"I'm going to be gone all day," he told Soomey. "Got to take some merchandise over to Placerville."

  "Good. I will go with you. There is Chinese store in Placerville. They maybe will have medicines I did not have when Tao Ni was hurt."

  Oh, hell! "No...um...well, you see, I need you to stay here, get the merchandise ready, set up the store. That's it. I want to open tomorrow, and I need you stay here and get ready."

  She looked at him suspiciously, then nodded and went back to her cooking. "Tao Ni and Buffalo will help."

  "Good!" he said, far too heartily. "That's good. You three should be able to get it all done." He rubbed his hands together. "Now, as soon as I've finished breakfast, I'll just go out to the corral and saddle up, get on the trail before it gets too late."

  She looked at him, her expression neutral.

  "Should be back before sundown, if I hurry."

  Soomey nodded again, still watching him.

  "I ordered some goods to be shipped in. It'll be a couple of weeks before they get here. There should be some yard goods in the order, for you and Tao Ni. Can you sew?"

  "I sew."

  "Good. Good." Again he rubbed his hands together, although they weren't all that cold. "Breakfast about ready?"

  Silently she handed him his plate, piled with rice and crumbled bacon. Silas sighed.

  "Biscuits tomorrow, Boss," she said, her mouth twitching. "Steak tonight."

  "I should be back around sundown," he repeated, before forcing a forkfull of rice into his mouth. God! He hated rice!

  Later Soomey awakened Tao Ni and Buffalo and told them what Boss expected them to do. Then she followed Boss. He was up to something. Luckily he was still saddling up when she hid behind a spoils pile near the corral. But three riding horses? And a pack mule?

  Yes, Boss was definitely up to something, and he didn't want her to know what it was.

  Sometimes he was very stupid. How did he expect Soomey to do what he had hired her to do if he never told her of his plans? And if she always had to stay behind and do woman's work?

  Bah!

  She did wish she had put her boots on this morning, though. The trail to Placerville would be muddy from yesterday's rain, as well as rocky. Her canvas slippers would only slow her down. With a sigh, she removed them. Hadn't she boasted to Boss of having walked barefoot many times? But she would keep her wool socks on until they fell off. Her feet were not as callused as they had been in her childhood.

  Ji Rong had made himself a snug camp in the trees uphill from the corral. She approached in a wide circle so Boss would not see her, called softly as she approached the camp. "You are tired from yesterday," she told him when he emerged from hiding. "I will follow Boss today and you will guard our tent. Let no one enter. Tao Ni and Buffalo are alone and they are children."

  While she had spoken to Ji Rong, Boss had mounted and gone. He was leading the pack mule and the two horses along the street. Soomey caught up with him at one of the town's three log cabins. Within a very short time, two women emerged. They waved at another who stood in the doorway, and walked out to meet Boss.

  Soomey snorted. Now she knew why he had not wanted her with him.

  The woman with the brass-colored hair had been lounging at a window at the whorehouse in Bannock City the day she followed Boss there. And the other, from her beaded and ruffled clothing, was of the same sort.

  Soomey did her best to ignore the empty feeling in her middle as she flitted along behind Boss and the two whores, taking advantage of shrubs and trees along the side of the trail. Boss had hired her to watch his back. If that was the only use he had for her, then she would do it, and she would do it faithfully.

  She must, for she was still certain someone had been following him now and again.

  * * * *

  When he finally turned his horse's head back toward Centerville, Silas felt like he'd been pulled through a wringer. Clarice hadn't been so bad, but Maudie--Godalmighty! She hadn't stopped talking from the minute she was on her horse this morning until she finally waved goodbye from the doorway of the elaborate tent that would be Placerville's leading whorehouse until a sawed-plank building could be constructed.

  His ears were still ringing.

  A flutter of motion beside the trail ahead caught his eye. He loosened the rifle in its scabbard, touched the Bowie knife on his hip. There was little gold in his purse today, but a thief wouldn't know that.

  When he reached the place where he'd seen the motion, Silas peered closely into the woods, but saw nothing. A bird? He watched a moment. Just a bird.

