But Al was too quick
for her. He stepped back, picked up Snake's reins and mounted his own
horse. He looked back at her appraisingly, saw her glare of hatred and
grinned at it, while he touched his horse with the spurs and rode away,
leading Snake behind him.
Lorraine said nothing until Al, riding at a lope, passed the field at
the mouth of Spirit Canyon where the blaze-faced roan still fed with the
others. They were feeding along the creek quite close to the fence, and
the roan walked toward them. The sight of it stirred Lorraine out of her
dumb horror.
"You killed Fred Thurman! I saw you," she cried suddenly.
"Well, you ain't going to holler it all over the country," Al flung
back at her over his shoulder. "When you're married to me, you'll come
mighty close to keeping your mouth shut about it."
"I'll never marry you! You--you fiend! Do you think I'd marry a
cold-blooded murderer like you?"
Al turned in the saddle and looked at her intently. "If I'm all that,"
he told her coolly, "you can figure out about what'll happen to you if
you _don't_ marry me. If you saw what I done to Fred Thurman, what do
you reckon I'd do to _you_?" He looked at her for a minute, shrugged his
shoulders and rode on, crossing the creek and taking a trail which
Lorraine did not know.
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