"Where's he supposed to go?" Cynthie looked toward the table but Kyle

grabbed her shoulders and pulled her around to look at him."He's made excuses to stay. If you can't see that you're as blind as he is.""Let me go," she said. She tried to pull away but he wouldn't let her."No! You have to listen to me." Kyle struggled for control."I can't watch you make a fool of yourself over that invalid.""He's not an invalid!" Cynthie wanted to slap his face but he held her too tightly. Suddenly she wished Winn's punch had landed square on Kyle's nose."Face facts, girl! He's using you. He is an invalid and he knows it.He's found a good thing with you and wants to keep it. Tell me, has he made advances? "

"No," she answered, too quickly. She could feel the blood rushing to her

face.

"I don't believe you."

Cynthie looked at Kyle and knew her face had betrayed her.

"This is none of your business," she said.

"The h.e.l.l it isn't! You know by now how I feel about you. Marry me."

"I can't." He had finally loosened his hold on her shoulders and she pulled

away.

Kyle watched her closely. What did she mean.

can't? Horror gripped him."Have you and he already...""No. Of course not, Kyle."He took her shoulders again, this time very gently. "It doesn't matter if you have. I love you, Cynthie.""Kyle, please..."His hands tightened again, frustration at her ma king him reckless."You better think about it, girl. You're bound to lose everything.""What do you mean?" she asked, shaking off his hands."Don't you know why you're the only target around here for those cattle thieves? It's because your ranch is the most vulnerable. A woman alone, anold man as foreman. It's too d.a.m.n tempting. If you don't do somethingquick, Ott will just pick off the rest of your men, one by one."

' "And by doing something, you mean marry you?"

Kyle was too self-absorbed to notice the incredulity in her voice.

"Yes!

He'd think twice about hitting a ranch run by a man. "

Cynthie was so angry she couldn't answer. She turned sharply away and

stomped toward the crowd. Kyle watched her go feeling somewhat bewildered.He had enough sense not to follow.Winn listened to the spurs as Dempsey and Cynthie moved away from him.He felt absolutely helpless. He didn't want Dempsey talking to Cynthie, though he knew he had no right to object. The thought of Dempsey touching her left Winn fairly shaking with rage.

At the same time he couldn't help but worry about

Greg. It had been his fault that the boy had run away. If he had been thin king about the child'sfeelings when Dempsey had arrived, he could have rea.s.sured him. At the veryleast he could have kept a better grip on Greg's hand.

Instead he had been thin king like a jealous lover.

The noises around him were confusing. Cynthie's voice wasn't among them andhe knew she and Dempsey had gone quite a distance to talk. He pictured themstrolling along beside a tree-lined river and forced the image away.

He needed to keep his mind on Greg. Where might he have gone? What sound around him might indicate an attraction for the boy? His imaginationconjured up all kinds of things from the sounds he heard.

His visions of Greg facing one terrible danger or another were interrupted bya tap on his shoulder and a voice near his ear.

"Excuse me. We've got to move this bench."

Winn wasn't sure what to do. He didn't want to point out to these strangersthat he was blind and needed help going somewhere else.

"They're bringing in another table for the food, and you have to move,"

the voice added.

Winn mumbled an apology. At least the voice didn't sound impatient with him.He stood up and started to edge away. There were people all around him. If he moved slowly he wouldn't knock anyone over, he hoped.

"Is this your basket?"

"Ah, yes." He reached a hand toward it and the basket handle was placed overhis arm, which mildly irritated him as he had expected to grab the handle.

He heard the dishes inside clatter before he steadied it with his other hand.

He walked farther away, hoping to get clear of the men moving the table butsure he was putting himself into someone else's path. If he moved away fromthe noise, he reasoned, he would be moving away from the crowd and thereforeout of everyone's way. In a few minutes he stopped and listened, realizingthat all the noise was well behind him. He was far enough away that he couldno longer smell the food.

He turned around and tried to pick out different sounds. The orator was still expounding but he was too far away for Winn to make out the topic.

The sounds of the crowd around the tables of food were even softer than the speaker, which must mean they were farther away. He was sure he was still close enough and tall enough that Cynthie would find him if he just stoodhere.

