“Ah. No kissing either?”
“Are you just teasing me because it’s fun andyou can right now without risking a punch in the belly, or are youimplying that you’d actually like to do…stuff?”
Long seconds passed without a response, andshe winced. Had she implied she wanted him to say he wanted to do‘stuff’? Because if he did not want to do ‘stuff,’ she certainlydidn’t want him to think she wanted him to do ‘stuff.’ She closedher eyes and groaned inwardly. When had she become sucha…female?
“I only mention the latter thing, because itwould puzzle me,” Kali said, “seeing as how you turned down mysuggestion we might go to the dancing hall last month and I’venever caught you leering suggestively at me when I’m bent over asteam engine.”
That drew a chuckle from him, but thenanother silence. She pulled the blanket higher over her shoulders.Maybe they should just go to sleep. Sebastian had left,disappearing into one of the tents.
“When I was a boy,” Cedar said, “there wasthis hound that showed up in town. He was all mange and ribs, butyou could tell he’d be a handsome boy if you fixed him up. He was asmart feller too. He knew how to open Old Lady Harrison’s screendoor and filch her meal preparations off the kitchen counter. Thedog didn’t have a collar, so I figured I could claim him and he’dbe the perfect hunting companion for a boy. Trouble was, he wasscared of people. He’d flinch away if you lifted a hand to pet him,and if you cornered him he’d growl and snarl like a rabid wolf. Mygrandpa said folks had beat him, and it’d take a passel of patiencefor someone to get past that fear and turn him into a friend. I,being ten or so, reckoned I was just the person.”
Kali was quite positive Cedar had neverstrung so many words together in a row. She was not sure she likedthe implied comparison, but she listened without interrupting,curious where he would take the story.
“I used some meat to trick him into a pen,”Cedar went on, “and I trapped him there. I brought him food andwater every day and I spent hours talking to him and trying to gethim used to me. It seemed to be working. He didn’t growl so much,and he wagged his tail when I showed up. Well, I wanted to pet himpowerful bad, so I slipped into his pen one day, gave him his food,and tried to get close to him. He got real still and wary, but hedidn’t flinch away, so I thought everything was working like I’dplanned.”
Kali had an inkling of how the story wouldend, but she asked, “What happened?” anyway.
“He bit me, jumped the fence of the pen, andran off. I never saw him again.”
“Am I correct in guessing you’re comparingthis mangy, scrawny dog to me?” Though more amused than angry, shehad a feeling she should give him a hard time.
“No, of course not.” Cedar cleared histhroat. “Maybe a little.” Another beat passed, and he switched hisanswer to, “Yes.”
“At least it was a handsome and smart dog,”she muttered. “Under the mange.”
“Very smart,” he said carefully.
“So, this story means…you’re afraid I’dbite you if you took me to the dancing hall?”
“More afraid I’d bite you,” he said.“And then you’d run away.”
“Oh.” Kali caught her bottom lip between herteeth. She grew aware of her heartbeat, its rapid thumps againsther ribs. Her eyes were probably huge too. Like those of a startleddoe. She was glad for the darkness and that he was behind her so hecould not see her face. “I…know I can be a little…standoffishat times.”
He snorted.
“Most times,” she admitted. “But nobody everbeat me. No scars or anything. Well, except for that one scar fromthe time I decided to make guncotton. Oh, and the first time Itried to make those metal dogs and incorporate the flash gold,well, that needed stitches from Doc. Marvin, but I’m notbite-you-and-jump-the-fence damaged. Really.” She winced. She meantthe words, but at the same time she felt like she was trying toconvince herself.
The fire had died down, and men snored. Upand down the river, the sounds of croaking frogs competed with thegurgling water.
“It’s possible to scar someone withouttouching them,” Cedar said quietly.
“I guess.” Between Sebastian, her mother, andher father, she had certainly been hurt often enough. It was hardto dismantle her booby traps and let people get close. She was notcertain she could even have this conversation-admit thisvulnerability-with Cedar by the light of day.
Cedar stirred. Since she had crawled underthe blanket with him, he had been careful to keep his distance, butnow he rested a hand on her waist. Her instincts reacted before hermind, and she tensed. She rolled her eyes at herself and forcedherself to relax.
“You all right?” he asked.
“Just depressed. I am that dog.”
He chuckled softly, his warm breath stirringthe hairs on the back of her neck. He started to retract theembrace. Kali caught his hand to keep it there. She wrapped herfingers about his calloused palm and she shifted onto her back,turning her head toward his. Darkness hid his face, but, for whatshe intended next, maybe that was easiest-safest. She wanted tobelieve he desired a relationship with her, but nobody ever hadbefore, not without an ulterior motive, and it was hard to believesomeone like him would be the first.
Stop analyzing this, came the thought fromthe back of her mind. Do it before you lose your nerve.
Cedar must have sensed her intent for he wasthe one to lean close. She almost grinned when that beard stubblerasped against her jaw, but then his lips pressed against hers, andshe forgot about that earlier conversation. The chilly Yukonevening grew warm. She was vaguely aware of releasing his hand andsliding her arm around him, twining her fingers into the soft,thick hair on the back of his head. The closeness of theirbodies.
Too soon, he broke the kiss. His callousedhand came up to cup her jaw, and he stroked her cheek with histhumb. Another night, the touch seemed to promise, when we’re noton the ground, in a camp full of strangers, with a mission toaccomplish. And, as close as they were, she had no troublebelieving his interest now.
“Milos,” Cedar murmured.
“What?”
“My name.”
Oh! The M on his Winchester. “That doesn’tsound so bad,” she said.
“Milos Kartes. I got close to Cudgel inDenver, and he framed me for an ugly series of murders. There maybe a Pinkerton detective after me. I figured it wisest to go backto my childhood nickname.”
“Ah.” So, someone was hunting him as well.Although it was criminals who sought her, while the law stalkedhim. If she continued to work with him, could that mean trouble forher someday? Did it matter, given all the trouble already courtingher? Once she had her airship, she could evade those who huntedher. No need to stay in any one port for long, not when she had aworld to see. Maybe Cedar would even want to come along. “Thank youfor trusting me with your name. Though I must admit, yourreluctance to share it had me hoping for somethingembarrassing.”
A long moment passed, as if he wereconsidering something. Finally, he said, “My middle name isKallisto.”
“That’s…pretty.”
“Oh, very pretty. It was my Greekgrandmother’s name.”
“Grandmother?”
“Yes, my mama had been saving it for when shehad a girl. After only boys, she decided to pass it on to heryoungest. Me. Apparently it means most beautiful.”
Kali did not manage to keep from laughing,though she stifled it quickly. The last thing she wanted was toruin things by offending him.
“My Han name is Tsul Gah,” she said, feelingthe need to match his honesty. “Small rabbit. My mother thought Iwas going to be a precious little daughter, not a troublemaker whodisassembled the chief’s dog sled to make skis out of the runners.When I went to live with my father, he just called me, “girl,” so Idecided to pick my own name, a white name. The only white women inMoose Hollow were prostitutes. Kali was the middle name of one whowas decent to me. I later learned it was a Hindi name that meansblack. Guess I wasn’t meant to be white.”