"Peter's father. Now why didn't Victor mention that? Even when Peter moved

here, he never said a word."

She seemed to be talking more to herself than to Winn, so he didn't respond.

He was thin king that it was especially curious in light of what Louie had said about the boy.

"Peter must own some land, then," she said.

"If it's homestead land, he'd have to be living on it."

Cynthie shook her head.

"This is Osage Reserve. You have to buy it for two dollars an acre.

Maybe they just squatted, but I doubt if they'd borrow money unless they

owned the land. "

Cynthie came out of her musings and shrugged. She read on until she came tothe first foreclosure."I remember them," she said."They had a fire and then they just left. I guess Victor took their farm, but I doubt it was worth as much as he loaned them."

For a moment, Cynthie was rather pleased that her husband had tried to help the farmers until Winn said, "Except they had almost paid off the loan, with interest."

Cynthie looked at him a moment and read on. Winn continued to figure in his

head. When she was done he offered no comment. Ott was the only one

to pay off his loan, but the other six had come close, very close in some cases.The first farmer had been burned out. Peter's father had been shot.

There was a pattern here Winn didn't like. He reminded himself that it was none of his business. Whatever had happened was over now, and Franklin wasdead.

"I suppose I can close the book on these. Ott paid and the rest were settledbefore Victor died." Cynthie pushed the ledger into a drawer."Iwould like to give Peter back his father's land when he's old enough. "

Winn smiled."That's easy enough to accomplish." He was forever having to revise hisopinion of the woman. Maybe his first judgment of her had been based toomuch on her treatment of Reuben Ott.

She startled him by saying, "Funny how Ott's the only one that stayed." He had thought it was funny, too, but hadn't wanted to say so. Ott's had been the last loan and was only half repaid when Victor died. When Victor was murdered, he reminded himself.

Cynthie continued, "You know, he's the one Kyle thinks stole my cattle."She saw Winn sit up straighter."What does he base this on?"Cynthie shrugged."Who knows. Victor didn't trust Ott. He told me that.I guess I'm a little suspicious myself. "Winn made no comment. Cynthie watched him, trying to read something in his face, but he was too good at hiding what he was thin king.

"Are you up to going through another ledger?"

"Another? What else was your husband up to?" The words left Winn's mouth

before he could think. He hoped he hadn't sounded critical.

She didn't seem to take offense.

"Well, this started out as my father's business. I guess Victor kept itgoing after he died."Cynthie thought Winn looked more interested. When he said, "Sure, go ahead,"

she heard eagerness in his voice. She smiled to herself. She would enjoy the chance to talk to him about her father.

"A trading business," she clarified."Father ran a shipping business back in New York. He left it in good handsand came out here with Victor and me. While Victor started the ranch, hestarted this business. I thought it had ended when he died, but I found thisledger and realized it had continued to operate."

She opened the last ledger and began to read.

"You know, it's odd, but this book gives me the most trouble," she observed after a while.

"I used to help with Father's books back home, but Victor kept these.

He must have come up with his own code or something. I understand the

purchases, payment to employees, most of the rest, but he threw in these letters once in a while. Do you know what they mean? "

Winn had wondered the same thing, but a.s.sumed she knew what they stood for.

"If they aren't shipping terms, could they stand for people, drivers perhaps?"

"Maybe, but they aren't in capital letters." She flipped back to the first page and read only the initials.

Winn listened in amus.e.m.e.nt. She wasn't concerned about the business.It was over and he doubted if she had any thought of star ting it again. Shejust didn't like a mystery. He paid less attention to the letters she readthan to her voice, which he found himself liking more and more.

"Well," she concluded, "They aren't the drivers because there are noshipments labeled K or D for Kyle Dempsey and he drove a lot for Father, andfor Victor, too, I'd guess."

Winn grinned, wanting her to continue speculating so he could listen to hervoice while she mused aloud. It was soft and expressive and somehow lessformal than what he usually heard.

"Pick a letter and find out what is the same about all the entries that include it."

"Good idea!" She sounded so pleased he almost laughed. She was mumbling inearnest now and flipping pages. The enthusiasm tapered off quickly, however.

"Only thing I can see is that all the entries with any letter made a betterprofit than the ones without a letter." She sounded disappointed.

Winn shrugged.

"Maybe the letter was put there after the profit was figured and it was anindication to your husband of what was done right.

