“That’s why I’m here, Lightning,” she said gently. “We’ve got her. Found her lying all of a heap up this gorge. My friends have taken her back to our camp, where there’s a doctor man.”
“She ain’t—dead?” Something like terror looked out of the man’s eyes, and again Blanche realised his burning devotion.
“She’s bad, but I don’t think she’s dead,” she replied. “Will you come with me?”
“You ain’t—lyin’?”
“Why should I lie?”
The man remained for a moment without speaking. He was striving to read behind the eyes of the woman who had no desire to conceal the truth.
“We’ll go right now,” he said at last, and bestirred himself.
“This pony?” Blanche demurred. “Can we leave her at the farm?”
Lightning shook his head decidedly.
“She’ll need her,” he said. “We’ll take her along.” Then his manner softened. “Maybe you’ll tell me things, ma’am,” he said. “You can tell me as we go.”