Prologue

Kansas, 1863

A bullet in the gut would have been more merciful. Even hanging.

But nothing in Captain Yin Xiang-Zhe (XZ) life had been merciful, and it was obvious that fact was not changing now. Every hope he ever had, every dream he ever dared dream, was gone. He was no longer Captain YXZ , respected, decorated officer and gentleman.

He stood there, disgraced. Cashiered. A convicted felon. He wanted to ball his fingers into fists, but he wouldn't give the bastards that satisfaction.

Thief. Traitor. They had judged him of a thief and very nearly a traitor. But his exoneration on the latter charge didn't matter. He would carry the stigma of both labels for the rest of his life.

He squared his shoulders, standing alone before the garrison as he was stripped of his captain bars, his buttons, his sword. Stripped of everything that had ever meant anything to him. Publicly stripped of his dignity.

His soul.

Drums tattooed out his disgrace, the rhythmic rapping accompany every humiliation. He tried not to hear them, but he knew they would echo in his brain forever.

And then the branding. A "T" on the back of his hand. "T" for thief. Public branding was still one of the army preferred punishments, though not usually for officers. But then he was no longer an officer.

XZ allowed his gaze to move slightly from the officer directing the punishment. A few army wives and daughters stood on the porches of the living quarters. His jaw tightened as he searched for Ying-Mei (YM). He didn't know whether she would watch her former betrothed in humiliation or not. She had been the first to abandon him when charges were filed against him. She hadn't even asked him whether they were true, but only returned his ring by proxy, without comment, while he awaited court-martial in the guardhouse. He found he hadn't known her at all, and, Christ, it had hurt.

He shook off the two men assigned to hold him still, and he offered his hand on the forge. He would not wear the mantle of coward as well as thief. But inside he retreated into some dark place where no one else could enter, would ever be able to enter. And he endured this part of the punishment because he had no choice but to endure.

He tried to blank his mind, but he couldn't. Flashes from the past whirled by, a parade of events that had led to this day, to this ultimate ignominy. That day more than twenty years ago when he had watched his mother and father die. He had been taken by the Comanches and held captive for five months until he was bought back by the army. Little had improved. He had been taken in by a Texas family, but soon learned it was only because of the work he could provide, he would have fared as well with the Indians.

But he was a survivor. He always been a survivor. He joined the army at fifteen and found a home he trusted. A place he belonged.

Eight years on the frontier until the war, working his way from private to master sergeant. Then the war with the South started, and he received a battlefield commission and two promotions. He had found his place in life, leadership had come easily. Because he had been an enlisted man, he understood them and valued their lives. He had known they would go wherever he led, do whatever he told them.

He thought he conquered his evil star, but now he realized it had just been waiting to strike again. At twenty five he been wounded and assigned to a desk job, away from the fighting he understood and into army politics he didn't. He was temporarily assigned to providing escorts for payrolls headed West. He hadn't trusted his superior, Major Zhen Gui-Ching (GC), something about the man had rankled XZ.

Now he stared ahead at Major Zhen, the man who had perjured himself at the court-martial, who had so neatly framed XZ for payroll robberies XZ knew now Major Zhen had committed. XZ had been an easy target.

XZ heard the sizzling of red-hot iron against skin, smelled his own flesh burning, and blessed the momentary shock that kept the pain from immediately rocking him. He stood, his legs braced, as agony filtered through his consciousness, firing the hatred that was fiercer than the branding iron. His eyes never left the face of Major Zhen.

The man flinched, and XZ knew his eyes had promised vengeance. Relentless vengeance.

Major Zhen licked his lips for a moment, then turned away.

XZ withdrew his hand and, despite himself, despite self-made pledges he would not do so, he looked at it. The was already evident, the skin burned black and raw, the sickening smell hovering in the hot summer sun. He swallowed his own bile to keep from moaning as the pain heightened, assaulting him in waves that continued to increase in intensity.

He was marked now. Forever marked as an outlaw and thief. No matter what he did, he could never rid himself of it.

He could never have a normal life. Not with the brand.

His arms were seized, irons fastened around his wrists, the soldiers unmindful of the burning agony of his hand. He was pushed toward the guardhouse to await transport to the Ohio State Penitentiary where he was sentenced to serve ten years. There were no military prisons, and military prisoners were turned over to whichever state facilities had space.

He bit his lip to keep from crying out in pain, from raging against injustice. But no one cared. Major Zhen had done his work too well.

If it was the last thing he ever did, XZ would make Major Zhen pay.

It was that thought, and that thought alone, that carried him through the night, through three days of being chained and displayed like an animal as he was taken by wagon and train to Ohio.

Major Zhen. The name might as well have been burned into XZ hand as the XZ would never wipe out the stink of burning flesh, the humiliation of being cashiered in front of the garrison he once served, the purposeful planned destruction of his life.

Not until Major Zhen suffered like a man damned, suffered as XZ had in the same lingering, irreversible way.

Chapter 1

Boston 1873

Zhen San-Mei (SM) knew her mother was dying.

Guilt mixed with loss. She should have insisted her mother call a doctor, but Samantha Zhen (SZ) had claimed over and over again her pain was only the result of eating bad food that it would soon go away. No sense spending good money for a doctor.

But the pain hadn’t gone away. It had increased, suddenly exploding in agony. Her mother now lay on a hospital bed, curled with pain so severe, even morphine couldn’t control it.

Despite her frail appearance, SZ had a core of pure steel. She was the most determined woman SM had ever known. Seeing her now, watching the life drain from her, was like taking a knife to her own heart and exposing it all to see.

The doctor said SZ’s insides were poisoned by the ruptured appendix, and there was nothing he could do. She had simply waited too long before coming to him.

SZ had only a day or two to live, if that much. No more, he had said, and those days would be agonizing as infection invaded and slowly destroyed her mother’s body.

SZ : (SM held her mother’s hand. SZ’s eyes opened) The shop?

SM : Mrs. Lowe is keeping it open (SM said, fighting back tears she knew would only distress her mother further)

SZ : You …. should be there. Mrs. Brent's bonnet …..

SM : Mrs. Brent’s bonnet is completed (SM said, telling a lie her mother would despise)

Her mother detested dishonesty of any type. A lie, she always said, is the road to perdition. You can never tell just one lie, lie take on a life of their own, reproducing new lies. A lie was like Hydra, a multi-headed monster that grew two heads for each one cut off.

But SM justified this particular lie to ease her mother, anything to relieve the pain and worry. Anything. If she could give her own life in exchange, she would. She was rewarded when her mother’s eyes closed, and SZ seemed to relax, the next pain, SM knew, would soon come soon enough.

SM didn’t want to think of what might happen now. There had always been just the two of them. Her father had died before her birth, and her mother had supported the two of them with the small millinery shop that barely provided a decent living. There was never any money for extras, but SM and her mother hadn’t needed much. They went to free concerts in the park, to church socials, and occasion, when they had an extra dollar, to the theater.

They had some friends, but no one really close, since they had been busy with the shop. And there were no relatives. It had always been the two of them against the world, her mother said, and that was a gracious plenty, more than many had.

There had been a few young men, suitors, but none whom SM cared about enough to marry. Her mother had always urged her to consider several of the suits. Choose a man with honor, she said, and you will grow to love him. Don’t trust emotions, trust common sense.

And SM had tried. She had been courted by some believed honorable, like the father whose tintype image SM adored. She had been courted by some she believed decent, but none had made her heart sing, there was no intensity of feeling such as her mother must have known to remain loyal all these years.

No, love had eluded SM, and despite her mother’s urging, she refused to settle for less. Now she was twenty three and thought to be on the shelf.

It was difficult to think of herself that way. She loved her books, she enjoyed drawing, and she knew she was a good designer of hats, particularly whimsical creations that drew customers to the shop. Those inspirations, as well as the caricatures she drew of people she knew, reflected the secret part of a personality usually considered tranquil and sensible. She would never be a good artist, but she had a sense of the ridiculous that she kept hidden to herself for fear of offending people.

But now nothing matter except her mother. SM couldn’t even think of life without her. SZ had been friend and teacher as well as parent, and SM felt lost at even the thought of being alone. Although at times she had rebelled against the possessiveness of and strict standards set by her mother, SM had always felt deeply loved.

And now ……….

Desolation flooded SM until she heard a moan escape from her mother.

SM : Can I get you anything? (SM asked in a whisper)

SZ : (Her mother’s soft gray eyes met hers) I wish ……

SM : What do you wish?

SZ : Be careful, SM, be careful who you marry.

SZ’s eyes filled with tears, and it was almost more than SM could bear. She had never seen her mother cry before.

SM : Someone like Papa?

SZ had never said much about SM’s father, and SM had stopped pressing, thinking that his death had probably hurt her mother too badly. He had been charming, her mother said long ago. Handsome and charming and honorable.

But SZ didn’t answer, her mouth contorting as a new wave of pain racked her thin body. Her fingernails dug into SM’s hand until SM felt blood running down them. And then SZ’s pain seemed to weaken.

SZ : I’m sorry, SM (her mother said in a whisper)

SM : (SM bent down) There’s nothing to be sorry for.

SZ : I did what I thought was best.

Her mother was looking into her face, willing her to believe.

SM : Of course you did (SM said, not understanding the sudden urgency in the words, or the meaning)

And then her mother screamed. She hurried out of the ward to find a nurse. In minutes there was an injection, and SZ’s calm gray eyes clouded.

SZ : I did what I thought was best (she mumbled again)

SM : It’s all right, Mama (SM said) It’s all right.

SZ’s eyes closed, and SM wondered whether she would ever forget the fear but that was etched on her mother’s face.

He had been so handsome. So charming. So persuasive. SZ saw him now in her fevered pain.

ZGC. He had been everything a young girl could want. It had been a miracle when asked her to marry him and go West.

And then the miracle had turned into a nightmare. She discovered that ZGC was an incurable thief. Far more money than he earned showed up in his pockets. For a while she believed his explanations, a wager, a gift, a bonus from a grateful superior. But then GC would say it was time to leave, often quite abruptly and in the middle of the night.

He always found another position, he could charm birds out of trees, employers out of checking nonexistent references, but then he would tire of his current job, complain it was not worthy of his skills, start stealing and, when he thought he might be caught, move on again.

Like many women often did, SZ thought at first she could reform him. But stealing seemed to be an addiction with him. He took more and more chances, and then she discovered his participation in a robbery of a bank in which he was a clerk. She had found wrapped bills in his traveling bag following the robbery, just days after she knew she was with child.

He had promised so many times to stop, and she didn’t believe him anymore. Part of her would always love him, but she wouldn’t raise a child on stolen money. Not as the child of a thief. She might be able to exist that way, but she wouldn’t burden a child with that kind of legacy.

And so without telling him of the child but threatening to reveal his part of the bank robbery if he came after her, she left him, telling friends in Boston that her husband had died. She had no intention of marrying again. SM was born just when SZ’s own father died, leaving her a small inheritance, just enough to buy the millinery shop where she worked.

And the lies had started, the lies she had warned SM about, because she knew better than anyone how destructive they became. She couldn’t let SM know of her tainted blood, and so she lied and lied and lied, allowing SM to believe that her father had been an honorable man, a good man.

She knew now what a mistake she’d made. As she emerged again from the foggy, weighted world of morphine, she was terrified that SM would learn her father was still alive and try to go to him. She couldn’t let that happen. ZGC would corrupt her as he corrupted everyone around him.

Why had she kept the letters, the money, and the newspaper story?

Because she couldn’t ever completely let him go. He was her weakness, the kind of weakness she’d tried to keep from infecting her daughter. Perhaps there was still time to burn those few keepsakes of a marriage that had been both paradise and hell.

She looked up at her daughter, who was sitting in the chair next to her, and saw her dark brown eyes were closed. If only she could go home, she thought just as the pain hit again with agonizing sharpness.

A moan escaped her, and SM’s eyes opened. Such honest eyes. She must never know about ZGC. He would charm her with that smile that delighted the heart.

SM : Mama?

SZ : There’s a box, SM a wooden box (SZ said) in my closet. Go and bring it to me.

SM : (SM shook her head) I can’t leave ….

SZ : (SZ tightened her clasp on her daughter’s hand) Please …. It won’t take long ….

SM : (SM hesitated. She didn’t want to leave, but her mother was growing agitated. She would hurry) I’ll bring it.

SZ : (SZ’s fingers dug into her hand) Don’t open it.

SM : I won’t. I’ll get a nurse ….

SZ : (Her mother’s hand dropped as her body arced again with pain) Just bring ….. Go.

SM : I’ll bring it, mama. I’ll be right back.

Pain hit again, and SZ felt more of her life draining away with each new onslaught. She must destroy GC’s letters, those few letters that begged her to return, the envelopes of money he’d sent. He had never known about the child, and she never wanted him to know.

