James stared at the boy and grunted. “It was a mistake takin’ him back in the first place. He never belonged with the Comanches.”

“It was what he wanted.”

“A boy his age don’t know what’s best for him. That’s the reason there’s mamas and daddies.”

“Andy tried to fit into white-man ways, but he’d been with the Indians too long.”

“Think it’ll be any easier for him now?”

“Maybe not, but the bridges are burned down behind him.”

James turned to the sad-faced boy, and sympathy edged into his eyes. “Sorry things didn’t work out, Andy. You’re welcome to stay with us Mona-hans as long as you want to. My sisters were considerable taken with you. So was my mother.”

Rusty said, “We’ll stay a few days to rest our horses, then we’ll go on down to my place. The farther I get him away from the Comanches, the better.”

“You think they’d come for him?”

“Several of them were itchin’ to cut his throat. We had to leave there in a hurry.”

“What could a kid like him do to make them that mad? It’s not like he would’ve killed anybody.”

“That’s the whole trouble. He did.”

James blinked, staring hard at the boy.

Rusty said, “He did it to stop one of them from killin’ me.”

James’s expression turned to approval, something Rusty had found that he did not give lightly. “Then I reckon he’ll do to keep.” He surprised Andy by gripping his hand. “You’re not the first who’s had to come runnin’ to help Rusty Shannon out of a tight spot. He’s got a knack for fallin’ into holes he can’t climb out of by himself.”

Rusty said, “I’ve pulled you out of one or two.” He nodded in the direction of the herd. “What’re you doin’ with those cattle? You couldn’t swap the whole bunch for a sack of tomcats.”

“Not here, but we’re figurin’ to take them where they are worth somethin’. We’re gatherin’ as many as we can, me and Granddad and Evan Gif-ford. Come spring I’ll get some help and drive them to Missouri. They ought to fetch a bucketful of Yankee silver.”

Rusty admired the spirit. Some people were content to sit around and bemoan what the war had cost them. James Monahan was not. Even if the plan did not work out as hoped, it was better to be busy doing something constructive than to idle away the coming winter indulging in self-pity and recriminations.

James said, “The boy’s goin’ to need a lot of learnin’.”

“I’ll school him the best I can.”

“Teach him all you know. That oughtn’t to take long.”

“Mainly what I know is rangerin’, and I’m a fair hand with a plow. I’ll teach him what Daddy Mike taught me.”