Ambush by Luke; Short Read Free Book Online

directly at him. “You’re so very sure you are right. Why are you?”
    â€œWhy did Major Brierly call me? Did he tell you?”
    â€œHe said you knew Diablito and these Apaches better than any man alive.”
    â€œAnd you don’t believe him?” Ward suggested.
    She hesitated, and then said, “I don’t think Major Brierly ever told an intentional lie in his life.”
    The qualifying “intentional” did not escape Ward, and he smiled faintly and said nothing.
    Ann Dunnifon went on then, “You haven’t answered my question. Why are you so sure Diablito would kill Mary if he knew she was the daughter of an Army man? How could he dare to? He can’t run wild forever, and the day of reckoning would come, wouldn’t it?”
    â€œNo.” Ward’s voice was dry. “There will be no reckoning, Miss Dunnifon. There never has been. He’ll break from the Peak with the Army after him, and he’ll kill, burn and steal until he’s cornered. Then he’ll make his bargain.”
    â€œWhat bargain?” she challenged.
    â€œHe’ll promise to be a good Indian and go back to the reservation with his band if they are not punished and he’s not punished.”
    â€œThat’s happened before?”
    Ward nodded. “The Army’ll be sick of him, the churches will be howling, the newspapers will be scolding, and the Indian Bureau will be quaking.” He shrugged. “All any of them want is to turn him into a peaceful reservation Indian.”
    â€œAnd forgive his crimes?”
    â€œYes.” He looked obliquely at her and said mildly, “You can confirm that by talking with men who bathe regularly, Miss Dunnifon.”
    The flush that crept into her cheeks was unmistakable, yet the glance she turned on him was strangely unashamed, as if she must search out the meaning of his every word and intonation and gesture.
    She said then, “I—guess I did come over here to quarrel.” She hesitated, and then went on, “You see, I was raised on western posts. When Major Brierly said you were a guide, I remembered the ones I used to know—dirty, strange-smelling men in buckskin who’d tell us gorgeous lies and were always unreliable. Yesterday, you seemed like one of them.”
    She looked down at her folded hands now, and murmured, “Now, I’m not so sure.”
    Ward didn’t comment. He was looking out across the flats, and now saw the first of the troopers break from the eastern sentry gate, and he thought, The paymaster’s in .
    Ann Dunnifon’s voice roused him, “Is this your business—or profession? What do you call it?”
    â€œI never called it anything,” Ward said, his indifference plain.
    â€œYou take Army pay for guiding it on campaigns?”
    â€œI have.”
    â€œThen you must know the country, and if you know it, you’ve spent time in it.” Here she smiled, and it was a friendly smile. “So if you’ve spent time in it, it must have been for a reason—which is none of my business at all; and we’ll both pretend I’m not curious—which is also a lie.”
    Ward looked at her in mild astonishment; she shook her head as if to herself; and looked away and said quietly, “I guess that’s not the way.”
    Then she turned abruptly to face him and they regarded each other warily. Ward was thinking, Now it’ll come , when the girl said with a sudden passion, “Don’t you see what I’m trying to say? You’ve condemned my sister to death in your own mind. Nobody else has. But why do I believe you’re right? Why should I?”
    â€œStart with Diablito,” Ward said gently. “What do you know of him?”
    â€œStart with you,” Ann Dunnifon countered. “What do I know about you?”
    Ward leaned his elbows on his knees and, not looking at her, said, “I have a bank account, Miss