  The trail was all but empty. He met one party near the Ophir Creek crossing, three young fellows wearing inadequate clothing and carrying packs too light to contain anything useful. Like so many who came west, he thought, they would suffer and perhaps die. This mountainous land required more than enthusiasm and dreams.

  Only the strong prospered here. Like Buffalo's parents.

  Like Soomey.

  He smiled. What a stubborn, funny, determined little thing she was. When she grew up, she'd be a real menace, with those dimples and that quick intelligence. And he'd see to it that she had an education. A Chinese woman would never be received in San Francisco or Portland, he knew. But in Honolulu, or Singapore, with an education and a generous dowry, she could marry well and have the good life she deserved.

  Yes, that's what he'd do. Send her to a good school, set up a trust fund for her. Help her find a decent man to marry.

  But first he had a promise to keep and supper waiting. He nudged his horse back into a trot.

  Silas was dozing in the saddle when he heard the scream.

  * * * *

  Soomey found a shaded rock outcrop upon which she could sit and have a full view of the street through the middle of Placerville. Boss and the two whores were just then entering town.

  They rode about halfway up the street and stopped their horses in front of a fine new tent, much larger than Boss's big one. Soomey shivered as she watched him help the two women from their mounts. As they entered the tent, he unloaded the several bundles from the pack mule. A big, dark-skinned man emerged to help Boss, and soon they had everything moved inside.

  She wrapped her arms around her knees, wishing she had worn the heavy wool coat. It was far warmer than her quilted jacket, but so loose that it made her clumsy. She tried to ignore the pain in her feet, since there was nothing she could do about it. The soles of both stockings were worn through and the remaining wool hung around her ankles in gray wrinkles. She would indeed walk many miles on bare feet today.

  Boss soon emerged and remounted his horse. He led the other two back toward her and turned off close to the bottom of the street. She lost sight of him and wondered if she should move. No, she decided. He will come this way when he returns to Centerville.

  When he did reappear leading two riderless horses and the pack mule, it surprised her. She had not expected him so soon. Jumping to her feet she ran to the trail, waiting on the hillside above it until he passed out of sight. Then she scrambled down and followed, keeping him barely in sight on the straight sections, catching up when there were curves enough to conceal her.

  The trail went up and down, across several creeks deep in narrow gulches, bending sharply back and forth so that the climb was not steep. Soomey was halfway down into the last gulch before Centerville when she heard voices above her.

  She broke into a trot, wincing at the pain it caused. There was no place to hide, for a fire had swept across this slope recently and only blackened trunks remained. Her only choice was to run as fast as she could to the concealing brush along the creek.

  Rapid hoofbeats told her that the travelers were approaching very quickly. She tried to go even faster. Then she tripped.

  "Lookee here! It's one of them Chinee devils!"

  Soomey buried her face in her arms, knowing that any escape effort she made would be futile. Biting her lip against the new pain in her toes, she willed the tears not to fall.

  Several horses approached, halted. Men's voices, three or four of them, grew louder as they dismounted and came to stand beside her. One grabbed her queue and jerked her head back, sending shooting pains across her jaw and down into her shoulder.

  She screamed before she could stop herself.

  * * * *

  The scream still echoed among the hills when Silas wheeled his horse and sent it scrambling straight uphill. Jerking his rifle from its scabbard, he fired into the air. Sometimes a show of force was all it took.

  Ash billowed about him as the horse scrambled up the steep slope, stumbled, regained its feet. Through the clouds he saw two struggling figures. One, small and wiry and kicking wildly, seemed be attached to the larger's wrist. Two other men were hightailing it back up the trail, followed by a third horse, riderless. He fired three shots after them, aiming just above their heads.

  "Hold it!" he yelled at the combatants, not quite aiming his carbine at them. "Break it up!"

  That was when he realized that the small person was Soomey. And that she really did have her teeth firmly locked in the man's right wrist.

  He was off his horse in an instant. Tossing the carbine aside, he grabbed the man's collar and jerked him backwards. The point of his Bowie knife gently nudged a kidney. "Let go, Soomey. I've got him." It was all he could do not to gut the bastard.