Her eyes closed, and she saw him again in her mind, in her heart. GC begged her to come back ten years ago. He had said he had joined the army and was now a respected major. He had said nothing about the stealing. He could never admit doing anything wrong, but she knew he was trying to tell her he was through with that. She had been tempted. Dear God, how she had been tempted, and then she read the story in the Boston paper about a court-martial in Kansas and how a Major Zhen had testified against another officer accused of payroll robberies. Most of the money had never been found. And she had known, deep in her heart, that it had been GZC who was responsible, not the other man.

She should have contacted army authorities, but then that would have meant revealing her own lies, allowing SM to know her father was a thief. Still, she had hung on to that clipping. And the money he’d sent. She’d never spend a penny of it. Stolen money. Blood money. She wore an albatross of guilt about that other man.

That clipping …. In the box with the letters.

The pain was fading now, drowning in a sea of fog. Hurry, SM. Hurry. Oh, GC, if only ……

SM after finding the box started to run to the hospital, urgency eating at her. She held the box as if it were a treasure as she ran up the steps of the hospital.

The nurse on the second floor looked away from her when she approached. Feeling a sting of apprehension, she hurried to the room her mother shared with three others.

The doctor was looking down, his face bleak. He saw her and shook his head. SM rushed toward the bed, fear rushing through her. Her mother’s face was pale, unnatural. SM leaned down and touched her lips, the cheek was cool. Still. Lifeless.

Doctor : I’m sorry, SM

SM looked at him uncomprehendingly. Her mother had been fine five days ago. How could this have happened? She looked at the doctor through glazed eyes. She wanted to blame him, but she couldn’t. Her mother had resisted SM’s entreaties too long.

SM : (SM knelt next to the bed. She grabbed her mother’s hands, trying to get some sign of life) You can’t (she whispered) You can’t go.

SM willed her to open her eyes, willed warmth back into those hands. All SM had was her mother. SM felt pain gather behind her eyes, a tightness that threatened to squeeze life from her.

SM : Don’t leave me like this (she whispered as tears started to tickle down her cheeks)

She watched as the doctor pulled a sheet over her mother. A tear snaked down her cheek, and she brushed it away. SZ had always been strong. SM could be no less.

The funeral was small. Quiet and dignified, which was the way her mother would have wanted it. The burial expenses took all the money they had saved. The last guest finally left. The lawyer had read the will, which left everything to SZ’s “beloved” daughter. SM gaze went to the wooden box, why had her mother wanted it so badly that she had died alone? And where was the key? In her need to do something, anything, SM became obsessed with the box. SM found a knife and started working on the lock. When it resisted her very effort, she worked around it, trying to dig it out, scarring the lovely wood, but she couldn’t stop. She had to open it now.

The room had darkened before it came open, but she didn’t stop to light an oil lamp. She lifted the lid, and what she could see of the contents stilled her. She sat there, drinking in the implications. SM finally rose and lit the oil lamp, then returned to the box. Money. Lots of money. New bills wrapped in paper with the name of a Kansas bank. Used bills.

And letters. She picked one up and saw the name at the bottom. Zhen Gui-Ching. Her father. She looked at the date. Ten years ago. Her hand shaking, she picked up another letter. Three years ago. There was a Colorado address. A town named Rushton.

Other letters. A total of ten. And beneath them a clipping from a Boston paper. She quickly read the story. A court-martial. A Major ZGC was the main prosecution witness, the man who had discovered and caught a traitor involved in army payroll robberies. There were drawings of the convicted man and of Major ZGC. She glanced at the former, caught for a moment by the handsome angles of the man’s face, but then she moved quickly to the latter. Ten years ago. She would have been thirteen at the time. Why hadn’t she seen this before? And if she had, would it have made any difference? Zhen was a common enough name.

But that, with the letters and money, posed unsettling questions. Dear God in heaven, what did it mean? She read the letters. At first they asked her mother to return to the writer in Kansas. And then they merely hoped SZ was well and stated that money was enclosed. They said nothing about SM. Nothing at all.

SM closed her eyes, trying to think. The major had to be her father. Her birth certificate listed a ZGC as her father. Thoughts whirled in her head like flying debris in a tornado. She tried to remember everything her mother had said about him. Honorable. The clipping she’d read seemed to verify that.

Why had her mother left him? Why had she never told SM he was alive? And why had she never spent the money when they’d so often needed it? Why had her mother lied? Suddenly, SM’s whole existence seemed a lie. The foundation, once so solid, quaked and wavered, and she felt she would fall through the flimsy flooring. Who was she? SM knew she had to find out. She had to find ZGC. She had to find her father.

Chapter 2

Ohio State Penitentiary, 1873

YXZ hesitated outside the walls of the Ohio Penitentiary. The prison-supplied clothes were ill-fitting on his tall, lanky form, and on a hot summer day the wool was uncomfortable and scratchy. But then anything was preferable to the stripes he’d been wearing for so long. Three thousand, six hundred, and twenty two days, to be exact. He’d counted each one of those days in hell. Ten years gone from his life. Stolen. Just as his honor had been stolen.

He yearned for a cotton shirt, for trousers that fit, for a pair of boots instead of the little more than cardboard shoes he wore now. He longed for a lot of things. A night looking at stars. He didn’t seen stars in ten years. His tiny cell hadn’t had a window, and the convicts were locked up long before evening.

Convict. Even if he didn’t wear that damning brand, he knew the stench of convict radiated from him. Outside the walls he still found himself shuffling like one, his voice, like that of so many other prisoners, sounded hoarse from disuse.

His marked hand went into his pocket. Abner was there. Abner who helped save his sanity. His finger rubbed the small, contented mouse who liked the wool far better than he did. XZ watched as people looked at him warily while they passed him on the street.

Some looked through him, as if he didn’t exist. He felt a muscle move slightly in his cheek. Ten years locked away and now ….. XZ tried to think of something else, of things small and large he hadn’t permitted himself to think about during the past years. A horse, by God. How he longed to be in a saddle again, to feel control. To go where he wanted.

And a woman. A woman of dubious virtue and no pretensions. Christ, but he needed that physical release. After YM’s betrayal, though he wanted nothing more from females than a few minutes of physical pleasure with their bodies. He knew damned well he would never trust one again.

But those desires paled in comparison with his longing for revenge. For retribution. For justice, if there was such a thing. He knew he should feel something more uplifting. Happiness at his release. Relief. But he didn’t. Every human feeling had been systematically ripped from him during the past ten years. Pride. Dignity. Everything except hate.

Three years into his sentence, XZ had been stunned when Jin You-Zhen (YZ) had appeared one day. YZ had just heard, he’d said, and knew there wasn’t a damn word of truth in the charges.

It had been difficult to comprehend that someone believed him at last, that some human would gave a thinker’s damn. He had seized YZ’s offer of help like a drowning man seizing a rope. He had quickly banished his reservations about involving YZ and his brother Jin Xian-Da (XD) in his quest for vengeance.

YZ had been a corporal under him during the second year of the war, and XD a wet-behind-the ears private. At Vicksburg, XZ had saved both of their lives. XD was shot in an open position, and YZ had crawled out to help him. XZ had disobeyed orders and followed YZ, had given him cover as he dragged his brother back. XZ had been shot as he turned back to his own lines. YZ and XD thought they owed him. Honor was a commodity he couldn’t afford. It had been burned away with the branding iron.

Another passerby walked down the street, crossing when he saw XZ standing in front of the prison. He knew he had changed, that his face had changed. Hate was an ugly emotion, and it left ugly trails. Bitter lines etched out from his eyes now, and a sprinkling of gray mixed with his dark hair. The once-vivid clear brown of his eyes had dulled, they no longer showed any emotion at all. He had learned that in the first year of prison. Never let a guard know what you’re thinking.

He’d learned other things, how long a man could exist in the punishment box, a pitch-black cell with no furniture, not even a slop pail. Later, when he’d been transferred into a cell that was three and a half feet wide, seven feet long, seven feet high, he’d learned how many bricks comprised that wall, how many iron strips barred the gate. For ten years his home had been that cell, with the cot attached to the wall, a night bucket, a spittoon. He’d learned to endure, but he’d never learned to accept.

Where was XD? He wondered, wanting to get away from her, from these walls, from the stench of caged men. He gazed up at the sky. It appeared different from outside. He had stopped looking upward since his first weeks in prison, it hurt too damn much. He couldn’t think of open spaces or he would go crazy, and he couldn’t do that. Not and finish what had been started, what he had been planning for years. Only those plans and hatred sustained him through the endless days and sleepless nights.

An hour went by. Something must have held up XD. The warden had given XZ ten dollars, but where could he go with ten dollars? Even without the brand on his hand, everyone in Columbus would recognize the prison-issue clothes. No job here. Probably no job anywhere with that damned hand.

He’d saved some money before his court-martial, money he’d planned to use to build a future with YM. But he had authorized its transfer to YZ to investigate Zhen’s past and to seed the beginning of their plans. A horseman appeared down the street, leading another mount. XZ felt the first tingling of expectation in a very long time …………

He’d remembered XD as little more than a boy, barely into shaving, but now there was no mistaking the man. Ben’s face was hard, tempered too early by pain and war. He and YZ had wandered after the war, driving cattle for a while, scouting for wagon trains. They’d been farm boys before the war, but the fighting had ruined them for that. The Jin brothers had seen too much of the world to settle on a small plot of earth and take up plowing. They’d left the small Illinois farm in the hands of a third brother who’d stayed home and who loved the land.

They’d gathered others too, YZ written him. Men who had been in the ragtag unit XZ took over when war started. Men who had never been able to settle down after war, whose restlessness drove them from one job to another, Johnny Green, Bill Smith, Casey Thompson, Simon Ford and Skinny Ware. They’d needed another cause, and XZ’s had become theirs, because there was nothing else. XZ didn’t kid himself about that. Still, he was grateful.

XD reached him and leaned over to shake his hand, searching his face as XZ searched his, to find all the changes in ten years. XD’s gaze fell to the back of his hand, to the brand, and XZ heard the indrawn breath.

It was an awkward moment. XZ had gotten used to the brand, as he had others in the prison. He’d realized it would be more difficult outside, but he wasn’t prepared for the reaction of someone who expected it.

XD : Sorry I’m late (XD said trying to cover his reaction) I took the train, and the damned thing was late. I bought the horses here. (He hesitated) I brought you some clothes, and YZ said you would want some gloves.

XZ nodded as his throat tightened. He was unwilling to acknowledge the scar with words.

XD : Want to stop first for a drink or anything?

XZ : I want the hell out of her

XD : (XD grinned) Well, I brought a flask just in that event. You’ll find the gloves and clothes in those saddle bags on the bay.

XZ nodded and went to the horse, stopping to run his hand along the horse’s neck. Christ that felt good. He had to wait a moment before mounting. Ten goddamn years. Suddenly, it was almost too much. He was paralyzed by the feelings that flooded him.

XD : Captain …?

XZ : (That word revitalized him. Revitalized his purpose) Not captain anymore, XD. Just XZ.

XD : (XD hesitated) I think of you that way.

XZ : Don’t (It was said too sharply, and XZ knew it)

But the reminder hurt. XZ felt the ache of loss, the diminishment of his manhood, the erosion of whom and what he once had been and could be no longer, as he swung up on the bay. He sat there in the saddle, feeling the animal’s muscles underneath him. He fought back the despair and tried to relish this moment alone. He concentrated on it, fed on it, letting it block out all the other feelings.

He lifted his face to catch the dry, hot wind, unblocked now by the high walls of the prison. His eyes caught some lazy clouds drifting overhead, and his legs tightened around the sides of the horse. He was free. Christ he was free!

His mind couldn’t comprehend it, couldn’t accept it. Not yet. He would wake up in the tiny dark cell, the three walls of brick and the door that was grated with iron bars. No, he would never be truly free again. Not as he once had been.

But vengeance would help. Zhen’s destruction and his own vindication, and then squaring the account with Sergeant Sam McClary, who had also been involved in framing him.

XZ : (He looked at XD) Which is the best route to Colorado?

XD : (XD’s eyes met his. Understanding was there. Not pity, thank God) The way I came.

XZ didn’t say anymore. He turned his horse and pressed his heels into its side, prompting it to a canter. He was finally on the road to redemption.

Chapter 3

It took XZ and XD three weeks to reach Casey Springs, Colorado. Three weeks in which XZ tried to accustom himself to freedom. He had thought it would he easy. It wasn't. His mind was still caged by the past, by feelings of anger. He'd lost part of himself; the old confidence, the simple enjoyment of basic things.

The first night of freedom had been the best and worst. Every sensation struck him with poignancy. They'd ridden all day before stopping, and despite XZ's having spent nearly twenty years on horseback, his muscles rebelled, reminding him of how long it had been since he last sat atop a horse, how much time he had lost.

