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and see what we find. How far could she have traveled with a baby? It looked not a month old.”

    How far indeed? He made sense. How often had Juston Steele reminded her to act with logic instead of heated emotion?

    “We could come upon a party hunting for the female.” How many different packs hid in these mountains? Would there be a human settlement also or had this band of Savages killed off all their civilized relatives?

    He tossed the remains of his first crab toward the waves. “Eat something. We might have to skip food tomorrow.”

    Again he was right. Once the first bite of meat crossed her tongue, her stomach remembered how long the hours had been since her last meal. And her belly didn’t care it was crab again.

    They ate in silence until all the crabs were gone. Brady brushed the dried sand from his feet and pulled his boots on with a sigh.

    “So do you agree? Make our way north and see what we can find?”

    She paused in cleaning her knife. Warmth spread in her chest where a cold hand had been lingering since first seeing the smoke hours ago. Brady constantly surprised her with his kind, generous nature. He possessed the confidence that made him a good leader without being overbearing or bossy. “It sounds like a good plan.”

    “Could be dangerous.” He grinned. “We might have to confront something tougher than women and babies.”

    Her mouth curved without her permission. How did he make it do that? “I’ve heard there’s nothing more dangerous than babies.”

    “We’re in agreement there. But there’s also nothing more important. We’ll see what we can see and then figure out what to do about it.”

    “Guess our search of the cliff front is on hold.” It seemed like they’d been marooned for months instead of days.

    He shrugged. “We might stumble on something. It’ll be daylight soon. Let’s go.”

    He kicked sand over the cooking fire and stuffed their cooking shell into his pack.
    ONE GOOD WOMAN SUSAN KELLEY 31

    The sky lightened to the east as they made the cover of the trees. The smudged footprints of the Savage were easy to find. The female knew little about covering her trail. If anyone or thing searched for her, she wouldn’t be difficult to find.

    Brady took the lead and jogged at times when the sign was easy to follow. The female had traveled as close to the base of the cliff as the terrain and trees allowed. They found a spot where she’d stopped to rest and eat. There was little to tell except the sign indicated she’d spread her hides and perhaps napped for a while. But when they took up the trail going north again, they discovered a second set of tracks. This set led back north.

    “Another Savage.” Brady squatted and traced the wide tread with his finger. “It’s small too, probably another female. What the hell are they about?”

    Cara had no answer. The behavior of the females seemed quite bizarre for their kind.
    Curiosity warred with a slowly growing dread at what lay ahead of them. They had no real choice but to go forward.

    * * * *

    Brady frowned at the deepening purple of twilight edging out from the cliff. The forest had changed from oaks, aspens and wild cherry trees to mostly pines and very little underbrush.
    Fewer birds and small animals flittered and crept along the dark floor. Decades of fallen needles carpeted the floor but he still heard Cara’s footfalls behind him. He always knew where she was.
    Each night he struggled to sleep when she took her turn at watch and he wrapped himself in the blankets still warm with her scent. Being near her was driving him crazy. And that was only his mind. The suffering of his body threatened to fell him. His cock hardened before he even saw her.

    “Getting too dark,” she said quietly. “We might miss something.”

    “Quit reading my mind.” If she knew all of his thoughts she’d run him through with her sword. But after days of alternating leading and searching out the trail while they