"We've been doing all right," she said sharply.

The man stood first on one foot and then the other. The girl's words seemed to close the door on the subject of the two wagons traveling together. He twisted his hat around and around in his hands.

"Name's Wisner, ma'am. John Wisner. Late of the Cimarron country down in Indian Territory."

"I'm Vanessa Cavanaugh. This is my cousin, Henry Hill, and my aunt, Mrs. Hill."

"Howdy." The old man bobbed his head at the women and held out his hand to Henry. That gesture was what decided Vanessa to allow him to join them.

"Glad to make yore acquaintance, young fella."

Henry stepped up and seized the man's hand. He was like a friendly puppy, but he had learned to hang back until someone made a friendly overture.

"Howdy." He grinned happily.

"We'll be glad for your company, Mr. Wisner. We like to leave at first light, travel while it's cool and stop for awhile in the middle of the day if we can find a cool place," Vanessa said flatly, leaving no room for argument.

"That'll suit us fine, ma'am. Do ya mind if'n I call the girl over? I don't know if she'll come, she's mighty shy 'bout meetin' folks."

"Thunderation!" Ellie exclaimed. "There's no call for her to be shy with us. We're just plain folk."

"Ma'am, she ain't been with folks much." The old man went a few paces back from the campsite and yelled, "Mary Ben! C'mon over here 'n meet these folks." He waited a moment and called again. "Mary Ben!" There was no answer. "I guess she ain't acomin'. I see you folks is fixin' to eat. I'll jist mosey on back and maybe after a while I can get 'er to come over."

"Landsakes," Ellie said after the man walked away. "Should we have asked them to supper?"

"Of course not. Just because we'll travel together doesn't mean we have to be social." Vanessa took off her hat and tossed it up on the wagon seat. She put a dipper of water in the washpan, washed her hands and splashed some on her face. "We'll water the stock out of the barrels tonight, Henry. Tomorrow night we'll try to camp closer to the river."

"How come the girl wouldn't come over?" Henry asked when they sat down to eat.

"Her pa said she was shy. He said she'd not been around folk much." Ellie shook her head sorrowfully. "Maybe she's been living far out on the prairie someplace. Will you say grace tonight, Henry?"

Henry bowed his head. "Thank you, Lord, for helping us get through this day, and bless this food."

"Pa.s.s the biscuits to Vanessa first, Henry," Ellie chided gently when he helped himself first.

"Yes, ma'am. I forgot. I sure wish we could have found a dog back in Dodge."

"We'll get one the first chance we get," Vanessa promised.

"We won't get one now till we get to Colorado," Henry said like a disappointed child. "Mr. Wisner has a dog."

"Good. I hope it's friendly. Well," she said and smiled, "not too friendly. If it's too friendly it won't be worth a hoot as a watchdog."

When Ellie cooked the evening meal she always cooked enough food for the noon meal the next day. After supper she packed the food in a basket and set it in the wagon. Vanessa helped clean up while Henry watered the stock. All three had their ch.o.r.es. It was a routine that worked well.

"Sometimes I wonder if we've done the right thing," Ellie said when they had settled down beside the dying cookfire. "It's so . . . big." Her gesture took in their surroundings. "I had no right to bring you and Henry into this. Adam Hill could be dead. He didn't answer my letters."

"Oh, Aunt Ellie! Don't look on the dark side. You know how mail is in this country."

"I'm thinking there may be other kinfolk. My Henry said his brother was one of the most important men in the territory. He said he owned a big ranch and most of the town . . ." Ellie's voice trailed off.

"Now stop worrying. We discussed it. Henry and I agreed it was the best thing to do. We were in a rut in Missouri. It's been good for all of us, especially Henry. He's learned a lot and so have I. We've seen a whole new way of life out here and we've enough money to get us a start. Finding that Henry has kinfolk will be an extra bonus, but we'll certainly not depend on them for our living."

