“However…”

I waited.

“What if we tied the lean-to between the two horses?”

“I can’t trust Earl’s horse not to buck or kick,” I said. “And if he does, that would be worse than haulin’ Scarlett in the wagon.”

Rose thought a minute, then said, “Four of us could take her. One person leads the horse, two walk behind carrying the lean-to. We could take turns.”

“That’s a lot of liftin’ and carryin’. What would the fourth person do?”

“Ride the second horse.”

I stared at her a second. Then said, “Right. Because we’ll need two horses to get us all back.”

She nodded.

“That’s good plannin’,” I said.

“Well, it’s not perfect.”

“Why not?”

“We don’t even know if Molly is still there.”

“’Cause of the draught?”

“Uh huh.”

“She and Paul are close enough to Copper Lake to stay stocked. It ain’t likely they’d abandon their ranch due to water trouble.”

We were quiet a minute. I don’t know what she was thinkin’, but I was calculatin’ how much weight two people would have to lift and carry, and how long each would have to do it.

“Shrug should stay here,” I said.

“I agree. Shrug can take care of the others. You and I will have to go because we’ll need your strength. And I need to care for Scarlett along the way. When we get there, I’ll need to teach Molly how to care for her.”

“We can take Major, and Earl Grubbs’s horse.”

Rose nodded. “And Monique.”

“What?”

“We’ll need to take Monique.”

“Ain’t gonna work,” I said. “Apart from you, she’s the slightest woman in camp.”

“So?”

“The lean-to will run at least a hundred pounds. Scarlett’s one-eighty if she’s an ounce.”

“Monique will carry her end.”

“There’s better choices.”

“She loves her, Emmett.”

“Well, a’course she does. We all love Scarlett.”

“No, Emmett. I mean, she loves Scarlett.”

“Huh?”

“They’re lovers.”

As the full meanin’ of her words hit me, I felt like I’d been cold-cocked. I took my hat off, ran my hand over my head, and stared at my hat a full minute before puttin’ it back on.

“You mean to tell me—”

“How could you not know?” she said.

 


 

 

 

37.

 

Shrug guarded Hannah and Scarlett while the rest of us went up the hill and gathered wood from around the three trees. I cut a dozen lengths of rope from Earl Gruggs’s lasso, and passed ’em around so the women could help me lash the wood together. With so many helpin’ hands, it only took two hours to build a decent lean-to. When it was finished, I dragged it down the hill behind Major and we lifted Scarlett onto it, and tied her down while Rose held Major’s lead line.

The rest of us stood there, lookin’ at the lean-to.

“Monique,” I said.

Monique walked over and stood behind the pole on the right side. I took my spot at the left, counted to three, and to my surprise, Monique lifted her end three feet off the ground. We stood there for twenty seconds, then I told Rose to lead Major ten paces. She did. When Rose came to a stop, I nodded at Monique, and we set the lean-to down gently.

So beloved was Scarlett, all the women—Gentry, Phoebe, Leah, Emma, Hester, and even Mary—volunteered to ride Earl’s horse and take turns carryin’ the lean-to. When I chose Phoebe, Shrug gave me a stern look.