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me.”
    “All in good time.”
    “What does that mean? All in good time?” When he didn’t answer, she continued. “You’re not like I remember. You’re…different…hard.”
    He glanced at her. “You’re different too.”
    She shook her head. “No, I’m not.”
    He shrugged. “If you say so.”
    She grabbed his arm. “Well, I do say that.” She bit down on her bottom lip. “I went back you know.”
    “What? What did you say?” He angled in the saddle to face her.
    She lowered her gaze. “I went back…to the fishing hole. Several times. But you were never there.”
    “I didn’t know.”
    She nodded.
    “They sent me away,” he continued, a touch of bitterness in his voice.
    “Why? Because of me? I never told anyone about seeing you.”
    He arched a dark eyebrow at her. “I thought at first your father was behind it, but my mother told me different. It seems some of the good, virtuous ladies of the town convinced my father he should send me away to school—you know, educate the savage, for my own good, of course.”
    “And your mother?”
    “She didn’t agree with my father. She wanted to send me to the Comanche, and my father wouldn’t agree—so I ran away.”
    “I know what you mean,” Abby said with a wry smile. “When my father first told me he was sending me east to finishing school, I ran away too.”
    A smile flitted across his lips. “Now that sounds like the Abby I used to know.” He slid out of the saddle and held out his arms to her. “I guess we can rest a few minutes.”
    “Oh, thank God.” She lifted her leg over the saddle horn and went into his arms. “Every bone and muscle in my body hurts.”
    “How long were you gone?” he asked and untied her hands.
    She rubbed her hands to get feeling back. “A day. And you?”
    His chest rumbled with laughter. “A year. I went, I don’t know if you’ll understand this or not, but I went on a vision quest.”
    “I’ve heard of it. I don’t know much about it.”
    “It’s when a boy becomes a man. Comanche boys seek their first vision with the aid of a medicine man. The boy must have a buffalo robe, a bone pipe, tobacco and be able to make a fire. On the quest, the boy must smoke the pipe four times. The quest lasts four days, and the boy must fast and seek the sources of spiritual power. Then the guardian spirit reveals itself and teaches the seeker many things and in this way, the boy receives puha , medicine power. That’s when I got my Comanche name—Running Wolf. My father called me Davy, and my mother called me Wolf.”
    “Sounds very difficult to do.”
    “Yes, but it is our way.” With his finger, he tilted her chin back. “I thought of you often after that summer, Abby, and since then too.”
    He leaned toward her, and she knew he was going to kiss her. She wanted him to, but she was afraid it would awaken those feelings she’d tried so hard to repress. “No, no, don’t, please don’t.”
    “Why not?” His jaw seemed to harden right before her eyes.
    “Because we can’t go back to how it was. Time doesn’t stand still. Sometimes I wish it did, but it doesn’t. Now we’re on opposite sides.”
    His eyes darkened to a smolder. He turned and walked away.
    “Davy, please…”
    “No, like you say, we can’t go back. Mount up. Let’s ride.” He vaulted into the saddle and turned to wave at her.
    With a resigned sigh, Abby climbed into the saddle and followed him. Hours passed, and he never spoke. Her heart ached, and many times she had to bite her tongue to keep from crying out to him.
    But it was for the best.
    About dark, he reined in his horse. He dismounted and motioned for her to do the same. Too tired to argue, she slid from the saddle. Her knees threatened to buckle, and she gripped the saddle horn until feeling returned to her legs. Ahead, her captor stared into the darkness, his shoulders rigid. She could see the strain he felt in his posture. She walked up behind him and tried to see what