  She growled, her hands pummeling whatever part of her captive they could reach.

  "Soomey!"

  A couple more punches, and she loosened her jaw. Dropping to her knees, she wiped her mouth and spat. "Hey, Boss, you come just in time." Her smile looked forced. "Too many for me to fight." Her breath was coming in pants, and her voice shook.

  The man--Silas recognized him as one of Vester McGonigle's ruffians--hugged his bleeding wrist against his chest and cringed away from the knife.

  Whooeee! What a little fighter she was. "What happened? Did they attack you?" If they had...

  "I trip, fall down. Before I could get up, they were here. I could not run."

  Her face was white, her eyes clouded with pain. A scratch marred one cheek. "What the hell were you doing this far from town?"

  In a faint voice, she said, "You hire me to be eyes and ears. I was watching and listening."

  "I told you to get the store ready."

  "Tao Ni and Buffalo can do that. You tell me to watch your back trail. I was doing this."

  "Damn it, Soomey...!"

  "We didn't hurt him none," Silas's captive whined. "We was just tryin' to find out why he was layin' in the trail, like he was dead."

  Soomey spat a stream of words in Chinese. Silas didn't know what she said, but he was pretty sure it wasn't compliments. He released the ruffian, who scuttled a good distance away.

  "Hold it right there," Silas warned. "Did you recognize either of the others?" he asked Soomey.

  Her eyes closed for a moment and she swayed. Then she spoke, her voice almost a whisper. "One carried the shotgun when we were ambushed. And the other was the crooked man. He who watched the trail before, when Tao Ni was beaten. He is evil, I think."

  Damn. Seemed like every time he turned around, he was getting into a set-to with one of Vester's crowd.

  Slipping his knife back into its sheath, Silas studied the man, whose wrist still bled sluggishly. Soomey had hurt him good. "I ought to skin you alive, for what you did to h...to Soomey. But I won't." He hooked a thumb back in the direction of Placerville. "Git," he said. "And stay out of my sight. You hear?"

  "I hear you." Slowly the man pulled himself to his feet and started up the trail.

  Silas watched for a moment. "Faster," he called, picking up his carbine. When the fellow didn't increase his speed, Silas shot over his head.

  The man departed at a shambling run, still cradling his bitten wrist.

  Silas turned to Soomey. "And now, young lady, I want to hear again why you're here. And don't give me that bilge about eyes and ears."

  She glared up at him, chin set obstinately. "I was...I follow...I--" And she keeled over, flopping bonelessly at his feet.

  Silas knelt beside her, checking her pulse. She was warm, breathing evenly. Her face was still pale. There was another deep scratch on one hand. Otherwise she appeared unharmed. Then he saw her feet. They were bare, with shreds of gray wool still clinging to her ankles. What the devil?

  Carefully he removed the remnants of her socks, inspected her bloody soles. It looked like she'd run her shoes off, then her socks. And she'd been well on the way to wearing through her skin.

  He had nothing to doctor her with but his goose grease. Silas spread it over the raw flesh and bound her feet with his pocket handkerchief and the ripped-off tail of his shirt.

  She stirred while he was tying the last bandage. "Boss?"

  "Yeah. Hold still." He finished the knot. They weren't the best bandages in the world, but they'd keep her feet protected until he could do better.

  Her eyes were open, dark and pain-shadowed. She stared at him, lower lip caught between her teeth. "You mad with me, Boss?"

  Just like that, he was. Foot-stomping, wall-pounding, dog-kicking furious. "What in hell were you thinking? You're a girl, damn it! A god-damned girl! And you follow me fifteen miles, get yourself taken by a pack of ruffians who'd have killed you in a minute--"

  "I forgot my gun," she said, her voice still faint and quavery.

  "One fucking bullet! I suppose they would have lined up in a row so you could shot them all at once? Tarnation, Soomey--"

  Tears ran down her pale cheeks. "You should not have come back. They could have killed you. I am only a female, but you are powerful, important man."

