One of the men was playing with his rope while the others circled Win’s horse. ‘‘I’ll give you a hand.’’ He tried to sound casual.

The drifter on Win’s left began to work his lasso, also. Win shifted in the saddle. The cow on the other end of his rope kept him rooted; otherwise he’d have backed away from the strangers.

Just as the first man swung his rope, not toward the cow, but at Win, another swung a rifle butt toward Win’s head.

With his hands caught in his own rope, Win twisted violently to avoid the blow and got snared in the other stranger’s loop. A second later he hit the mud, rolling and fighting to reach his gun. Another rope circled his arm and pulled it tightly behind him.

Win fought to free himself as the men laughed and backed their horses until the ropes were tight. The man with the rifle slid from his saddle and moved cautiously toward Win.

‘‘We figure you took a blow to the head when you fell, mister. So here’s the blow.’’ The drifter swung twice before the wood of his rifle cracked against Win’s skull.

Though the world went dark, Win’s body still fought to pull free.

‘‘Drag him over to that nest of water moccasins, boys. We want this to look like an accident!’’ one of the men yelled. ‘‘The way he’s thrashing around, he’ll take a dozen bites, maybe more, before we can pull him out.’’

The ropes tightened around his shoulder and arm as Win slid across the mud and water. He fought wildly but couldn’t free himself.

‘‘Keep the ropes tight while the snakes bite!’’ the leader yelled again. ‘‘We don’t want him getting lucky and drowning. We want to take him back alive so we’ll be heroes. Then when the poison seeps in, it’ll look like we done our best to save him. While they’re mourning, we’ll follow the rest of the plan.’’

Water rushed over Winter, barely deep enough to cover him before he felt them. Snakes, thin and fast moving over him, curling around his legs, crossing over his chest.

Water moccasins. Winter’s mind drifted back to when he was a boy living among his mother’s people.

‘‘How many bites would kill me?’’ he asked his mother once as they watched the olive-brown snake slide across the water with his head up slightly.

‘‘With the wet snake be it little or long, it’s not how many, but how long you have left. One, two, three… a man can take, but after that he doesn’t need to count the snakes… only the hours of pain he has left.’’

TWENTY-TWO


THE SUN HAD A WAY OF LYING DOWN ALONG THE horizon and dying a slow brilliant death. Kora sat on the porch and watched, smiling at her memories of last night. Fate had given her a chance to be a wife, and she planned to enjoy the role as long as it lasted. All her life she’d wondered how it would feel to be cherished. Winter might frighten half the folks around here, but he was gentle with her. He thought she was special. She could see desire in his eyes, and his passion proved his longing for her. He was also talking to her of the problems of the ranch, which made her feel like she belonged, she was truly family.

Three riders appeared far to the south. Kora watched them approach, trying to see if one was Win. She shook her head. None of them had the height.

Jamie slammed the screen door as she joined her sister. ‘‘I’m bored.’’ She pouted. ‘‘I wish I’d gone with Win. Since Cheyenne is still hobbling around here, I could have riden backup. Now I’m stuck here bored out of my mind.’’

Kora knew the mood had more to do with Wyatt leaving after their fight than with Jamie’s lack of anything to do. Cheyenne had been wrong when he’d predicted the gambler would propose. Wyatt wanted a girl, but not a wife, it seemed. And Jamie wanted no strings on her as well.

Leaning against the porch railing, Jamie added, ‘‘Maybe it’s about time we moved on before the witchin’ luck catches up to us.’’

Kora didn’t say a word. She didn’t want to think about her mother’s pet name for the bad luck that always followed them.

‘‘I don’t want to leave this time,’’ Kora whispered more to herself than Jamie. ‘‘I like it here and Dan hasn’t coughed in days. He’s growing stronger with regular meals and clean air.’’ She knew Jamie loved the adventure, but Kora had longed for roots. ‘‘I thought we’d stay till summer.’’ She’d been wondering how she’d tell Jamie that her marriage to Win was only temporary. Even with all that had happened, Win had never said a word about her not leaving. ‘‘Then we might finally head to California.’’ She tried to sound excited.

Her sister wasn’t listening. As she spotted the riders, Jamie bolted like a shot from her perch and ran toward the yard. ‘‘Logan! Cheyenne! Come quick!’’

‘‘What is it?’’ The air seemed to pop with excitement around Kora. ‘‘Jamie, what’s wrong?’’ All she could see was three riders, one leading a horse, the other two riding a few yards ahead. Nothing seemed unusual, yet Jamie was dancing around wildly.

Logan and Cheyenne appeared at the barn entrance as Jamie shouted, ‘‘That’s Win’s horse they’re pulling behind them!’’

Cheyenne was in the saddle in a heartbeat riding toward the men at full gallop despite his injury. Logan disappeared back into the barn. He stepped out a few seconds later with a rifle in his hands.

‘‘Best get in the house, ladies, until we know something.’’ He moved toward the center of the yard. Other rifles slid out the doors and windows behind him. ‘‘ ’Pears trouble finally found us.’’

‘‘No,’’ Kora answered, standing beside her sister in the center of the yard. ‘‘I’m not leaving.’’

The riders drew closer. They were hard men with the look of a drifter about each. All three needed haircuts and shaves, and their clothes were so layered in dust and sweat Kora couldn’t even guess what color the fabric had once been.

Just as Cheyenne reached the riders, she saw a body tied over Win’s horse.

Kora screamed as Cheyenne jumped from his mount at full gallop and drew his blade. He slit the ropes holding Win and pulled his friend into his arms. With great effort, he lifted Win on the saddle and climbed up behind him. He kicked the horse into action and rode toward home.