"I know you wanted to come, but it's one thing to sit in a comfortable house and talk about going west and something else when you are doing it." She looked westward, toward the stretch of open plain. "I can't help but wonder what's waiting for us out there."

"Whatever it is, it can't be worse than Dodge. Don't worry, Aunt Ellie, dear. We've managed just fine up to now."

"Dodge was the jumping off place. From here on it's a wild and lawless land."

"*The Lord takes care of those who take care of themselves,'" Vanessa quoted. "With that shotgun and rifle I plan to do just that."

Henry had been listening quietly. He didn't like the worried tone of his mother's voice. His slow thinking mind tried to sort out what was bothering her. At first the trip was exciting; but now that the newness had worn off, there were times when he was bewildered and longed for the farm and the familiar everyday things; the cows, the sheep, the warm coziness of the barn, and old Shep. But Vanessa had said all that was behind them and they had to look ahead. She said they would have a new home in Colorado and that he was the man in the family and he would have to work hard just like he had in Missouri. He could do that. He could work hard, and he could take care of his mother and Vanessa.

Henry placed his hand on his mother's shoulder and looked up at her. His face was that of a man, a handsome man. But his eyes were the wide, worried eyes of a child.

"Don't worry, Mama. I'll take care of you, and I'll take care of Van, too."

"I know you will, dear." There was a breathless sob in Ellie's voice that only Vanessa recognized.

The old man and the girl were moving around their breakfast fire when Vanessa and Henry went for the mules. When they moved out at dawn the Wisner wagon fell in behind. Daylight found them on the trail that ran parallel with the Arkansas River. The day was warm, but a cloud bank in the southwest promised a rainstorm before the day was over.

At noon they pulled off the trail toward the river. Vanessa and Henry unhitched the mules and took them down to drink. On the way back they pa.s.sed Mr. Wisner leading his team to the water, and caught a glimpse of a dark-haired girl in a faded and patched calico dress that barely reached the tops of her high-laced shoes. She moved to the back of the wagon as they approached. A big yellow dog lay beneath the wagon and eyed them but didn't move. After they pa.s.sed Vanessa glanced over her shoulder and saw the girl peeking at them from around the water barrel.

"We'll have plenty of time to get acquainted," she a.s.sured Henry when he lagged to look at the dog. "Right now I'm hungry."

The man and the girl kept their distance through the nooning, and when Henry drove the team out onto the trail again, they fell in behind and moved up close because the southerly breeze blew the dust cloud made by the wagon ahead away from them. Vanessa rode out ahead astride the saddle horse.

The country slid away behind them. It was big, open and gra.s.sy as far as the eye could see, and to the south was the Arkansas River. It was lonesome country. Since noon Vanessa had seen nothing but a lone buzzard, a roadrunner, and a snake that slithered across the trail. Here the gigantic herds of buffalo had roamed for hundreds of years. Here the rawhiders had come to slaughter them by the thousands. Buffalo were different from cattle; they moved constantly, allowing the gra.s.s to grow back, and they left chips for travelers to use for campfires.

Vanessa studied the country ahead and reckoned that by evening they would reach the Cimarron cutoff. That notorious stretch of the trail was a shortcut going south across Indian Territory, used by those brave souls who thought the risk of attack by marauding Indians and bands of cutthroat outlaws was worth the two hundred miles it saved to Sante Fe.

She worried a bit about the weather. Today was the first of September. Back in Missouri they would have two months of good weather before winter. Here there was more brown in the gra.s.s than green, and the cottonwoods along the riverbank had a tinge of yellow to their leaves. That could be due to a dry season, Vanessa thought. Nevertheless, she felt they needed to make every day, even every hour count if they were to reach Junction City before winter set in.