  "Oh, for...!" He slammed his fist into the ground, welcoming the pain. It lessened the headache she gave him. Had he won an argument with Soomey yet? He didn't think so. Taking a deep, calming breath, he picked her up. She weighed less than his pack, he'd swear.

  Once he had her settled in his saddle, he led the horse down the steep trail to where the others, and the mule, cropped winter-dry grass beside it. "Suppose you tell me what happened to your shoes," he said, when he was mounted behind her in the saddle.

  "They had holes in them," she said, "so I took them off. Please, Boss, can we go home? It is late and I must cook supper."

  Keeping the horse to a walk, he aimed it toward Centerville. "I'll cook," he said, doing his best to ignore the weight of her round bottom against his groin. Damn! He was some kind of depraved bastard himself, hungering after a child the way he did.

  Although, his memory reminded him, she had breasts, and in some places that made her a woman grown.

  Chapter Eleven

  Soomey was awake when Silas slipped behind the hanging blanket. He'd kept her dosed with laudanum all day yesterday, knowing the pain from her torn feet would be horrendous. But he didn't want to give her any more. Her soles were better this morning, but still raw and oozing. "A couple of these cuts look a little red," he told her. "I'll heat up some water and you can soak 'em."

  She pushed herself almost upright, resting on her elbows. A bruise darkened the scratched cheek, but she insisted she had run into a thick branch in the woods. Her lower lip was swollen from being chewed as he'd cleaned her abused soles. But she hadn't made a squeak, even when he pulled stuck bandages free. "I have Chinese medicine, Boss. I will care for my feet. You do not need..."

  "Lay down!" he roared.

  She lowered her shoulders and looked up at him from enormous eyes.

  "Just this once, I want you to do as I say, and no arguing. You can put your damn Chinese medicine on later. Right now you're going to soak these feet in hot salt water and not give me any trouble. You hear?"

  She nodded.

  "And while you're soaking, you're going to tell me just what possessed you to follow me to Placerville."

  Another nod.

  "And then when you're through with that, you're going to promise me that you will never, never do a fool thing like that again." He waited.

  "Aren't you?"

  And waited.

  He made his voice soft and threatening. "Soomey?"

  "I cannot promise a thing I will not do," she said, her voice low, her steady gaze meeting his defiantly. "If I believe you are in danger, I will guard your back. You are Boss, and this is my duty."

  "Dammit, girl! You're fired!"

  "You do not want me?"

  Her hesitant, soft question cooled his anger like her defiance never could. Want her? God, yes! He wanted her, and the very thought made him sick.

  She had been asleep when he'd carried her into the tent and tucked her into bed, a soft burden fitting into his arms like no woman ever had. He had worried, until he laid his fingers across her sweet mouth and felt the even in-and-out of her breath. A pulse beat delicately at the base of her throat, and he'd watched it for long moments, wondering how he could have ever taken her for a boy child.

  Her face was a perfect oval, the pale ivory of so many Chinese women. Her eyes, almond-oval, were large and lustrous, and her hair, free from her queue, was a river of shining black silk. Although her hands were callused, they were well-shaped, with long, slim fingers. Her feet had never been bound--thank God!--and were high-arched and narrow, when they were not swollen and abused.

  In short, she was the most beautiful woman Silas had ever seen.

  And one he wanted, as he'd never hungered for a woman before.

  Woman?

  Child! That's how you have to think of her, you damned Lothario. You want a woman, there's plenty of 'em, big enough and willing enough, over at Tilly's.

  "Boss?" Her voice trembled.

  Silas started, aware that he'd been lost in self-disgust. "What?"

  "I say I will go away as soon as I can walk." She struggled to her knees, bowed her head before him. "You have been very good boss. I am sorry I have been unworthy servant. Please, will you keep Tao Ni? He is a good boy and will work hard."

  "You're not going anywhere!" Scooping her off her knees, he settled her into her blankets again, holding her down when she struggled. "Lay still, dammit!"

  She stilled immediately. But her chin was set in that stubborn way, and her glare was enough to scorch his hide off.

 

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