The Cowboy by Kristine Rolofson

Author:Kristine Rolofson [Rolofson, Kristine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-02-03T00:32:27+00:00

The next morning, Logan led her to the small creek, where clear snow-cold water flowed above smooth rocks. "I don't know what good this is going to do," he said, hesitating before plunging the bundle of clothes into the icy water. "We're just going to get dirty again, soon as we leave here."

Elizabeth perched on a flat rock above the water. She was wrapped in a blanket, a shirt of Logan's covering her skin. "Wait until washing machines are invented. You just throw the clothes in with a cup of detergent and come back in forty-five minutes. Then you put the wet clothes in the dryer and fold them when they're done."

He frowned at her nonsense. "Do you have the soap?"

She handed him the bar and was careful not to touch the palm of his hand with her fingers. Logan pushed the clothes under the water and swished them around with a stick. One at a time, he took a piece of clothing and scrubbed it with the soap.

"You're pretty good at that," she said. The morning sun was bright and warm on her skin, and her arm, though tender, didn't throb unless she moved too fast.

"I've had to be," was his terse response. He grimaced as he soaped her underwear, then tossed it aside with the others to be rinsed. When he was done, he dropped the bar of soap into her hand.

"Have you ever been caught?"

"For what?"

"Robbing trains."

"No, not for that." He poked the soapy clothes with the stick and moved them through the clear water upstream.

"Then you've been to prison?"

"Yeah."

Intrigued, she wanted to find out more. His past interested her. His plan to quit being an outlaw was fascinating. His wife had died, there was a fortune in his saddlebags and he was searching for someone in Idaho. Another woman, perhaps? Most likely. "When?"

"A year ago."

"Did you escape?"

"No. I served my time." Logan squeezed the clothes, one by one, and set them on the rocks by his feet. "Damn, this water is cold!"

Elizabeth wondered if she dared ask what he'd done to go to prison. Robbery, she suspected. The man showed no remorse, and even looked as if he was having a good time when he was robbing that train a few days ago. Of course, growing up in the Younger family must have given him quite an education into a life of crime. She decided to ask one more question, one she had been wondering about since the morning of the robbery. "Why didn't you wear a kerchief over your face? You didn't care if they knew you?"

He smiled, a cold smile of satisfaction as he stood up and wiped his wet hands on his shirt. "They know me, all right. I want them to know."

"You're not afraid?"

"Lady, the railroad barons stole my father's land, and my land. They took away everything that ever mattered to me, everything I ever had." He bent down and picked up the balls of wet clothes. "All I've done is get back a little money, that's all.

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