Aware of how rusty he'd become with a gun, he practiced shooting. He had a long way to go to regain his former familiarity with a gun. When darkness made practice impossible, he tried to sleep and found himself unable to.

The night sounds were strange to ears used to curses and moans and restless movements, to the screeching of iron doors and the heating of guards' batons against bars. Serenity had become more jarring than gunshot. Every star mocked him, instead of pleasuring, and the moon . . . Hell, he'd started adding up the number of new moons he'd missed. Nothing was satisfying, only teasing, reminding, torturing. He thought of the nightmares that wouldn't go away, that sensation of waking in a coffin, in that prison box, away from light and sun and everything that gave life.

Only after getting blind-drunk on the whiskey XD had brought with him did XZ finally drift off, and then he woke up abruptly to find XD hovering over him. He knew he must have been yelling. His blanket was wadded up into a tight ball, and his body was drenched in sweat. He wondered what he'd said but didn't ask. He pretended, as XD did, that nothing had happened. Abner crept out of XZ's pocket, and XD raised an eyebrow.

XD : "A friend?"

XZ : "A friend," (XZ confirmed. In truth that mouse had been his salvation at times)

XD : "Hell of a lot better than a rat," (XD observed with a twist of his lips. XZ shrugged as if indifferent, but in prison he would have welcomed even a rat)

The following morning XZ demanded they leave at sunrise and ride until the horses were exhausted. XD was a good traveling companion, mainly because he didn't talk a lot. XZ merely absorbed: the sun, the countryside, the feel of the wind, and the cool of the night. He drank it all in, the way a thirsty man drinks water, not with enjoyment but with raw, aching need.

XD : (When they did speak, they spoke about GC) "He's been in Colorado since after the war," (XD said) "buying up one little spread after another. Nothing dishonest, as far as we can learn. He paid good prices, and now he's the largest landowner in the area."

XZ : "With army gold," (XZ said bitterly)

XD : "Since YZ got hired on as assistant foreman two years ago, he hasn't been able to find a damaging thing about him," (XD continued carefully) "GC's worked at respectability, but YZ got a detective to check out his past. Before be joined the army, he had to leave every job he ever had in a hurry. He was in Kansas when the war started, manager of the store there, and he helped the town fend off an attack by Quantrill's men. The militia elected him major because of that. No one apparently ever checked on his background."

XZ : "Nothing lately?"

XD : "Doesn't seem to be, but it's a matter of time, if his past is any indication. It seems whenever he gets in financial trouble, he steals. But he usually disappears before anyone discovers something's wrong."

XZ : "We need to make sure he gets in financial trouble then," (XZ said)

XD : (XD grinned) "That's our thought." (Then he added thoughtfully) "GC seems to have avoided violence of any kind."

XZ : "Men were killed when that last payroll was taken," (XZ said, his voice harsh. He didn't have to look at his hand to know another kind of violence had been committed because of that robbery and XD nodded) here is another man, a Sergeant McClary," (XZ said slowly)

He would never forget McClary, whom he'd once disciplined and who had discovered part of the army payroll in XZ's quarters. He had also been one of the soldiers who'd escorted him to prison. The man had taken every chance to humiliate him during the journey. XZ had wondered about the man's antipathy, but that had always been overshadowed by his hatred for GC. GC had sent XZ out the day of the payroll robbery and then denied it. GC had been instrumental in the court-martial and subsequent punishment. GC had to have been the brains behind the frame.

XZ : "How does YZ feel about GC?"

XD : (XD shrugged) "YZ knows he's a thief and coward." (He hesitated) "But people in Colorado don't, and everyone in the territory likes GC. He's a damn hard man not to like, but that doesn't change the fact he's a thief, or that he stole from the army during wartime while we were dodging bullets."

Four days after they left Cincinnati, they stopped in a town. XZ had been wearing the leather gloves XD brought, but he found them awkward and wanted another pair from which he could cut away the fingers and leave the rest to cover the back of his hand. After purchasing that and a few other items, they found a whorehouse. It was XD's suggestion, XZ would have ridden on. The coupling had been emotionally cold and unmoving, although XZ's body had reacted immediately. As with all his attempts to restore normalcy into his life and rekindle feelings, he found little joy in the act. He kept thinking about YM, lovely YM, who had so quickly turned her back on him, and thus, his performance, while not cruel, had been rough and impersonal. He had only taken, when once he'd been considerate. He coolly noted that new lack in himself, only too aware it dimmed his old enthusiasm for making love.

Another goddamn mark against GC. They didn't stop again at any town. A volcano was rumbling deep inside XZ, and it was best to keep away from people. Even now they decided to skirt around Casey Springs, instead taking a well-worn trail up a mountain pass. XD stopped, and XZ looked down at the valley below. A long, graceful log house sat in a clearing. To its left was a large barn, and a long building was located to the right.

XD : "That's GC's place. The Circle R," (XD said)

XZ : (XZ's gaze moved slowly across the buildings to cattle far beyond) eighbors?"

XD : "The nearest is ten miles away. And then there's a small trading center south of here. An old trading post that's become a town of sorts. Rushton. It's named after a creek that runs through this area."

XZ : "The law?"

XD : "Rushton has a part-time sheriff appointed by the territorial governor. Man named Russ Dewayne. He's also a rancher. Casey Springs has its own law."

XZ : "Much mining around here?"

XD : "Some placer claims. Most of the gold around here has played out. But Green, Smith, Ware, and Thompson have had some luck while they waited for you. Nothing big, but enough to buy supplies and then some."

XZ : "You and Simon?"

XD : "Some hunting. Odd jobs here and there. Gives us reason to move around."

XZ : ell me more about the cabin."

XD : "YZ found it when trailing some rustlers. Pure luck. He heard some cattle bawling. Otherwise he never would have found the small valley. Perfect hiding place. There is only one entrance from this side of the mountain, and it's through what appears to be solid rock. It was used apparently by some mountain man long gone. We find traps occasionally. But it's safe. I had trouble finding it even after I'd been there a couple of times."

XZ : "The rustlers?"

XD : "They won't be back," (XD said. He pointed at a cluster of oddly shaped rocks) "That's the turnoff. Try to memorize the way from here on up." (He moved quickly to the lead, and XZ followed him into a forest of pines and aspens)

The smells were sweet here, the scent of wildflowers mingling with the tangy one of the pines. The tops of the trees nearly blocked out the sun, casting dancing shadows across the carpet of needles. The way suddenly became very steep, and the horses struggled to keep their footing.

XD : 'There's another route," (XD explained) "but it comes out on the other side of the mountain. During the winter we had to use it several times. But it's a hell of a long way."

XZ : "I hope to be gone before winter."

XD : "It can snow early here," (XD said) "Real early. We built a shelter for the horses and supplies."

XZ : "XD . . . ?" (He turned to him, a question in his eyes) "I don't want you and YZ involved any further. Or the others."

XD : "You need us,"

XZ : "No."

XD : (XD reined in his horse and stopped) "None of us would be alive if it weren't for you."

XZ : (XZ looked down at the horse and saddle) "That was war. We all took care of each other."

XD : "We're still taking care of each other," (XD said, his jaw setting) "When Johnny got in trouble . . ." (He hesitated, and then turned away)

XZ : (XZ frowned) "Johnny Green?"

XD : (XD shrugged) "He got himself mixed up with a gang down in Texas, was involved in a robbery and almost hanged." (He gave a small smile) "None of us are exactly welcome down there now."

XZ was silent. Ten years of prison and bitterness hadn't prepared him for the response he felt. Gratitude? He didn't know whether he wanted to feel that. It was easier to feel nothing at all.

XD : "Captain, they're not going to let you do it alone," (XD said)

XZ : "I don't want anyone else involved now. It's my fight."

XD : "We are involved, whether you like it or not. No way we're going to back off now," (XD said)
XZ's mouth thinned, but he accepted. He'd already drawn them in too deeply. But he could make sure they weren't hurt. He nodded curtly and moved his gaze to die line of trees they were following.

Chapter 4

Man : "Lady, you don't want to go there alone."

SM : (SM looked at the man at the ticket window of the Casey Springs stage station) "I can't wait a week," (she said, trying her best to stare him down)

Man : "I'm telling you there ain't any coach for another six days, and it ain't safe traveling alone, not since the outlaws started robbing coaches and stealing payrolls and attacking everything that moves."

SM : "But I must—"

Man : "Now, miss," (said the clerk patiently) "you can wait at the hotel or boardinghouse. Ain't anyone going to rent you a horse or buggy to travel alone to Rushton or the Circle R, not these days."

SM set down her valise in disgust, and her fingers tightly gripped the art case she held at her side. When she'd decided to come West, she'd sold everything back home. She'd made her decision, and it meant she had to leave the past behind. That past was a lie that seemed to undermine everything she'd ever believed. She had always accepted life as it came, had always been able to meet it on its own terms, but now . . . She didn't even know who she was. It left her vulnerable, afraid, when she'd never been afraid before. Everything she knew, believed in, was unreal, and she didn't know how or why.

But she knew she had to find out. She had looked at the clipping so many times. Looked at her father. How many times had she wished for a father? Dreamed of having one? But for some reason her mother had kept him away from her and her away from him. And every time she looked at the piece of newspaper, she also saw (the man her father helped convict). A thief and perhaps even a traitor. He hadn't looked like a thief, not from the sketch. His face was strong and arresting, and she was struck by the contradiction between the strength she saw there and the charge. She wondered whether there could be extenuating circumstances. A Reb fighting in his own way for his cause? But then why had he kept some of the money?

It was a riddle she would never solve, but perhaps she could solve the one of her father. Why, dear God, had her mother lied to her? SM had considered a number of reasons. Perhaps SZ had hated the West, or perhaps she and her husband hadn't been able to live together. The more SM wondered, the more she needed answers. The only way she could get them was by going to the source, but that was frightening. Had her father not wanted her? Had he not known about her? Would he believe her? Every time she considered the trip, she felt herself shiver with both anticipation and misgiving. Did she really want to know the answers? She wasn't sure. What she did know was she had to find answers.

She tucked a falling lock of hair under her bonnet as she glared at the clerk, wishing for one of the rare times she looked more intimidating. She had a pleasant enough face, but certainly not one that sent hearts a fluttering. Everything about her was ordinary. Plain dark hair with remarkably little curl. Dark brown eyes, which were wider than she would have preferred, although people often said they were her best feature. She'd never cared overmuch about clothes, preferring reading and drawing to fussing over appearances. Serenity was her most distinctive attribute, her mother had often said. And because that quality seemed to please her mother, the person she loved most, she quieted the hunger inside her for adventure.

But her mother had been wrong. Serenity indicated a lack of passion, and SM was passionate about many things. She was fiercely protective of those people and things she loved and felt deeply about injustice. She just kept those feelings to herself, hiding them under a cloak of surface practicality. They were too personal to share with others, even her mother. But now serenity was getting her no place. Neither was impatience nor passion.

SM : (She glared again at the clerk. A week seemed a year. She tried to explain) "My name is ZSM. I . . . have to get to ZGC's ranch."

Stationmaster : (The stationmaster's face softened) "You kin?"

SM wasn't sure what to say. She had blurted out the previous information mostly from frustration. Her father may not even know about her. Or believe her. Or maybe there had been some terrible mistake. But the Zhen name seemed to have an effect, and she obviously needed an effect.

SM : (She lifted her chin) "His daughter."

Stationmaster : "Well, jumping guns, I didn't know Mr. Zhen had a daughter."

SM : "I've been back East," (she said).

Stationmaster : "Well, wish I could help you. Miss Zhen, but that doesn’t change anything."

She felt the tension behind her eyes magnify. Almost blindly, she reached down for her valise and turned toward the door. She had to find a way.

She reached the porch outside and paused, trying to decide what to do next, when a man came out the door. She had barely noticed him inside, a tall man leaning against a wall.

Stranger : "Miss Zhen?" (He said, taking his hat from his head in a gesture of courtesy. She nodded). "I heard you say you wanted to go to the Circle R. Perhaps I can help."

SM : (SM studied him. He was tall and fit-looking, with steady dark brown eyes and an aura of competence. She judged that he was just a few years older than she, but something about him made him seem centuries old) "Sir?"

Stranger : (He smiled at that). "I work for your father, Miss, (he said).”It is Miss, isn't it? I heard you say Zhen."

SM : (SM felt a slight blush). "Miss," (she confirmed). "ZSM."

Stranger : "Well, then, I was just here to check on a telegraph, but I'm heading back tomorrow, if you would like to go with me."

SM wasn't sure she should accept. Traveling alone with a man wasn't allowed. Yet this wasn't Roston, and she'd been treated with nothing but respect by the men she'd met, including those drinking in the coach she'd taken from Denver. Code of the West, she'd been told. Besides, this man did work for her father.

