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been almost like
that . . . but not quite.
    And now? She turned her head to look at Jace
again, the stubble-shadowed jaws, the rifle in his hand. Even
asleep he was forbidding. She had been scared and lonely sleeping
in the open by herself in the month it took her to find him. But
now she felt even more vulnerable. At least when she’d been alone,
the chances were slim that her true gender would be detected.
Tonight, she’d nearly given herself away at least three times. And
oh, when he had made that remark about women and their reluctance
to discuss ages, she was certain that he had found her out. And if
he did?
    But no. She was safe. She had practiced
posing as a boy, in varying degrees, since her girlhood. As long as
she was careful, no one would ever know the truth.
    * * *
    They were on the road again early the next
morning. Jace was stiff from sleeping on the ground. It was cold. A
layer of frost covered everything, and mist drifted over the
valley, making the sun look like a watery white ball on the
horizon.
    He wasn’t in the best of moods. After all
the commotion in Silver City, he’d forgotten to buy coffee before
they left town. Hot coffee on a morning like this wasn’t too much
to ask for, but he had none.
    And he still had Kyle tagging along behind
him. He could hear the dun’s hooves back there, clopping on the
summer-baked earth. Jace never looked over his shoulder to check on
him. It was his job to keep up. He supposed he couldn’t gripe too
much. The kid was a rugged, capable traveler, and he was doing his
share without complaint.
    But Jace wasn’t used to having someone
around all the time. Despite the vast expanse of empty land around
them, he felt crowded, as if he needed to shrug off an unwelcome
hand on his shoulder.
    He didn’t like people much, and trusted them
even less. Often enough they appeared to wear one face, then proved
to have another. Years of chasing wanted men had taught him that.
Some of those men, when they’d wanted to, were able to fool people
into believing they were just one step down from choir boys. But
their true faces were usually those of bank robbers, cattle
rustlers, and murderers.
    Women were another story altogether, but
he’d avoided personal entanglements with them, too. The risk of
losing everything—heart, mind, and self—was too great. He’d never
had time for them beyond a saloon girl now and then. Anyway, not
too many women were likely to beat a path to a man who earned his
living bounty hunting.
    He heard Kyle sneeze behind him. At least
the boy didn’t talk his ear off. But he made Jace uncomfortable,
riding back there, and watching his every move. Why the hell had he
decided to let him follow along, anyway? He nudged his horse to
quicken his gait. He was supposed to go to Misfortune to talk to
Travis, not provide traveling company for this silent, sullen boy
with a peck of trouble. Well, he’d made a mistake, but not one that
couldn’t be corrected.
    Cord was the next town up ahead. They’d
reach it come afternoon, and he could buy coffee there. It might
also be the perfect place to unload one angry kid.
    * * *
    When Jace and Kyla reached the tiny town of
Cord, dark clouds were stacking up against the foothills of the
Cedar Mountains.
    After two days of seeing no buildings or
other humans, from the distance Cord looked almost like
civilization to Kyla. But as they drew closer she saw that most of
its few weathered buildings were abandoned. The town had the look
of a community on its last legs. In fact, the only two businesses
that remained were the same ones usually established in a new town:
the general store and the saloon. The street was dusty, and
tumbleweeds had blown to rest in some of the empty horse troughs;
plainly, no horse had drunk from them in a long time.
    Kyla saw only one other person on the
street, a trail-dirty man heading out of the saloon. He paused to
stare at them through narrowed eyes as they passed, his hand
resting on the