are. Just like I enjoyed hearing

Slater's skull crush this morning. I really got a kick out of that."

She forced herself to smile.

"Maybe his skull didn't crush," she said very softly.

David gritted his teeth and yanked harder on her hair. "He's gone, lady.

Dead and gone. And you don't need to worry about that no more, either."

He walked away, leaving her in peace at last. In time, Jeremiah

returned, and he became her silent guard.

She hadn't the energy to say anything to him. They sat in silence while

the darkness fell upon them. When David re.

turned, the two men made a fire. There was cold chicken to eat and water

from canteens, but they wouldn't untie Tess's hands, and the effort to

eat suddenly seemed too great. She left the food, sipped some water and

lay down in the dirt.

She tried to tell herself that Jamie was alive. Any minute now he would

come rushing out from the bushes and kill the two men and take her away.

But he did not come. She closed her eyes in misery and tried to forget

the nightmare visions of the day.

Jeremiah came over and tossed a blanket around her shoulders and shoved

a pack beneath her head for a pillow.

"Don't think about going nowhere," he warned her. David obviously didn't

think the warning was enough. He stood and walked to the piles by the

packhorse and came back with a good length of rope. She tried to inch

away from him, but he tied one end of the rope around her ankle.

Pinching her cheek, he spoke directly into her face.

"If you move, I'll feel it. If you run, I'll make you pay for it." He

walked away with the other end of the rope in his hand.

It didn't really matter. If she had been threatened by evexy demon in

hell, she couldn't have run that night. She was too weary. Tears stung

her eyes.

When she closed them, she saw Jamie again, fighting, then falling. And

she heard his whisper.

I think I'm falling in love with you. It hurt to close her eyes; it hurt

to open them. She prayed for sleep against the nightmare images. She

tried to tell herself that he was still alive. But he would have come

for her if he was alive. He would have come.

And if he was not alive, well, then, she didn't want to live, either.

Jamie was alive, if only just barely.

Jori found him around midnight, when the moon was full and high. The

wagon had come home without Jamie or Tess, but very late. Jon had to try

and track them from town in the darkness, and even when he had found

signs that the wagon had stopped and the two of them had walked toward

the river, it still took him time to find Jamie's still, crumpled body.

He drew off his buckskin jacket and wrapped it around his friend. He

touched the wound at Jamie's temple where the blood had dried. Carefully

moving his fingers over the skull, he decided that it was not cracked or

crushed. He took his kerchief to the river and soaked it and brought it

back to Jamie, cleansing the bloo~way. Jamie's body was icy cold.

He needed warmth, and quickly.

Jon rose carefully and lifted his friend's body into his arms. He called