SM : (And she didn't want to wait a week, couldn't wait a week). "You say you work for my father?" (He nodded). "And you're going tomorrow?"

Stranger : "Yes, ma'am."

SM : "How long a trip?" (He looked at her, as if weighing her abilities). "By horseback, nearly a day." (She groaned). "I haven't ridden much."

That was an understatement, but she didn't dare tell him she had ridden only a few times and those only walks in the park.

Stranger : "I'll find you a gentle mount." (He waited. That's what decided her. He didn't push. He was merely being accommodating).

SM : "What's your name?"

Stranger : "YZ, ma'am. JYZ."

SM : (She smiled). "You'll have to let me pay you."

YZ : (He nodded again). "Where are you staying?"

She didn't know. She looked around at the town that seemed little more than a scattering of ramshackle buildings. There was a bank, a sheriff's office, and a place called the Golden Nugget. She'd been told in Denver that Casey Springs was struggling to become a major trading center now that the area's gold was almost panned out, and she had expected more.

YZ : "Gold Nugget's 'bout the most suitable place," (he offered). "It's not much of a hotel, but the rooming house is full of miners and railroad workers, and sometimes they get a hit rough."

SM thought about her money. She had put her father's money in a bank in Boston, not knowing whether to use it or not. What she had from the sale of the shop was going down rapidly, and she still didn't know what kind of reception she'd get from ZGC.

YZ : "The Nugget's also the safest place," (YZ added quietly).

SM : (SM smiled. He was concerned about her safety. Any lingering concern she had about her decision dribbled away). "The Golden Nugget then."

Tonight, she would have a bath. A good night's sleep on a real bed. She gave YZ a bright smile.

YZ : I’ll help you with that," (he said, casting a look at the valise).

SM : "Thank you, Mr. Jin. You're very kind."

As he stooped to get the valise, she saw something odd flash across his face. Regret perhaps. Maybe a second thought about being burdened with a woman. She felt a slightest tingle of apprehension run down her spine but promptly dismissed it. She was tired, that was all. Just tired.

Chapter 5

YZ looked at the woman riding next to him and wondered whether he was making a mistake. But he had been handed a weapon, just handed it, by God, and he was never one to turn away from opportunity. ZGC's daughter. He hadn't even known the man had one. He didn't think the captain did, either. Strange the way he kept thinking of YXZ as captain. Three weeks traveling together would usually break down formality, but not with XZ. Not that, or the two months since their arrival at the cabin.

Although Captain Yin had been a strict officer, uncompromising in discipline and training, he'd also been a man with a quick smile and ready compliment when a man did well. There were no smiles or compliments now. XZ was as contained a man as YZ had ever seen. Sealed up. Talk had been at a minimum, as if XZ no longer knew how to converse. Question-and-answer. Then silence. That was all there had been.

Both he and XD had discussed it, and they finally figured that Zhen's exposure was the only thing that would help dispel the blackness that hovered around XZ. The sooner, the better. They had been making progress. Two holdups now, both taking Circle R payrolls. GC was hurting financially, hurting badly. But it was just too damn slow. YZ saw the captain's restlessness, his impatience.

And so the encounter with Zhen's daughter had seemed a unique opportunity to speed the process. But after several hours with the lady, YZ was having second thoughts. Her eagerness was cloaked in dignity, which was very appealing. She didn't intrude on him, but when they stopped, she asked questions. Intelligent questions. It was downright disconcerting.

YZ : (This morning he'd handed her a pair of boy's pants and shirt). "We're going riding over a mountain, Miss Zhen. If you've never ridden sidesaddle before, I don't advise it now," (he added, looking at her skirt. A becoming blush colored her cheeks as she apparently debated proprieties). "I won't take you if you don't use good sense," (he said, and she'd hurried back to her room, the clothes clutched tightly to her).

No complaints, no exclamations of horror. He liked that. He didn't want to like it, but he did. During their last stop, he'd watched her carefully as she untied a case from her saddle and opened it, taking out a pad and leaning against a tree as she sketched- He wondered what she was sketching, but he didn't ask- He wanted to keep conversation at a minimum. He took the opportunity to place a stone under one of the mare's shoes. That was an hour ago. She would start limping anytime now, and he would take Miss Zhen on his own horse. She would realize damn soon they were not going where she thought they were going. They had nearly reached the turnoff to the cabin when the mare started to limp.

SM : "Mr. Jin."

YZ : (He turned, knowing what he would see. He dismounted and went to the mare, picking up the hoof from the ground and giving it a superficial look). "You'll have to ride with me, Miss Zhen."

Her eyes widened, and he noted a flicker of apprehension. He held out his hand, and she hesitated, making him wonder whether she suspected something. But then why should she? She finally took his hand and slid off the mare. He mounted and helped her up behind him. A mile later he left the trail and turned into the woods.

YZ : "A shorter way," (he explained. Her arms tightened as they climbed upward. For a novice she was doing well. And then they stopped. He took off his bandanna and turned around in the saddle). "I'm sorry, miss, but I'm going to have to blindfold you." (Her body went rigid, and she swallowed). "I won't hurt you," (he said) "but this is ... necessary."

SM : "I don't understand."

YZ : "You don't have to. We're just taking a small detour."

SM : "You don't work for my father." (It was an accusation, not a question).

YZ : (He didn't say anything, just tied the bandanna around her eyes). "Now keep your arms around me," (he said). "It's a steep ride."

SM : "If I don't?" (The voice trembled just a little).

YZ : "I'll tie them there." (She was silent, and he took that for assent) "You won't be hurt," (he said again).

SM : 'Then why . . .”

YZ : "Good reasons, Miss Zhen. Now you just hang on."

SM didn't know how she stayed so still, except she was too frightened to do anything else. It seemed she had been riding behind YZ for hours. She had no idea where they were, even if she could escape. Think! Dear God, think! His gun. He wore a gun on his hip, as did every man she'd seen in Casey Springs. If she could reach down and grab it ... And then what? She had no idea how to fire one. She tried to contain the shudder that ran through her. She wouldn't show him she was afraid. But why did he want her? Where was he taking her? She could think of only one reason, and yet he didn't seem the type for rape. Good reasons, he'd said. What kind of good reasons? Her father. YZ had heard her say ZGC was her father.

According to everything she'd heard in Denver and Casey Springs, he was a respected man, a good man who'd given money to build a school and church. Everyone seemed to like him. Money then? Ransom? The clerk at the ticket office had said there were outlaws in this area. Her throat tightened. Why had she been such a fool? Why had she accepted this too-convenient offer? Because she'd been so expectant. So eager. So stubbornly determined to get to the Circle R Ranch. And now she would bring trouble to the man she'd wanted to impress. If that was what JYZ had in mind? Or was it something uglier? She suddenly didn't want to touch the man in front of her. Her hands started to slide from around his waist.

YZ : "Put them back." (The voice was rough) "Clasp them together. And don't even think about the gun." Or else …….. (The unsaid words hung between them) "You won't like being tied."

Her hands clasped around him. This way, with her hands free, she still had a chance to escape. She didn't know how long they continued to ride. She ached all over now, her muscles sore from riding on the backbone of his horse, her body stiff with tension. They finally came to a stop, and she let go of him, expecting another order, but none came. He lifted her down to the ground, and she reached for the blindfold, frantically tearing it off, just as two men came out of a log cabin.

XZ : "What the hell" (she heard the tall one say in a deep, harsh voice).

Her eyes were riveted on him. It was a familiar face, one she could never forget. It was the face she had studied in the newspaper clipping.

He was older. Harder. But undeniably he was the man who had betrayed his country and stolen from it. The man her father had sent to prison.

Chapter 6

It was the face of YXZ! Fear had been building in SM for the past few hours. Now that fear turned to terror, something she'd never felt before. Her already unsteady legs threatened to give way, and she found her hand going to the saddle for support.

But she couldn't keep her gaze from the man's face. It was an artist's dream—or a captive's nightmare. His eyes were a vivid dark brown, like clean water playing over white sand, and his thick dark hair seemed brushed with gold dust. Nothing else about him was poetic, though. His face seemed carved from rock. Lines etched away from his eyes, and she knew they weren't caused by laughter but by harder, unpleasant emotions. None of the features—the eyes, the mouth, the jaw—gave anything away as he studied her with cool indifference. He turned to YZ.

XZ : "Why in the hell did you bring her here?" (His voice sounded hoarse, almost rusty)

YZ : "She says she's Zhen’s daughter."

Like a fly caught in a spider's web. SM watched, fascinated, as the man closed his eyes for a moment, as if trying to digest a particularly difficult piece of information, and then opened them. He studied her closely, but with no definable difference in expression, and she wondered whether that granite face was capable of revealing anything.

XZ : "He doesn't have a daughter," (he finally said in that rusty whisper).

YZ : (YZ shrugged) "She said she was. She was trying to get to Rushton. I thought it was too good an opportunity to pass up."

SM hated being talked about as if she weren't there, like an object of curiosity rather than a person. But she stayed silent, still transfixed by the face that came as close to stone as one could. The dark brown eyes turned back to her.

XZ : "How can you be Zhen's daughter?"

SM : "The usual way, I imagine," (she said, surprising herself with the tart reply).

XZ : "You're a liar."

The accusation was stinging, like the sharp crack of a whip. SM stiffened. She didn't lie. She had never lied. Her mother hadn't permitted lies. But then, she thought with sudden bleakness, her mother had told the biggest one of all. She thought about defending herself and then stayed silent. She owed this man no explanation, no answer. YZ stepped forward as if to give protection, but she couldn't trust him. He had brought her here.

SM looked at the man next to XZ. He looked a little like YZ, and she wondered whether they could be brothers. He also looked more approachable than XZ. But then almost anyone would.

SM : "I ... I don't know what you want, but I have some money. ..." (A revealing quaver was in her voice).

XD : "What's your name?" (The man next to XZ said).

SM didn't know what to say. She didn't exactly know who she was, not anymore, or what these people wanted with the man she believed to be her father. She wasn't sure she knew anything anymore. But that was something she wasn't going to admit. She couldn't show weakness, not to XZ. He would jump on weakness, use it. Her only defense was a show of strength, no matter how difficult it was, how much she had to hide the tremors that shook her. She balled her fists to keep the shaking from showing.

XZ : "Damnation," (XZ said) "Who in hell are you?" (His voice held a hint of impatience. SM's chin went up) "Why did you say you were Zhen's daughter? Or are you one of his whores?"

There was contempt in his voice, and SM knew an anger she'd never known before. He was judging her father. He was judging her. She was grateful when her anger exploded, eclipsing the fear.

SM : "What right has you to ask anything?"

XZ : "Oh, you know who I am?"

Softness crept into his voice, a softness that she sensed was deceptive. But she couldn't stop. She was too angry to be cautious, too angry to be afraid. She wouldn't be afraid of a man who betrayed his country during war.

SM : "A traitor," (she said unwisely).

XZ : (He fairly purred as he moved toward her) "Your . . . father tells you that?"

There was something menacing in the graceful way he walked. She stepped back, but the horse prevented no more than a few inches retreat.

She tried to jerk her gaze away from his eyes, which seemed to impale her.

SM : "You have no right—"

XZ : "I have every right, if you are who you say you are."

He stopped in front of her, and she had the impression of barely contained anger. She was tall, but she felt inconsequential in front of him. He was several inches to six feet, and his cotton shirt and denim trousers did nothing to hide a very hard, lean body. But it was the cold austere-ness of his face that really was intimidating. Intimidating and, in some primitive way, mesmerizing. She felt shivers snake up and down her back.

Suddenly, she was awash with conflicting sensations. She was afraid of him, but something in her was reacting to him in a way she had never reacted to a man before. Awareness. Perhaps that was it. She was aware of him, drawn by him as if he were a magnet His eyes gave no indication he felt anything at all, but she sensed fury, the way one senses a death-dealing storm. Deep to her toes, she could feel his rage radiating from him. She was the one who should be angry. She was the one who had been kidnapped, terrified. But she perceived she could never come close to the emotion that seemed to rack XZ with such intensity.

He moved around her and went to her horse. With a gloved right hand he took a knife from a back pocket and quickly cut her valise and drawing case free. He placed the drawing case on a log stump before opening it. SM wanted to stop him. She felt violated by his actions, but she knew it wouldn't do any good. She would only be overpowered and look foolish. She was no match for these three men. For this one man. The good Lord knew she had been foolish enough already. Better to save her anger for the right time. Let them think Her docile. For the moment, SM watched as he picked up the newspaper clipping.

XZ : (He turned to her) "Why do you have this?"

He sounded indifferent, but she somehow knew the question was not an idle one. She wasn't sure what to answer. How could she possibly explain? How could she explain finding out she had a father only after twenty-two years? How could she explain holding on to that likeness, the only one she'd ever had? How could she explain having his likeness? Or a story condemning him? Silence seemed to make his question echo.

