Becky by Lenore Hart

Author:Lenore Hart [Hart, Lenore]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-312-37327-6
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group
Published: 2007-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

HALFWAY DOWN THE TRAIL that led to Reeves’s camp, I pulled Cleo up short. Huck looked back and reined in, too. “Give me your knife,” I said, holding out a hand.

I have to admit, Huck Finn never bothered a person with questions. He reached down and pulled his hunting knife from the sheath on his thigh. Then held it out, butt first. The thing was a wicked stretch of curved, polished steel. Huck was vain of this blade and oiled and sharpened it every night.

Counting on his dedication, I swept off my hat and clamped the brim in my teeth. I unpinned my hair, which was tied back with a strip of leather. Huck raised his eyebrows when I laid the cutting edge of the blade just above this leather thong.

When I was eight, I’d gotten a mess of pine sap in my hair while climbing a tree. It’d never been cut up till then, and my mother tried even coal oil, before giving up and handing Trenny her sewing scissors. She’d cut it to my shoulders. I hadn’t cared, but Mama wept as if I were on my deathbed. I hadn’t cut a single strand since, and it hung past my waist. A terrible nuisance to wash and comb, but I’d developed some vanity about it. Sid had always complimented me on the various ways I found to put it up. He loved my hair.

Too bad. I gripped the heavy horse-tail of it tighter, took a deep breath, and began to saw.

Huck winced. “They God, Becky, you’re making a mess. Give it to me.”

I let go and handed him the knife. He nudged his horse up close and leaned in. For some reason, the notion of someone else cutting it off made my eyes burn, then fill with tears. I swallowed hard. “It’s only hair. It’ll grow.”

Huck stopped and looked at me. “What? I ain’t said a word.”

Yet he looked upset, too. He coiled the long honey-colored rope carefully and handed it over, still bound by the thong. I stuffed it into my saddlebag. Then he made me hold still again while he evened up around the ears and neck. “That’s some better,” he said at last, tilting his head. “But you ain’t no work of art.”

“I only need to pass for a man, not win a prize,” I snapped.

“Then it should do, seeing as how you’re tall enough. Got shoulders on you, too. Clap that hat back on, and let’s go.”

He reined in again at the last fork before the sentries. “This is where I get off.” He gazed at me sternly. “You still mean to do this?”

I nodded. “Take care of the Judge till I … I mean, till we get back. And Huck?”

The roan gelding danced impatient circles in the fallen leaves as Huck tightened the reins. “Yeah?”

“Check on Mary and Gage. There’s still a little money in the bank for them. If things get bad at home, she can move to the Judge’s place.”

He touched his hat and kicked his horse into a trot.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.