Something was thumping against the hard-packed earth. It was a steady beathe recognized as a walking horse and it was coming toward him. He heard the rattle of a chain and knew it pulled a wagon.

"Hey! Get out of the way!" a voice yelled.

Winn didn't take time to consider where he should go. He walked quickly at aright angle away from the moving sound.

"What are you, blind?" the voice called after him.

Winn had crossed a street away from the celebration. He didn't know what he might run into here if he walked around. He decided he would recross and tryto tell by the surface under his boots when he was off the street. He listened for sounds of more wagons or horses and heard" none; perhaps the

noise from across the street merely drowned them out.He asked himself why he should care if a wagon did run him down. Whatdifference would it make? In fact, it might be the best solution since hewas too big a coward to shoot himself.

Peter met Cynthie before she got back to the crowd. "Is Greg back?" heasked."No!" Cynthie whispered, her fight with Kyle forgotten.

"Maybe he's with Winn."

She and Peter hurried to where she had left him. A new table had been placed end to end with the first and was already filling up with food.

She looked around but couldn't find Winn. She couldn't even see the bench.

"Excuse me, did you see a man sit ting on the bench over here?" she askedone stranger after another. Peter left to resume his search.Cynthie prayed that they were together, for both their sakes.Finally she found the man who had asked Winn to move."I didn't know he was blind," he said apologetically."I just thought he was kinda..." The man shrugged and tapped his head.Cynthie didn't waste time being angry with him, but went at a run in the direction he had pointed. She tried to look all around her at once.

Finally she came to the end of the grove and turned in a circle to lookbehind her again. Where could he have gone?She spun around to look across Waco Street and saw him. He was ready to start across at such an angle that it could put him in the intersection with Douglas

Street. She didn't even look for traffic. "Winn!" she yelled as she ran toward him. When Winn heard her voice, he knew the answer to his question. As long as she was anywhere near him, he wanted desperately to live. She was at his side in a moment and leading him off the street. She took the basket from his hands and set it on the ground with a clatter. The next moment, her armswere around his neck and she was pressed up against him. He wrapped his ownarms around her and ignored the voice that told him he had no right.

"I was so scared," she said into his shoulder. "Why did you leave?""I didn't mean to," he began.' "I know, I know. That man made you get up. But you came so far.""I kind of got pushed here and there. I seem to get in the way easily."To his complete surprise, she laughed. She slipped out of his arms. ' "Come on back. I have to look for Greg."Winn remembered the basket and reached for it where he had heard her drop it.She helped him find the handle and they started across the street. He realized that she was walking in a much different angle than he would have taken.

"I was hoping Peter had found Greg by now," he said when he felt gra.s.s

beneath his feet again.

"He's probably found someplace to play and doesn't even know he's lost,"

she said.

"He always takes off when Dempsey's around." Winn regretted the comment the

moment he said it. He hadn't meant to remind her of his own bad behavior where Dempsey was concerned. Besides, it sounded like he was trying to placethe blame for the boy's disappearance on someone else.

Cynthie surprised him by answering softly, "I know."

They returned to the area near the table where they had been when Greg ran off. There were long tables not far away, waiting for people who were ready

to eat. Cynthie led Winn to the end of one of these and set the basketnearby."I'm sure Peter can find you here," she said."I'll come back in a little while to see if he's found Greg."Winn nodded and prepared for a long wait."Hi." The little voice made Winn jump. In a moment Greg was climbing onto his lap.

"Where have you been?" Winn was too relieved to scold. He'd leave that to his mother.

"Over there," came the reasonable answer.

Winn had to laugh.

"Why did you decide to go over there?"

'"Cause I don't like Kyle Dempsey."

Winn nodded in agreement.

"Tell me why you don't like Dempsey."

"" Cause he's bad. "

Winn wasn't sure what he was hoping to find out from the boy but, since he

had started, he wanted to continue.

"What did he do that was bad?"

"He made Daddy scared of the ferry." Greg's little hands began patting out a

rhythm on the tabletop.

"Is that why you're afraid of the ferry?" Winn asked.

Greg's hands stilled and he gave an exasperated sigh.

"I'm not afraid of the ferry," he said slowly as

{ if he were explaining something that anyone should know.