XZ : "You don't have much to say for yourself, do you?"

SM had never felt at such a loss. Whatever she said, whatever she did, might bring more trouble, might hurt her father, and might put her in further peril. She felt she was sinking in quicksand, and there was nothing to reach out for. Her legs trembled as his eyes seemed to bore into her, trying to rip out answers.

But then he turned back to the case, as if she were of no importance. He helped himself to several letters and read them, oblivious to her privacy or her feelings. He picked up her drawing pad, riffling through it until he found the sketch of JYZ.

XZ : "Christ," (he said, handing it YZ). "Bringing her here was the most damn fool . . ."

He stopped. Hesitated. But the her still hung in the air. It was said with such disdain, even something close to hate. She shivered in the bright sun. He turned back to her, a muscle working in his cheek. It was the first visible sign of emotion she'd seen in him.

YZ : (Ben looked apologetic) "I thought maybe a trade . . ."

XZ : "For what?"

YZ : (YZ shrugged) "A confession, perhaps."

XZ : "ZGC?"

YZ : (YZ gave him a small smile) "It just seemed . . . opportune."

XZ : "Beware of gifts, YZ," XZ said without a smile, then turned back to SM) "They never come without strings, and I think this . . . lady has a damn long one." YZ shifted on his feet, like a small boy being chastised). "It looks like you'll have to stay here a while, Miss . . . Zhen," XZ told her.

SM : "No. I'm going to the Circle R."

XZ : (He was staring at her, and she wished she saw something in his eyes. The nothingness was frightening. It was like looking at a blank piece of canvas) "Sorry, ma'am," (he said, but she knew he wasn't sorry at all, at least not in her behalf. The tone, rather than apologetic, was mocking) "Your . . . talent makes that impossible. I can't have pictures of YZ all over the territory."

SM : "You can keep it," (she said hurriedly).

XZ : "Ah, but you have too good an eye," (he said) "I expect you could draw it again."

SM swallowed, her silence confirming his words. She didn't know how to lie or hide her feelings. She'd never had to learn, but now she regretted it. She resented his invasion into what should be hers alone. But he was right. She had a memory for faces, especially interesting faces, and JYZ had one of those. Though it didn't compare with YXZ's for complexity.

SM : "I promise—"

XZ : "I wouldn't take the promise of a Zhen if it was wrapped in angels' wings."

SM : "Why!" (She asked) "Because he helped bring you to justice?" (He snorted) "You just want . . ." (She stopped, not wanting to express the thought that was becoming more and more clear).

XZ : "I just want what?"

SM : (Why did those eyes fascinate her so? Why did they compel her to say more than she should?) "Revenge."

XZ : (He smiled. She'd never thought a smile could be so menacing) "Very perceptive of you, Miss Zhen, or whoever you are."

SM : "I won't let you use me."

XZ : "Oh, you won't?"(Amusement crept into his voice) "And just how do you think you will prevent it?"

SM balled her fingers into a fist. It had been another foolish statement—she was in no position to challenge him—but then she had been incredibly foolish since meeting YZ yesterday.

SM : "He won't care."

XZ :"Oh, I believe that," (XZ said) "Zhen's never cared about a damn thing in his life. That's why I don't think much of YZ's bringing you here."

SM : "Then let me go. I don't even know where I am."

XZ : "I believe that too," (he said) "Unfortunately, you've seen some faces you shouldn't have, and even more unfortunately you apparently can draw them. So you stay here." (His voice hardened) "Believe me, I don't like the idea of having Zhen's get around any more than you want to be here."

SM : "You can't mean ... to keep me here."

XZ : "Now you're getting the idea, as distasteful as it may be to both of us."

Chapter 7

She felt numb, uncomprehending. How could this happen? She had been safe her whole life, safe and comfortable and well liked. She'd never had an enemy, and now this man, who obviously hated her father, and therefore her, was threatening to hold her captive in these mountains. She knew her terror was probably reflected in her eyes, and she turned away so he wouldn't see it. She didn't want to give him that satisfaction.

SM : "You'll hang," (she whispered).

XZ : (He laughed) "I would have welcomed the noose ten years ago," (he said) "Now I don't give a damn one way or the other, as long as Zhen joins me on the scaffold." (His voice lowered) "And he will, Miss Zhen. He will."

It was like a blood oath, and SM felt a cold wind blowing across her, though the trees were still. SM swallowed. Dear God, she believed him, and what could she say to a man who didn't care whether he lived or died? His words echoed in the silence. She had to break it, no matter how inadequate she sounded. The silence made the words stronger, more invincible.

SM : "How long do you think you will keep me?" (She turned back to him, trying to make her expression indifferent, like his, but she knew she failed miserably).

XZ : "Think?'

His raised eyebrow seemed to mock her. SM glared at him, terrified at spending any time with this man who hated so strongly. The thought of it alone sent worms of apprehension crawling through her body.

SM : "If you hurt me . . ."

XZ : "Oh, I have no intention of hurting you. You aren't worth the effort. But you will obey me."

Oddly, she believed the part about his not hurting her. She should still feel terror, not just for the father she'd never met but also for herself.

SM : "You can't keep me here," she tried again. "People will be looking. . . ."

YZ : (XZ looked at YZ, who shrugged) "There was no one to pick her up. I don't think she was expected."

XZ "Just dropping in?" (That smile again. The smile that was no smile) "Miss Zhen—if that's who you are—I want some answers."

SM : "What for?" (She retorted indignantly) "You already read my letters,"

XZ : "They say damn little, and nothing about a daughter. So I ask you again. Why are you here?"

SM : "It's none of your business."

XZ : "Everything to do with Zhen is my business."

SM : "Because he testified against you? Because he did his duty?"

XZ : "What do you know about it?" (His voice was hard now, some of the hoarseness gone, and his eyes were glittering).

SM : "I ... the clipping . . ."

XZ : "What did he say?" (She tried to step back again as she felt the intensity of him) "Oh, no, you don't," (he said, his right hand grabbing at her arm).

The touch seemed to burn her, through the cotton of her shirt and the leather of the glove. But as she tried to shrug the hand aside, it tightened around her arm like a vise, and she felt herself tremble. Heat moved from her arm through the rest of her, an unwelcome burning heat she didn't understand. She didn't think she could move. Something strange was happening to her, to her senses. They were overwhelmed by him. In desperation she lowered her eyes to his hand. The clipping said he'd been branded. Was that why he wore a glove on that hand? She knew immediately the thought was a mistake. She knew he read it.

XZ : (He suddenly let her go, as if releasing a snake) "Would you like to see it?" (He was taunting her now, and she saw a flash of anger in his eyes. She shook her head) "Ah, the lady has sensibilities," (he drawled in that hoarse whisper) "My hand's not fit for such tender eyes?" (His anger was obvious now) "I think you should see what Zhen is responsible for." (He pulled off the glove. SM turned her face away, but his other hand went up to her chin) "Look," (he commanded) "so you won't have to wonder."

She wanted to close her eyes, but she knew he would force them open in some way, by the very strength of his will, if necessary. And she sensed his will was very strong indeed. She had no choice. She looked. The scar was livid on his hand, the T emblazoned there forever. She sucked in her breath, suddenly overwhelmed by an emotion she didn't understand. It wasn't pity. No one could ever pity the man standing in front of her; he wouldn't allow it. The emotion was something more like compassion, and resentment of what had been done to him, no matter what he had done.

She couldn't imagine what it would be like to be marked like that. She forced her gaze up and met his eyes. They were blazing now, and she wished for the emptiness again. She had never seen such violent emotions—raw fury and blinding pain. Words would mean nothing. Less than nothing. They would be insulting. She knew that, so she remained silent. She didn't think she could speak, even if there was something to say. She was too stunned by the enormity of her own reactions—to him, to die brand.

She couldn't look at him, either, for he would see those reactions, and she couldn't allow that. He would hate them, hut he would use them in some way. He would use anything to get back at her father. She understood that too. She was aware of his putting the glove back on, aware of the other two men looking on. She wanted to step toward the older one, but she realized it would do no good. YXZ was obviously the leader; the others might have sympathy, but that was as far as it would go.

SM :"What do you want with me?" (She asked in a whisper).

XZ : "I want nothing from you," (he said) "except for you to do what you're told until I'm finished here."

SM : "Finished with what?"

XZ : "Destroying ZGC," (he answered flatly. He turned away from her) "You'd better be getting back. XD," (he said to the man who had been so silent).

XD : "You sure about keeping her here?"

XZ : "I'm sure we can't let her go now, unless you both want to end up in prison. And, believe me, you don't want that."

XD hesitated, and SM wanted to run over to him and beg him to take her away. But then he nodded. XZ's mouth went up in a cynical smile.

XZ : "She'll he safe enough. I have no interest in any spawn of ZGC, even after ten years in prison."

XD : "I still don't believe it," (XD said) "I traced him back thirty years. No indication of a child."

XZ : "But there was a wife?"

XD : "For a short time."

XZ : "See a resemblance to Zhen?"

XD : (XD turned to her, and SM suddenly felt like a horse being very carefully inspected) "Could be. The eyes are similar. But the hair is lighter." (He shrugged) "Hell, I don't know."

XZ : (XZ also shrugged) "It really doesn't make any difference. Now she's seen you two, we can't let her go."

XD : "I'll try to get back in a couple of days," (XD said, and SM's mouth went dry. She felt safer with XD here. She felt safer with YZ even. She might even feel safer with the Devil.

YXZ turned to her. He took off his bandanna, and before she realized what was happening, he'd pulled her hands behind her and tied them.

XZ : "Go in the cabin. The door's open."

SM stood still. She would be horsewhipped before she'd do anything he told her, particularly when he did it with such assurance that she would comply. Pride wouldn't allow it. Stark fear wouldn't permit it. She still held a shadow of hope that the other two might object, might take her back with them after all.

SM : (She turned to YZ) "You can't leave me here."

YZ : (He looked uncomfortable, and then shrugged). "He said he won't hurt you. He won't."

SM : "Please." (She'd never begged before, not for herself. She hated doing it, particularly in front of her captor).

Ben dropped his glance and turned away from her. She appealed to XD, looking at him with a plea in her eyes. He merely shook his head, and SM reluctantly looked back to XZ, who was eyeing her speculatively.

XZ : "Go inside," (he said again).

SM : "No"

XZ : "Then I'll take you."

He picked her up in his arms and she felt the hard strength in them. Heat darted through her again. She smelled the sweat mixed with soap and leather, she heard the beat of his heart, the swift intake of his breath when their bodies met. He cursed, and then he was moving swiftly toward the cabin. He kicked the door open and strode to the bed, dumping her rather than setting her down.

XZ : "Stay here, damnit," (he said, scowling) "I'm not going to play games with you."

He disappeared out the door, slamming it shut, and she struggled to sit up on the bed. She instantly knew why he had tied her hands. There were guns all over the place. She tried to loosen the bonds but couldn't. She stood and looked around. There was a fireplace with a kettle hanging over ashes. A table littered with books. Several boxes stacked in the comer. The bed, little more than a cot, was neatly made up, unlike the rest of the interior. A knife. Look for a knife. She could tuck it away someplace and use it later, after the other two men were gone.

Her eyes carefully went over every surface of the cabin. There was a cabinet up on a wall, but she couldn't reach it with her bound hands. Frustrated, she moved to the table, looking at the books. Shakespeare. Dickens. Hawthorne. Thoreau. Surprising selection for a thief. She heard the sound of hoof beats and with a sinking heart realized that YZ or XD, maybe both, had gone.

She moved quickly back to the cot and sat down. Heart in her throat, she waited. She heard the door start to open and felt a sudden chill, a cold wind blowing away the safe fabric of her life.

Chapter 8

XZ hesitated at the door of the cabin. He wished the woman had screamed or cried, or even fainted. He could handle that easily. He could handle anything but that quiet dignity that was so unnerving. Despite himself, despite the fact that she might be GC's daughter, he felt a glimmer of admiration. She had a hell of a lot more guts than her father. But that didn't mean she wasn't every bit as devious and treacherous as ZGC.

He understood YZ's thinking in bringing her here, but XZ's quarrel was with ZGC, not a woman. He wouldn't use substitutes. Not the way GC did. XD had said the woman's and GC's eyes were alike. XZ didn't remember the exact color of GC's eyes, but he didn't think they could be that soft, that color of clear brown.

Except for that brief visit to a whorehouse, he hadn't been with a woman. In prison he'd blocked out that kind of memory, that kind of want, and he thought he'd brought them under control. But now they were tormenting him, like tiny devils stabbing his lower region with pitchforks.

Not that the woman was so pretty. She was not his type at all. YM had been startlingly pretty, with black hair and dark brown eyes and a figure that was all curves. This woman was tall and slender, boyish in a shirt and trousers. Her light brown hair was carelessly bound in a loose braid that hung halfway down her back, and her eyes were calm, even restful, except for those few times when sparks seemed to ignite in them. Mainly when he had said something about ZGC.

