"I'm hurting you! We're in the midst of a fiasco like this" -- "It

wasn't my fault!"

His jaw twisted hard.

"I know. It wa~ mine. For being so damned determined to try to

understand you.

She felt the color drain from her face. The planes of his face seemed

very lean and hard. He was more bronze, tauter. There was a fresh scar

upon his cheek. She wanted to touch it tenderly, but he was holding her

with too great a vigor. And the smoky anger in his eyes told her he did

not want her touch.

He had come for her. He had survived both yon Heusen's guns and his

fight with Chavez to come for her. But now she realized that he had come

only because he considered himself responsible for what had happened to

her. She paled, trying to pull from his grasp, but he wouldn't let her.

"The puberty rite for Nalte's sister will last four days. He will not

attend to any other business during that time. Jori and I are to be his

guests. You are to stay here, do you understand me?"

"Just stay here ... for four days?" she whispered.

"Can't I be with you?"

He swore, vehemently.

"You were purchased, Tess! Damn it, don't you realize that? And not for

your talents with a newspaper."

"Jamie, don't you start with me" -- "No, don't you start with me," he

said heatedly.

"You can manage yourself, and you can manage a lot, and you probably are

a damned good rancher and newspaper woman. But if you try anything here,

Tess, we'll both probably die. Do you understand? We're walking a very

narrow line here. I've tried to explain von Heusen to Nalte.

He has a sense of honor; there is a chance he will return you. But I

can't do-any of this if you interfere. Do you understand?"

She wrenched free of him at last. His hands fell upon his hips and his

hat brim tipped over one eye, yet she could still see the silver glint

in the other. She swung around and walked with her shoulders stiff and

straight, then she sat Indian fashion upon a blanket roll. She mustn't

let him see how hurt she was.

He didn't say anything else to her, but started to turn to leave. She

couldn't stand that, and called out to him.

"Jamie!"

"What?" he demanded impatiently.

"What" -- She paused, licking her lips. "what happened to Chavez?"

"He's dead," Jamie said flatly.

"And the Comancheros" -- "The Comancheros never saw me," he said.

"But if we're going to get out of the mountains, we're going to need an

Apache escort. So don't create problems."

"Me!" "You," he said succinctly, and he was on his way out again.

"Jamie!"

"what now?"

She hesitated a second.

"Thank you. Thank you for coming after me.

Thank you for risking so much."

"You don't need to thank me. I owed you this." This time he stayed,

staring at her. But she couldn't speak anymore because sudden tears were

welling behind her lashes and threatening to spill over on her cheeks.

He owed her this. He had come for her because he owed her. She had

dreamed that he was falling in love with her.

Maybe she was proving to be too much trouble. She had traded half her

land for a hired gun. But she had never told 231 her hired gun he was

going to have to go after Comancheros and Apache as well as von Heusen's

men. I'll member to thank Jon," she said coolly.

"He didn't owe me anything."

"You do that," Jamie told her. But still he didn't leave. He stood by

the entrance, and she sat across from him, her knees crossed, her

shoulders and back-very straight, her hands resting upon her knees. The

distance between them seemed immense, and yet she felt the touch of his

eyes as if it was fire.

It was he who spoke. ~this time, lightly, softly. "Tess?"

"What?"

"Did--did any of them--hurt you?"

She knew what he meant. Her cheeks burned and her lashes fell over her

cheeks.

"David was a monster, and he probably would have killed me. Jeremiah

wasn't so bad--he wouldn't let David touch me. I was sorry to see

Jeremiah killed." Her voice faded slightly.

"Especially the way he was killed.

And Chavez. Well, you know about Chavez, because. because you were

there."

"Yes, I know about Chavez. What about Nalte?" She shook her head.

"He let me be. Because of his sister."

She started, hearing the long, ragged exhalation of his breath. She

thought, for a moment, that he would cross the distance between them and

take her into his arms. He did not. She could scarcely breathe, longing

to leap to her feet once again. But he had already set her from him. She

wasn't going to touch him again.

