“You’re going to quit here? You’re going home? You’re leaving Molly?”
The woman’s astonishment was not untouched by disapproval.
“Sure. Right away, ma’am,” he said. “I got to. An’ it’s fer Molly, gal. Ther’s the cows, an’ the hosses, an’ then ther’s the harvest. It’s all Molly’s, ma’am, an’ she’ll need it.”
Blanche’s disapproval was completely dispelled.
“I’d forgotten. Of course. You’ll surely have to get right back. And when Molly’s feeling good and strong again I’ll bring her right home to you.”
Lightning nodded.
“That’s how I’d figgered.”
His gaze drifted away in the direction of the barns. It was almost as though he found it difficult to look the woman in the face.
“I need to get right away now,” he said with a shrug, “only I don’t feel like settin’ saddle on my plug fer the trail of that canyon, ma’am. He’s mean. He’s mean as hell, ma’am. It was diff’rent beating it up here. He’d your black to foller, which was everything. I surely don’t guess I’d get him to face that crick through the canyon in the dark. Still, I got to get right back anyway. I’ll sure need to make a break fer it.”
The old man’s regret and anxiety were perfection. It was quite impossible for Blanche to resist it. Her smile broke forth at once.