Loyalty? In a Zhen? That was absolutely incomprehensible to him. Any decent quality must be foreign to a Zhen. She could, for all he knew, even be a spy. Hell, he wouldn't put anything past GC. The thought stoked his anger and lowered his admiration to a control label level. It made things a hell of a lot easier.

He opened the door and strode in, noting that she was sitting on the cot. He suspected she hadn't been sitting there long. The bottom of her trousers was edged with dust that had settled on the floor. His eyes swept the rest of the room. Nothing seemed to have been disturbed.

XZ : "Stand up" (He ordered curtly as he moved toward her. She shied away from him. He shrugged) "All right, stay tied the rest of the day."

She bit her lip for a moment, looking vulnerable, and finally stood, presenting her back to him. His fingers deftly untied the knot that bound her wrists. She turned and looked at him. She seemed to flinch at the expression in his face, but her back straightened and her chin lifted as she met his gaze straight-on.

SM : "Have the others gone?"

It was clear that she hoped they had not. That bothered him for some reason, and his eyes narrowed as he studied her. Either she had lied about being GC's daughter, or she was GC's daughter. Either way, he wouldn't trust her farther than he could toss her.

XZ : (XZ chose to ignore her inquiry and made one of his own) "What's your name?"

She didn't answer. He was getting accustomed to her silence. Hell, he understood it. How many times had he used silence as a tool, especially when he knew insults or curses would only result in punishment? She learned a hell of a lot faster than he had.

XZ : "All right, I'll call you Joe," (he finally said)

She searched his face, and he knew she was looking for a flash of humor. There was none.

XZ : "I've got to call you something," (he said, surprised at himself for explaining anything to her)

SM : "SM" (she said finally)

XZ : "ZSM?"

She fell silent once more.

XZ: "Let's try something else," (he said) "Where did you come from?"

She searched her mind for reasons not to tell him and could find none, except she didn't want to cooperate with him. She didn't want to give him that satisfaction. So she turned away and went to the door, looking out, hoping to see the other two men, but there was only an empty clearing, and she knew she was alone with this . . . outlaw.

XZ : "It won't work," (he said from behind her) "I'll find out everything."

She whirled around, the anger she had been trying to cage threatening to spill over. She didn't want that to happen. She couldn't let that happen. She suspected he would enjoy it, that he was trying to provoke it.

SM : "Why are you keeping me here?"

XZ : "Not for your charm," (he said) "So rest easy in that regard. Ten years of prison or not, I'm not desperate enough to take GC get. Or his leavings, whichever you are." (He uttered the last sentence in a taunting low voice)

She hated his mockery, the contempt he didn't bother to hide. It was the last insult she was going to tolerate. Despite her vow that she would pretend obedience, she found her left hand starting to swing, only to be caught in a viselike grip.

XZ : "So the lady does have a temper," (he observed) "What else does she have? Tell me. Miss Zhen."

SM : "Let me go," (she demanded, looking down at his fingers on her wrist)

XZ : (He laughed bitterly but loosened his hold) "You should know the bite of iron. Miss SM. Cold. Hard. Cutting. My hand can't come close to that feel."

SM : "I would prefer it to you," (she spit at him)

XZ : "Obey me, or you'll have the opportunity to find out," (he retorted)

SM : (She felt the blood drain from her face) "You wouldn't?"

XZ : "I'll do whatever I must to finish what I've started."

SM : "And what's that?"

XZ : "Your father, or whatever he is to you, has a certain debt to pay."

SM : "Because he testified against you?"

XZ : "Oh, that's only one of the reasons."

SM : "He was just doing his duty."

XZ : "Was he?"

His cold eyes suddenly blazed, and she felt the heat from his anger. There was something else in those eyes. Something very frightening, she stepped away.

SM : "What are you planning?"

XZ : "That, Miss SM, is none of your business."

SM : "It is" (she insisted)

XZ : "No," (he said flatly) "and you'll stay here, in this cabin."

SM : "And you?" (SM tried to keep her apprehension from showing)

XZ : "Lady, I don't want to be anyplace close to you."

SM : "I can't stay here." (She hated the plea in her voice)

XZ : "You don't have any choice. And if you're smart, you'll do as you're told."

SM : "I'm obviously not, since I was foolish enough to trust YZ or whatever his name is."

XZ : "Let's see if you're a fast learner then," (he said, glancing around the cabin and then picking up all the weapons. He stopped midway to the door and turned back to her) "I don't make war on women. But be clear on this'll do what I must to finish what I started. If it means confining you in here, even chaining you, I'll do it. I won't like it, but I'll do it. In the meantime you don't have to worry about your safety. I have no interest in you, other than to make sure you don't interfere in my plans. Do you understand?"

She defied him silently, her hands clenched at her sides. Her wrist still bore the print of his hand, her skin its heat. She couldn't take back anything, not that foolish trust in YZ, not the words that gave YXZ a weapon against her father. She could only try to escape, to get to her father, to warn him.

Outlaws, the clerk had said in Casey Springs. She wondered whether her father knew who led the outlaws, or the hate that drove them. It was like a live thing, that hate. She could feel it vibrate in the room, and it made her shiver.

XZ : "Do you understand?" (He said again)

She nodded without accepting. He didn't say anything else, he just walked toward the door without giving her another glance. He kicked the door shut behind him, and the light in the cabin dimmed. After several seconds she heard metal against metal and knew he had placed a padlock on the door. There was one window, through which light filtered, and with a sinking feeling she waited for him to rob her of that too. She didn't have to wait long. Shutters closed, and she heard the slam of a bar holding them in place.

She was alone in darkness now, alone in these forested mountains with an outlaw who hated her father, a hatred, and she couldn't minimize it. Or her own danger. No matter what he said, he couldn't help but see her as a weapon. She tried to keep the rising terror at bay, to submerge it under other thoughts.

She searched for a weakness in YXZ, and the artist in her recalled every feature of his face, every harsh line. She wondered what his face would look like at ease, if it had ever been that way. And she remembered the way he'd spoken of the ten years in prison, of the feel of iron with tightness in his voice and tension in his body. She relived that moment when anger radiated from him as he'd showed her his scarred hand.

And he blamed it all on ZGC. Unjustly. YXZ had brought on his own problems by stealing army payrolls. The punishment did seem barbaric, but it was his own fault, she told herself, trying to dismiss those moments of sympathy for him. That she could feel any softness toward him made it even more essential that she escape. She just had to.

Chapter 9

XZ prowled the woods like a wounded panther. He felt cut to the core and knew his soul was as mutilated as his hand. He kept seeing those soft brown eyes widened with terror, glinting with defiance. When he'd locked the door, they must have reflected the feelings he'd had when a cell door first closed on him.

What kind of man was he that he could terrify a woman? What had he become?

Damn YZ. And yet, XZ might have done the same thing YZ had, given the opportunity. GC daughter. He still couldn't believe it was true, but part of him was willing to admit it was a possibility.

Could he really trade the daughter for a confession, instead of going through with the current plan, forcing GC against a wall, bankrupting him until he did something stupid? But no one knew about a daughter, so she couldn't mean much to his enemy, certainly not enough to go to prison.

Damnit all to hell. What was he going to do with her?

If only she hadn't seen YZ and XD . . . But she had, and now their lives and futures were at risk, particularly those of XD, who was involved too deeply now to unravel himself. It had been XD who had helped with the first robbery six weeks ago.

An eye for an eye. The woman shouldn't bother him. He wasn't going to hurt her. And God knew he would keep her only as long as necessary, certainly nothing like the months and years he'd spent in prison because of her father. Just a few weeks. Perhaps months. Christ, how could he handle that? How could she handle that? Despite her gallant attempt at bravery, she had to fear the worst, that he would rape or kill her. There was no reason for her to think otherwise. He'd thought he'd lost all emotions except the need for revenge, and he bitterly resented the guilt that now nibbled at him.

But it was not enough to change his mind. He had survived mutilation, the worst kind of abasement in prison, and loss of nearly one third of his life only by promising himself that GC would pay for every moment in kind. He couldn't let the hate go. The penetrating, consuming, relentless need for revenge was too much a part of him, had been for too many years. He would do what was required to satisfy it.

And then? He couldn't think further than that. The beyond didn't exist.

Desolation wrapped around him as if he were whirling down a black bottomless hole, speeding toward a nothingness that was more frightening than any kind of physical pain. He reached out, anchoring himself by touching a tall pine, forcing his mind back to the woman. He had no idea how to alleviate her fears. Christ, he didn't know how to talk to anyone.

Except perhaps Abner, who demanded little. Suddenly wishing for its company, he put his hand into his pocket, and then he remembered he'd left the mouse in the cabin.

He wondered how Miss Zhen felt about mice. He should go back, but he couldn't force himself yet. He had wanted to touch her, to wipe away her fear. That had surprised him. It had been so damn long since he'd touched anyone with tender human feeling. That the woman in the cabin had stirred him that way was something he couldn't bear to contemplate, not if she was GC kin. He had no compassion left, no pity, damnit. He would never be used again, not by anyone.

His body shuddered as he thought of his imprisonment. He wished he could let that go, but he couldn't. He still slept outside now, even on the meanest nights. He couldn't stand waking up in the small cabin, and even outside he would still awake to nightmares, to the times he'd been stripped and thrown in the punishment box without so much as a bucket for dignity. He'd turned into an animal, living in darkness in his own waste.

He'd lost something then he would never regain, just as his keepers planned. They broke spirits because then prisoners were easier to handle. He found he would do anything, say anything, be anything, to keep from going back to the box, and he'd hated himself for that weakness. He could never totally regain his self-respect, but perhaps vindication might mend it a little.

He'd learned to control his rage, to direct it. But sometimes it still ran away with him, like an untamable wild horse, and he'd have to force himself back in check, to be patient. But, Christ, it was hard. Slowly, he was chipping away at ZGC. The Circle R was strapped for cash. GC's hands would desert their employer if they weren't paid soon, promises went just so far.

As did loyalty.

He'd discovered that years ago, when YM and men he thought were friends so readily believed the worst of him, so completely abandoned him. So had the army to which he had given his life. He couldn't even entirely trust YZ and XD and the others now, the suspicion that they had their own reasons kept nagging at him. Any belief in justice or loyalty or friendship was smashed ten years ago.

Abner was the only creature in the world XZ allowed himself to care about. The mouse required so little, just the amount XZ had left to give.

Unwillingly, his thoughts returned once more to his prisoner. SM. An unusual name. Soft and quiet-sounding. It suited her. And then he cursed himself. He couldn't think of her that way. She was GC's daughter, nothing more. He had to keep telling himself that. The get of a viper was still a viper.

He started back, moving with his usual caution. The trapper who'd once lived in the cabin had set traps throughout these woods, and XZ had already found several. Some held dead animals, and he'd felt an infinite sadness for them, a certain kinship. He'd sprung the live ones. He suspected there were more traps, and he always walked warily. The last thing he needed was to be caught in another trap.

Or maybe, he thought as he considered the woman in the cabin, he already was.

Chapter 10

Tears had dried on SM's face. Useless, foolish tears that didn't accomplish anything. She was angry at herself for expending that energy, and even more so at the thought that her captor might see evidence of her having cried. She was thirsty and hungry and dirty. And so alone. She'd never been alone like this before. There had always been her mother and friends, customers at the shop who'd oohed and aahed over her hat designs. There had even been the occasional young man.

But that was all gone. She didn't even know who and what she was. She pushed aside her despair and concentrated on escaping. She would have to plan carefully. The best scheme was to disarm her captor, make him think she had accepted her situation. And she had to get a horse. She'd have no chance without one, not up here, where she could be in more danger from nature than from the man who held her.

She wondered where YXZ had gone. She had hoped fervently he wouldn't come back, but now she worried just the opposite. In the darkness she had searched the cabin and found matches and a few candles. She could try to burn the place down, but she might kill herself in the process. Yet that remained an option if he didn't return.

She lit one candle and peered around more closely. There was a box in a corner, and she opened it. Several tins of crackers. Canned fruits and meat. She'd never eaten canned meat, but she was ready to try anything at this point. She had no way of opening the cans, though. She opened the cracker tin and ate half of one. It tasted like chalk.

SM swallowed, feeling the dryness of her mouth. In disgust she went back to the cot, taking the candle with her, wondering whether she should put it out or not. But she didn't like the darkness. It increased her fear. Somehow she could cope if she had light. Something moved at the end of the bed, and she flinched. There was no telling what creatures inhabited the cabin. She moved the candle and saw a small mouse on the end of the cot, regarding her as curiously as she watched him.

