Page 50 of The Ranger
She boldly looked at him to study his face. “After we unhitch the horses, we can put them in the corral and give them some hay.”
“That is kind of you.” He gave her another glance, then another.
She blushed to her toes. “If you don’t know when you’re leaving, then perhaps you know where you’re leaving to?” She hoped he didn’t mind her asking. But she was curious.
He stopped and looked at her. “That depends, little one, on what happens during our stay here.”
Her face screwed up in confusion. “What do you mean?”
He started walking again. “We have… things to accomplish.”
“Business?”
His head slowly turned in her direction. “Of a sort.”
They reached the barn and began to unhitch the horses. He was silent, and she wished he’d say something. She didn’t want to have to start all the conversations, but dash it all, it looked like she was going to have to. “Are these your horses?”
“They belong to the Bergs.”
She patted one of the black horses on the shoulder. “They’re beautiful. They had to have purchased them somewhere after you arrived in America.”
He looked at her again, one eyebrow raised. “You ask a lot of questions.”
“I can’t help it, I’m curious. Mama says it’s going to get me into trouble one day.”
His other eyebrow came up. “No doubt. Perhaps you should be careful of whom you speak to.” He straightened to his full height. “It would not do for you to be too curious about strangers.”
“You’re a stranger.”
A tiny smile curved his lips. “I do not wish to be.”
Her eyes widened. His tone was gentler, not as deep, and it sent a shiver up her spine. “You want to be friends?”
“Friends are a good thing. I am sure you have many.”
Her face fell and she let out a long sigh. He was avoiding the question. “Not as many as you think. I hardly ever leave the ranch.”
He removed the rest of the harness, set it aside, then led the horses toward the corral. “Why not?”
“Because our family is so big. I have cousins, and my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, then there’s the Kincaids. There’s lots of those.”
He glanced at the Kincaids’ house on the other side of the barnyard. “Yes, there are many now. Their sons have married.”
“They have. Of course, there’s lots of people in town now too. Families have moved in since you’ve been away. I don’t know if you noticed.”
He opened the gate of the corral and led the horses inside. “I have not looked. I only remember the Snows. And that there were a lot of them.”
“There still are. Scads of them. They’ve begun to marry. Before you know it, there will be a lot of Snows.”
He gave her a hint of a smile. “Do you know them well?”
She climbed onto the lowest fence rail, while hanging onto the top. “A little. But I’m not good friends with any of them. I only talk to them in church.”
He took the rope leads off the horses, left the corral and closed the gate. “Do not harm yourself.”
She grabbed hold of the top rail and leaned back. “I’m not going to hurt myself here. Not even if I fall.”
He frowned a little, looking displeased.