hands and try to keep from drowning? In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t see any trees or barns or anywhere else I can take shelter. And what if you get caught and don’t come back? I’m stuck here with no horse, and—”
“And you couldn’t ride if you had one,” he cut her off, exasperated. “Damn almighty, you sure talk a lot for a little girl.”
“I am not a little girl,” she said, chiding herself for sounding like one. But she was soaked to the bone, hungry, miserable, and not about to be left behind, and so she said as much.
“Have it your way, but if we get caught, they’ll probably go ahead and hang us, not even bothering with the judge.”
“Then we won’t get caught.” She was clinging to him as they rode along, and, despite how he had her riled, could not deny liking the feel of his strong flesh beneath his wet shirt and his warm, masculine scent.
He swung around to glance at her, then laughed at how her curls were plastered to her face. “You look like a doll somebody threw in a river and then fished out.”
“You really have a way of making a woman feel good, don’t you?” she fired back. Then, framing her eyes against the rain, she said, “I don’t see anybody out.”
“That’s due to the weather. But it won’t last long. Never does in this part of the country. Just comes down fast and hard—which is how I’ve got to hit that assay office.”
“What if Harville doesn’t have cash? Will we have to take the silver instead?”
“He’ll have it, but we wouldn’t be able to carry the ore. Do you have any idea how much it would weigh to be worth ten thousand dollars?”
“I’m afraid not.” She knew as little about prospecting as she did everything else in the West.
“Over a ton. You see, refined silver winds up being worth about one-tenth of the equal weight in gold, but an exceptional vein of silver-bearing ore, which is what Saul had to have found, can fetch around seven thousand a ton, which is a lot more than the average gold-bearing ore.
“Saul,” he went on to say, “had to have known what he was doing, because silver hunting is tricky. There’s no simple test a prospector can make in the middle of nowhere. The only sure way to identify silver ore and determine its richness is to test samples with nitric acid and hydrochloric acid, both of which are dangerous as hell to carry over rough terrain. So Saul would have taken samples to Harville for testing to make sure he’d made a strike before bothering to haul in over a ton of ore.
“Harville,” Curt went on, “knew then that Saul had a rich find and encouraged him to keep bringing it in.”
Tess finished, “And Harville couldn’t stand it and had him killed so he could keep it. Then I came along to interfere.”
“Exactly. Except with him and Branson running the whole town, you were never a problem. He probably timed killing Saul with your arrival, figuring with Saul getting married he would be wanting to start hard rock mining in a big way. Silver ore has to be hacked out of rock and processed, so he was probably trying to get up enough money to buy the equipment he needed.
“You would have been a very rich woman,” Curt concluded with a wry smile, “instead of an outlaw.”
She made a face. “I don’t consider myself an outlaw and certainly not a horse thief—or maybe I should say mule thief—but the fact remains Saul would have wanted me to have that money, and I’m going to get it.”
“And then what do you plan to do?”
Tess longed to ask him if he still thought she should go back east after what had happened between them but did not dare, fearing disappointment would show on her face if he said he did. “I’m not sure. Would I have enough to get started in ranching?”
“You’d have a fair start and then some, but you’d be crazy to try it. A woman? And especially a tenderfoot like you?” He shook his head. “Go home, lady.”
She ignored him. “Where would be a good
“And you couldn’t ride if you had one,” he cut her off, exasperated. “Damn almighty, you sure talk a lot for a little girl.”
“I am not a little girl,” she said, chiding herself for sounding like one. But she was soaked to the bone, hungry, miserable, and not about to be left behind, and so she said as much.
“Have it your way, but if we get caught, they’ll probably go ahead and hang us, not even bothering with the judge.”
“Then we won’t get caught.” She was clinging to him as they rode along, and, despite how he had her riled, could not deny liking the feel of his strong flesh beneath his wet shirt and his warm, masculine scent.
He swung around to glance at her, then laughed at how her curls were plastered to her face. “You look like a doll somebody threw in a river and then fished out.”
“You really have a way of making a woman feel good, don’t you?” she fired back. Then, framing her eyes against the rain, she said, “I don’t see anybody out.”
“That’s due to the weather. But it won’t last long. Never does in this part of the country. Just comes down fast and hard—which is how I’ve got to hit that assay office.”
“What if Harville doesn’t have cash? Will we have to take the silver instead?”
“He’ll have it, but we wouldn’t be able to carry the ore. Do you have any idea how much it would weigh to be worth ten thousand dollars?”
“I’m afraid not.” She knew as little about prospecting as she did everything else in the West.
“Over a ton. You see, refined silver winds up being worth about one-tenth of the equal weight in gold, but an exceptional vein of silver-bearing ore, which is what Saul had to have found, can fetch around seven thousand a ton, which is a lot more than the average gold-bearing ore.
“Saul,” he went on to say, “had to have known what he was doing, because silver hunting is tricky. There’s no simple test a prospector can make in the middle of nowhere. The only sure way to identify silver ore and determine its richness is to test samples with nitric acid and hydrochloric acid, both of which are dangerous as hell to carry over rough terrain. So Saul would have taken samples to Harville for testing to make sure he’d made a strike before bothering to haul in over a ton of ore.
“Harville,” Curt went on, “knew then that Saul had a rich find and encouraged him to keep bringing it in.”
Tess finished, “And Harville couldn’t stand it and had him killed so he could keep it. Then I came along to interfere.”
“Exactly. Except with him and Branson running the whole town, you were never a problem. He probably timed killing Saul with your arrival, figuring with Saul getting married he would be wanting to start hard rock mining in a big way. Silver ore has to be hacked out of rock and processed, so he was probably trying to get up enough money to buy the equipment he needed.
“You would have been a very rich woman,” Curt concluded with a wry smile, “instead of an outlaw.”
She made a face. “I don’t consider myself an outlaw and certainly not a horse thief—or maybe I should say mule thief—but the fact remains Saul would have wanted me to have that money, and I’m going to get it.”
“And then what do you plan to do?”
Tess longed to ask him if he still thought she should go back east after what had happened between them but did not dare, fearing disappointment would show on her face if he said he did. “I’m not sure. Would I have enough to get started in ranching?”
“You’d have a fair start and then some, but you’d be crazy to try it. A woman? And especially a tenderfoot like you?” He shook his head. “Go home, lady.”
She ignored him. “Where would be a good
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