It sat up on his haunches and put its two front legs together as if begging. It obviously had no fright of her. She'd seen big, ugly rats in the streets of Boston, but this mouse was small and appealing. SM remained still, wondering whether it would come closer or scamper off. She wished she had her sketchpad, but that was outside on the tree stump. So she concentrated on the tiny animal, willing it to come closer.

She tried talking to it. It was better than talking to herself, and hearing the sound of her own voice was reassuring somehow.

SM : "You don't know a way out, do you?" (she asked, as the mouse continued to regard her curiously) "Of course you do, or you wouldn't be here, but I suspect it would be much too small for me."

The mouse came a few inches closer, and SM reached out her hand to the creature, surprised when it crept forward and then investigated her fingers with its tiny mouth. It flicked its tail and sat back on his haunches again with what SM thought was disappointment. Fascinated, she wondered if she should fetch a cracker. What if it disappeared while she was getting the tin? That thought was excruciating.

She heard a noise at the door, and she tensed. The mouse didn't move, and she knew she had to protect it. She reached to pick it up, surprised when it didn't flee from her. She thrust it underneath the cot, hoping that it would stay in the shadows. The door opened, and the bright light of the late afternoon sun almost blinded her. Her eyes were drawn to the large figure in the doorway. Silhouetted by the sun behind him, XZ seemed even bigger, stronger, more menacing. She had to force herself to keep from moving back away from him.

He hesitated, his gaze raking over the cabin, raking over her. He frowned at the candle. She stood. It took all her bravery, but she stood, forcing her eyes to meet his, looking for a crumb of remorse or regret or reprieve. All she saw was a certain coolness.

SM : "I'm thirsty."

It came out as more of a challenge than a request, and she caught a flicker of something in his eyes. She was hoping it was conscience, but that hope was quickly extinguished by his response.

XZ : "Used to better places?" (It was a sneer, plain and simple, and SM felt anger stirring again)

SM : "I'm used to gentlemen and simple . . . humanity."

XZ : 'That's strange, considering your claim that you're GC's daughter."

SM : "I haven't claimed anything to you.

XZ : "That's right, you haven't" (he agreed in a disagreeable tone) "You haven't said much at all."

SM : "And I don't intend to. Not to a thief and a traitor."

XZ : "Be careful. Miss Zhen. Your continued good health depends on that thief and traitor."

SM : 'That's supposed to comfort me?" (Her tone was pure acid)

XZ : (His gaze stabbed her.) "You'll have to forgive me. I'm out of practice in trying to comfort anyone. Ten years out of practice." (She heard no apology in his voice, only bitterness)

SM : "So you're going to starve me?"

XZ : "No," (he said slowly) "I'm not going to do that.

SM : (The statement was ominous to SM) "What are you going to do?"

XZ : "Follow my rules, and I won't do anything."

SM : "You already are. You're keeping me here against my will."

He was silent for a moment, and a muscle moved in his neck, as if he were just barely restraining himself.
XZ : "Lady, because of your . . . father, I was held against my will for ten years."

She wanted to slap him for his mockery. She wanted to kick him where it would hurt the most. But now was not the time.

SM : "Is that it? You're taking your . . . grudge out on me?"

XZ : (The muscle in his cheek moved again) "No, Miss Zhen, it's not that. You just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don't have any more choices than you do."

He didn't know why in the hell he was explaining, except that her last charge galled him.

SM : "You do" (she insisted)

XZ : (He turned away from her) "Believe what you want" (he said, his voice indifferent) "Blow out that candle and come with me if you want some water."

She didn't want to go with him, but she was desperate to slake her thirst and to take care of a personal need. She blew out the candle, hoping that once outside he wouldn't see dried streaks of tears on her face. SM didn't have to worry. He paid no attention to her. She knew she was plain, especially so in the loose fitting britches and shirt she wore and with her hair in a braid. She should be grateful he was indifferent to her, but a part of her wanted to goad him, confuse him . . . attract him. SM felt color flood her face. To stop her train of thought, she concentrated on her surroundings.

Her horse was gone, and her belongings were propped against the tree stump. There was a shack to the left, with a lock on the door. That must be where he'd taken the weapons and where he kept his own horse. The keys had to be in his pockets. He strode over to the building and picked up a bucket with his gloved hand.

She tried to pay attention to their route, but in the forest of pine and aspen and bushes, everything looked alike. She thought of turning around and running, but he was only a couple of feet ahead of her. He'd have no trouble catching her. He stopped abruptly at a stream and leaned against a tree, watching her.

SM had never drunk from a stream before, yet that was obviously what he expected her to do. The dryness in her mouth was worse, and she couldn't wait. She moved to the edge of the stream and kneeled, feeling awkward and self-conscious, knowing he was judging her. She scooped up a handful of water, then another, trying to sip it before it leaked through her fingers. She caught just enough to be tantalized.

She finally fell flat on her stomach and put her mouth in the water, taking long swallows of the icy-cold water, mindless of the way the front of her shirt got soaked, mindless of anything but the water. It felt wonderful. And tasted wonderful. Colder and purer than she'd ever had before. When she was finally sated, she sat up and turned around, her gaze instinctively going to XZ.

His stance looked lazy, but his eyes, were glowing with fire, and she felt a corresponding wave of heat consume her. She couldn't move her gaze from him, no matter how hard she tried, as if they were locked together. He was the first to divert his gaze, and his eyes assumed their usual icy indifference. She looked down and noticed that her wet shirt clung to her, outlining her breasts. She swallowed hard and turned around. She splashed some water on her face, hoping it would cool the heat suffusing her body.

SM lingered as long as she could. She didn't want to go back to the dark cabin. She didn't want to face him or those intense emotions she didn't understand. She kept expecting him to order her away, but he didn't. She didn't dare look, but she felt his gaze on her and knew she should feel fear. He had been in prison a very long time. Yet she instinctively knew he wouldn't touch her in a sexual way.

Because he despises you. Because he despises your father. She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, a spiral of light gleamed through the trees. She wanted to reach out and catch that sunbeam, to climb it to some safe place. But there were no safe places any longer. She watched that ray of light until it slowly dissipated as the sun slipped lower in the sky, and then she slowly rose.

XZ : "Ready?" (he asked in that hoarse whisper of his)

The word held many meanings. Ready for what? She wasn't ready for any of this. But she nodded. He sauntered over and offered his gloved hand. She refused it and moved away from him, stunned by how much she'd suddenly wanted to take his hand, to feel that strength again. And SM realized her battle wasn't entirely with him. It was also with herself.

Chapter 11

XZ didn't know why he'd held out his hand to her. Particularly when she so openly expressed her disdain for it. Because of him? Because of the brand? What in hell had he expected, anyway? But she'd looked so wistful caught in the stream of light. The sun had bounced off her soft brown hair, making it appear a halo. He'd wondered why he thought her plain. She looked extremely pretty at that moment.

And fearful when he'd walked over to her. He disliked himself heartily for causing that fear. But there was no help for it. He had to keep her more afraid of him than anything, or anyone, else. That's why he hadn't searched for Abner in the cabin. Who, for Christ's sake, would be afraid of a man who kept a mouse as a pet? He would find Abner later and keep him either in his pocket or in the stable.

XZ : (He scowled at her, allowing her to see his displeasure) "Don't get any ideas about following this stream," (He said) "It goes up into the mountain on one end and travels downstream over steep falls. You can't get out either way. And these woods are full of animals—bears, wolves, mountain lions, rattlesnakes—and traps. There's no place to run."

SM : (Despite the lingering wariness in her eyes, her voice was almost steady when she spoke) "Are you going to let me run?"

XZ : "No" (He said bluntly) "But I don't want you to even think about it. You'll leave when I want you to leave and not before."

SM : "I think I prefer a good honest bear."

XZ : "That's because you've never met one."

SM : "But I have met you," (SM retorted bitterly)

XZ : "And anything would be better?" (His smile mocked her, but her gaze remained steady as she silently agreed with the implied answer) "I wouldn't put it to the test if I were you," (He said in that agreeable voice that she was beginning to hate) "I don't tear most of my . . . captives to pieces."

SM : "What do you do with them?"

XZ : "Tame them" (He said with the slightest quirk of his mouth, but again she saw no sense of humor there. Only menace)

SM : "I don't tame."

XZ : (His voice hardened, and there was a dangerous edge to it) “Anyone can be tamed. Miss Zhen"

SM : (SM knew she was on dangerous ground, but she had to pursue what had been started) "Including you?"

XZ : "We're not talking about me. We will never talk about me. Now you . . . that's a different matter."

SM hated the insinuation in his voice, the reminder that he was in control, the rough mockery that meant to provoke and sting.

SM : (And it did. But she wouldn't give him the pleasure of seeing that if it killed her. She lifted her chin) "Do you always starve them too?"

XZ : "Sometimes" (He said) "It goes along with my character. After all, what can you expect of a convicted thief and branded outlaw?"

Despite his light tone, she sensed anguish, a raw pain that drained some of her anger. Did he realize he had revealed something he most likely wished to keep private? That piece of knowledge could be a weapon against him, but she would probably never use it. She shook her head to dismiss that moment of weakness. She had to use whatever she could to escape. He was watching her, apparently waiting for an answer to his question.

SM : "Nothing" (she finally retorted) "I expect nothing."

XZ : "Good, then you won't be disappointed" (He drawled) "But I will feed you. You look as if you need a good meal. I don't care for skinny women."

His taunt made it clear he was aware that he had revealed his pain to her. And he was punishing her for that.

SM : "Then I'll starve" (She shot back)

XZ : (He shrugged) "Your choice."

He went down to the stream and filled the bucket, averting his face from her. She wanted to run more than anything, but as before she knew he would catch her easily enough. He knew it, too, and his casual attitude toward her infuriated her. His confidence was galling. More than galling. Humiliating.

He straightened, and she wished he weren't so striking. His clothes molded to the muscles of his body, and there was a suppressed energy about him that electrified the air. Electrified her, for heaven's sake. SM swallowed. She couldn't believe she was thinking such a thing. More handsome men had called on her, but she'd always felt little when she was with them and relief when they left. She'd worried about herself, the way she had remained so cool to them, even when she'd tried hard to feel something.

Whatever YXZ was, he did not leave her cold. He turned, and his startlingly dark brown eyes met hers. She wondered how they would look alight with laughter, rather than shuttered by that flatness that stopped anyone from looking inside.

XZ : "You're still here?"

SM : "You would like me to try to escape, wouldn't you?"

XZ : "It might be interesting."

SM : "Well, I have no intention of providing amusement for you, Mr. . . ." (Her voice trailed off. She had no idea what to call him)

XZ : "You do learn fast. Miss Zhen" (He said) “I'm surprised."

SM : "It depends on what you want me to learn" (She said, unable to let him think he had cowed her altogether) I know when to pick my opportunities, and I suspect now is not one of them."

Something like appreciation crossed his face, but whatever it was, it lasted just a fraction of a second, and he was scowling at her again.

XZ : "There will be no opportunities. Miss Zhen. I wasn't just trying to scare you when I said these mountains are dangerous. I'm your only defense at the moment."

SM : "Is that supposed to reassure me?"

XZ : "No" (He said. His mouth quirked slightly, but it wasn't a smile. She wondered if he was even capable of a smile) "Stay afraid of me, and we'll do fine."

SM : "I don't want to do fine."

XZ : "I don't give a damn what you want. Miss Zhen. You can make this hard, or a little less hard. Those are your choices."

SM : "You're a bastard" (She said, gritting her teeth)

XZ : "Remember that" (He said) "If you need to use those woods out there, do it now. And keep your head in sight."

She blushed down to her toes. Bodily functions were something one didn't discuss, particularly in such a cavalier fashion, and especially between a man and woman.

SM : "You aren't going to watch?"

XZ : (That mouth quirked again) "Only your head. Miss Zhen. I don't trust your good sense quite yet."

Sheer necessity quarreled with pride and modesty. Necessity won.

SM : "I hope my father . . ." (She stopped, not entirely sure what she wanted)

XZ : "Will kill me?"

SM : "Send you back to prison" (She said recklessly)

XZ : "You believe that's preferable to dying?" (He asked, a peculiar light in his eyes)

SM : (It should have warned her, but she plunged ahead) "Far better."

XZ : "Perhaps a taste of it will change your mind," (He said bitterly)

SM : (SM swallowed) "I haven't done anything."

XZ : "And I have?" (He asked, that glint in his eyes even more ominous)

SM : "I know you've been robbing payrolls here."

XZ : "You know that, do you?" (He was taunting her again) "And how do you know that?"

SM started to answer, but she stopped. How did she know? Because he was a convicted thief? Because the clerk in Casey Springs had said there had been robberies in the area? Because he was holding her here against her will? But what if her captivity had nothing to do with the robberies? She had leaped to conclusions. Had that happened to him before? Had he been innocent? Was he innocent now?

