Two men doubling up when a third mount bolted riderless. And inside a minute, nothing remained on that road but a fading cloud of dust in the failing light. Wyatt turned to find her still holding his pistol, breathing slow and even, like she hadn't just put three bullets. exactly where she wanted them under pressure that would have shaken most grown men's hands. She looked at the gun a long moment before handing it back. Grip first the way a person hands back a tool they respect.
Thank you, but I believe I owed some answers. She said nothing at first only walked back behind the rocks and sad and Wyatt followed. Curiosity now fully awake. That man called you Grey Owl's daughter. That true?
A long pause. Then finally, a small nod. Why didn't you say something? Back at the market, you just stood there and let them sell you off. Her voice, when it finally came, was soft but certain, an accent braiding two languages together into something almost musical.
They killed my guards while I was out hunting, far from my own people. They put this veil on me so no one would know who I was. They meant to ransom me later. Quietly, once things cooled down, but no one would pay for a veiled woman at any price, and they grew impatient, decided to sell me outright instead, and forget the ransom entirely until I showed up, until you showed up. Wyatt eased back against the stone, letting it settle over him.
He'd bought the daughter of an Apache chief by pure accident. And now armed men were hunting them both across open country. What's your name? A moment's hesitation. Naellili.
Naellili. He turned the word over. I'm Wyatt. The man who paid $4 for a veiled woman nobody wanted. A faint edge of amusement rode under the words.
Wyatt couldn't stop the grin pulling at his mouth despite everything they just survived. That's about the size of it. The fire he'd built back up caught properly, then throwing warm light across the both of them. And for a moment, neither one said anything more at all. Why did you buy me?
Naellili studied him in the firelight. Every other man there was afraid. You stood up straight when nobody else figured you had a reason to told me you were tougher than you looked. Guess I wasn't wrong. They pushed on until full dark forced to stop, making camp among another scatter of boulders.
The fire kept low enough not to carry far. Duke grazed nearby on whatever dry scrub he could root out. Naellili sat across the flames with her veil finally folded beside her. No reason left to hide her face from the one man who already knew exactly who she was. How'd you learn to shoot like that?