Chapter 5
Henrietta landed beside him badly and nearly knocked them both loose.
Calvin caught the front of her coat.
“Easy!”
His grip stopped her.
For one breath they stared at each other, faces scarcely a foot apart.
Snow clung to his beard stubble. A shallow cut ran from his temple toward his ear. His pupils looked clear. His lips did not.
They were beginning to turn blue.
Henrietta became intensely aware of his fist twisted in her coat.
“You may release me,” she said.
“Not until I know you’re settled.”
The words struck strangely after months in which he had avoided touching her whenever possible.
Henrietta found a notch for one boot, then another. “I’m settled.”
His hand opened immediately.
Of course it did.
She pushed the small sting aside and bent toward his trapped leg.
Calvin caught her sleeve this time. “Don’t touch it yet.”
“That bad?”
“If you move the boot, I may embarrass myself.”
“How?”
“Screaming.”
Henrietta looked at him.
His mouth tightened. “That was a joke.”
“I know.”
“You looked alarmed.”
“I am deciding whether I have ever heard one from you before.”
“Not much occasion for humor lately.”
No. There had not been.
The unspoken reason sat between them as plainly as if the five thousand dollars had been piled on the ledge in gold.
Henrietta took out the knife she had shoved into Calvin’s coat pocket before leaving the ranch. Her hand trembled once as she unfolded the blade.
Calvin noticed.
“You’re cold.”
“So are you.”
“Henrietta.”
“Do you wish the boot removed?”
He studied her face for several seconds. “Yes.”
“Then hold on to something.”
“There’s nothing here.”
She offered him her forearm.
Calvin stared at it.
The wind muttered above them.
“Take it,” she said.
Slowly, he wrapped one hand around her arm.
Henrietta bent to the boot. Ice coated the leather. She could not pull it free without moving his leg, so she began slicing along the side seam instead, careful not to drive the blade through to his skin. Her fingers had grown so clumsy she feared the knife more than the ravine.
The first cut opened an inch.
Calvin hissed.
“I have barely begun.”
“I know.”
“Then what hurt?”
“Everything else.”
Henrietta stopped.
His head rested against the rock. His eyes were closed again, but his grip around her forearm remained firm.
“Calvin.”
“I’m awake.”
“You had better remain so.”