When she saw the three hors.e.m.e.n come out of the trees along the river and walk their horses toward the trail, she dropped back beside the wagon and held out her hand for the shotgun. Ellie handed her the gun, then reached under the seat and placed the rifle between her and Henry. It was a plan they had worked out and used several times before. Henry had never shot the gun, but no one knew that except Ellie and Vanessa.

"Don't say anything, Henry," Vanessa cautioned. "And don't stop even if they get onto the trail ahead of you. Just whip up the mules and go ahead. They'll get out of the way."

"I will, Van. I'll do just what you tell me to," he said, but he had a worried frown on his face.

The trio drew up beside the trail and waited for them. Vanessa c.o.c.ked the shotgun and let it lie across her lap. One of the men wore a flat-crowned black hat and had on a black vest over a dark red shirt. He was lean and dark and clean shaven. One was sandy-haired and looked no older than sixteen. The other man was thick in the middle, his clothes were filthy and he had a tobacco stain running down the side of his mouth. All three had bedrolls tied on behind their saddles.

"Howdy." It was the heavyset man who spoke.

Vanessa nodded and rode on past them. She could feel their eyes boring into her back and had to suppress the desire to turn and look at them. She listened intently, and knew the instant they put their heels to their horses to follow her. Long ago she had planned what she would do in such a case. She had to act decisively and catch them by surprise. She was an excellent rider and knew her horse well. She gigged him so he turned on his hindlegs and set down directly in front of the three riders, the shotgun lying along his neck. She said two words.

"Back off!"

The men pulled up.

"Ain't friendly, huh?" The heavyset man's nose was big and veined, and his eyes were small and piggish. He was a wide man and the sleeves of his dirty shirt were rolled halfway to his elbows. His hat was too small for his big head, and Vanessa could smell his unwashed body from ten feet away.

"No."

Henry had stopped the wagon about fifty yards ahead, and the Wisner wagon had stopped a good hundred yards back. Vanessa faced the men between the two wagons.

"Got any tobaccy to sell?"

"No."

The dark man had the blackest eyes Vanessa had ever seen. He turned his head to look at her with both of them, the way a snake would do. His clothes were clean, his boots good, and his gun was tied down. He sat quietly watching, but she knew he was the dangerous one. The other was a shifty-eyed kid whose brows grew together over his nose. He had a constant grin on his face.

"Yo're sh.o.r.e a purty little thin'." The big man spit, then grinned at her with snuff-stained lips. "Ain't she a purty little thin', Ta.s.s? We ain't seen nothin' purtier since we seen that little filly dancin' bare naked on the bar in Trail City."

The dark man took his time answering, and all the time his black eyes never blinked.

"That wh.o.r.e don't hold a candle to her." His voice was soft and silky and rolled out through lips that barely moved. It was a voice Vanessa didn't like. His hair, as black as his hat, was shiny and grew down in front of his ears, framing his narrow dark face. His features were fine, but his high cheekbones stamped him as a half-breed. The dark man's horse began to move slowly forward, one step at a time.

"Come any closer and I'll blow you out of the saddle," Vanessa said confidently and in a conversational tone The horse stopped and the dark man's face broke into a smile that didn't seem to affect his eyes; they stayed open and unblinking. "Ya got a man?"

Vanessa ignored his softly spoken question.

"Ya got a man?" he asked again. Silence. "Well, it makes no never mind if'n ya got a man or not. You 'n me are agoin' to get mighty friendly afore long."

"I doubt that," she retorted in a cool, lofty tone. "Now ride out."

"Do ya think to hold off all three of us with that shotgun?"

"No. Just you. It'll not matter to you what happens after the first shot. You'll be splattered all over that horse."

The man threw back his head and laughed as if what she had said pleased him. "C'mon," he said to the other two. "Leave my woman be . . . for now."

He lifted his hand in a salute, wheeled his horse and rode toward the river. The other two followed, the kid looking back over his shoulder and laughing.

Chapter Three.

Vanessa rode back to speak to Mr. Wisner when the wagons began to move again.