All the blood seemed to drain from her as Kora watched Cheyenne bring Win the last hundred yards. She couldn’t move. Her husband’s body was covered in mud and soaking wet. And lifeless.

Logan shouted orders as the riders came in, but all Kora could do was stare. They lowered Win to the dirt while the three strangers climbed down from their saddles.

‘‘We found him in the water,’’ one said.

‘‘Snake bit. They was crawling all over him.’’

‘‘We know you’d want us to bring him home for the time he has left,’’ another mumbled.

Kora glanced at Jamie. Neither said a word, but both were thinking the same thing. Witchin’ luck had struck again. They hadn’t left this place soon enough. Misfortune had found them.

Kora felt her flesh turn to stone. She’d known from the first that nothing good lasted. How long did she think she could stay in this daydream that she could live happily as Winter’s wife? People like her and Jamie and Dan were never meant to be happy. They were never supposed to stay in one place.

‘‘Take him inside!’’ she ordered. ‘‘All the way to our bedroom.’’

The men did as she asked, marching in a funeral procession up the stairs.

Kora hardly noticed the mud they tracked across her floor or the dirt that scarred the walls as the men scraped against them. All she saw was Winter’s lips, white and swollen, and his body limp and twisted awkwardly by several pairs of hands.

The strangers who brought him in were the only ones talking.

‘‘He’s been bit several times.’’

‘‘I counted six on his arms and legs.’’

‘‘Ain’t never known anyone to live with more than three or four.’’

‘‘Your boss will never see another sunrise.’’

Kora wanted to grab Win’s Colt and shoot all three of them. But they were only the bearers of bad news and not the villains. ‘‘Thank you for bringing him home,’’ she managed to say. ‘‘Please come in and rest while I see to my husband.’’

The three men smiled and began thanking her, but Kora was no longer listening. She followed the men upstairs never stopping the string of orders to first Logan, then Jamie, then several of the hands. She couldn’t explain why, but danger still seemed heavy in the air. Maybe she was just seeing Dan’s ghosts, but something seemed wrong. When she had time she’d reason each clue out, but for now she’d protect them.

Cheyenne unstrapped Win’s gunbelt and laid it on the floor. ‘‘I’ll help you get him out of these clothes first, then we can take a look at the bites. With water moccasins there’s no use sending for the doc. He’ll either be better or dead before the doc could get here.’’

Kora lifted the wet gunbelt from the floor and strapped it around her waist not caring that the mud stained her dress. The weapon hung low over her full skirt. She pulled the Colt from its nest. ‘‘Will it fire?’’

Logan stopped helping Cheyenne long enough to answer. ‘‘No, ma’am.’’

‘‘Then clean it when you have time and load it for me. I’ll wear it until he’s up and able to do so again.’’ She left no room for discussion as she laid down the useless gun and began ripping away Win’s shirt, it was one of his new shirts.

Just as they spread a clean quilt over him, Jamie entered the room with a tray loaded down with supplies Kora had asked for.

‘‘How is he?’’ she whispered.

Both men were silent. They’d counted six deep bites and maybe a dozen scratches that might not have released much poison.

‘‘He’s going to make it,’’ Kora said without blinking. ‘‘But until he’s up and on his feet, we’ve got to be on guard. Something’s not right.’’ She mixed the water with a handful of baking soda. ‘‘I don’t care what those men downstairs said, Win would not fall into a nest of snakes.’’

Cheyenne’s head snapped up as if someone had hit him hard in the jaw. ‘‘She’s right,’’ he whispered. ‘‘Win’s no fool. He’s known about water moccasins since he could walk. His mother’s tribe believes in living with them, not killing them.’’

A silence fell between the four people standing around the bed. Words were not needed. Win hadn’t suffered an accident; someone had tried to kill him and might very well have succeeded. And the most likely villains were downstairs in the kitchen right now.

‘‘I’ll kill whoever did this,’’ Jamie mumbled. ‘‘It must have been a gang because no man could take my brother-in-law down alone.’’

Kora pulled the quilt to his waist and began washing the bites with a rag soaked in baking soda. ‘‘Force a drink of whiskey down his throat,’’ she ordered as she worked. ‘‘ Jamie, you may be right. Go downstairs and give the strangers all the leftovers we have in the cool box.’’ Before Jamie could question she added, ‘‘And don’t miss a word they say.’’

‘‘I’ll only make a quick stop at my room. I only have two knives on me and I may need three.’’ Jamie disappeared to do as ordered.

Kora slid down the quilt and began soaking the red dots on Win’s legs. The thought crossed her mind that for a girl who hated Win, Jamie was sure fighting mad at him being hurt.

‘‘That won’t help.’’ Logan’s voice was thick with sadness. ‘‘Nothing will, that I know of.’’

‘‘We’ve got to try and pull the poison out,’’ Kora answered in almost a cry. ‘‘Give me your knife, Cheyenne. Logan, open the windows.’’

Cheyenne did as she asked without question.

‘‘If he’s cold, maybe the poison will move slower.’’ Kora told them. ‘‘Cheyenne, keep one eye on the stairs. No one but the four of us is getting any closer to Win tonight. Logan, spread the word that if anyone comes up here, he’ll be shot on sight.’’

‘‘Yes, ma’am.’’ Logan moved to the stairs, but before he went down, he added, ‘‘The boss would be real proud of you. If he makes it through this, I plan on telling him what a lucky man he is.’’

Kora nodded her thank-you and went back to work. With tears rolling unchecked down her cheeks, she cut each bite from fang mark to fang mark, making the swollen flesh bleed.