“Yes, so you said before. Now begin at the start and tell your story.”
She had the odd feeling of being put on the defensive and it angered her. How dared he look at her with those cool, gray eyes that still appeared to bore a hole through treachery? Why did her heart 44 convict her of having deserted a friend, when she knew that the desertion was his?
“While I was gathering poppies I heard a shot. It was so close I walked to the edge of the draw and looked over. There I saw you.”
“What was I doing?”
“You were hogtying a calf.”
“And then?”
“I didn’t understand at first. I thought to slip down and surprise you for fun. But as I got lower I saw the dead cow. Just then you began to brand the calf and I cried out to you.”
“What did I do?”
“You know what you did,” she answered wearily. “You broke for the brush where your horse was and galloped away.”
“Got a right good look at me, did you?”