But then his mouth quirked again, and she knew better. He had played her for a fool. He had seen her doubts and led her right down the path she wanted to take. Now he was enjoying himself at her expense; now he was letting her see that he was every bit as bad as she had thought.

SM : "You did rob those coaches" (She finally said in an uncertain voice)

XZ : "Of course I did" (He replied easily)

She felt anger prick at her again. She had never wanted to commit violence before, but she thought she might be able to do exactly that right now.

SM : "Why did you let me think . . . ?"

XZ : (The pretense of a smile left his face.) "It doesn’t matter, Miss Zhen. Now I'll give you exactly four minutes before we go back to the cabin."

As he watched SM head for a thick clump of brush, XZ regretted his cruelty. He hadn't intended it. He had thought she would throw his past conviction in his face when he'd asked her how she knew he had committed the robberies. And then that damned doubt flitted through her eyes, touching him in ways he didn't even want to think about. It had almost made him feel human again, had made hope bubble up inside him. But he didn't want her doubts as to his guilt. He didn't want her pity. Not from a Zhen.

And so he had stepped on her, as he would step on an insect, carelessly and without thought. And he'd hurt her. He kept his eyes on her head, on the fine brown hair that looked like silk. He kept his eyes there as a kind of punishment to himself. He didn't think she would take this time to try to escape. She was too clever for that. She would wait until she had a head start, and then, wilderness or not, he suspected she would take off.

XZ cursed himself, cursed that integrity and vulnerability about her that kept him off-balance. He told himself it was just an act, but he really didn't believe it. Christ, he wanted to know about her relationship with the one man he despised above all others, and she wasn't telling him. Because she knew he would use it to hurt ZGC

He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to avoid an unpleasant truth about himself. He would use her or any other human being to bring about justice. He wouldn't, couldn't, think beyond that, especially not the fact that this time he might be the one corrupting justice. Any doubts he had were dispelled when he glanced down at his hand.

XZ sensed her approach. His senses tingled, just as they had ever since she arrived. He didn't look at her, just picked up the bucket and started toward the cabin, knowing she had no choice but to follow. SM watched him as he moved restlessly around the cabin. She sensed he didn't like being in here, and she supposed it was because of her presence. She looked nervously at the one cot in the room, and she wondered what he was planning for sleeping arrangements.

XZ paid no mind to her as he quickly chose several cans of food and unsheathed the knife at his belt. He had opened the window, but it was dusk, and he was wrapped in shadows, which made him seem even more distant and enigmatic than ever. She wished she could read him better. She had never seen anyone so contained, so infernally elusive.

Very little showed in his eyes or face or expression, and she had always been good at ferreting out qualities and feelings of those she met. A couple of times she thought she'd seen a wisp of humor, but then he had tamped it immediately. She wondered whether she'd just imagined it because she wanted to see some lighter emotion in him to temper that deep, seething anger he made no attempt to hide.

He was certainly making no attempt to mask it now. She had the impression of an angry wounded tiger, just waiting to turn on a victim, as he knifed open the cans, then set them down much too softly, as if he had to keep himself from doing it in a more violent way. He produced a spoon for her, offering it to her with a mocking bow. He then took a couple of additional cans in his hand and whirled around, stalking outside.

The cabin still seemed full of his presence, and she felt dwarfed by it, by the anger that surrounded him. A part of her wanted to follow him, to keep loneliness at bay, but her pride wouldn't let her. To brighten the darkness, both real and emotional, she lit a candle and placed it on the table, and then sat down. He had opened two cans of peaches and a can of beans for her. There were also some dried strips of jerky.

She loved peaches and would normally have found them wonderful, but now she ate merely to keep up her strength so she could ultimately outwit and outmatch her captor. But she felt sick inside, wondering about tonight, wondering about him. So much had happened in the past twelve hours, so much had changed since the time she'd thought she was on her way to see the man who had fathered her.

She wondered where the mouse was. Maybe she would just leave the food here for him. Or was it a her? SM went to the open door and looked out. Only a pink glow remained of the sun, which had already set. She didn't see her captor, but she did see her valise and drawing case. The door to the other building was open, and she wondered whether she should try to escape now.

She moved to the valise and picked it up, still undecided. The day had turned cool. It would get even colder tonight, and she would need something other than the lightweight shirt she wore. Just as she thought she might make a dash for it, no matter what, he sauntered out of the other building, as if he had been waiting for the moment when she would make up her mind.

Chapter 12

XZ : "Going someplace?" (He drawled)

SM : "I'm cold" (She said) "Do you object to me wearing my own clothes?"

XZ : "Not if I see what's in there first."

The thought of him riffling through her undergarments was intolerable, but she knew better than to wage a war she couldn't win.

SM : "If it gives you pleasure." (She said, and this time she was taunting him, though she knew she shouldn't)

XZ : (His brows arched together with displeasure, but then he shrugged) "Think what you want."

SM : "I don't carry guns with me."

XZ : "A mirror could be just as dangerous." (He said)

SM : "In your hands, perhaps." (She said acidly)

XZ : "You don't like violence. Miss Zhen?"

She wished he wouldn't purr like that, like a full grown tiger ready to spring. She always had that impression of him, that sense that he would pounce at any moment.

SM : (She set her jaw) "No."

XZ : "Then we shouldn't have any problems" (He said)

SM : "But you still intend to ... invade my clothing."

XZ : "As I said, I have a difficult time believing a Zhen.”

SM : "Why?"

XZ : (He leaned back on his heels) "Do you really not know your father?"

SM hesitated. She didn't know whether the truth would hurt or help her case, make her less or more of a weapon to XZ. If he thought GC didn't care, didn't even know she existed, perhaps he would let her go. But then, that wasn't why he was keeping her. He was keeping her because of that foolish sketch of YZ, and nothing was going to change that fact. But perhaps it was worth a try.

SM : "No" (SM said)

XZ : "No, what. Miss Zhen?"

SM : "No, I don't know him. I've never known him, and he doesn't even know I exist and probably cares less."

XZ : "Would you like to explain that?"

SM : "No."

XZ : "Oh, yes. You don't start something like that without finishing the tale. An old law of the West."

SM : "But you don't believe in laws." (She snapped back)

XZ : "I do when they benefit me" (He said lazily) "Now tell me more."

SM : "There's nothing to tell."

XZ : "I think there is. Miss Zhen. A daughter who's never seen the father she claims, who travels thousands of miles to see him."

SM : "I don't even know if he is my father." (She said desperately, very sorry she'd opened this Pandora's Box. She didn't want to explain her life to him or her mother's) "I just think so."

XZ : "Why do you think so?" (He was relentless in his questioning, just as he obviously was in his hatred)

SM : (She felt helpless before it) "Because of the letters. And you've seen those." (She added with no little resentment)

XZ : 'That's all?" (He asked incredulously) "You traveled that far just on the basis of a few letters?"

SM : "There was money."

At the sudden narrowing and hardening of his eyes, she regretted saying those words.

XZ : "How much money?"

SM : "It doesn't make any difference."

XZ : "It does to me. Miss Zhen."

SM : "Why? I don't have it with me. You can't steal it."

XZ : "I can steal other things if you continue to try me." (He said in that hoarse voice again, his lips barely moving)

SM knew she had gone too far. She leaned down and picked up her sketching case. His hand stopped hers midway.

XZ : "There are a few rules. Miss Zhen."

She looked up at him. She wished he weren't so tall. She wished he didn't have those vividly eyes. She wished he didn't make her feel like a ... a wanton. She wished she knew where these odd, heated feelings were coming from. Fear, she fervently hoped. It had to be fear.

SM : "What rules?"

XZ : "No more sketches of the men who come here."

SM : "What about you?"

XZ : "You want a remembrance?" (He grinned at her)

SM : "I want to see you hang." (She said recklessly) "Maybe a picture will help."

XZ : "A few moments ago you wanted to see me in prison." (He mocked)

SM : "That was a few moments ago."

XZ : "I thought you were against violence."

SM : "You're making me reconsider."

XZ : (He shook his head) "Such fragile principles."

SM : "At least I have some."

XZ : "You lose principles in prison. Miss Zhen."

SM : "I think you lost a lot more than that." (She said)

His jaw set, and a muscle throbbed in his cheek. He was reacting as if she'd dealt him a body blow.

XZ : "Very perceptive. Miss Zhen. Tell me more about myself."

That was the quickest road to hell, and SM knew it. So she remained silent.

XZ : "Caution again?"

He said it in such a smug way, she wanted to slap him. He was waiting for that, waiting for a reason to retaliate. She didn't know why he felt he needed an excuse, but apparently he did.

SM : "Isn't that what you want? An obedient prisoner?"

XZ : (He scowled at her) "I don't think you're a damn bit obedient."

SM : "Why is that?"

XZ : "Because I've been where you are, lady. You're thinking of escape. Every moment you're thinking of it, and you'll risk everything for it."

SM : "Did you?"

He didn't answer. He didn't have to. She already knew enough about him to know he had. It must have been devastating to him to fail.

SM : "You're comparing me to you. I'm not like you."

XZ : "Aren't you?" (He asked) "Don't you feel a little bit desperate?"

She did. More so than before, because he apparently knew everything she was thinking.

SM : "Does that give you pleasure?"

XZ : "Like going through your belongings? Not much. I like my pleasures more direct."

Her face flamed again at the innuendo. Other parts of her were also on fire, and she had no control over the sudden surge of heat. The air between them was magnetic, full of storm winds blowing temptation. He felt it too. She knew he did. He didn't move, seemingly locked in place as she was. A muscle throbbed in his cheek, and she felt a throbbing of her own, deep in the most private part of herself, a throbbing she'd never known before.

The longing it created in her was bittersweet. And terrifying. Of all the men in the world, this one should be the least likely to stir such vivid and exotically painful feelings. He reached up and touched her cheek with his left hand, and the feelings magnified, the longing more compelling. She wanted to touch him, too, to see whether she could ease the harsh, bitter lines on his face, but she knew she couldn't or she would be lost. It would be an invitation to him, and there were only the two of them up here in this mountain clearing. No safety anywhere. No one to interfere. No one to tell her how unwise she was.

She had to tell herself, and nothing in her life had been more difficult. Using all the willpower she had, she wrenched away from his touch. He dropped his hand quickly and stepped back, his face still impassive, but there was a brilliant glitter in his striking eyes. She didn't know whether it was from anger or desire. She didn't think she wanted to know.

XZ : "Ex-convicts not to your liking?"

His body was tense, and she had the sudden impression that she had wounded him. Which was ridiculous.

SM : "Kidnappers are not to my liking." (She retorted)

XZ : "I didn't kidnap you."

SM : "But you're holding me here against my will."

XZ : (Some of the tension seemed to fade from him) "Let's just say I don't want anything to happen to you in these mountains."

SM : "You don't care what happens to me"

She charged, terribly confused by her own mixed emotions, that moment of regret that she might have caused him pain. She ought to cause him as much pain as she could, as he had done to her.

He hesitated at her charge, started to say something, and then clamped his lips together. He finally shrugged.

XZ : "Continue to believe that. Miss Zhen, and we'll get along just fine."

SM : "I don't want to get along with you."

XZ : "You'll have to. Unless you want to stay in that cabin day and night. I don't intend to waste time arguing with you. You do exactly what I say or you stay in that cabin . . . without that sketchpad."

She looked down at her case, still clutched in her hands.

SM : "You didn't say whether I could sketch you."

XZ : "I don't give a damn. I want GC to know I'm here. And, (he added with a careless shrug) as you know, there are other pictures of me."

SM : "Will you pose for me?" (SM asked)

She had gone this far. She might as well go further.

XZ : "Now that. Miss Zhen, is asking too much."

SM : "You have an interesting face."

XZ : "Really?" (He said wryly) "And how is that?"

SM : "I don't know" (She said slowly, thoughtfully) "Which is why it's interesting."

XZ : "I'm sure you'll tell me when you know."

He turned away, as if weary of the conversation.

SM : "I . . ."

XZ : (He turned back to her) "What?"

SM : "I don't know what to call you."

XZ : "Mr. Yin will do" (He said) "Or Sir."

She looked him in the eyes. She had lost some other fear of him, knowing she had goaded him and had survived.

SM : "Go to . . ." (She stopped, unwilling to finish what she had started to say, not out of fear but propriety) "Hades" (She finally finished)

XZ : "That's what I called the guards in prison. Now I'm your guard. Miss Zhen, and I think we should observe the proprieties of such an arrangement.

SM : "Fine" (She said) "Mr. Yin."

She made it sound as obscene as the way he said "Miss Zhen."

XZ : (He smiled mirthlessly) "Now you have the idea."

He turned to leave again, and this time he didn't stop until he disappeared into the other building.

To Be Continued? ...

Comment by the Editor :

Unfortunately, this is where the story ends. Whether the author abandoned the effort or the ending was lost is unknown.