“Yes, we’ll go home,” said Big Medicine wearily. “Home will seem good after all this. Come, Lucy, Wanna. We’re going home again, but we are not going to stay home all the time. We are going to travel more. Wanna, you’ll see the cities, wear pretty clothes. I’ll have the old ranch-house torn down and a new one built. We’ll begin to live now!
“I’ve got plenty of cattle left. We’ll trail a bunch down to Caliente and sell them off. We’ll sell some horses, too. As soon as we’re able we’ll improve the hot springs, and make folks want to come to Hawk Hole. We’ve been buried for years, but now we’re going to dig our way out into the sunshine.”
He seemed almost incoherent in his promises. Wanna looked at him, her eyes wide with surprise, as he put his arms around her and kissed her on the cheek. It was not at all like him. Lucy grinned and held out her hand to Hashknife.
“Mahsie,” she said, half-whispering her thanks.
“Yo’re sure awful welcome,” he said gravely.
“Let’s go out the kitchen door,” suggested Sleepy, and they filed out into the night.
The stars seemed very close out there in the hills. Somewhere a mockingbird was calling, “Peter, Peter, Peter, Peter.”
“Lopez got away, too,” said Sleepy.
“That’s good,” sighed Hashknife. “He was only the cook.”
They left Big Medicine with the women and went after the horses. The shed was filled with saddles, and they had no trouble in selecting their horses. The K-10 horses were farther down the trail, so they only saddled for Hashknife, and the two women.