“Yes, and two years older than you are. So don’t you be lecturin’ me on what I ought or ought not to do.”

Angrily he turned. “Then I’ll just walk back outside and bleed to death, and you-all can go on about what you were doin’.”

For the first time she noticed his cut hand. She was considerably less sympathetic than he thought she might be. “Well, let’s see if we can fix it. You don’t need any Mexicans to kill you; you’ll fool around and do that for yourself.”

She had some foul-smelling medicine she had used on Shipman’s wound. It burned like it had come up out of Hell or someplace, and she poured it on with a certain amount of grim satisfaction. He clamped his teeth together to keep from swearing aloud. When the burning subsided and she began wrapping the hand, he asked “How long has this been goin’ on between you and Sly?”

“There hasn’t nothin’ been goin’ on, any more than what you saw. I guess we both know where the stoppin’ place is.”

“That’s easy said, till you get there.”

“What would you know about it?”

“I didn’t spend all my time in Natchitoches with mules. You figure on marryin’ him?”

“I hadn’t figured one way or the other about it.”

“You might ought to before you let things go much further. You may find out that Sly has notions of his own. They may not be the same as yours.”

“We’ll see.”

She finished wrapping his hand. He flexed it. It had not yet had time to get sore, but it would. “I better go get some more work done while I still can. Is it safe for me to leave you two here with one another?”

“No, it isn’t, but you go ahead anyway. If we need you, we’ll holler.”

James went back to the field. He didn’t waste his time listening for anybody to holler.

HE DECIDED Annie and Shipman must have talked things over, because Shipman saddled his horse after breakfast the next morning, haltered half the mules and struck out down the river. About the only thing he said to James was, “Half the mules are yours. Since you’re goin’ to stay here and be a farmer, I figure you can make good use of them.”

“I thought you might want to stay here, too. It’s good land. I’ve got enough for you and Annie if you want it.”

“For me and Annie? You Lewises are great ones for wantin’ people to get married and set down in one place like a fence post.” He acted as if he wanted to smile but couldn’t. “You were a pretty good partner, James. You took to the business right off. But I can’t afford to stay around and keep pullin’ you out of the scrapes you get into. Next time you could get me killed. You watch out for yourself now.”

Annie stood at the cabin, watching from a distance. Shipman raised his head and glanced in her direction a minute, lifted his hand in a half salute and left. The mules jogged along behind him, one of them breaking wind with every stride.