"Ma'am, I hung back cause I didn't want to let 'em get us bunched up."

"You did right, Mr. Wisner. I don't think we've seen the last of them. We'd better make camp together tonight."

"I was athinkin' that, ma'am. If'n ya don't mind me sayin' so, we ort a pick us a spot in the open."

"I don't mind at all. I appreciate your suggestions."

The girl on the seat beside the old man kept her face turned away. She was small but full grown. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were rounded and strained the bodice of the dress that was too small. Her hair was brown and curly and brushed straight back from her forehead without a part. It was tied at the nape of her neck with a string.

"This here's Mary Ben. Say howdy, Mary Ben," Mr. Wisner nudged the girl gently with his elbow.

"Howdy."

Vanessa barely heard the girl's greeting, but she leaned forward in the saddle so she could look into her face. "h.e.l.lo, Mary Ben. I'm Vanessa. We'll get acquainted later."

"It'd be good to water the teams afore we make camp." The old man's eyes moved constantly, scanning the area on each side of the trail.

"Have you been over this trail before?"

"Once or twice. If yo're willin' to press on there's a openin' to the river on ahead where we can drive down, then it'd be best to back off aways 'n make camp."

"All right. I'm glad you're with us, Mr. Wisner."

Vanessa rode ahead and told Henry and Ellie the plan, then watched for John Wisner's signal to turn toward the river.

It was almost dark by the time they made camp and staked out the stock. The prairie gra.s.s was pale gold in the dusky light, and there was the smell of the sun-ripened gra.s.s and cool river water on the breeze that came from the south. Firelight flickered between the two wagons and soon a trail of wood smoke drifted upward and bacon sizzled in a pan.

Mr. Wisner walked around the end of his wagon with his hand firmly grasping Mary Ben's arm. The girl had a pained, frightened look on her face, but the determined old man was urging her forward.

"Ma'am," he said to Ellie, "this here's Mary Ben."

Ellie took in the situation at a glance. "h.e.l.lo, dear," she said as she continued working. "Now, if you'll give us room around this fire, Mr. Wisner, Mary Ben and I will have some supper ready in no time at all. Mary Ben, fetch that plate from the table and dish up this bacon. I'll fry us a mess of eggs tonight. I've got to use them up before they get too old."

The old man backed off. He watched anxiously for a moment, then went to his wagon. He returned with a large-mouthed crock with a cork stopper in the top and set it on the table.

"You folks got a likin' fer honey? Me'n Mary Ben got us a bit awhile back," he announced shyly.

For the first time in months Ellie didn't insist on getting out the table and eating on a cloth. She filled a plate for each and they ate hurriedly. Neither the girl nor Henry said a word while Vanessa, Ellie and John Wisner talked of keeping watch through the night. Henry was interested in the dog. He watched it and glanced shyly at the girl. The big yellow dog lay beneath the wagon, his eyes seldom leaving Mary Ben. She sat down on the ground beside him and fed him bits from her plate from time to time.

Henry cleaned his plate, set it on the box where he had been sitting and went to where the girl sat beside the dog. He hunkered down beside them and held out a piece of bacon he'd saved from his own meal. The dog ignored it. The girl reached over and took the meat from his hand. She held it out and the dog carefully took it from her fingers. Henry smiled and reached out to scratch the dog's ears.

"Don't touch him," Mary Ben said sharply.

"Why not? I'll not hurt him." The girl glanced at him and then away. "My name's Henry." Mary Ben placed her plate on the ground, folded her hands in her lap and looked down at them. "What's his name?" She didn't answer. Puzzled and disappointed because she wouldn't talk to him, Henry asked, "Does he have a name?" Mary Ben twisted her hands in her lap and refused to look at him. Doggedly, he persisted. "I had a dog named Shep, but he was killed in Wichita. If he doesn't have a name why don't you call him Shep?"

"His name is Mister."

"Mister what?"