Kind of a notice to do something again. If the profit was less there was nonotation. "

Cynthie looked at Winn as she closed the book. Suddenly she laughed.

"I.

don't know what difference it makes now. I guess I just hate being left out.Is that silly? "

The dimples deepened under his beard.

"I don't think it's silly." He wanted to say that her husband had been afool for not telling her all his business deals. She could have been left with debts or commitments she didn't even known about. As it was, she hadhad a harder time taking over because she had to learn everything at once.

"Thank you for your help," she said softly. She tried to think of something to say to keep him here, talking to her, but she was out of booksand out of excuses.

His face grew serious as she watched him. After a moment he asked cautiously, "Would you mind telling me a little about your father? Maybe youcan understand why I'm curious."

"Of course!" she responded eagerly, then, afraid she would scare him off,she asked more quietly, "What would you like to know?"

Winn shrugged, feeling suddenly nervous.

"I guess I want to know why he was blind. What he did before and after. I don't know."

Cynthie started slowly.

"Father was about fifty when he started losing his sight. One eye began toget cloudy, then the other eye did the same. His doctor said it was cataracts."

Winn tried to imagine what it would be like, having the blindness come onslowly with no way to stop it. He wasn't sure whether it would be worse than sudden darkness or if there was some way to prepare for the inevitable. He didn't know how to put these thoughts into questions and decided Cynthie'sfather would be the only one who could have answered them anyway.

Cynthie was watching Winn's face as she talked. "Looking back, it seems likeit all happened so fast, but he may not have told me about it until it hadprogressed. Anyway, by the time he couldn't see to write, he had hired abookkeeper and later a foreman for the business.

He said he was ready to retire anyway. "

Winn listened uncomfortably. It was his own fault for asking. Had he thought she'd tell him everything had gone on as before? Had he hoped forsome secret in this man's story that would make his own life easier? Was he still hoping for one? He realized that he wanted her to continue.

"I don't think he would have come west with us if he hadn't lost his sight.His company would have kept him back East, but since it was already beingtaken care of, he felt free to come. Father often told me he was glad he'dcome so he could be with his grandson. Greg was just a baby when we left NewYork."

Winn smiled.

"I imagine he kept your father busy."

"He has a tendency to do that to anyone near him." Suddenly Cynthie felttears coming to her eyes. Winn was really going to leave them.

How could she let him go before she had a chance to help him? Deep down sheknew he had to help himself, and ma king his own decisions was a big part ofthat.

She knew, too, that helping him wasn't her only motivation. She wanted him to stay. She wanted him to fall in love with her. And worst of all, shedidn't have the first idea of how to accomplish it.

She knew Winn was waiting for her to go on. There was so much more she wanted to tell him about her father. How he had taken care of himself, runthe trading business, played checkers, and how she loved him and missed him.Tears were running down her face, and her voice would shake if she tried totalk. She had missed him terribly when he died, but it wasn't her father shewas missing now.

"Excuse me," she said finally.

"I better start supper."

She got up rather abruptly and went around Winn into the kitchen. Her hand trailed across his shoulder as she went by.

Winn sat for a moment listening to the busy sounds from the next room.

She had given him a lot to think about this afternoon--disappearing cattle,loans that didn't quite get paid off and curious notations on shipmentrecords. Mostly, though, he was thin king about the way she sounded when shemused aloud and the way she laughed at her own curiosity. In the end, he wa.s.sure he had made her cry. She had dug up painful memories for him, and whenit hurt he had no comfort to offer her.

He rose and made his way across the room to the front door. He had no thingto offer her at all. She would be glad when Slim and Mike took him away.

But he had no thing to offer anyone else, either.

The thought quickly faded as the sun touched the shoulder her hand hadbrushed a moment before. Even though he had caused her pain, she hadresponded with a gentle touch. She was, as he had already decided,unpredictable. Or maybe all this time he had been misunderstanding her.

Suddenly he wanted very much to learn more about her. He wished he would have the time.

He heard Greg call his name, a long call that vibrated with the beat of smallrunning feet. In a moment the small body collided with Winn's legs, but hewas already braced for the impact.

"You got ... to come ... see Sorry," he said, trying to catch his breath.

"You haven't met her yet. She's Peter's. She lives in the barn." As the

child talked, he was already leading Winn away.

"Peter says she's gonna have puppies. I think that will be great. Will you want one of the puppies?"

Winn laughed at the boy's enthusiasm. Leaving was going to be much more