principle. Mostly he did it out of sheer perverseness.
Now he wondered what perverse thing he had done this time. It was not a thought he wanted to dwell on. Not at all. It pained him more than his hair, but he had to consider it. Heâd been honest with the girl. The young one. Annalea. He had been truthful about the kind of man he was. A bad one. And he had also been honest with her sister. He did not know what happened to bring about this mean justice. He had no memory of Jupiter, although when Cutter suggested that he might have arrived by train, it resonated.
Why would he have gone to Jupiter when his destination was a ranch outside Temptation?
Cutter said Jupiter was a spur that started in Denver, which meant the town was on a dead-end route. It made nosense that he would have boarded a train to nowhere when there was somewhere he particularly wanted to be. But then again, he had done foolish things before, so there was precedence for this.
He had meant to change, had really believed he could, even thought he had begun, but here he was without ways or means, clearly past redemption. Was it an irony that he had actually, finally resisted Temptation, or only egregious wordplay? That errant thought made him chuckle, wince, and then recall that Willa had warned that his funny bone would kill him.
Israel removed the poultice from his eye and gently explored the puffy skin around it. If there was any change, he couldnât tell. He searched for the cloth Willa had put over his eye before the poultice arrived, but he could not find it. He used a corner of the sheet instead to try to clear the crusty matter that filled the seam between his upper and lower lids. He did the best he could, but he needed a damp cloth and stopped before he did more injury.
âGood,â Annalea said. âYouâre awake. I brought you breakfast.â She set a tray on the table. âOatmeal and more tea. Oatmeal on account of Willa thinking you should have soft food and tea for your pain. I guess you had some trouble chewing the meat in the stew last night. Could be you have a couple of loose teeth. Better to keep them in your mouth.â
âWhere is your sister?â
âThatâs all you have to say?â
âItâs a start.â
âSo is âgood morning.ââ
âGood morning. Where is your sister?â
âShe rode out to the place where we found you.â
âAlready? She said she was going to look in on me.â He wondered if he sounded disappointed. He was. A little.
âShe did that earlier. You were sleeping and you were fine and she has chores. Cutterâs gone to Jupiter, and Zach is in the barn putting fresh hay into the troughs. Paâs snoring. Heâs the only one here who sleeps in. Willa says things go better if we let him.â
Israel cast his eye past Annalea to the doorway. âI donât see your dog.â
âJohn Henry sniffed out a rabbit. Heâll come back eventually.â
âWith the rabbit?â
âProbably not. He doesnât have the bloodlust. I do, though. Thatâs what Pa says makes me so good with my slingshot. Your eye looks awful, by the way. Do you need help sitting up? Willa said you might but that you probably wouldnât ask. Was she right?â
âI need you to leave.â
Her face crumpled and she thrust out her lower lip. âWhy?â
âBecause.â
âBut Iâm supposed to make sure you eat your breakfast.â
âAnd you can do that, but first you need to leave.â
Annaleaâs lower lip began to quiver.
He was unmoved. âCan you also cry at will?â
She blew out a breath hard enough to make her lips vibrate and then gave him a saucy grin. âI can, you know.â
âI figured. Itâs a gift. Now go.â
Annalea rolled her shoulders so her twin braids fell forward. She tugged on them as she backed out of the bunkhouse, her gaze never straying
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