"You're still Nalte's," he told her harshly. She gazed at him, wondering

what he meant. Then she realized that he would not touch her until he

had completed his negotiations with the Apache chief.

He didn't say any more. He swung around and left, and she knew that even

if she had called his name then, he would have left her.

The day wore on endlessly. Tess could hear the ceremonial drums beating

and the chants of the puberty rite, but she could see nothing, and she

was involved in nothing. She tried very hard to be patient, and to

understand that everything rested upon negotiation.

Late in the afternoon, Jon came in. She almost leaped into his arms, but

he was carrying a dish of food for her. He set it down, and she did hug

him, fiercely. "Eat," he told her.

"You may need your strength."

She nodded and sat and looked suspiciously at her bowl. "What is it?"

she asked.

"Something exotic and Apache," he told her, "beef. Probably, from cattle

taken in a raid. You should not worry.

The Apache are very finicky about what they eat. They will not eat

snake, for they believe that the creature is evil, and they will not eat

evil meat.

Here they are close enough to the plains to seek out the buffalo. They

also hunt deer, antelope, elk and bighorn. Their food is quite safe, I

assure you."

She flashed him a quick smile and ate the beef with her fingers. It was

delicious.

"How does the ceremony progress?" she asked. "The gift has been taken to

the ceremonial tepee with her shaman. She has knelt down on the buckskin

and lain prone to be massaged by her sponsor, and she has run in the

four directions. Tonight she will dance in the ceremonial tepee, and

others will dance in the center of the village."

He paused, looking at her.

"I am leaving tonight. Nalte will not let you go until this ceremony is

over, and we think it is important that I hurry to Wiltshire with the

news that you have been found."

"Oh!" Tess said, setting down her bowl and staring at him. Then she

moved across the tent and hugged him close.

"I don't want you to leave. I'm so afraid for you."

"The Apache will see me past the Comancheros, as they will do for you if

they choose to let you go."

"If" -- "Whenl" he assured her.

She pulled slightly away, staring into his deep green eyes and feeling

as if she had found a friend she would cherish all her life. In his

buckskins he appeared very much the Indian, but his words were those of

the white man who knew her society and understoocf her fears.

"Oh, Jon, be careful!" she pleaded with him. "I'm quite sure he will

be."

Jamie's deep drawl startled them both. Tess stood quickly. Jon came to

his feet more slowly, staring at Jamie.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," Jamie said drily. He ducked beneath

the flap and was gone.

Tess instinctively ran after him.

Jon caught her before she could leave.

"You cannot go to him!" he ordered her hoarsely.

"He has explained to you.

You are still Nalte's. You remain here, untouched, until a decision is

made.

"But he--he misconstrued what he saw!" Tess wailed. Jon offered her a

dry smile.

"Perhaps he deserved to, eh?" She didn't smile in return, and he

hastened to reassure her.

"He is my friend, and I am his. He knows we said goodbye and nothing

more." He didn't let her answer, but gave her a quick squeeze.

"I'll see you in Wiltshire," " he whispered, then he was gone.

And she was left alone. Outside the light was fading. Darkness was

coming, and despite the summer heat of the day, the night was coming

with a chill.

Tess shivered and wrapped her arms around herself, staring miserably at

the center of the tent where the fire burned no longer.

Jamie walked almost blindly into the growing darkness of the night.

Soon, the evening ceremonies for the young girl would begin, but at the

moment, there was a lull as preparations were made. This puberty rite

was one of the most important for the Apache. It was a structured

society, a social one, and respect and honor were tremendously

important.

The anger that seethed through him lightened for a moment as he thanked

God that Nalte happened to be an exceptionally honorable man. Nalte had

known when he first bargained with yon Heusen that the man who intended

to sell a blond woman to him had to be somewhat of an outcast in his own

society. But he had not imagined the things Jamie told him. Jamie